Proposed wall on College Avenue

Did you read about the proposed $500,000 wall to prevent pedestrians from crossing College Avenue except at the light? Is it possible for a proposal to be more against the spirit of a walkable Columbia? College Avenue is already an ugly barrier between the two halves of the campus; this would increase the division and the ugliness.

I propose we make College Avenue where it runs through campus a mall-like area where pedestrians, cyclists, and motorists share the space. The space would be designed to encourage motorists to drive at 20 miles an hour. Something along these lines.

Of course I'm dreaming but maybe I'm not the only one.

Getting Started

This year, I finally decided to take the plunge. My husband, Ian, (yes, that Ian Thomas, ED of Pednet) pretty much LIVES the Low Car Diet Challenge, and I bike for lots of stuff, like about half of my commutes, doing the grocery shopping, various errands, etc, but I have made it a policy to avoid wet weather, and I do lots of driving for the kids. So the first thing I had to do was talk to the family. For Ian, my doing the LCDC would mean MORE driving than usual, which he was okay with to give me a chance to try car-free living. Our daughter, Emily, a 15-year-old sophomore at RBHS asked, "can I still ride with other people?" When told she could, she said no problem. Jack is 14 and a 9th grader at West. He said, "What difference will it make? I already ride my bike to everything anyway," which is partially true.

In fact, I have been tracking car trips for the family for about the last year. We average a little over one car journey per day, with over half being kid-activity-related, especially Emily, who is in lots of stuff before and after school, a fair number related to my work, and the rest miscellaneous. I do about 90 percent of the driving. I chose the Whoa! level because I really need to have a car on my on-call days at work. Luckily for me, this month was a major anomaly, with only one call day.

So I did a little preparation: Got the bike tuned up, of course, and bought some of the heavy/bulky stuff I know we will need, like 80 lbs of dog food, 50 pounds of chicken feed, and 2 hay bales. The rest was about attitude adjustment: I AM going to do this, even if it means leaving for work in the rain at 6:30 in the morning!

Well, it's only taken me 13 days and multiple failed attempts at logging in, but the stars must be in alignment today and I was able to log in to this. Now I ought to post something.

I'm doing the Whoa Car Challenge, driving only once a week. I love it. I've so far saved my car trips for going out to the farm, and for a work appointment to deliver a slipcover. The weather has been perfect and cooperative, the kids sometimes cooperative.

My dad died 10 days ago. I've found riding a good way to quiet some of the angst and anxiety that has been plaguing me. I've got this deep well of sadness as I move through my days. I can either sit around and do nothing, and let it stop me in my tracks, or I can move my body and it seems to quiet and soothe my hurt. Riding is good for your head.

Dad used to ride his bike to work a lot when I was a kid. Bikes ( and unicycles) were a big thing for us. When we were kids we all got our own brand new bike for our 13th birthday, and until that time we had to share and ride the crappy one speed bike that was passed down from kid to kid to kid (there were 6 of us). Dad had pretty specific ideas of what kind of bike we could get when we turned 13. I had very different ideas about what passed for cool and what would mark you as a Total Dork. Needless to say, his idea won the day, and I was marked as a total dork on my green Schwinn 3 speed. No banana seat. No fancy handlebars. Nope, not for me. For me, the dork bike. I was mortified. Dad had no conception of cool, never did. That dorky bike got me to school and back for years (we had no school buses, and no parent willing to chauffeur us to school daily, no way). So fast forward to 33 years later, when my daughter was ready for a new bike. We went over to see what the guys at Klunk had available. I knew she could find a good bike there. Imagine my shock and surprise when she chose, no, nothing from the cool selection of mountain bikes, but a blue Schwinn from the 1960's that looked just like my old dorky green one! I couldn't believe she was serious! I stopped myself from saying, "that dorky thing???!!!" She got a blue one speed Schwinn Hollywood. She was the happiest girl ever on that day. Too funny.

Best anti-car rant ever

I'd like to dedicate my September low car effort to Edward Abbey author of this wonderful anti-car rant. For best effect, you should read it aloud and with feeling.

Another September...

another no-car diet. I believe this is the third year of my participation. My first year struggles have since been remedied now with a stronger front rack to get 40lbs of dog food and a proper rain coat and fenders. The struggles of the second year still remain unsolved. How do you get to a wedding for a weekend? I did however get to Grandma's house for a birthday party, but she lived in Portland MO on the Katy, 66 miles each way in a weekend isn't that big of a deal...

This year marked the first year I actually owed my own vehicle. She is a butte. A '79 Ford Fairmont that is more of a joke to me and moves about every other week at the most and only then because I am afraid to drain the battery if I don't. The biggest challenge I am facing at the moment has been this lingering cold. It seems everybody has it right now so I shouldn't feel too special.

But the best part? Free coffee!

Cyclist Salute

For those of you that always wanted to say "howdy" to your fellow cyclist across the way but were not sure how, Columbia now has its own Cyclist Salute.  There is no official translation, but when giving the salute I like to think I'm saying, "May the wind stay at your back, my friend."

Bike Obsession