...you asked.

If you ride you know those moments when you have fed yourself into the traffic, felt the hashed-up asphalt rattle in the handlebars, held a lungful of air in a cloud of exhaust. Up ahead there are two parallel buses. With cat's whiskers, you measure the clearance down a doubtful alley. You swing wide, outflank that flower truck. The cross-street yellow light is turning red. You burst off the green like a surfer on a wave of metal. You have a hundred empty yards of Broadway to yourself. ~Chip Brown, "A Bike and a Prayer"

People are always curious about my bike-life and I am constantly getting all kinds of questions ranging from: Aren't you scared of getting hit? to When are you going to buy a car, anyway?... but the question that I get most often is most definitely: So, how is biking going? The thing I love about this question is that my answer varies from day to day and definitely from person to person. I mean, that's a big reason I have a blog. So, if I am totally honest with you...I would say that the majority of the time it is going good, but there are definitely days when I get frustrated, tired, or just plain sick of biking. The good days are when the weather is nice, I have plenty of time to get where I need to be, and the traffic is cooperative. The not so good days are the ones that often end up being the most entertaining, where I actually wonder if someone, somewhere, is looking down at me and laughing. Two of my most recent "moments" are described below.

Ahhh. Winter. It is definitely not my favorite time of year. If it didn't involve good food, family, egg-nog and ugly sweater parties I probably would hate it all together. The cold makes me bitter, unmotivated, and physically sick... which is why I live in Charleston, home of the 1oo degree 100 percent humidity summer (BRING IT ON). I'd rather roof a house in the dead heat of August than walk to my bathroom in December (did I mention that we don't use central heat in my house?). So... now that I have established my dislike of cold weather... consider the fact that I am hopping on a bike and riding 5-10 miles a day, completely exposed to the elements. I have struggled with how to deal with this "situation" and the best I can come up with is wearing boatloads of layers, jeans and ear warmers. Yet somehow, this still doesn't make my bike trip home at 8pm after class anymore appealing... especially when my throat is raw from the ride in (I am still waiting for my face warmer thing to come in). Ironically, the worst part about it is the sweating. When you are wearing every shirt you own and happen to be running late, I guess it shouldn't come as a surprise that you warm up reeeaaaalllly fast. There is nothing like coming into a meeting with important people and having to distractingly peel off layers like an onion and fan yourself with the agenda while your neighbor leans away to avoid your "I just worked out" perfume. I know my face is bright red and that I have an amazingly awkward helmet dent in my forehead, thank-you-very-much. My favorite is having to make a serious argument for something while a bead of sweat drips slowly down your back and heads straight for your crack.... oh...if they only knew. And after all of that, you cool off just in time to get back on your bike, your sweat-soaked clothes clinging icily to your body while you long to be as overheated as you were twenty minutes ago.

My second most recent interesting experience involved a mistake that you just have to make for yourself to truly appreciate. I have to start off by telling you that I am partially blind. I have to wear contacts or glasses because otherwise everything is a blur (I mean this is the fuzziest way possible). Because I can't afford to break my glasses and I need to be able to wear my sweet shades, I always sport my contacts when biking. Now I have always been the girl scout type that is always prepared, but for some reason (i.e. two many jobs and not enough time) I have been flaking out lately on the details of life. One of these seemingly unimportant details was always carrying my contact case, extra fluid, and glasses with me when wearing contacts. So I was making my way over the bridge, with the ice cold wind blowing in my face when a kamikaze bug ended his life directly into my eyeball. I tried to stay cool and fish him out without stopping but it soon became apparent that he was not going down without a fight. Next thing I know, I am huddling behind the middle of the bridge trying to get this little dude from inside my eyelid. Somewhere in this process, my contact decides to go bridge jumping and flies off my face, plunging into the current below. My exact thought: "Shit. That's not good." Since I am coming straight from work and heading to class, there is no time for me to turn around and I have to keep going, contact or not. Is there anything more sad that a one eyed biker? Okay, well, clearly there is, but at that point, I was feeling pretty pathetic. For the second time in my life I desperately wanted an eye patch (remind me to tell you about the other one later). But instead I had to bike to class with one eye shut like an idiot. By the time I got there I had kind of gotten used to the nausea and just dealt with it but the bike ride home was brutal. I had no depth perception (I was curb checking like no-ones business) and I actually had to pull over to dry heave because my body could not understand what the hell was going on. I am pretty sure people thought I was biking home while ridiculously drunk. Thinking back, it probably would have make the ride home a little more enjoyable...but lets just say I have never been so happy to put on my old scratched pair of glasses.

Well, like I said, most of the time I make it there and back with no problems and really enjoy myself... but every few trips all hell breaks loose and I have to laugh at myself. So, now you know "how it is going" at this point :-)

Its all downhill from here...literally.

So when I was flying back from Boston and trying to distract myself from hurling (yes, I am the reason they still put barf bags in the seat pockets), I was halfway watching these lame US airway travel commercials when I heard the word "bike". This of course triggered by bike-dar and I instantly started paying attention. In this moment, I discovered the holy grail of bike tours. Before this, I had never really wanted to go to Hawaii, but my jaw dropped (it was literally hanging open) when I saw that they offer a bike tour that is all downhill. On a volcano. FOR 38 MILES. In my shock and denial I said "shut-up" out loud, which made my neighbor with the window seat give me the hairy eye-ball, but I could have cared less (especially since I was the meat in our little airplane sandwich). So yeah...how glorious would it be to rock out for 38 flippin miles on your bike with the warm wind in your hair and the tropical volcano scenery flying past? I am pretty sure it would be LEGEN-DARY. Say "aloha" to this short clip and brace yourself for a preview of lazy biker heaven.

Yes, it is pretty spectacular....but considering my aforementioned motion sickness problem, the idea of spending multiple hours trapped inside of a plane feeling like I just watched 10 hours of home video footage just isn't worth it, down-hill or not. So after all of that excitement, I realized that there are plenty of mountains to bike down, right here on the east coast... now I just need to find someone to drive me to the top and pick me up at the bottom- like a ski-lift for bikers (lazy, out of shape bikers like me). Any takers?

In-famous

As some of you may know... I am quite the busy little tree hugger. Right now I work two jobs, go to school full time, and participate in a few local committees and organizations... and, oh yeah, I ride my bike everywhere. For me, this is just my life and while I would like to say that its not always like this, well it kind of is. I haven't always been quite this busy and hopefully after I graduate I will have a little more time to devote to: a.) sleep b.) my dog c.) a social life.

Because I have so much going on, I will often accomplish great things, but have no time to relish in them since I have already started something else. Well... apparently good deeds really don't go unnoticed and people have begun to let me know that they appreciate my efforts. Over the past year there has been an increasing amount of attention give to the affiliate I work for, including the Green Building Project of the Year, the American Institute of Architects Sustainability Award and more recently a lot of media attention surrounding the Coastal Conservation League/Habitat Greenbuilding Blitz. See a video HERE. or HERE. Yet it wasn't until the past two months that people have started paying attention to me personally. I was contacted by a friend at the City Paper for their Giving Issue which features individuals that work for non-profits. Next thing I know there is a full page spread about me! Click the picture below (taken by http://www.kaitlyni.com/) to read the story.

Before the story ran I found out that I had been nominated and selected for the Sustainability Institute's Leadership Award which is a HUGE honor. The people that I was up against included the owner of Lulan and the creator of Charleston Greendrinks so I definitely feel lucky to have been chosen. The Award that I received was named in honor of Nathanial Jones who was there to present the award to me. He is next to me in the picture below- he rocks. The following pic is me with my awesome supportive friends! (I am still waiting to get photos back from my dad and the professional photographer... these will just have to do.)

So when I was at the Aquarium to accept this award, I was approached by the Post and Courier to be in their paper and next thing I know my 80 year old neighbor is excitedly knocking on my door because my picture is taking up half of the page in the Saturday paper (she is soooo sweet.) You can check it out HERE. At this point, I have stopped forwarding my friends and family the stories because I am just starting to get a little embarrassed by all of the attention.

In the end, I truly appreciate that the community is not only noticing all of my hard work but giving me positive feedback. The best part about it all is that people have been contacting me with their own stories, questions, and support. It is amazing how much of a grassroots green movement is out there just waiting for someone to lead the revolution. I really feel like change is coming to this southern city I call home...and I am hoping that maybe my efforts will make people realize that the power to change the world lies within each of us... it is simply waiting for us to stand up and take action.

Seriously- what are you waiting for? Every journey starts with a single step. Buy a re-usable water bottle. Bring your own shopping bags. Support local stores, buy local food. Start a "Green Team" at your office, school, or neighborhood. Next thing you know you will be selling your car and buying a bike...hahaha... okay, maybe not, but just know that your actions matter, especially to the next generation of small citizens that we influence everyday (that's right- I played the "kid" card). If you don't know where to start- email me- I am full of ideas :-)

"Never doubt that a small, group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." - Margaret Mead.

Beantown

So I have been in Boston the past week for the USGBC Greenbuild Conference and Expo...Let me just say right now- if I complain later on in my blog about being cold, just remind me about the arctic weather in beantown. I am definitely a cold weather wimp, so just keep that in mind, but when I first got to Boston it was at night, temps in the 20s and windy. But even with the air numbing my face, I instantly loved the city. Getting from the Airport to my Hostel was no problem because they have a great public transportation system. For $15 I bought a 7 day pass that gave me full access to trains, subways, and buses. So in about 30 minutes I was at my stop (it took less time to get across Boston that it took for me to change terminals in Charlotte-go figure). As I walked from my T-stop to the Hostel, I passed five bikers braving the weather all geared out and with a whole bike lane to themselves. They were all wearing face masks and gloves, both of which I have now ordered as the temperature starts to drop here in Charleston. During my trip I lost count of how many people I saw on bikes and it was great. The first day of the conference, I paid a little extra to go on a biking tour of green buildings in the city (picture above and below). Now this sounded like such an awesome idea when I was sitting at my computer all warm and toasty, but when the moment arrived and it was under 30 degrees and windy I got cold feet... literally. But I was too excited not to go and braved the cold weather in the southern version of winter clothes (five layers of cotton clothing with a cutesy scarf, no hat, of course) and tried to stay warm. I have to admit it felt weird getting on a bike other than mine- I kinda felt like I was cheating on my little blue bike back home. I definitely missed having shocks- especially since the seat had NO padding...frozen bum meets cold hard seat... yeah. Anyway..our group had about 20 people in it and our guides tried to keep us from getting squished by taxis (they are totally ruthless). When we were all talking about where we were from I said "Charleston" and someone said "oh, well then you must be used to this weather". I was totally confused for the entire ride until someone mentioned that there is a Charlestowne outside of Boston...BIG difference. I chatted up the guides about biking in Boston and surviving the weather. They said that the right gear makes a huge difference but that you just have to be prepared to be cold. He has led bike tours in the snow but said it gets a little dangerous- ya think?. After talking to other people during my trip, it seems that while the city has bike lanes there are still plenty of people that have no respect for bikers- which I guess is going to happen where ever you are. When I was riding in my friends car, it did seem like some serious cutthroat driving and more than once I had to tell them to watch out for bikers. One guy I rode with said he had actually hit a biker that passed him on the right in his blind spot when in a turn lane... luckily they were both going slow and it wasn't bad. Needless to say, I'm not ready to bike commute in a city like Boston yet... and since the T-system is so great, you really wouldn't have to. Charleston is a long way from this point, that's for sure. One guy I was talking to said that he wished he didn't have his car because the only time he drives it is to move it for street cleaning and snow plowing. What ever public transport you are using there, you never wait longer that 10 minutes, unlike here where you can wait up to an hour. And they have maps, schedules, and info kiosks everywhere, so you never have to worry about getting lost. But even with all of its convenience, beauty, and people- I still rather live in Charleston :-)

Waiting

I have had a lot of exciting things happening lately and when I get my pictures back I will let you in on all of the fun. But for now I will share another day of trials and tribulations of my car-less life. The past week the skies have threatened rain at least once a day everyday- which for me is like russian roulette. Without fail, if I ride my bike on a cloudy day, I will get wet and if I ride the bus then the sun will come out. I honestly don't mind getting wet when its warm out but when the temperature drops below 65 (yes, I am southerner), then I become very cold and bitter. Needless to say, I decided to take the bus on Thursday because there was a 60% chance of thunderstorms. Since I decided this last minute, I had to run around like a banchee trying to get ready and had to forgo breakfast... but I made it to class just in time. After class I had an interview with some undergraduates doing a project on social entrepreneurs and then I was free to go.

After a short interview, I decided to catch the 3:30 bus so I could head home and eat. I hustled to my stop and got there with 15 minutes to spare. While 15 minutes may sound like a long time, the buses don't exactly run on-time, so you want to make sure that you don't miss it. There is nothing worse than sitting at the stop wondering if the bus hasn't come yet because you are too early or too late. If you are too late, then it will be a solid 45 minutes until the next shot at getting a ride. So, as you can see, it is worth it to show up a little early to dispel any doubts.

The nice thing about riding the bus on a regular basis is that you know how to judge the arrival of your bus based on other routes passing by. So as the 20 came and went, I knew that my ride was just around the corner. In the beginning I had pleasant conversation with fellow bus riders to keep me entertained, including a discussion on how silly it is for tourist to pay $5 for a 99 cent hot dog. But when the second 20 went by, I started to get worried. I check the time and realized that I had been sitting there for 45 minutes. I started getting a little suspicious and decided to call CARTA. After getting past the automated system and through to an actual human, I was put on hold for 5 minutes. When she came back on she informed me that my bus had broken down, so I asked: "Do you have any idea how long it will be... an hour? a day?" to which she replied with attitude: "No. I'm not a mechanic." I then I started to asked her: "Well could you at least tell the 20 to stop and let people know there bus isn't coming?" but she hung up before I could finish. So after waiting for an hour and desperately hungry- I realized that I had no way of getting home.

Lucky for me, I have enough friends that have flexible schedules, that one of them could come get me. But what about all of the people trying to get to work, home, and school? The clouds were threatening rain as parents struggled to keep their kids entertained and those heading to their second job were trying to flag down cabs. Why is there no system in place for situations like this? No back-up bus? Why weren't the bus drivers stopping to let people know? How is CARTA expecting people to use their bus system if it is unreliable with horrible customer service?

Needless to say, I wrote them a letter with my thoughts as well as suggestions hoping that maybe the next time this happens, they can handle it a little better.

In the end, I am glad that I got stranded because on the way home, my friend and I rescued a stray puppy that was running across a busy road that may have otherwise not have made it. But from now on I think I will bring my bike with me just in case.

getting a bike education

Okay. I know that bikes are pretty simple machines...BUT they are not something that I grew up working on. I understand how bikes work (for the most part) but there are some basic maintenance things that I definitely did not know about. This was made clear to me when I flipped my bike over and reddish orange rust water poured out of my handlebars (yeah, I felt like a horrible parent at this point). My first problem is that I expose my bike to all kinds of good stuff like sand, mud, salt water, dirty street water, and rough streets. The second problem is that after a ride I was just leaning my poor bike against the house and calling it a night. This is no way to be treating an object that I have to depend of for transportation, recreation, and exercise. So, to make it up to my faithful companion, I treated her to a shopping spree, day at the spa, apologized profusely, and begged for forgiveness.

Instead of just totally winging it, I decided to go into the Bike shop and ask for some advice. Let me just go ahead and tell you right now. If you ever want to get a bike mechanic fired up, just mention that you have used WD-40 on your chain. I mean WD-40 can do anything, right? Umm. Wrong. It is actually a degreaser which will strip the much needed lubrication off of your chain and create unwanted friction and wear to your chain. (If you are trying to clean the gunk off the chain, go for it, but then apply lube). If you don't believe me, check out this dude: http://bicycletutor.com/no-wd40-bike-chain/ Now if you are like me and want to use something that is environmentally friendly and biodegradable to clean your bike, there are products like Pedro's Bio Cleaner and Simple Green Bike Cleaner. As for lubrication... I just bought some White Lightening Clean Ride self cleaning wax lube and it is working nicely on my chain.

So what about the rest of the bike? Well... Some parts use medium-weight grease for lubrication and others use oil. I still haven't really gotten all that down yet, but I will sure to keep you informed as I figure it all out. For now: http://bicycletutor.com/lubricants/. The one part of my bike that has really needed help is my break cables, and I have had friends use both oil and grease. Sometime in the near future I need to just make the commitment and buy some of both.

So after a nice bath, a relaxing chain oiling, a deep metal cable massage, and a new indoor parking spot, my girl was feeling like a brand new mountain bike... except for the half broken hiking headlamp that was rigged to the front of the handlebars. Needless to say, I now have the new cateye headlight which makes night biking SO much safer. I also bought a "rescue tool" that looks like something McGyver would have killed for... it is basically a pocket knife on steroids. Granted I have no clue what any of the 20+ parts do, but I am sure I will find out and knowing me, it will be on the side of the road, in the middle of the night, while it pours down rain... and I will tell you all about it.

Until then I will be exploring ways to stay warm as the temperature drops.

Halloween

I can't take credit for any pictures from this month's critical mass but my friend Katie took the two above and my friend Geoff took the rest at the link below. Yes, that is me next to the twinkie (my friend Brett) looking a little too much like my character, Corey Bohan (male BMX biker).

http://thedigitel.com/entertainment/costumed-riders-had-blast-halloween-2052-1102