The original first post one year ago today




 This is the first post I did on 2/11/10 and I still stand by the statement 100%:


walking to work

 To be clear, it is not that I hate cars, it is just that I feel better when they are not around.

I will not own another car until they come out with one that does not use Gas and one we can afford. I was told today by an auto industry insider( a sister in law of a top executive of a major auto company) that they have a Water based fuel engine, but cannot figure out how to make money from it. Wankers.

I have been carfree since June of '09. This is my second time carfree, first time was from 2001 to 2004. I then became carlite from 2004 until June of 2009.

I do believe the world would be a better place if everybody walked, used bicycles, and used mass transit for transportation. I am not going to try to sell you that idea, even a hamster knows the benefits of wheels and walking.


I am going tell you what it is like to be and feel a carfree American.



my preferred mode of transportation- the bicycle

 Generally cars and Americans go together like baseball and hot dogs, but carfree and American
that is sort of a oxymoron.

I know, if I lived in a big city or college town being carfree would not be a big deal .

I live in a suburb of Kansas City where being carfree is a oddity.  Few bike lanes, crap sidewalks, no/ or little public transportation.

I am alone on the streets and sidewalks most of the time. Alone in my carfree lifestyle, alone in walking and cycling for transportation. I am to most people an oddity, but I feel strong and healthy.

I am a carfree American. Join us in the carlite/ carfree lifestyle.


2/08/11 note: Thank you for taking the time to read, share, and be aware of Carfree American.

The highlights of the blog will be posted this afternoon,  and you will have a chance to meet some other people who choose to live a life where they use alternate transportation for most or all of their needs and for different reasons. Peace!

Mike's ride



Mike

 “I knew I had it as early as 1999.” Mike Reiman told me in one of our interviews as he sipped his coffee. “I had symptoms, mainly the oscillating hand movements.” He seemed almost indifferent, telling me. One could see he has fully accepted the grasp of the disease, eleven years, after the first signs.

I first saw Mike on a weekly organized group ride in 2009, called the Brookside Ride, in Kansas City. The group was moving slowly up a long hill, and I noticed a rider solo rider ahead of me.

The rider seemed focused on the road ahead, but seemed overly careful and cautious, I could tell there was something going on even though his line was true.

Uncertain what his issue was, I chose to ignore him on that first ride together. The second time on the ride I passed him and made some silly comment about the weather. The third time, I saw him after the ride with a group of cyclists who went for food and drink at a local pub. I sat at another table, and later that night the Brookside Ride leader told me, after I inquired about this man's story, that his name was Mike, he had Parkinson’s and that he use to play with the Chicago Symphony, then moved back to KC after he retired and was living in Brookside with a relative.

Mike's story was worth telling. But I did not do anymore group rides that year and did not see him again.

A year later I saw him in the grocery store in Prairie Village and introduced myself. Then, a few months later, he was at a coffee shop in Brookside and we had the first of many long and interesting conversations.

Getting ready for a downhill ride in the Rocky
Mountain National Forest

 “I grew up in Waldo, in Kansas City.” He said with a smile, “I got my first bike in 1968.” Staring out the window I could see he was thinking about the past.

Mike moved from KC to Chicago, and back to KC. He is living with a relative in Brookside. He lived in Chicago for a number of years, going there to study music at Northwestern. He played Trombone and the bass guitar. He studied with the Chicago Symphony and worked at golf course for his career.


“I started commuting to work and for errands in the 1980s; riding my bike  for transportation made more sense than using my car.” He said with a serious tone, “By the time I got in my car, dealt with traffic, and parking, I found I could already be inside the store if I had ridden my bicycle.”

I asked him about the Chicago winters.

“I still rode in winter when I could.” He smiled, “I remember one time, when it was snowing heavily, I got on my mountain bike and rode to a restaurant to meet friends for dinner. There I was, fully bundled up, wearing a ski mask,  rolling up on my bike. My friends just laughed.”

Mike developed symptoms of Parkinson’s and self diagnosed in 1999. “I wasn’t officially diagnosed with Parkinson’s until 2003” He stated as he looked me square in the eye, not seeking any recognition .



Mike and I in PV

“Did you slow down your bicycling?” I asked.

“No!” He said with conviction, “I rode more!” He told me he did not want the disease to get the better of him and the more he rode his bike the better he felt.

And ride he did. Eventually, he moved back to Kansas City to live with a relative in Brookside. Bicycling became a life style and a way to keep the disease at bay.

Mike rides with a passion and unassuming peaceful quality. Over that last couple of years the disease has caused him to ride less. But he rolls on, and with the help of physical therapy, massage, chiropractor, and acupuncture, he has been able to continue riding and keep the pain at a manageable level.

“I am not able to get the 15-20 miles a day I was doing the last few years, but I am able to ride.” He said, then he told me about riding down to the Plaza and back from his home the day before we met for the interview, it was 25f degrees. He grinned "Just like anything else in life, I have my good days and bad days."

I asked what adventures he had lately and he excitedly told me he was able to ride the Katy Trail over the last two years.



Mike staying in a hotel caboose on the Katy

 “In 2009, I rode from Clinton, MO to Jefferson City.” He said proudly. “It was hot, July, and like a lot of people, I ran out of water. Luckily I met someone who shared some with me.” He said and he laughed, “Then I got caught in a four day rain and decided to stop at Jefferson City.”

In 2010 he finished the trail riding from Jefferson City, Missouri to St. Louis. “Last year was harder, there was more pain.” He said solemnly. “I finished though, and made a video.”

Mike is doing well, winter is here, and for someone with Parkinson’s winter is no fun. On our last interview in November, he told me he had been hiking on some mountain bike trails, yes, hiking. He is as active as he can be. Still riding when he feels up to it, no matter what the weather and staying active.





If you are lucky and in Brookside, you may just bump into Mike. Be sure to chat with him.
Mike you are truly and inspiration and I appreciate the opportunity to get to know you. You have a disease that is tough to live with, but your inner fire is stoked and I am excited for your future adventures. I look forward to riding with you soon!


Mikes Katy Trail video:

Kansas Cyclist rolls 25,000 miles and still going strong



photo by Randy Rasa





25,000 Miles

 Congratulations to Randy Rasa for his epic milestone of riding 25,000 since he started  keeping track of his cycling in 2004.

"Hit a big milestone on last night's ride: 25,000 miles (since I started keeping track in 2004). The Earth is 24,901 miles around. On my next circumnavigation of the globe, hopefully I'll have a chance to see more of it!" Randy said yesterday.



 Randy is the creator of the site Kansas Cyclist .  It is an extraordinary informational website where he shares; resources, news, events, places to ride, advocacy info, trail information, photos, and a first class calender of rides for Kansas and the surrounding states. His podcast is full of information and features that has a NPR feel.  

He also has a blog, DirtBum, where he is "exploring Kansas back roads by bike." The photos are incredible.

Randy and me on a Kansas City, Mo urban adventure

I first met Randy last year and realized his intense passion for cycling and all things regarding cycling. One of the most interesting things about this rogue computer programmer gone cycling addict, is his intense love for history and riding gravel.  



If you happen to be driving on rural Kansas gravel roads, anytime of year, and you see a lone cyclist on a Surly Long Haul Trucker, (day or night), in the distance,  it is probably Randy.
 


photo by Randy Rasa





His knowledge of the local history and bridge history makes riding with him extremely interesting,
but be warned,
he likes gravel and minimum maintenance roads so bring your fat tires and have the time of your life!
 
 




Bill Poindexter, Randy Rasa, and Nitin Pai, on a gravel ramble
to Louisburg, Kansas and surrounding area. Circa 2009

 Randy lives in the country and is carlite. I am amazed when he rides 20-30 miles from his home into the city for a "ride" and then rides 20-30 miles back out to the country, usually at night. A true adventurer, cycling advocate, photo journalist, historian, programmer, naturalist, lover of life and all things related to cycling.

 

We salute Randy Rasa for his 25,000 mile trek. Congratulations!

 

Check out Kansas Cyclist, and DirtBum for more about Randy and his adventures! See some great photos! He is also on the board of directors for the State wide advocacy group KanBikeWalk

Amie Lamb, a carfree story in Reno, Nevada.

Amie let us know she recently had a anniversary, carfree for a year! I sent her a note of congratulations and asked her to share her story for us:

Honestly, earlier in the decade, I didn't have a car in Portland for 6 years (out of high school) and got around by bike. A Trek 7600 multi-track, she has been most faithful. Mostly it was because I was too poor and stubborn to get a car. And I felt like a bad ass riding those hills every day. Riding up Broadway and beating the lights is so much fun. Riding over the Sylvan Hills is just brutal.

Then I moved to eastern Nevada for a few years to work as a geologist. I broke my carless streak there. Except for recreational riders, people on bicycles were generally thought to be riding because (1) they have had their license revoked, (2) they have no friends to give them rides, or (3) their cars are broken. There was tangible social pressure to not commute by bike. Weird, really. People refused to ride to work because they were scared of what their coworkers would think. Bizarre.

After three years there, I moved to Reno to go to grad school. I've been in Reno for over a year, and my car broke down last November. I could have replaced it or done more repairs, but got rid of it instead.

The arch-plan was become carless again! by (1) letting the car break down and get rid of it (2) emplace infrastructure to make it easy for me to not drive and save time. I reasoned that I would rent cars occasionally when I needed them to go on trips to the field. Also, I intentionally found a neighborhood with everything I needed within easy human-propelled distance (work, the co-op, parks, downtown, bus lines, yoga studio, etc.) Downtown is less than a mile away, the co-op is a 10 minute walk, yoga across the street, school is 2 miles away, even good restaurants and bars are a stone's throw away. And I haven't replaced the car yet, (though honestly I was wishing for one in the really cold and snowy winter last year.)




Cool picture of Amie, well, Amie's, look closely.
(photo by Melissa Test)

 So that's the story. I love riding, it makes me happy. I like the wheels rolling and that smile that spreads across your face, I like not being sealed from the outside elements, and that extra blood rush/flow, warm quadriceps, and breathlessness from pushing up a hill. And not having to drive around the block to find parking. The motivation to start biking has become equally pleasure and principle -- that fact that cars generate the most CO2 in the first three miles of driving (while the engine is warming up to max combustion), and the average commute is that long. It feels selfish to poison the environment for convenience. That is a 15-20 minute bike ride vs a 10 minute drive, plus parking...

As a side note, I really think that a lot more people would go carless if there were infrastructure for it. Because it's a pain in the butt to do it here, compared to Portland. Better educated (commuting) populace, better trains and buses (my friend actually was on a greyhound last month where someone died of an overdose, and I myself will never suffer the indignity and unpleasantness of a Greyhound ride again). The habits of people to just jump in their cars is a well-ingrained and convenient ritual, that doesn't really even gain a whole lot for them in the long run. I'm sure you know the laundry list -- more disconnected, higher bills, dirtier air, weenier, etc. So, bike riding and walking.

As a second side note, fortunately, as a city, Reno is really active in the bike advocacy arena. Elly Blue and Joe Biel came through town with the Portland biking story during their Bikestravaganza tour, and I had the opportunity to organize the event. It was really, really heartening. A lot of people came to the forefront who are active and passionate about improving cycling in Reno, and it was a fabulous experience.

Thanks for putting up a page and being an advocate.

Cheers,
Amie

Great story! Thanks for sharing Amie! If you want to learn more about whats going on in bike advocacy in Reno check out the Reno Metro Bicycle Advocacy Group or Metrobaggers as they call themselves.





James Osborne-carfree American profile-Denver, Colorado

Tell me a little bit about you (name, age, occupation, married, kids, carfree or carlite, where you live)?




Cargo bikes work for transportation too!

 James Osborne, 27. I have been married for 6 years and we are expecting our first little one next year. We live in Centennial, Colorado, a southern suburb of Denver and have for a few years. I try to be car-lite as much as practical, and my wife and I share one car.


When did you start using a bicycle for transportation and what other forms of transportation do you use?

About three years ago the car I had for several years started having serious issues, and I realized I was driving it less and less. We lived just a few blocks from a light rail station and it was very easy to ride to the station and take the train the 9 or 10 miles to my office. Finally I realized it was ridiculous to have a car sitting in front of our house that barely worked and I never drove, and we sold my car for pence.


What is a day in your bicycling life like?

In short, fantastic! Our house is about 8 miles from my office and it’s easy for my commute to be mostly on off-street paths or neighborhood roads. Riding feeds my eating habits and keeps my stress down. Commuting allows me to get a lot of riding in without taking too much time away from other things.


Do you recommend cycling to friends/family members/others? Have any taken you up on it?

I’ve slowly spread bikes among friends and family. I try not to be too self-righteous about it, as I realize it’s not for everyone. This year I convinced a co-worker to ride with me on Denver’s Bike To Work Day and she has been bike commuting about one day a week since then. I have other friends that ride and my brother-in-law has ridden his commute for quite a while.




James and his Surly Long Haul Trucker

 What kind of bike are you currently riding?

My daily driver is a stock ’08 Surly Long Haul Trucker. I was riding a road bike before I started commuting regularly and prefer a road bike for rides of more than a few miles. Riding year round in Denver is usually a breeze, but we usually have to deal with a few weeks of snow. When the roads are bad I pull out a dedicated ice bike, an old rigid Trek mountain bike. On the advice of Peter White (http://www.peterwhitecycles.com//) I got some Nokian Mount & Ground studded tires, which I can’t imagine the winter without.




Ice biking!

 In your opinion, what’s the best part about cycling for transportation?

I have to pick just one? I suppose I would have to say getting to ride my bike every day. Sure there are health, environmental and financial benefits. But mostly, I just like riding my bike, and I like that commuting lets me ride my bike.


What’s the worst?

The occasional inconvenience of an out-of-office meeting or something out of my routine. All of life is a trade off, and there are downsides to driving that, in my opinion, far outweigh the downsides to biking.


Do you have a favorite carfree/carlite story?


I love the first warm spring ride, when I can leave the house in the morning without a jacket and in shorts. I love jumping on my ’74 Schwinn Collegiate for a cruise to the grocery store or the bank. I love riding adjacent to bumper-to-bumper traffic and realizing that I don’t have to be part of that if I don’t want to.




What are three pieces of advice you would give to someone starting/ considering commuting by bike?
1) Ease your way in; don’t feel obligated to spend $1,000 on a new bike and gear just to try it.
2) If you know someone who rides a lot, talk to them about what routes they might suggest.
3) Ride when you want to. If it becomes an obligation quickly, you won’t want to ride!


Anything else you would like to add?

The best bike is the one you want to ride.


Thanks James and congrats on being pregnant!!! I see a trailer is in your future!

Read more about James and his carfree life at
http://onelessindenver.blogspot.com/

Weekend KC events- KanBikeWalk meeting/ride and Cranksgiving.

On Saturday the 20th. Our good friend Randy Rasa of the http://www.kansascyclist.com/ will be leading a ride before the annual KanBiewalk meeting:

KanBikeWalk (http://www.kanbikewalk.com//) is holding their annual

meeting this Saturday (Nov. 20th) in Olathe. This is a great opportunity
to participate in making our local communities, and the state of Kansas
as a whole, a better place to ride a bike.

I'm leading a casual social ride, starting at 10am from the Indian Creek
Branch of the Olathe Library. This is located right on the Indian Creek
Trail (about 129th & Blackbob), so it's within easy cycling distance for
anyone in Olathe, Lenexa, Overland Park, Leawood, and other KC-area
cities. If you prefer to drive to the meeting, that's OK, too -- there's
plenty of parking space at the library.

Randy Rasa

The ride will be about 20 miles at a leisurely pace. The ride will
showcase some of the great facilities we're lucky enough to have in
Olathe. Most of the route will be on paved trails and streets with bike
lanes. If you haven't experienced some of Olathe's newest facilities,
such as the bike lanes and new multi-modal interchange on Lone Elm, the
bike lanes on 127th, and the new section at the southern end of the
Indian Creek Trail, here's your chance to get a guided tour!

After the ride, anyone who's interested can gather at Spin Pizza on
119th Street (a great local bike-friendly business) for lunch, with the
open house meeting to follow back at the library at 1:30pm.

I know most of you are interested in improving the safety of our
roadways, and ensuring that we'll always have a place to ride. Those
things don't happen by accident. People -- you and me -- have to speak
up and get involved. There are lots of ways to do that, and KanBikeWalk
is trying to help all Kansas bicyclists and pedestrians speak with one
strong voice. We can do more together than we can alone. Here's a great
chance to step up and make your voice heard.

Even if you're not able or willing to become involved in the
organization, we'd love to have you ride with us, no strings attached.
All are welcome!

Here are the details on the ride and meeting:
http://www.kansascyclist.com/news/2010/10/kanbikewalk-annual-meeting-2010/

Hope to see you there!
Randy



Then....our good friends Jeff Perry and Sam Swearngin are inviting us to

Cranksgiving on Sunday the 21st

Local cyclists will come together, ride, buy food and necessities, for those less fortunate. Some ride slow, some fast, but all welcome. 


Where: Anita Gorman Discovery Center,4750 Troost Ave, Kansas City, MO


When: November 21, 2010 12:30 pm
What:Bicycle Alleycat Race to support St. Peter’s Food Pantry
Cranksgiving Alleycat Race
November 21, 2010 12:30 pm

On Kansas City, Missouri November 21, 2010 - For the fifth year in a row, bicyclists in Kansas City will ride an Alleycat race through the city, starting at the Anita Gorman Discovery Center at 48th and Troost stopping at grocery stores to pick up one or two items and rolling on to another, visiting up to 10 stores before finishing at St. Peter's Legacy Center at 6415 Holmes Road. Groceries will be donated to St. Peter’s Food Bank.

Cranksgiving, first organized in New York City in 1999 ,by Antonio Rodrigues and continues to be run there. After Rodrigues moved to York, PA, the event spread to there as well as to Des Moines,IA, St. Louis and other cities throughout the country.

The first Cranksgiving in Kansas City was started by local photographer and cyclist Michael Forrester, with Grant Redwine and Jason Wingate. The race brought together riders from the various communities within Kansas City area cycling. The following year, the Greater Kansas City Bicycle Federation and 816 Bicycle Collective began organizing Cranksgiving.

In 2009, riders filled the stage at the Brick with food donations. “In the first event,” says director Jeff Perry, “we gathered foods for a Thanksgiving dinner. It seems that hunger has become a larger problem, so now I ask the riders to gather staples like peanut butter, soup and cereal. Another item that the food banks have asked for in the past is soap and other personal care products, because people can’t use their food stamps for those.”

Alleycat races started as a competition between bicycle messengers and involve a number of check points, much like a typical work day in a messengers life. At Cranksgiving, riders are given a manifest that has a list of grocery stores and items to purchase. Riders will start riding at 1PM and finish at St. Peter’s at 3PM. Methods of carrying groceries vary from messenger bags and backpacks to baskets, panniers and even cargo trailers.

Riders pay no entry fee and register the day of the event, receiving a spoke card and manifest.
(Special thanks to Eric Rogers for description)

For additional information
Contact Jeff Perry, cell 816-807-7276 or jeff.perry@gmail.com

 Cranksgiving see event site on Facebook

Hope to see you there, and tell your friends!!!

Gobble, gobble!

No Pants!

I love riding my bike! Especially in shorts, in winter, below freezing! I know its a little nutty, but when you are carfree and in the elements every time you go somewhere your body acclimates to the temps. What would have been a uncomfortable ride three months ago was fantastic today.

Morning bike commute, 29f degrees, and sunny.

Since this a new blog, I am still finding my voice in my writing. I think it is important for you the readers to know more about me. Ask me anything?

Here is a good bio in the form of a article from the League of American Bicyclists and a podcast done by Randy Rasa of http://www.kansascyclist.com/news/index.php?s=bill+poindexter

carfree American tip 2: Survival tip. Understand you are invisible to a car-centric world. You are out on a walk or a bike ride, the people who drive cars are not paying attention to pedestrians or cyclists. Just assume they don't see-you will live longer. Be aware.

sunshine, the blues, and dope

I am happier when the sun is shining. Most of my commutes since the first of the year have been cloud covered and cold. If you are like me seasonal affect disorder (SAD) is on me within minutes of the cloud covering the sun.

I remember watching the TV show Northern Exposure years ago and one of the characters an old trapper named Walt was prescribed a light visor to trick his brain into thinking it was light in the darkness of the Alaskan winter the brain would produce mood enhancing natural drugs so he would be happy. He ended up using it too much, became addicted. His friends had to intervene and take the visor from him dooming him to the melancholy winter life.

What is it like to be a carfree American? It is hard.

What did you think I was going to give you some fluff telling you how great it is? Well?

Let's start with the American part of carfree American. I am an American, and proud of it. Ever since I was a baby (maybe before) I have been indoctrinated that cars and America go together- I am NOT proud of that.

I was under the impression I would ; die, be ridiculed, be embarrassed, be stranded, uncool, be limited in my local travel, if I did not own and drive a car. I never heard the term carfree until I was 36. I read in a book called Divorce Your Car.

When I was younger I remember being jealous of the people walking and biking places, they seemed happier.

I can tell you 100% for sure, I am a happier American being carfree.

Why is being carfree hard?

For me, I live in a car-centric environment. There is no public transportation. So, my choice for transportation is limited to walking and biking. I love both, but sometimes I wish I had a car. (Told you I am brainwashed).

Winter is the hardest, at night, below 10f, when you are warm and toasty but you want something bad. You have to put on the layers for protection. It is serious business depending how far you need to go to get that snack, or groceries, or whatever else you think you have to have enough to make you go out in the night, in the snow and ice.

Once the walk or ride starts, something happens, whether you are walking or biking. You start moving, all your senses come alive-see a gorgeous world, smell the fresh air, feel the earth below you or the bike under you, and hear the world around you. In an instant that hard inconvenience becomes a adventure and you are doing what most will not-experiencing life in the moment-aware of everything around you and not be confined to a unnatural metal cage. The wishing I had a car goes away and I remember why I am carfree, and thinking, "this is awesome!" And it is, maybe it is your bodies natural mood enhancers-your own natural dope.

NOTE: Last year I rode my bike 9,178 miles- the majority was for transportation on a local level. I loved every minute of it.

carfree American Tip 1: One thing I do everyday is try to notice something I have never seen or notices before. It keep the commutes fresh and it is fun to be aware of new things!