Bus/Bike to Work -- I did it!

I just got back from work and I feel totally triumphant -- I bus/biked to work and back home. This is a pretty big deal for me because last week I rode the scooter, but because of the scary traffic, I feared for my life. It also took me about 30-35 minutes each way. Blah.

Today, it took about 45 minutes each way. I rode about 1/2 mile on the way there (between bus stops) and about 3 miles on the way back. So, about 10 minutes more than by scooter. The nice thing, however, was that I was able to spend about 20-25 minutes of that time grading. Productive time. So nice, and so desperately needed now that I am home with the kids all day and teaching at night.

Something I am trying to figure out... how do I go to the grocery store to get the massive amounts of food that we need... with the kids? It just seems SOOO painful without the car.

Austin update: There is a new bike pathway -- the Lance Armstrong Bikeway. It is really nice. It is open from Lamar at Cesar Chavez all the way to Austin High. It is a nice way to stay out of the traffic. It feels so civilized and is faster than riding on the trail. It's also great at night, because you don't have to worry about traffic not seeing you and you don't have to worry about obstacles in the road.

I do have a problem with this bikeway, though, in that it runs parallel to a bike trail. I think there's a lot of other things they could have spent the money on to make cycling nicer in Austin. When it is complete, however, it will connect all the way to the east side of town, which is sorely needed.

Additional update: If you are interested in bike commuting and have a job downtown, Lance Armstrong's new bike shop Mellow Johnny's has showers and a coffee shop. It's right by the farmer's market. It's worth checking out. (I have only looked in the window -- I haven't checked out the facilities.)

Bike Commuting

C is so happy. He is finally a bike commuter. He can ride his bike to work with no problem and gets VIP parking at the bike rack. There are just a few kinks that need to be worked out:

• weather -- it poured rain today. Luckily, that was on the way home.
• flats -- C seems to be prone to flats. Last time he got a flat, he had to walk home 3 miles in the middle of the night. Not so good. He had everything he needed to change the flat except for a pump.
• sweat -- C said he was really sweaty when he first got to work. However, he had to race to work because he was helping me drop off the kids at camp. A more relaxed pace = less sweat.

In other biking news, we are trying to reduce our car use as much as we can. The two oldest kids are going to a camp that is close to our house. They were thrilled with the idea of riding to camp. J (6 yo) rode his bike and I brought N (5 yo) on the trail-a-bike. This only worked, though, because E was being watched by her grandmother. Babysitting and the frequent need for quick turnarounds seem to foil my desires to ride my bike.

For example, this morning, I had to be at work at 8:30. Camp drop-off was at 8. I might be able to ride to work in 30 minutes, but it would really be pushing it. If E had been at home, I would have had to find a sitter at 7:40 in the morning (don't currently have one that early). I ended up riding the scooter to work.

But wait! I said I rode the trail-a-bike. Then I rode the scooter? What's going on? Ah... the complication. So that we could bring the kids on bike, I rode the bike to their camp, then rode the scooter to work. A total pain. In the afternoon, C picked up the kids on bike. (This was actually even more complicated, but every time I write out the whole routine, it sounds too confusing. Let's just leave it at that... C rode his bike, the kids rode their bike, I rode my bike/scooted, and then drove in the afternoon. BLAH!)

There is a trade-off. More biking means more babysitting. I don't use much babysitting right now, so a little extra here and there really makes a difference. I hate to ask someone who's doing me a favor to wake up super early.

Once again, it seems that it all comes down to planning:

• Plan extra time into your morning and you can ride to work.
• Plan to have the necessary supplies to fix a flat.
• Plan to watch the weather -- it might rain while you're riding.
• Plan to have extra clothes at work, just in case!
• Really think about it when you sign kids up for activities that have drop-off times close to the time that you have to leave or return from work.
  

We ARE Traffic -- Critical Mass and bike riding

Today I ran into the critical mass bike ride. Pretty much literally. I was on the way home from school on the bus and the bus got stuck behind the cyclists. Since my bike was on the bus, I rang the bell, hopped off, and joined in.

About 10 years ago, I seem to remember a debate about critical mass -- some cyclists thought it was good -- others thought it just made drivers hate us. I'm not sure if this debate is still going on. What I do know is that I had a GREAT time, on the ride.

Basically, once a month a bunch of people meet on campus and then ride around town en masse. There doesn't seem to be a real organizer or a real plan. Maybe there is, but it doesn't seem like it. The people in front just decide where to go and the other people follow along. What is amazing is how great it feels to ride through the streets (during rush hour, mind you) and not be afraid. Because usually when I ride my bike in the city, I'm afraid. That's messed up.

So yes, critical mass does mess with traffic. But the people on the ride didn't seem too confrontational. They seemed pretty happy. And the people in cars can just chill out and wait for a few more minutes (because really that's all the delay we caused)... that seems fair considering the huge detours I make on my bike to avoid the busy streets that scare me.

This is supposed to be a "bike friendly" city, but it doesn't seem that way to me most of the time. The bike lanes are full of parked cars. How is that a bike lane? The bike lane on my road is probably 3 feet wide and full of cracks and holes and gravel. When I ride with the kids, I make them ride on the sidewalk because I don't feel like the bike lane on our street (which sees a lot of traffic going at least 35) is safe at all.

I think it's a bike friendly city in that there are lots of trails and there are a lot of people that ride recreationally. But not that many people ride for transportation. It seems like that number is increasing, but it's still a very small number.

Why don't more people ride for transportation? Here's some reasons:

• They can't get all sweaty before work.
• It's too far.
• They're out of shape.
• They think it will take too long.
• It's too scary.
• They have to carry a bunch of stuff.
• Bad weather.

There are answers to these excuses (and more!) here.
My main reasons to ride the bike (instead of driving) are:

• Parking is free and easy!
• Don't need to go to the gym.
• For short trips, it takes about the same amount of time.
• If you are riding along at a relaxed pace, you don't get too sweaty.
• People smile and wave and you can smile and wave back.
• Gives me a good excuse to eat more :)
  

Riding is especially fun if you bring your kids. Last summer we usually rode with the kids to the swimming pool. I would pull my son on a tag-a-long (tandem that attaches to my bike) and C would pull the girls in a trailer. People ALWAYS complimented us when we got to the pool -- "Oh, you're so fit... Oh, good for you." :) Sometimes I would take all the kids by myself, J on the tandem and then attach the trailer to that (bad for bike -- killed my gears) -- people were REALLY amazed by that. That was part of the fun. Then, because we didn't spend any money on gas or parking, we could justify a little treat like popsicles or something.

5 bags down, new sins, BYOP

Today is day 5 of "unstuffing". I got rid of a bag of playdoh toys that I found in the bottom of the closet. Actually I got rid of about 2/3 of the bag, keeping the most fun toys to play with. More magazines -- I had no idea there were SOOO many magazines laying around the house. A puppet theater that I have had for at least 15 years and have never played with. This is a little hard because my mother gave it to me, but I've never used it. I have the puppets and my kids play with them all the time, but it's time to let go of the theater. Last but not least, a whiteboard. Don't need it. There's one on the other side of the easel anyways.

My MIL is watching the kids tonight, so C drove them there in the car and will bus/bike home. So, he's violating the terms of his car divorce, but it's a pretty good solution (I think). Tonight is the midnight full moon bike ride, so she is kind enough to watch the kids so we can go.

Less waste, but a giant pain....
We went to dinner at WF tonight. I love to go because the food is great and there is a playscape for the kids. We decided to bring our own plates from home (plastic) so that we would not have to use disposables. We brought our own silverware too. No problem.

What I had not really thought about was the return trip. With dirty dishes. Yuck! I don't mind bringing the dishes. I don't mind scraping them into the trash. I feel pretty happy sitting outside, being a good example. But putting dirty dishes into my bag to bring home was not the highlight of the night. I guess the overall good feelings I get cancel out the annoyance overall. Next time I'll have to thing of a better way to bring them home.

New sins
Apparently there are now 7 new mortal sins (not replacing the original 7 -- in addition to). One of them is pollution. Yeah for that! Other groups have talked about the importance of caring for the earth, and it's nice to see the Catholics join the party. Hopefully this will lead to more recycling. One time I had a job copying the church bulletin and it took ALL day because it was so many pages. Every church dinner (across denominations) I've been to has been served on disposables. Maybe now that pollution is a sin....

I've read lots of very negative comments about the new sins. Maybe the pope wants to clear room in heaven, because almost everyone I know has committed one of them. There also seems to be overlap (at least in the version I read). If one sin is creating poverty and one is excessive wealth, you don't really need another one that is increasing the divide between rich and poor, do you?

Recycling Envelopes

Our apartment complex has paper recycling, but I had been told that we could not recycle envelopes. Turns out that's not true! I checked the website for the city and they accept envelopes -- even ones with windows. That still freaks me out a little, so I'll tear the window out, but that will really cut down on the trash.

Scented Candles
Recently I was talking with a friend about scented candles. I love the smell, but I started thinking that they must be causing indoor pollution -- after all, the candle melts, and where does it go? Into your lungs? According to WebMD, some candles with metal wicks can cause lead poisoning. I have a few candles, but they don't have metal wicks. But what about the other stuff? The EPA did a literature review on the topic:
http://web.ksl.com/dump/news/cc/series/candepa.htm
They found that: "When candles are burned, they emit trace amounts of organic chemicals, including acetaldehyde,formaldehyde, acrolein, and naphthalene (Lau et al., 1997). However, the primary constituent of public health concern in candle emissions is lead."

These organic chemicals were found to be at safe levels in most normal candle-using scenarios, but a "worst case scenario", such as burning 30 candles for several hours in a small space (your bedroom perhaps?) could result in harmful levels.

As much as I totally trust the government, and believe in the "acceptable" risk levels that the EPA sets, I think I'll opt out of the candles. Indoor air pollution is already a problem, so why add to it?

4 Bags unstuffed
Today was an awesome day in getting rid of stuff. My husband got involved and we have a HUGE bag of weird tools and household items to get rid of. I also threw in 2 years of Men's Health magazines and a cookbook that I haven't looked at since we got married (how to throw a cocktail party -- hah!)

C (my husband) says he has "divorced" the car. He rode his bike and took the bus to school day and was very happy with how it worked out. I rode the scooter to work and stopped by WF for some swiss chard (I'm addicted) and had to carry it around in my backpack with my students' papers because I forgot to bring my bag. Good thing it wasn't wet.

Car miles today: zero! :)

photo: www.ubcbotanicalgarden.org

Baa Baa Black Sheep... Three Bags Full!

Unstuffing status -- three bags full.
Today's stuff includes:
2 pillowcases
2 shirts (mine)
9 pieces of clothing from my youngest daughter

Children's clothes is an area where I have an embarrassment of riches right now. I was going through her clothes and found about 20 pairs of 3T pants. That's probably more pants than anyone, even a toddler, needs. What's funny is that the 9 pieces of clothing don't even include those 20 pairs of pants. Those I will assess another day. I will definitely pare it down, though, as it will cut down on arguments about clothes.

My husband came home today very angry about the car. Not only is it slurping down gas like nobody's business and making a funny sound that will probably cost hundreds of dollars, but my husband got a traffic ticket today. He says he won't be driving to school anymore and took the car key off of his key ring. He had to go back to school and he went on the scooter. An interesting turn of events, considering that I was just blogging about the car.

The current mileage on our car: 96048
Fuel expenses in Feb: 120.25 (15.90 for scooter fuel)
Fuel expenses in March (so far):104.55 (5.76 for scooter fuel)

Obviously fuel expenses are going to be higher in March. We went out of town for spring break, so we used more gas. Still, this shows that we are spending a pretty good chunk of money (although not as much as I had feared) on gas. Add to that repairs, oil changes, insurance, etc. and it's more than I would like.

I used this handy dandy calculator: http://www.bikesatwork.com/carfree/cost-of-car-ownership.html
According to this, we spend about 248 a month on driving. That's without calculating in the occasional ticket. I did not include car rental in the calculation because I wanted to see what it costs to drive our car. We will still have to rent a car when we go on vacation. For the cost of the car, I put 500 a year, because our car is paid for, but if we paid 4000 and it lasts 8 years, that's 500 a year. That may be wildly optimistic, but the point is that the price per month would not be lower... only higher.

So the only way to decrease the amount we spend on the car is to decrease the amount that we drive. Obviously. I've considered getting rid of the car in the past, but with 3 little kids, getting around can be pretty hard. My oldest can ride his bike for a couple of miles, and my oldest daughter can ride the tag-a-long, but the baby needs to go in the trailer, and the trailer and the tag-a-long don't work together (I've tried... I broke the gears on my bike pulling all the weight) and the girls are really heavy together in the trailer. It works pretty well if we go somewhere as a family because then I can pull the tag-a-long and my husband can pull the trailer. As you can see, it gets complicated. We also need the car to be able to go camping. I love camping.
I think the most realistic (baby step) thing to do about the car for now is to not drive to work. I will commit to that and keep track of mileage on the car for the next week and keep brainstorming.