Car-free Cycling Expedition this summer!

Cycling the Washington-Rochambeau Revolutionary Route (W3R), a National Historic Trail.

600+ miles, 9 states, the same route that French General Rochambeau used, in 1781, to march his army from Newport, Rhode Island, across Conneticut, to meet with General Washington in New York.

Then both armies marched through NY, NJ, PA, DE, MD, and on to the British held Yorktown, Virginia where, together, they defeated the British and Lord Cornwallis, in the battle of Yorktown.


This summer I will, in conjunction with the National Park Service, will be Cycling the National Historic Trail-the Washington-Rochambeau Revolutionary Route on its 230th anniversary.

Primary mission: to map out a Cycling route on this National Historic Trail from Newport, RI to Yorktown, VA.

Secondary missions:

1)To promote cycling as an excellent form of transportation and as a way to see our National Park System.

2)Show how cycling for travel and transportation can improve the health of: people, environment, and communites.

3) Lastly, but most importantly, the Historical Significance of this National Historic Trail, and to honor those French and American soldiers who sacrificed so much for us to live in this great country of ours.

We will be rolling in wilderness areas, suburbia, and cities. This is one of three expeditions planned.

Your support is needed.


 Making this bicycle route a reality takes alot of time and effort. We will be looking for the best and safest route for each state section of the trail. If you would like to be a part of this Expedition, right now the best way is to financially support it.

The official Expedtion site is http://www.cyclingw3r.blogspot.com/ and will give you a link to the Facebook page.

 You can email me directly for a address or questions. bill@poindexterrecruiting.com

Be a part of something Great!

Thank you,

Bill Poindexter, Expedition Leader
Cycing the W3R Expedition 2011

More details will be coming in the weeks to come.

.

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!

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/