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Clear the Air Challenge – Day 19 – Results to date.

July 19, 2010 /

This past week I didn’t save as much as I would have hoped. I still commute to work and ride my bike when I can.  Right now I have saved the following:

  • Trips saved – 64
  • Miles daved – 340
  • Emissions Reduced – 571 lbs.
  • Energy Saved – 15 Gal.
  • Money Saved – $191

The other thing that I have noticed so far is that my wife and I already follow a lot of the travel wise tips. If we are going to be going out we will usually plan ahead and trip chain. I am looking forward to another week. I keep saying this but I really hope to get the bike out this week and ride to work.

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Trade your car for a bike!

July 18, 2010 /

She traded her car for a bike!
New Belgium Brewing is giving away 13 bikes in 13 different cities to people who will trade in their cars. On their website it say, “It’s about weaning yourself off the petroleum teat. It’s about becoming a better, sexier person. It’s about rediscovering the cultural thrill of public transportation.”

All you have to do is submit a video of your story and why you want to be car free. Check out their website for all the details at New Belgium.

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Clear The Air Challenge – Day 15 – Take a kid for a ride.

July 15, 2010 /

Half way there. Today I was going to ride my bike but woke up a little late. I had a problem with the snooze button. I did however catch the bus on time and was on time to work again. I think I have been on time more now that I use public transit than when I would drive to work. I think that is a little backwards but I guess in the car, I would try to cut it too close.

The only problems I have come into with commuting is the heat. It has been super hot the last few days and the walk to the Trax Station has seem twice as far.

But on the positive side, today on the way home my wife was out visiting family by my work, so she dropped off my boy to ride the train and bus home with me. Ever since I have been riding to work he has wanted to come a long with. He had a blast. If you think riding the train or bus is boring, then find a three year old to ride with you. As the train stopped to pick us up, he yells, “All aboard.” He loved going over bridges and watching the people get on and off.

The bus ride home was just as fun. He makes the routine route seem just a little more exciting. I didn’t get to listen to my music or get on the computer but I was able to spend some time with my boy. Commuting has been getting easier.

To end the day today, I hooked up the trailer to my bike, loaded the kids, and rode down to the ball field to watch my brothers play softball. Saving trips is not all that hard if you do a little planning and you try just a little harder.

sam and I

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Day 8 – Results To Date

July 8, 2010 /

It has now been officially a week. Here are my numbers:

  • 37 Trips Saved
  • 183 Miles
  • 314 lbs. of emissions saved
  • 8 gallons of energy saved
  • $99 saved

I am hoping to do a little better this coming week. I have had to drive my car a couple times this past week to get some stuffed moved and delivered.

Clear the Air Challenge – Day 7 – Long Boarding

July 7, 2010 /

I have been commuting to work now for a week. Over the week I have been able to cut 10 minutes off my time.  One way I have done this is by riding my long board from home to the bus and then from Trax to work. I can cover the same amount of distance in a third of the time.  And that is going uphill. Coming down is much faster.

I have really started to enjoy commuting. It has given me some extra time to read and work on some projects that I haven’t had the time to start. I wish that my commute home was a little faster though. It still takes me around an hour and twenty minutes to get home.

One thing that I still need to try is riding my bike. My bike should speed the whole process up. The down side of the bike is that I have to stand and hold it while riding Trax.  Right now I can be on my laptop or read while riding Trax. Also, being July, it is hot outside. So riding a bike doesn’t sound like the coolest way to travel.

(Note this picture is of me long boarding in San Diego and not to work. I wish I could ride along the beach each day to work. Well, maybe someday.)

Clear the Air Challenge – Day 1

July 1, 2010 /

Let me start off by saying how much I love my car. It’s not the car I love it is the ease of having a car that I love. I have always thought it would be a good idea to ride public transportation or my bike, but I have never been able to make myself do it. With the Clear the Air Challenge I thought it would be a good time to start. (You can find out more about this challenge here.)

The last couple of days I have been researching how I was going to get to work. I found out times and locations and what the best way was going to be. I found out that I needed to be at the bus stop at 6:40 am to be to work by 8.

So, it all started at 6:25 this morning when I left my house. I got to the stop early, and it was a good thing I did. The bus arrived 4 minutes early. It was a smooth ride to the Trax(light rail train) station. I am lucky to have a limited stop express bus that I can ride to the Trax station.  As the bus was pulling up to the station the train was just leaving, so I got to wait around for 10 or so minutes till the next one.

Trax was great. It was nice to be able to get on the train and not worry about driving. I will be able to get some work done in the morning, read or just listen to some music on the ride.  When I got to my stop I had a half mile walk to work but it wasn’t bad.

All in all, it worked pretty well. It took 1 hour and 17 minutes from the time I left home, to the time I got to work. It also took exactly the same time to get home. I arrived to work about 20 minutes early today, so I plan to leave my house a bit later tomorrow; we’ll see how it goes. I will be updating my adventures of not using my car for the month of July.

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