Gosh Darn It's Cold!

Carol has certainly done an excellent job diving into the world of blogging. I on the other hand have dropped the ball a little. To be totally honest it's because so far I really don't have too much to blog about as far this blog goes. It is so darn cold outside that I kinda put myself in hibernation mode and don't leave the confines of my residency unless I need to.

Basically, Carol is kicking my ass.

Ok,so its not to say that I haven't left my house (besides class) since my last entry over ten days ago, cause I have. Last week I went over to my sister's to babysit my niece. That is 1.7 miles each direction with my short cuts through the ever confusing labyrinth of campus side walks and unofficial paths. I also joined Carol downtown to grab some sweet potato fries the other day. That was 1.58 miles each way, carol had to be picked up (CHEATER!)
I also rode to a volunteer meeting on the other end of campus last Friday: 1 mile each way.
This brings my total of biking to: 8.66 miles....not that great....at all.

I HATE THE COLD. As a result of this I have been walking to most places I need to because they are usually no more than about a mile and half. The wind is what kills me when I ride. My face gets to be a nice tomato red, my nose is running like a broken faucet, and when I walk in the door people ask me "what's wrong" cause my eyes are watering so bad. I should invest in proper riding gear.

I've been managing to get carpooled a lot too. I live with 50 guys and at least a third of them have cars and are generally going the same place as me, so if they have open space I ride with them.

Bummer

So my right wrist is out of commission for a while. I think I re-injured it while snowboarding two weekends ago. Unfortunately, all this bike riding has made it progressively worse (the climbing probably hasn't helped either). Last fall I fell walking up some stairs at Horseshoe Canyon Ranch and jammed my wrist and messed up my thumb--that thumb definitely hurts again and my wrist is definitely jammed again :(

So, I'm going to try to not ride my bike so that my wrist can heal so I can get back to training hard! ARG I hate injuries! I understand now why my gymnastics coach wouldn't let us do snow sports during competitive season... lesson learned.

Rode my bike 1.58 miles on Sunday to Dempsey's for sweet potato fries :) mmmm

MIleage Update

BICYCLING
Lots of riding yesterday! It was windy on the way there, but nice on the way home. I also made a lot of necessary stops along the way. I picked up the calendar that a friend of mine made for me and had sent to my weights coach's house. The calendar looks great--it's pictures from our backpacking trip in the Ruby's of Nevada. I picked up food at my parent's house. My mom made me her delicious egg salad. Eggs, curry powder, shredded carrots and celery, sunflower seeds, and mayo, I think. I also got to visit my dog Daisy. :) I miss her, I wish she could live with me... I think I'm going to take her with me on the next climbing trip.

I seem to break bicycle headlights... I think this one just needs new batteries, but I strap it on with a rubber band. I've been using my actual headlamp recently since I haven't fixed the bike light yet... I love my epileptic, seizure-inducing taillight though! I want to get a picture of me riding sometime--I look pretty awesome. I have a bright yellow windbreaker, cycling shorts, trail-running shoes, a hat under my helmet, and an awkwardly small backpack. It's pretty funny.

In any case, the roads haven't been too bad, drivers have been pretty considerate, and I probably feel safer than I should when I ride.

Bike: 13.86 miles


ROUTE


MILEAGE
Altogether now:
12.97
+ 7.91
+ 13.86
---------
34.74 miles via bicycle


BIRTHDAY
My birthday is a week from tomorrow! What should I ask for?
I'm thinking:

1. New Rock Climbing Shoes (that's what I got last year)
2. Bicycle Tune-Up
3. Yoga Book/Class

My bike definitely needs a tune up--the front left side of the break rubs, the gears like to shift up when I'm pedaling uphill, and it's just overall dirty, grimy, and in need of some love. I want new climbing shoes for spring break at Red Rocks, though. My shoes are falling apart and I'd like a second, more aggressive pair. The yoga book would just be cool. I love having teaching/learning tools. The book I want even has weekly practices in it--over 300 weeks worth! I'm really enjoying my yoga class, so the book could be a great addition.

Nice day to ride

Yesterday turned out to be quite the nice day for riding. So here's my ride:

• Home
• Learned
• Home
• Yoga Downtown
• Rec Center
• Hookah Downtown
• Home
  = 7.91 Miles

The cool thing? I beat the cars to the Hookah House (although they did stop for gas) by a long shot, and I made it home from the Hookah House before they did, too because of "parking". Success? I think so.





Peace.

21 January 2010 13:53

MILEAGE LOG
I don't know how to edit the mileage log, but getting us up-to-date: I road to and from Rachelle's (3.85 miles one way) a week ago. Also, I've road my bicycle to the rec twice (2.84 miles taking 19th St because the roads were crummy, and 2.43 miles taking 18th St-- my preferred route). So altogether:
I've road my bike 12.97 miles.
My bus travel is still zero.

http://jeffwerner.ca/images/journal/silver-circle-cycling-IMG_2369.jpg

LOGISTICS
Saturday I begin my job with the Konza Groundwater Monitoring Project. I'll meet the "veterans" on campus to ride out to the site (which is near Manhattan) to learn about the research cite and how to take samples, etc. They are going to drop me off at work on the way back into town so I can work a birthday party (my old gymnastics coach's kid's) at LGA across town, so I think I'm going to stick my bicycle in my sister's car so I can ride home when I get off work. The ride from my apartment to the gym takes about 20 minutes, but I don't like to do it when the sidewalks are all nasty (as they are right n0w) because I use the 23rd street sidewalks. (Cars on 23rd do not like to share their lanes).

http://www.konza.ksu.edu/images/bison4.JPG

FUTURE INFO
Riding to LGA via the 23rd St. route would be 6.28 miles there.
Riding home from there would be 5.44 miles and predominantly down-hill via the 6th St. route.
**All my mileage data is coming from MapMyRun.com I highly recommend checking out and playing with this cite--it's super handy!





PARTY
Invite to all: Underwear party at the ECM Saturday night to raise money for their Sexuality Department! It's a really fun time! (and it's walking distance from my apartment)



DISCLAMER
Here's to my first blog entry, in it's entirety, and annoying lack of flow.

Peace.

First Friday Night Back in Lawrence.

Last night there were a couple of great parties that Carol and I both attended. Luckily they were within a couple of blocks of each other. Biking was a little out of the question because, well, my motor skills are usually not the best on Friday nights. Although walking wouldn't have been that awful, we did manage to get to the parties and back in cars that were headed in our direction and were at full capacity. This followed perfectly with rule number 3.

Tonight there is a tie dye party at Carol's parents about 3.5 miles away. I really want to start racking up the miles on the ole bike, but at night on these streets is asking for a couple broken bones.

Back to a lazy Saturday afternoon.

Start Your Leg Powered Engines!

Our story begins on Los Angeles. Now your probably thinking “Daniel, what the hell? You told me this blog was about you next semester at KU.” Well it is, let me explain and stop jumping to conclusions like the rest of this world. Anyways, my partner in this effort Carol and I were in LA for the new years (that is a whole separate story) and we trying to think of new year’s resolutions, and one quickly came to my mind. “CAROL!” I said in an overly zealous voice. “yes…” she in her “Daniel-you’re-being-annoying-again” voice. “Let’s give up our cars for a semester. We both like to bike, and hate using gas. This idea fits out hippie mind set.” Carol agreed instantly.

Thus our adventure begins, but not without proper explanation.

Mission Statement
To reduce, on a personal level, our dependency on single occupant automotive use, through the methods of bicycling, public, transportation, and car pooling.

Da Rulz:
1. Bicycling or walking to distances within a five mile radius.
If you really think about it, for most of us (defiantly carol and I) the places we go on a daily basis are easily within a five mile radius of our homes. Downtown Lawrence, campus, Rachelle and Kaitlyn’s apartment, The Merch, etc. are all less than five miles.

2. Bus is always ok
“Supporting mass transit encourages better systems and makes it more reasonable for others to also reduce the use of their cars”-Carol

3. Pick up allowed if no more than five blocks off route and driver is heading to the same, or very close, destination.
Example: Our friend Ryan lives about a block from Carol and two from me. We are all in the climbing club. If there is a party for the climbing club and Ryan is going to drive anyways it makes little sense for Carol and me to waste our energy riding our bikes when Ryan is already wasting fossil fuels driving there.
At the same time we can’t demand a ride from anyone. That is just plan cheating.

Daniel and Carol, can’t you be CO2 producing, fossil fuel sucking Americans like the rest of us? Why are you doing this?
To answer the first question: No.

We are doing this because we know that as humans our dependency on fossil fuel is bad for the earth, bad for our health, and has political and economic repercussions. Carol and I are trying to prove that there is a better option than the way our society functions with automotives currently. The health and economic benefits are motivational as well.