Are you going???
You may have noticed that I haven't been keeping a tally of my mileage this month. I'm trying to steer away from a number being my goal and instead, focusing on the experiences I have. I am still recording the numbers on the home page so I can keep an idea of how much money and carbon we're saving, but besides that, we're just having fun and going about our "regular" routine. The mileage count is actually only my mileage, it isn't an entire family account as Jose logs quite a few miles on his own, commuting to work nearly every day by bike (his new favorite bike being Mr. Mobic). He also recently had his own first experience biking to Vallejo to take the ferry to his parent's house in the Bay Area. Unfortunately, he isn't as great about taking photos and logging his trips (which is why I'm in charge of our webpage and he isn't). Once again, he used the Central California Cycling's directions and found them to be both accurate and convenient. The only issue he faced was a section of construction on Highway 12. There was a concrete barrier up which forced him to ride in highway traffic without a shoulder. After a few knuckle-biting miles, he decided to jump the barrier and ride on the blocked shoulder. From there, he was quite happy. He arrived in Vallejo about 7 hours later only to be told that he had missed the last ferry to San Francisco. Funny, I had asked him about the ferry schedule before he left to which he replied "I"m not worried, there'll be plenty of boats." So, he didn't leave until after our Doughbots ride, about 11am. Now we know. Leave early and check the ferry schedule. Instead, while he was waiting for the 8pm bus, his folks decided to come pick him up and he happily got a ride the rest of the way. Overall, the ride was a success in that we learned we can now bike to the Bay Area (provided you check the ferry schedule and ride accordingly).
The one photo Jose took. This is Highway 12. Thanks, Jose.
The famous Google Bikes. Use 'em, leave 'em.
My uncle, Todd Litman, a "transportation guru" and founder of the Victoria Transport Institute, from Victoria, Canada, came to visit last week, as well. He was coming to San Francisco to give a series of workshops about complete transportation planning. My mother (his sister) decided Sacramento also needed some help and got him to do a couple more workshops here. There was a more professionally geared presentation and then another for the general public. I went to the less technical version and was incredibly impressed. Learning about ways to get more people out of their cars and into walkably convenient cities really does take less work than everyone assumes. As Todd pointed out, we're living with the idea that driving is only form of transportation available and we should design our cities and roads with that in mind. However, the number of miles driven per capita actually peaked in the early 2000s and has since tapered off and even declined! Why then, do we still immediately address traffic concerns with plans to widen roades, create more parking spaces, and continually put cars' needs in front of pedestrians'?
Upgrading public transportation has been proven to be the greatest return of investment for cities. Focusing on multi-modal transportation needs for everyone, not just drivers, improves the quality of life for all citizens. A few of the interesting points Uncle Todd made were how there are more traffic fatalities in sprawled cities than in population dense cities, homes in walkable neighborhoods hold their value better than those in the suburbs, and how many planners value "car storage (ie. parking lots/spaces)" over all else. I remembered thinking back to buying our house three years ago, we refused to look at places that we could not bike/walk to cover our basic needs--getting to work, getting our groceries, and getting to my parents' house. We didn't consciously think about getting a home that we would be able to stay in if/when we became infirm, impoverished, or non-drivers, but somehow, we managed to secure a place that does. And now, as we begin to take the steps to finally become car-free, I am eternally grateful that we did. My Uncle Todd has been car-free for over 10 years, stemming from a broken car that was never replaced. Since then, they have funded their children's higher education from their savings and have not had any problem getting around--between bikes, walking, and taxi credit cards, they have never missed having a car in their driveway.
Upgrading public transportation has been proven to be the greatest return of investment for cities. Focusing on multi-modal transportation needs for everyone, not just drivers, improves the quality of life for all citizens. A few of the interesting points Uncle Todd made were how there are more traffic fatalities in sprawled cities than in population dense cities, homes in walkable neighborhoods hold their value better than those in the suburbs, and how many planners value "car storage (ie. parking lots/spaces)" over all else. I remembered thinking back to buying our house three years ago, we refused to look at places that we could not bike/walk to cover our basic needs--getting to work, getting our groceries, and getting to my parents' house. We didn't consciously think about getting a home that we would be able to stay in if/when we became infirm, impoverished, or non-drivers, but somehow, we managed to secure a place that does. And now, as we begin to take the steps to finally become car-free, I am eternally grateful that we did. My Uncle Todd has been car-free for over 10 years, stemming from a broken car that was never replaced. Since then, they have funded their children's higher education from their savings and have not had any problem getting around--between bikes, walking, and taxi credit cards, they have never missed having a car in their driveway.
Todd rode the Linus around Sacramento with our rowdy gang.
Checking our Edible Pedal's cargo convoy. This trailer designed by Cycle Truck's John.
Yummy-ness delivery mobile.
Doughbots delivery.
Todd still looking polished for his first workshop, even after biking around Sac.
Jose taking the kiddos home so I could go to Todd's talk.
Folding bikes unite! Hello, G'ampa!
So, that leads me to some more knowledge we've recently acquired--we can become car-free! It's less of a hassle than we had originally thought, being bombarded with threats of "punishment payments" for returning a leased car early. However, a quick call to Toyota and getting the appropriate numbers, we soon learned that it is doable! We have a few options--pay off the end of the lease and return the car, buy the car and keep it for ourselves, or buy the car and sell it to someone else and be done! We chose the third option. We are going to find out how much we can sell the car for and once we buy it from the dealership outright, we will turn around and sell it off, losing less money than if we had just returned the car. Since we will then be saving our car payment and the insurance, gas, maintenance costs, we will quickly become better off than when we started. I couldn't be more thrilled and anxious to get rid of this hunk of metal that sits in front of our house for weeks at a time gathering dust. I think that once the car is gone, we'll have to throw a party, funded by our car-freedom.
Now, I'd love to hear any questions/concerns you might have about going car-free, just to make sure I can answer them all...Ready, go!
Now, I'd love to hear any questions/concerns you might have about going car-free, just to make sure I can answer them all...Ready, go!
Car(e) Free...soon!
Not about bikes, but Big Brother got to touch an armadillo at his Little Ducklings zoo class. That's new.
Our Mundo is in good company at the bike racks in front of Temple II coffee.
Other than all this fun we're having, everything else is regular life. We bike, we work, we play, we eat. Sometimes we are afforded the luxury of sleep but with a 1-year old still sleeping in our bed, that's not as often as I'd like. Tomorrow, the forecast shouts 106 degrees and I plan on being out at the Piñata Festival. Yikes. Hottest day of the year, so far, but a necessary evil of living in Sacramento. Good practice for biking in summer. I actually think that biking in winter is easier--you can always put on more layers...summer, not as simple...although, we'd get more attention, it would be too expensive and time consuming to apply that much sunblock.
Seeking out shade on our rides. Hello, Ducks!
To end this post, I will leave you with the best "new thing" this week--new Yuba Mundo-ers in Sacramento! Erik (you will remember him from our 4 minutes of fame on News 10 regarding the Cool California Challenge) and his family have decided to join the awesome ranks of cargo owners! I am so happy to have them around and looking forward to watching them become as Mundo-obsessed as I. Since they are starting more from scratch, having not been on bikes as regularly as we had when we started, they are moving slowly but surely, becoming more comfortable with having the kids onboard and riding in traffic--a very sensible thing to do! We have plans to ride together in the near future, maybe a spin-off of our Little Loops, and focus on kid-cargo biking practice.
Seriously, how cute are they???
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