Biking the Environmental Talk, Part 5

Day 26 of Daily Footprint Project. My search for a bike continues. Yesterday, I drove 38 miles to look at an old Murray bike. What I did not know is that some of the older bikes come without brakes. To stop, I am supposed to pedal backward. Not for me, I decided.

Then I got this very sweet email from Tim, one of the sellers on Craigslist, who had the nearly perfect bike, except it was too big for me:

Oh Marguerite..just a few tips as I saw your blog on your newly potential bike purchase in Sac., ….for me personally, I have? bikes…I use one locally only for the library, errands, drop my kids off to school during the Spring and no rain season, exercise to see/feel the peaceful Zen in our neighborhood when I ride super early Sat. a.m. before all the people rise up and no cars around..such a nice feeling, check out different streets and where it leads to etc. etc…. it is sooooo cool to think that all the places that I can travel wo/ paying extras for gas, oils, maintenance and saving the environment…that bike is my most frequently used bike that I can lend out to help others and it looks really beat up, but very well maintain ever so often so others won’t touch or take it when I leave it at a library..I’ll probably get attached to it eventually..the next higher end bike is the one used mostly on weekends on sunnydays and if needed can go pretty far wo/ breaking down and stranded.. as for my last one it’s for ocassional use with groups..fear of theft…if you plan to you it on a daily basis and reliability, and to limit cost on fixing repairs, and polluting PA w/ bike parts and additional landfill plastics, wrappers, tubes, glues, patches, and other bike parts and spares, I do recommend a better quality bike so that you can spend more time in cycling your zen and not worry about flats, and additional stress…..my 1st bike was purchased last summer (early) from a young women locally w/ celebral palsy…so sad she had to sell her 1989 mountain bike for $50 (?), I didn’t have the heart to ask for less of it’s condition.. but it cost me brand new cables, tires, tubes, paint, job frame rejuvenation, flats, stickers for decoration, newer parts etc. etc…?over $125 plus.. so even though the bike looks like it’s worth under $30.00 the work, time, and parts put into it was a lot more from this owner’s perspectives.. so if you buy a better condition bike it will cost a lot less to fix up and a lot less to pollute our land for others….believe me from experience..riding a newer bike is worth the money and pleasure…I’ll probably be selling my bike this summer…anyway hope the story/tips help…T

Getting a bike is not as simple as I thought. I need to do some more research and phone calling before I start driving places again.

Daily Footprint Project
Daily Log
Day #26

Water
personal:
flush toilet 3
wash face 2
brush teeth 2
wash hands 4
shower at pool 2
wash fruit
mom:
communal:
rinse dishes
rinse salad

Electricity/gas
personal:
electric toothbrush 2
microwave tea 2’
microwave milk 2’
laptop on all  day
microwave oatmeal 4’
microwave soup 2’
mom:
bake chicken leg in small toaster oven 30’
fry potatoes 5’
communal:
lights

Food
personal:
tea
organic milk
organic apples 2
organic chocolate
oatmeal
leftover takeout soup
whole wheat bread
dinner at friend’s house
mom:
baked  organic chicken
fried leftover potatoes
organic green salad
whole wheat baguette
communal:

Waste
personal:
toilet paper
orange peels
mom:
paper wrapper for chicken
salad scraps
communal:
3 newspaper plastic wrappers

Recycling
personal:
mom:
communal:
2 papers
junk mail

Transportation
personal:
drive to bike dealer 38 miles
drive to pool 6 miles
drive to friend’s house 3 miles
mom:
communal:

Non food shopping
personal:
mom:
communal: