Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Just Another Day In Bellingham, WA 3

May 21st was the 13th annual Bike To Work Day. We have had rainier Bike To Work Days, and windier, and even sunnier. But we have never had a colder one, and I hope we never do.

I was part of the crew running the downtown Celebration Station in front of Starbucks. I had to go in twice to buy a tea, not because I was thirsty but because I needed the warmth. Yipes.

Nonetheless a couple of hundred brave bikers and walkers stopped at our station, and an equal number biked past without stopping. (We also had skateboarders, a unicyclist and a wheelchair user.)

All got treats and chances at prizes provided by wonderful sponsors like Haggens, Mallards, Sweet Art, the Bagelry, Starbucks, and VIllage Books, to name a few.

In the attached picture by Teecer i"m the chilly guy on the right in the hoody. Next year, let's hold this thing in May instead of February.

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Just another day in Bellingham, WA 2



Bird on Bicycle!
Originally uploaded by brettbigb
The first Saturday in May is the Procession of the Species. A parade for anyone who comes dressed as an animal or plant. Three rules: No engines, no words (written or spoken), and no live animals. I believe that last rule was violated, or there were some VERY convincing dog costumes.

Photo of my friend Doug as raven by brettbigb

Sunday, May 2, 2010

30,000 guilt free miles


When I started working at the university I bought a parking pass. This was a hunting license allowing me to look for a space in a gravel lot that was a twelve minute walk from my office.

A year later, when it came time to renew the permit, I said the heck with that, and bought a bike. It turns out that for what it would cost to park a car I can buy a nice bike every few years and throw in the university-subsidized bus pass for those days when the weather or my health make a bike look two wheels too few.

Recently I calculated that I have commuted to work a whopping 30,000 miles since I switched to the bike. According to the EPA’s Household Emission Calculator that's about 408,420 pounds of CO2 I didn't produce.

Besides being good for the planet my bike commute is great for my health and easy on the wallet - it has extended the life of my car by, most likely, two years.

This is worth celebrating, and it happens that Friday, May 21, is Bike To Work And School Day. Oddly enough I will not bike to work that day. Instead I will help to staff one of the many Celebration Stations around town. If you bike or bus or walk to your job that day, drop by one of the stations for all kinds of treats - coffee, fruit, donuts, candy, and chances for prizes.

Don't worry about the calories. You can pedal them off.

photo by negscratch