Thanks...but I'll pass!

http://www.peninsuladailynews.com/article/20110629/NEWS/306299991/it-8217-s-not-easy-being-green-drivers-bicyclists-introduced-to

While I applaud the city of Pt. Angeles for trying to "Go Green" I have my 

concerns about these lanes. I for one am NOT going to pull

myself out in front of the cars to wait for the light.

We do not have 25 cyclists that are crowding for a safe position at the light!

This is the Olympic Peninsula! The population here is tipped towards the aged.

Frankly, most people here do not know how to deal with or handle cyclists. 

Granted...there are some obnoxious cyclists that give the rest of

us a bad name...but generally most cars don't see us or pay attention.

The "Green" lanes look nice with the new paving...

But I'll be sticking to the shoulder!

A Penny Saved...

The phrase "A penny saved is a penny earned" 

has been recorded in the original as 

George Herbert's Outlandish Proverbs, circa 1633. 

A penny spar'd is twice got.

Today was a penny milestone! A year ago I purchased a 

wireless odometer for my bicycle and today it turned over 1500 miles!

 I made a point of pulling over to the side and take a photo of the occasion!

So what have I saved in the last year....

hmmmmmm.

1500 miles =

My car gets 25 mpg so I would have purchased 60 gallons of gas @ $3.79=

$227.40 (shoot, not as much as I'd hoped!)

More importantly that's 1500 miles less on my car tires, engine, ect...

How about calories burned....

Well 1 hr of cycling at 10-11.9 mph = 136.36 hours spent

At my current weight that is 354 calories per hour for a whopping total of....

48,271.44 calories

WOW! That should make me feel better!

So if it takes 3500 burned calories to loose 1 lb. I technically should be stick thin!!

I should have lost 13.79 lbs.

Oh well....here's to more riding!

National Dump The Pump Day

What are you doing today??? As no surprise I am headed out on my bike!

I know I look half asleep....maybe cause its so early...no worries I'll be awake soon in the fresh air!
Happy Thursday everyone!


National Dump The Pump Day

Olfactory Overload

I knew when I decided to commit to public transportation that I would encounter problems.  The one that effects me the most severely occurred today. Smells....

There are various smells to be encountered on a public bus. In the early AM you smell coffee, shampoo, perfume (from the receptionist and hospital desk worker ladies) and even smoke from the die hard chain smokers.

The afternoon can be quite different.  Like any transit system you have a range of riders. The morning has the daily work commuters: County workers, hospital employees, students and such. The afternoon brings out the students again but usually the skills center students, the homeless, the disabled and then a roving group of generally obnoxious young adults.

The smells of the afternoon usually center on 2 things. Cigarettes and B.O.  Not quite sure if they are related but they sure seem to go together.  Today I was running late and managed to arrive at the bus with only a few minutes left to spare before departure. Like any other regular commuter I have my "preferred" seat locations. Today they were all taken and I was subjected to sit towards the back....not my favorite but neither is not being able to look out the window which makes me car/bus sick.

Some people have good excuses for the B.O. If your homeless you don't have many opportunities for cleaning up really well. I know that the YMCA in Pt. Angeles has times that it offers showers to the homeless but other then that it would be hard to stay clean. Most of them manage to stay fairly clean. Many of the handicap and elderly seem to have a more difficult time with cleanliness.  This is sad to me.  With stained clothing and greasy hair you know that they are not bathing on a regular basis.

The worst for me is the smoke. Its such an addicting habit that eats your money, health and looks its hard to understand the draw. To see and hear the obnoxious ones that complain about life, jobs and money while using colorful "F" filled language is perturbing to say the least.

Let's just say....today was a gum sort of day.

Following the Rules...

Many towns have bike lanes, and as the above video shows (in a slightly dramatic re-enactment) that the lanes do not always have the safety of cyclists in mind.  Many times I have noticed that you can't even see where the lanes begin and end do to fading paint. If I can't see it I'm sure that neither can a car!  While I do try to stay in bike lanes as much as possible, this guy is correct, sometimes to do so would provide more injury for myself then avoiding them.