Looks can sometimes be deceiving…

Have you ever been judged as someone you were not based on the way you looked? This has probably happened to just about everyone out there, especially those of us who don’t always take a lot of effort to consider our outward appearance every single day. This is a great excerpt about this concept. And if you need a lift today, humor will help! Enjoy.

This story was published in Adventure Cyclist magazine in December 2010, and was written by Joe Kurmanskie.

Ride On!

-Elise

Go By Bike is a daily video series that talks about how to be green by riding more and using your car less, including electric bikes, electric kits, cargo bikes, bike safety, and getting motivated to bike

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Adventure cycling!

It’s fun to hear stories about adventure cycling, and this is one of the better ones I’ve heard! I think one of the fun things about it is that it’s inspiring, especially when you meet and know the people who do things and know them as regular people who are just like you and me. Kind of makes you think about doing something crazy??

One of the things our “hero” Matt says in the movie is something to the effect of – “you have to take the time to do these things, because if you don’t, life will just pass you by”. How true that is. And not just for big things that take a month. Even for small things, like noticing what color the crack in the sidewalk is (just pointed out by your toddler) or enjoying the fact that it’s a sunny day. Seize The Day!

-Elise

Go By Bike is a daily video series that talks about how to be green by riding more and using your car less, including electric bikes, electric kits, cargo bikes, bike safety, and getting motivated to bike

If you like this video, please  digg it, stumble upon it, tweet about it or post it to delicious or facebook using one of the links below

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What’s the hardest part about something new?

When I listen to a lot of people talk about biking more often, I hear them say they wished they biked more, or they “should” bike more. But a lot of them don’t. In fact a lot of people don’t make any kind of change in their lives unless they’re forced into it by options running out. This little story about trying a new bike illustrated to me an important point about change – it’s hard and the hardest part is trying it!

How do you get over the hump of trying something new? Is it easy or hard?

-Elise

Go By Bike is a daily video series that talks about how to be green by riding more and using your car less, including electric bikes, electric kits, cargo bikes, bike safety, and getting motivated to bike.

If you like this video, please  digg it, stumble upon it, tweet about it or post it to delicious or facebook using one of the links below

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Friends can give us that much-needed kick in the pants

Getting and staying motivated to make a life change like biking more is sometimes hard. And that’s where our friends can come in. In today’s episode of Go By Bike, I talk about motivation and the role people can play in it.

Did you have help making a bike lifestyle change? If so, share it in the comments below.

-Elise

Go By Bike is a daily video series that talks about how to be green by riding more and using your car less, including electric bikes, electric kits, cargo bikes, bike safety, and getting motivated to bike

If you like this video, please  digg it, stumble upon it, tweet about it or post it to delicious or facebook using one of the links below

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Why do we go by bike, car, or feet?

I’ve been thinking lately about what motivates us to bike versus drive or take other forms of transport. There is certainly a big contingent of people in the US who believe the “car is king” philosophy. I was talking with one of our city planners recently who had just returned from a regional meeting to discuss pedestrian facilities. After a full day of discussion, he said one of the other planners from a larger city in this area expressed the viewpoint that people really wouldn’t walk or bike in most places, even if we built the facilities. Then this other planner turned to our local friend and said “well, you guys are different up there in Chapel Hill/Carrboro”. Why is that? What makes us “different” if we even are different? Why would people bike more here than they would in other areas?

Around the country I find little pockets of people who are into biking for transportation. Maybe it’s not mainstream yet, but there are lots of us out there. What motivates people to bike rather than drive, or reversely, drive rather than bike?

In today’s video, I talk about one reason that is a big consideration for me personally when deciding how to get somewhere.

What do you think? Why do you bike? Leave your comments here to motivate other people to keep biking. The more of us who are out there biking, the safer it is, the more resources we conserve, and the less we pollute. Spread the word….

-Elise

Go By Bike is a daily video series that talks about how to be green by riding more and using your car less, including electric bikes, electric kits, cargo bikes, bike safety, and getting motivated to bike.
If you like this video, please  digg it, stumble upon it, tweet about it or post it to delicious or facebook using one of the links below.

Motivation – It’s a continual process

Welcome to Go By Bike! In today’s episode of Go By Bike, I discuss the importance of taking breaks in life in order to maintain sanity! I find that in order to keep my motivation and energy levels up, it’s critical to do this one thing…

I started this series to talk about how to ride more and use your car less, including electric bikes, electric kits, cargo bikes, bike safety, and getting motivated to bike. Using your car less reduces your carbon footprint, saves energy, helps the environment, keeps you healthy, and makes your community a nicer place to live, so overall most people would agree it’s a good thing.

p.s. if you like this video, please share it with one of the links below

Today I had to go into the doctor’s office for a diagnostic visit. No food, no drink, and all that. The appointment was mid-morning, located on the other side of town from my home. The car was really, really tempting – it is a cold and cloudy day in Chapel Hill. Last night I stayed up way too late doing some research. And I’ve caught some kind of cold from my kids. Overall, this combination doesn’t exactly lead to an optimistic outlook on life. I don’t know about you, but with me, when I don’t get enough sleep, everything seems more dramatic, and this morning I was feeling dramatic about things. The alarm rang, and I just lay there wishing I could go back to sleep. But, nope, the world called, and I had to drag my rear end out of bed, get showered, and get on my way.

All through getting ready, I debated about whether to take the car. The problem with taking the car is that I have no parking permit at work. One of those would cost me over $1,000 per year (seriously!). So I would have had to drive across town to the doctor and back, then park in a remote, expensive hourly parking lot far from my office.

I intentionally decided not to buy the parking permit, to force myself to ride the bike more. It is just too easy to get in the car some mornings if everything is so convenient. On mornings like today, I sometimes wonder about that decision.

But anyway, I decided the hassles of driving would have equaled the hassles of hopping on the bike when it was all added up, so I took the bike – my electric assist “Big Dummy” (who comes up with those names?).

The first 5 minutes or so on the bike I continued to be in a bit of a sour mood, and feeling a bit chilly. But then the blood started flowing. Pedaling was therapy. As I pedaled on I forgot about my woes, and started enjoying the sights and smells of the morning. It helped a lot to have my eZee electric assist this morning – that made all the difference, because I was able to fly across town in time to make my appointment. And I wasn’t in the mood for major exertion today. I did pedal, I always do, because I like to. But just the light pedaling was enough to warm up my body and my mood.

I got to the doctors office, and am sitting here writing this in the waiting room. I’m in a far better mood now, and very glad I biked. I wouldn’t have been so cheery if I’d driven. Driving almost never lifts my mood. It makes me wonder about the whole concept of convenience. Does comfort and convenience equal happiness? I think there’s a fine line. Certainly some comfort and convenience is good. But for me personally, if I have too much comfort and convenience in my life, it just ends up leading to a sort of numbness. Maybe that’s what Roger Waters was writing about in the song “Comfortably Numb” by Pink Floyd. I thrive on challenges – at least small ones – and I think many people do.

This reminds me of a Cycle 9 customer named Rick. He’s a really fun guy. He’s a professor and doctor whose hobbies are sailing, flying and building airplanes, and now, electric bikes. Rick got interested in e-bikes back when Cycle 9 was operating out of a small rented warehouse space with dirt floors. We built him up a customized e-bike with a hub motor that can do some incredible speeds (I’m not going to mention them here, because I don’t want to get Rick in trouble with the local authorities). He really needs those speeds for his situation. He lives in a place with no good bike route to work. Around his neighborhood the biking is good. And around his university the biking is reasonable. But there’s a section in between where the only connector road is an almost 1-mile stretch of very busy highway, with a 45mph speed limit (meaning cars travel 55mph). Some bike advocates would say – well, just ride like a vehicle and occupy that lane. I’d say to them that one would be crazy to do that. Rick does it this way. At the one traffic light before this stretch of bad road, he waits for all the traffic to go through. Then he guns the throttle and flies down the road as fast as he can, to get past “the gauntlet” before the light cycles and lets the next group of cars through. It works, most of the time (I saw him alive and well last week!).

Rick clearly likes challenges. It might be the easier thing for him to drive everyday given the location of his home and work. But he chooses to bike. So do many other folks I know, an ever increasing number. I’m glad that I’m not the only one these days out there riding. And I’m glad for days like this that riding the bike puts me in a much better mood.

And by the way, the doctor’s test was fine.

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