If you live in New York City, London, Paris, or on Mackinac Island, and you either have access to a great subway system or cars are banned from your small island, going for 24 hours without driving is not a big deal.  But here in Chicagoland, despite a decent public transportation system, driving is a way of life.  So I decided to spend a day without getting into my car or any other car, and see how I would fare.

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Image credit: AndrejJ at Wikimedia Commons

Recently retired and now living in a suburb of St. Louis, we knew he’d never take to biking as there were a number of screw-this(!) sized hills all throughout his town. Through ten years of teaching I know that adults are far less resilient than children and often times need but one excuse to say “screw this” and go back , in this case, to a steady diet of TV watching. But we were elated to see how much he enjoyed his juiced up Electra Townie! Whether it’s riding with my mom (another proud new owner of an electric bike–she had to keep up), biking to the store for groceries, or putting it on the bike rack and hitting the Katy Trail, few days go by that he’s not on his electric bike.

This began my love affair with electric bikes.

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The question of whether to walk, bike or take public transportation is a no-brainer if you live in a city like New York, where driving can often be more of a pain than a pleasure. But what about the rest of the country? Not every community is large enough or dense enough to offer the auto alternatives the Big Apple does. And what about people who live in rural areas where everything is a half-hour’s drive away or more? Can we refashion our country’s way of getting around to be more European? Or are those of us in unwalkable communities doomed to either move elsewhere or live like so many billions do in the rest of the world, consigned to life in a radius of space measured in only a few miles?

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Driven by an increase in gas prices, as well as, growing awareness of the impact all those cars have on the environment more and more people are dragging out their bikes for more than just a quick jaunt around the park.

Commuters now ride the unheard of distance of oh…2 miles to work, aided by the more casual dress requirements on many companies and the slick carrying packs now available for dress shoes and laptops. Moms gear up with child carriers and pint sized bikes and take the kids out for lunch. Grocery shopping done by bike seems to be the preferred method in semi-urban neighborhoods.

The list of bike accessories grows long. Most are marketed to serious athlete -bike suitcases, rechargeable lights, gloves, grips and parts specifically for improving speed. But more and more the green, casual commuter is an alluring target.

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Celebrate your independence (from oil) every day!

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Started by volunteers in March 2006 — about a half-year after Hurricane Katrina and the levee-failure flooding of New Orleans — RUBARB was inspired by a much-repeated experience of hurricane cleanup crews: pulling bicycle after unused, flood-damaged bicycle from the mountains of trash that covered the city. Rather than consign these flood bikes to the post-Katrina dump, these volunteers decided, why not clean them, fix them and then pass them along to residents and other volunteers who need them?

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This week, EcoWorldly authors from six continents contributed articles on bicycling in their country. With exerpts from those articles and others in the blogosphere, here are seventeen very good reasons to bicycle no matter where you live. Click the headings as you go to read more.

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While walking is good for health and the environment, when you do it for miles and miles on end with a heavy load on your back or head as most men, women and children do in Africa, a bicycle comes in handy for it is in black Africa what a camel is in Arabia or a Llama is in some parts of South America.

Those who can afford a taxi ride take not the yellow cabs you’ll find idling on any street corner in New York City but a boda boda, as they are known in East Africa, literally a bicycle taxi that would take you from one border to another.

But the bicycle taxi riders here have learned the hard way and have taken to heavy drinking of cheap, traditional brew to drown their troubles. Becoming sexually inactive or rather a man who cannot sexually perform is the worst thing that can ever happen to a man, especially if his wife starts looking for fun elsewhere, risking catching the HIV/ Aids virus in the process.

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Hate rising gas prices? Ride your bike! In cities like Copenhagen and Amsterdam they seem to outnumber cars. Portland and Chicago are catching up. People of all ages, all over the world ride them daily to school, work, the store, a friend’s house…

It’s THE #1 solution to rising gas prices, yet our fearless leader won’t even mention it.

Stupid, weak, bicycle lobbying groups…

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But first a little background on permaculture:

The word permaculture, coined by Australians Bill Mollison and David Holmgren during the 1970s, is a portmanteau of permanent agriculture as well it is was permanent culture. Through a series of publications, Mollison, Holmgren and their associates documented an approach to designing human settlements, in particular the development of perennial agricultural systems that mimic the structure and interrelationship found in natural ecologies.

This tour shows what some folks in Berkeley are doing to live more sustainably: growing their own food, raising chickens, capturing, heating, and conserving water, and generating electricity.

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That’s right, it’s time for this year’s East Bay Permaculture Guild bike tour in Berkeley.
The complete schedule is listed below.

We still need volunteers to help watch the bikes (one for each site we visit) and also someone to ride in the middle and back to make sure everyone is safe and together. If you donate your time, no need to donate money.

Don’t forget to bring water. munchies and warm clothes - it’ll probably still be cool on Sunday - http://tinyurl.com/234g33

To volunteer or for questions, e-mail Josh - yNaught@gMail.com

For a bird’s eye view of the route on Google maps:

You are welcome to join us for any part of the tour, but please do not arrive at any of the sites when we are not scheduled to be there, thanks.

11:30 Meet at North Berkeley BART Station - 1750 Sacramento St,
Berkeley
www.bart.gov - We’ll meet in front of the main entrance.

12:00 - 12:20 - Private backyard - 2111 7th St.
Sheetmulched by the East Bay Permaculture Guild last year, planted with trees and annual veggies.

12:30 - 12:55 - Berkeley Youth Alernatives garden - Bancroft Way between West and Bonar
After school program, perennials and annuals, community volunteers. -
www.byaonline.org

1:00 - 1:30 - Backyard by Earthly Arts - Mabel St and Derby St.
Guest room made from salvaged materials, water catchment, greywater,
chickens and a rabbit - www.earthlyarts.com

1:45 - 2:15 - Fort Awesome - 3090 and 3088 King St.
2 houses owned by the non-profit Cooperative Roots, garden, solar
electric and hot water, chickens -
cooperativeroots.org

2:15 - 3:05 - Snack Break at Fort Awesome
Rest and munch on lite snacks from Food Not Bombs. Optional tour of
garden on Sacramento - www.ebfnb.org

3:15 - 3:45 - Christopher Shein’s home - 1526 Fairview St
Straw bale office space, bamboo chicken coop and shower, intensive
garden, nursery, greywater - www.wildheartgardens.com -
www.merrittlandhort.com

4:05 - 4:45 - Mariposa Grove - 828 59th St, Emeryville
Cohousing community with garden, chickens, 3 buildings contain
apartments and shared space. - healthyarts.com/mariposagrove

5:00 - 5:30 - Halcyon Commons - Between Webster & Prince St on Halcyon Ct
Community designed and initiated park dedicated in ‘96 after 4 years
of community involvement. - www.bpfp.org/affiliate-groups/Halcyon

The Ecology Center is having a greywater tour from 10-11 on Sunday as well:
www.ecologycenter.org/calendar/event.php?eventID=24747
If you are interested, you MUST pre-register.

The International Biking Fund is a wonderful resource for information on cycling in general, and that means children’s cycling, too. I don’t think I could give you better advice on the ins and outs of buying a bicycle for a child of any age. They have a guide for sizing a bike and what to look for when purchasing a bike for you kid. Once you know what you are looking for, don’t be afraid to check out Gigoit, Craigslist, or Freecycle for used bikes that meet the specifications you are looking for.

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But what happens when the going gets wet? With autumn and winter just around the corner, it’s easy to let the wet weather dampen the excitement of the ride. As the days contract and sunshine turns to rain, do we trade in our bazillion-mile-to-the-gallon peddling machine and our great summer biking legs for a piddly twenty-five miles to the gallon? Not a chance.

It turns out that year-round bikers have a second theme song: "Riders On The Storm." Feel free to hum along as we look at some fairly easy ways to bike safely and arrive dry, even in the rain.

1. Always use front and rear bike lights for early morning, evening, and wet weather rides. You may be able to see without a headlight, but drivers have a more difficult time seeing you. A flashing taillight makes you more visible from behind as well.

2. Reduce your speed for greater control of your vehicle. Most times, we have fewer than 10 miles to go on our daily rides, so going slower will only add a few minutes onto the time of our ride.

3. Give yourself more time to stop. Wet brakes need to burn off water before they can grip properly. This translates into a greater stopping distance.

4. Apply even pressure to both the front and rear (or left and right hand) breaks to avoid skidding.

5. Keep in mind that motorists have poorer visibility and less control over their vehicles as well in the rain. Bike defensively and make yourself visible with bright clothing (more on clothing to follow bellow).

6. Put rain guards or fenders over your tires. College campuses have an affectionate term for the line of muck and water that wet tires can spin up onto your back: they call it the "freshman stripe." By the second year of college, most people have learned to appreciate fenders on their bikes.

7. Keep a wide enough distance from parked cars that you won’t have to take evasive action if someone opens his or her car door in front of you.

8. Bike predictably. When you are biking next to parked cars, maintain your place on the road. Even if a crosswalk or some empty parking spaces give you the chance to bike further to the right, keep biking in a straight line. You’ll be more predictable to motorists and you won’t have to worry about merging back into the flow of traffic.

9. Follow the rules of the road. This is true all year long, but is especially important in wet weather.

10. On roads with no bike lane, make yourself clearly a part of traffic. Be confident and assertive about your position on the road. When you come to a stop sign or red light and there’s no bike lane, maintain your place in traffic by coming to a stop in the line of traffic and waiting your turn to cross the intersection.

11. Where possible, avoid biking over metal manholes, painted pavement, subway ventilation grates, and construction plates. These can all be slippery when wet.

12. Also avoid puddles and wet leaves. Puddles can hide potholes and wet leaves can be slippery. Also, there’s no telling how deep puddles are. A friend of mine shared the amusing story of biking under a walkway during a period of heavy rain and ending up in chest-deep water. No harm done, but certainly a situation worth avoiding.

13. When bicycling over slippery surfaces, keep your wheels perpendicular to the ground and balance your weight evenly. Avoid sharp turns or leaning in the direction of your turn.

14. As usual, cross railroad tracks at an angle, preferably a perpendicular angle. Never attempt to cross railroad tracks with your wheels parallel to the tracks.

15. When locking your bike, turn your lock so that water doesn’t run into the keyhole.

16. Save your morning shower for after your ride. If your office does not offer showers, find a gym neaby your workplace so that you can rinse and towel off when you get near work. This rearrangement of your schedule will allow you to arrive refreshed and dry to work.

17. Bring a change of clothes. Either keep dry clothes in a plastic covering that you take with you to work, or leave a change of clothes in your desk.

18. Bring a plastic bag or shower cap to put over our bike seat if you park your bike outside. This will keep your seat dry until you’re ready to bike home.

19. Dress for the drizzle. If there’s one place that knows about biking in the rain, it’s the University of Washington in Seattle. The weather-savvy folks at this university have compiled their own list of wet weather clothing for cyclists:

• A cycling rain shell. This is different from a rain "jacket" or a rain "coat." Generally it will not have a hood, and it will have underarm and side ventilation (zipper or mesh). The advantage is that you can put what ever cold weather insulation you need on underneath of it, using your hoodie or favorite sweater for warmth. Beware of cheap imitations! You want something made out of plastic, or heavily coated nylon. Get it a little big, so that you can wear layers underneath. The underarm ventilation works to keep it from turning into a little greenhouse as you ride.

• Foot covers and wool socks. Nothing is quite as annoying as spending the rest of the day with wet feet. Not all of us have a locker or an office to keep a change in, so spend the extra few dollars on some Merino wool socks by SmartWool or Sock Guy. Wool will stay warm, even if wet. Combine wool socks with some kind of neoprene or other water resistant booties that go over your shoes, and you could have toasty warm toes all day! Booties also extend the life of your expensive bike shoes.

• Legs. Rain pants are a great option, but expensive and should be tried on before buying. Second Ascent (used!) in Ballard and REI are good places to go. Some folks swear by using mountaineering gators just on their calves, others prefer full leg rain pants and others think that having wool or polyester pants over Patagonia long underwear or cycling tights is the way to go. It kind of depends on your own sense of style.

• Visor and helmet cover or a cycling cap. It is important to keep something under/over your helmet to keep your head warm, and equally important to have a visor (especially if you wear glasses). Cycling caps are a cheap way to take care of that, but they are cotton and don’t dry well. Helmet covers are a good option, but tend to wear around where your helmet sticks out. It’s a personal decision, but it’s important to have something keeping your body heat in and the rain out.

• Gloves! Preferrably padded, and full finger or half finger with regular knit gloves underneath. They are very important to help keep your grip when it’s slippery.

20. Most winters only have a small number of truly pouring wet days. On these days, you can follow these tips to stay as dry as possible, but there’s no harm in jumping on the bus or the subway either.

Additional references and resources:

Riders on the Storm (bicycling video) | San Francisco Bicycle Coalition

Biking in the Rain Tips | The University of Washington

Cycling in the Rain | Suite 101

The Ultimate Resource Guide for Commuting by Bicycle | 21st Century Citizen

Better Living Through Biking | GO

How to Ride Your Bike to Work | GO 

Lighter Footstep: How to Buy a Great Used Bicycle | GO

Environmental Defense: Bicycling to Work Pays Off | GO

Photo Source:

A Bicycle in the Rain | Flickr

When was the last time your dad went camping? If he is like my dad, he hasn't slept in a tent since he visited me and I was living in a tent on South Fork Mountain! The last time my dad took a real camping trip was when I was a child. Depending on the age and health of your father, you may need to go car camping or find a short trail for the adventure. Remember, it is hard for older bones to sleep on the ground, so an air mattress may be necessary. If camping is too big of an ordeal, how about taking dad for a hike or bicycle ride. My father was very good at taking us into nature frequently, despite our suburban upbringing. Revisiting one of our favorite childhood hikes would be a nostalgic moment we could share with the next generation. A bicycle ride would be a similar adventure, reminding Dad of the times when he taught you how to to ride a bike. When was the last time you made your dad a card or a gift? A gift made with your hands will bring a smile to his face. You don't have to be super crafty or an artist to accomplish this task. Find your talents, whether digital or by hand, and create something your dad can hang on the refrigerator! If you are musically inclined, write dad a song or sing him one of his favorites. If you feel you must spend money to honor your dad, there are plenty of ways you can show your green love. You can make a donation to No More Victims, a non-profit that brings injured Iraqi children to the US for medical treatment. Or, you could buy Dad a plant and help him put it in the ground. If you can't be there with Dad, Tree2MyDoor will send a living gift for you or a tree gift pack that supports a conservation project throughout the world. This gift includes a GPS map of the site, so when Dad takes his next trip to Chile or Belize, he can find his gift! Holidays, such as Father's Day, should not always be about buying gifts. Remember what your mother said, "It is the thought that counts," so be thoughtful this year. Let Dad know you love him and appreciate him by giving a truly sustainable gift.