Too Cool Truck

We sold our last automobile 5 months ago, and haven't missed it at all. Living in Florida, commuting by bicycle is easy. Warm winter days, cool but pleasant evenings, with the Pinellas Trail right next to the store, and bicycle lanes everywhere, make for a cyclist's dream.

But if we ever got another truck, I'd want this one:

I wouldn't want to drive it, just park it in front of the shop. And when I give people directions over the phone, just tell them to look for the truck. I wouldn't even have to tell them what color or make.

Just look for the truck, dude. You'll know.

But, there does seem to be something missing here.  What could it be?

Wait - oh yeah, I know. There, that's MUCH better now:

Merry Christmas, and Happy Holidays, from all of us here at JCS Cycles.

Putting the Car to Pasture

This Yuba Mundo Replaced our F150 Pickup Truck

With gas prices heading out of sight, budget cuts threatening our infrastructure, and monster storms born from global warming demolishing our roads and landscapes, the time is now for considering a turn from use of automobiles to use of mass transportation, bicycling, and simple walking to get around. Some analysts are predicting $6 - 7 dollar per gallon gas prices in the near future, which is more typical of Amsterdam than Atlanta. And unfortunately, our mass transit is far inferior to what the Low Countries have for their citizens.

I have had several people in my office inquire about bicycles for commuting use. And, sadly, there is a lot of education needed in the US on relative value and pricing in cycling. Thanks to BS ads by TARGET and other big-box stores, the average consumer thinks it's possible to get a good bicycle for $100 - $200 dollars US.

So when I quote a price in the area of $1000 - $1500 to get a good functional, durable, and affordable bicycle to replace an automobile, I get pained looks. It's not only sad, but it's a big roadblock to the effort of getting people out of automobiles and on the bicycles in our country.

Another LBS owner wrote about the "Race to the Bottom" in quality in the USA. Too many bicycles feature cheap components on cheap frames. And I see this not just in manufacturing, but in other parts of the economy. We are in the middle of destroying our high tech industries by attempting to outsource critical jobs to third world country workers who are far inferior to our US talent pool.

The question I have to ask is - Why? No one is going to be able to build a new geared bicycle for daily use that costs less than $1000. That's a fact. Nor can we take a worker with over 20 years of experience and substitute someone who is one generation removed from dirt streets with no experience, strictly on the basis of salary. This mortgages your company's - and country's future - for your stock options.

Which is why so many courageous young people are setting up shop on Wall Street and throughout the country and saying "No" to all of the greed. Because in the end, that's what it's all about. When money and power run your life, you never have enough. And other people just become "things", and not human beings.

But that's another subject for others to take up. Let's focus on the cost of owning a functional bicycle that can replace an automobile. Consider the real cost of automobile ownership, and then factor in the cost of a new bicycle, set up for transportation use. Compared to the average cost of $30,000, that looks pretty good next to the bicycle.

Today marks the one month point of going totally carless. Our savings so far:

Gasoline: $400.00

Insurance: $124.00

Depreciation $250.00

=================

Total $774.00

That's just the cost of one car, being driven daily on a 30 mile round trip commute, and on the endless numbers of 2 miles or less trips we all take to go shopping. We formerly had two vehicles, until we sold the first in 2008.

In two months, you would have enough money for a brand new transportation build, aong with racks and bags to haul stuff. Food for thought, isn't it. How much would YOU save if you gave up one vehicle? And started living locally and simpler?

More on this next week.

The End of The Season

"When the white eagle of the North
   flies overhead,
And the browns, read, and golds of Autumn
   lie in the gutter, dead."


I saw the end of summer today. I knew it was coming, and had been expecting it for a while. The afternoons have still been hot, but the breezes have had a hint of coolness on the rides home. The last few cold fronts have brought back the sub-70 degree morning temperatures, and the morning ride is back in total darkness again.

But today, there was the first real sight of autumn - fallen leaves blowing down the road.

Some of the trees are beginning to lose their cover, and it won't be long now until the sleeveless jerseys of summer give way to the short sleeves, and then the riding jackets of autumn. Summer is coming to a close, and with it, many other things, as well.

After several year of carless commuting, I have changed my whole outlook on cycling, and on life, too. Daily cycling has given me back my time, and my life, again. It has changed my focus and priorities, and my goals. Living locally, and simpler, I have found a way out of the consumer way of living, and moved towards the sustainable life. The old way is passing, and a new way beckons.

It's just a simple matter of learning to let go. The same way I let go of my automobile four years ago. I see now that letting go of my automobile was just the beginning of a whole new way of living.

I'm taking the time now to savor each morning and afternoon commuting ride, as I know these rides are some of the last for me here.

Soon, I will follow the birds southward, to the land where summer never really dies, and ice storms and winter's chill will become a distant memory.

My future is waiting for me, there, as it always has been.

I won't see the autumn leaves fall again, or hear the sound of summer, passing away.

Ride safe.


"Remember then, the summer birds,
     with wings of fire,
Come to witness Spring's new hope,
    Born of leaves decaying."

Sing Away the Darkness

I heard the owl again today. He is was in the same spot as always, a sound of the night that is darkest right before the dawn of another warm, and muggy, Southeastern day. Now that it's May, I no longer finish my morning commute in the darkness. The damp and cold of a long winter has finally past, and now the welcoming warmth and light of Spring embrace me. 

Here in my 4th year of Life Without a Car, once again gasoline prices have soared above $4.00 a gallon. Speculation, Mississipee flooding and Middle Eastern unrest have conspired to give us a taste of what Europeans have experienced for generations. I see other bicycle commuters now that it's warmer, and with May being National Bicycle month, it's common to see other cyclists giving the ride to work a try. Atlanta can be a tough place to ride a bicycle, but it's not impossible, and I hope this year more people give it a try and stick with it. 

Sticking with it does so much for you and for others. Riding a bicycle for something other that sport is a revolutionary act for newcomers. It flies in the face of consensual social opinion on transportation, it places you outside of the usual steel coffin, and re-connects you with the world around you. It gives you time to think about everything, and nothing, at the same time. It starts you down the road of questioning why things are the way they are, and how they could be improved. And that's always a good thing. 

Commuting by bicycle let's you snicker when people whine about gas prices, and about having to plan "staycations" instead of going away. You aren't affected by any of it, because you save money on gasoline, automobile maintenance, and gym memberships. You aren't limited to staying at home on a vacation. You just book a room at a hotel, strap on a pack, and pedal there. Or better yet, pack a tent and sleeping bag, and pedal off to a campground. You are freed now, and the possibilities are endless. 

And in the early morning, as you pedal along through the end of the night, you can hear the owls sing away the darkness.