Wednesday

Peak Oil and Why Bikes Will Save the Earth

I have found a new blog (well, more accuratly, a new blog found me) and I am in rapture. Tuco ROCKS! Great writing, great insight, and oh-my-freakin-goddess, he commutes, by bike, between Toronto and Oshawa (in Canada) --thats, like, 3 hours people! Thats commitment! Thats a wheel revolution!
So, now I am reading his blog from the begining, and this one post (link below) was just too cool and timely to pass up. Read it and weep, or cheer, either way: heres one more reason we will all be commuting by bike soon, like it or not

The story of a bike and a stubborn cyclist: Peak Oil and Why Bikes Will Save the Earth

8 comments:

Liz said...

banzai?

Jennifer said...

Wow, you've been updating like crazy while I've been bannished to dial-up purgatory! So much good stuff happening in your life. I'm intrigued by the generator project -- keep us posted on that. I'm excited about your bountiful harvest! Have you considered a few layers of newspaper (soy-based ink, of course) for mulch & weed reduction? The weeding is a killer. I've got landscape fabric under all of my mulch to keep the weeds at bay.

Mostly, I just wanted to say that, especially in light of the pipeline issue coming to a head, you are setting a beautiful example here. I feel guilty -- with so many mouths under one roof, it seems impossible to shop for a week, let alone a month, in one car trip. I know I can do better -- I know I have to find new ways to be more efficient. First I would need to add a deep freezer to my appliance collection! Suppose I could off-set that expense by line-drying more laundry?

I admire what you're doing. You inspire me to try to do better, every time I read you!

Jeff Moser said...

Nice Blog! I've been riding my mountain bike on my lunch breaks for 5 years now. At first it was just exercise, but has now evolved into a way of life. I first learned of Peak Oil through Michael Ruppert's book Crossing the Rubicon. It really awakened me to reality, and I've made many changes in my life over the last year to prepare for a changing world. I've recently added bicycle commuting into my life. Something I've wanted to do for a long time, but have put off because of the distance and logistics. I just put up a post about today's commute HERE.

westwind said...

Welcome, Jeff, congratulations on making the shift to bikes! I look forward to reading more.
Zilla, how can you possibly consider being surrounded by a bevey of buff beefcakes to be purgatory? Who needs dial up when you have floor show ;)
I think part of the key to incorperating sustainability into your life is that, well, you incorporate it into _your_ life. In my case, I can cram all the non-parrishables the Boy and I need for the month into one car trip a month, and get the fresh stuff from the farmers market by bike. For another family, it might mean filling the car once a week, and thus eliminating smaller trips during the week, or carpooling rather than driving alone. For it to be sustainable it has to be a reasonable fit for you. Freezers are a GREAT asset, I highly recomend getting one!

Tuco said...

Yikes! (blush!) Yikes!
Really glad you like the blog, but as far as the commute goes, don't forget that I bike/public transit home from work, and if it's raining or my legs are dead I forgo the full morning ride and bike/public transit to work.

Anyway, thanks again! Take care!

westwind said...

Tuco, yes, I like it, I really really like it.
Perhaps my perspective is squed by virtue of living in America, where people will literally get in the car to go 2 blocks, where mass transit use is largely shunned, and where people think that my daily junkets of 10km or so qualify me as nuts. But the idea of 50km . . . wow! In America they would doubtless jail you as an environmental extremist! ;)

Tuco said...

P.s. I'm linking to your blog as we speak. : )

westwind said...

my turn to blush