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.