After not riding my bike on Sunday or Monday (Ashley drove me everywhere) I felt that it was necessary to ride my bike to work on my final day of the blogrimage. It has been an incredible journey and after not riding my bike for a few days in a row I actually feel sore. I started this journey with cold weather and it looks like I ended it with cold weather. I am looking forward to driving my car again, but I am still unsure of what the future holds for me this summer. I know I will ride to work again, but how often? People at work will probably be happy with me if I never ride it again (mainly due to the sweat). I do feel more fit and healthy since I started and I have been able to eat a ton of food and not gain weight. One thing my wife is concerned about it what I will do for exercise now. In my opinion it was a cool lifestyle that I chose for the last thirty days because I was able to get to work and back as well as exercise for close to two hours everyday!
I started this 30 day blogrimage mainly as a challenge for myself. I did finish it today (minus one day on Saturday) and I will see how I feel returning to normal life. What started as something I just wanted to complete ended up being more thought provoking. I had no idea I would be thinking about gas money, the environmental impact of not driving, or what life was like outside of my Lexus cage. It is strange what happens when you focus so much energy and attention to one thing. I want to spend more time reflecting on the entire event and I will save that for another post.
I will make sure to post before and after calve muscle pictures for everyone. Thanks for joining me on this journey. Ride Strong!
Friday was a good day for riding and I made it home in 40 minutes. That has not happened since the first week of starting this journey mainly because the wind has always been right in my face. This time it was with me and there was a huge difference. Now, the only disadvantage about being as fast as lightning is that I had a greater chance of falling or even getting hit by a car. I almost got hit by a girl on a cellphone and another incident almost occurred with a woman not seeing me while trying to make an early right on red. I yelled at both of them and they looked scared. In fact, the first girl was in a blue Toyota and I ended up staying with her car for three miles! This is how fast I was going and how slow traffic was on Friday.
I guess I was trying to rush home because Ashley was sick and went home from work early that day. It gave me a bad attitude the whole time and I was not going to put up with any cars. Since I started this journey I sometimes feel like there are just machines zooming by me with robots driving them. I forget that there are human beings in there (all I see if cell phones, make up, and stress). Bicycles and walkers have the right of way, but we have lost this privilege in the car dominated society we live in. I have been reading this book called "No Impact Man" (which I discussed earlier) that has made some good points about cars and Americans.
1. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 17 percent of the average American's income goes toward the costs of owning and running a car.
2. Every ten minutes we spend commuting, means 10 percent less connection with our friends and communities (unless you carpool)
3. Even if you don't own a car, research shows that the more vehicular traffic there is on the street where we live, the fewer friends we have, because the traffic causes us to spend less time hanging out in our neighborhood.
It talks more about the effect that cars have on pollution and greenhouse gases in our atmosphere, but I am not here to talk about those things. All I can say is the only thing cars really have on bicycles and walking is when they are needed for long trips. When needing to get to work, the store, the movies or anywhere around town a bicycle is perfect. You don't need to worry about going to the gym, just kill two birds with one stone (go where you need to go and lose weight at the same time). From spending time in Asia, everyone uses there feet or bikes to get from A to B and they are healthier and more energetic.
Saturday has been an interesting day and there is something that I must admit to everyone. I still feel shame from what I did but it was for a good reason. Next weekend I will be traveling to Norman, OK to see the Dirty Projectors play at the Norman Music Festival. Not only will I get to see an awesome show I will get to spend some great time with Blayze himself. In order to get to Norman I will need my car. I definitely considered riding my bike there, but since it is past the 30 days and since it is over 90 miles away I decided to drive. I went out to look at m car the other day and see if it was ready to make the journey since it has not been driven in a couple weeks. It looked great except for my back tire...it was completely flat. I called AAA today to com and air it up so Ashley could take me to Goodyear and get it fixed. Well, since Ashley was super sick today she told me no! I could not believe it at first because earlier this morning she had found the courage to drive us to the Tulsa Farmer's Market on Cherry Street! But, now the moment that I needed her she was in bed! I am sure all of you think I am jerk for saying these things, but I did not want to give up after so many days. I had gone three weeks without driving a car and now I was at the last weekend! I tossed it around and decided what needed to be done. I got in my car and went to Goodyear to get the tire fixed.
I know that people reading this blog might be shocked, but I want to respect my wife while she is trying to recover from being sick. I decided that I needed to make up for all this driving by going a couple of miles on my wife's bike for groceries, but it did not stop raining all day. So, I did not get out on the bike once. Today was a great day to have a car. The picture of the bicycle was actually my set up for grocery shopping. The gas I used getting around town and then putting two new tires on the car cost a whole lot of dough. I am not saying that I am going to divorce my car forever but you can not doubt the high costs of maintaining a car.
I am going to continue to go without a car for the next few days because it is only day 28 tomorrow. Although I drove today, I do not feel wrong for doing it. My life would be much worse if I had tried to force my sick wife out of bed and into my car. I know I made the best decision for my well being and hers.
I am glad that I now have some time in my day to tell you all what has been going on since Monday. My week had the potential to start off terribly because I left the house at around 7:20am. I normally try to leave the house at 7am at the latest so 20 minutes behind schedule meant that I would be late to work. At about a mile into the ride I heard a familiar voice say, "Hey do you need a ride!" As I turned around I spotted an SUV with Carl (a guy from work) driving and his daughter was in the front seat. He pulled into the nearest parking lot and we put my bike in the back. After he dropped his daughter off at school we talked about life and other things. It was the first time I had been on the highway before 8am in more than 20 days. It was a rude awakening to the madness of drivers getting to work. I found out that Carl has moved many places in his life and he was actually living overseas in Germany when the Berlin Wall came down. That is pretty epic.
The second story of the day was a simple act of kindness from Gerad (another co-worker). I was leaving work and needed to make it home before 6pm because of the marriage group Ashley and I go to every Monday. As I started to make my first turn he told me to throw my bike in the back of his truck. He gave me a ride halfway home and it saved me a whole lot of time. It was awesome and I can't believe I got two rides in one day!
Yesterday I was riding home and I saw a trail below a bridge on 21st street (I will make sure to photograph it tomorrow). It is the Mingo Trail here in Tulsa and it goes from 11th to 41st street along Mingo. It is pretty sweet, but unfortunately it does not go as far as I live and it is actually faster to just go straight down Garnett. I hate having to deal with cars, but it takes much longer getting to the trail for it to be a better decision.
The other night I was given free tickets to go see Mutemath play at the Brady Theater here in Tulsa. It was a sick show and I was able to get a ride to and from the show. The tickets actually came from Blayze. It is his birthday today and so what you should all do is write on his wall and tell him happy birthday because he is awesome.
I decided to bring back a picture from my time in China last year. My old bike that lasted me a few months (I ended up wearing it out beyond repair) is seen in the photo. Enjoy.
I am still riding to work on a daily basis, but it has been somewhat easier this week. Once again I wish I could stay and tell you all about the week, but I am drained. Work has been tough and then riding home does not help after getting off at 6pm tonight. It is 8:54pm and I am going to sleep. It is pathetic, but I pray that I will be able to blog like never before tomorrow.
I have been making it home rather late the last couple of nights and so I have been unable to reflect on my days through blogging. I have continued to ride my bike and have not driven for what feels like forever. I have some amazing stories of love that I have experienced in my life the last couple of days and I will share those in my post tomorrow.
I have also been reading about a man who tried to live an entire year without making any impact on the environment. That is one epic task and the book has been very interesting and inspiring in many places. I will make sure to also tell you about the impact cars make on the environment in another post (I am sure most of you know it is not a good impact).
That is all I can muster tonight because I just got back from a Mutemath show. It was amazing and the drummer looks like Gob Bluth.
I rode my bike to the grocery store for the first time since I have done this blogrimage and I will definitely be doing it again. It is a good way to get some exercise and I was actually able to bring eggs back with me! I was able to quickly edit the Biker Fox PSA for your viewing pleasure so without further a due here is my Biker Fox moment.
I left the house at around 3:15pm after doing some spring cleaning to go look for Biker Fox. I felt that my chances were very high that I would find him on Riverside. I started my journey going down the Creek Turnpike and did not hit Riverside until around 4pm. As I passed by the Jenks bridge I spotted him! I could not believe it at first and I am almost kept going in the other direction. But, I made a u turn and rode directly behind Biker Fox. He was wearing a helmet and blue spandex shorts and whistling as he passed people on the left side to get their attention. I got close enough to where I felt comfortable shouting out "Biker Fox!" There was no response, but then I saw him stopping for water.
As I approached him I hopped off my bike and started telling him about the journey I was on. We talked about his business, his world record, and urban biking. I told him that I was riding to work everyday and he made sure that I was wearing my helmet. The first thing he actually asked me after we met was, "Where is your helmet, brother?" He told me not to ride on the streets and that he has been given many tickets by the police for doing this. After the conversation I asked him for a picture and a video. He was really cool about it and he has some advice for people out there. I will make sure to post the entire Biker Fox PSA tomorrow, but for now here is the picture and a short preview. Enjoy...
This is apparently who the people at work think that I have become. I guess it is no longer cool to ride your bike to work with a purple shirt and crew cut socks.
I am super pumped about tomorrow. I need to prepare myself for the moment when I will meet Biker Fox. I will have the camera ready and let everyone know how it goes.
Happy Birthday to Lauren my sister! Today she is turning 22, so if you don't know her you should find her on facebook, become friends with her, and then write "happy bday" on her wall. Something amazing happened at work today. One of the cats (that is what we call people here) that sits next to me at work named Gerad found a number for Biker Fox. It was actually on his website because he owns a company called Billions and Trillions Inc which he claims is a multi million dollar company. So, I decided to call the number listed at the top and this is what happened:
Mystery Voice: "Billions and Trillions, can I help you?" Taylor: "Yes, is Biker Fox there?" Mystery Voice: "This is Biker Fox, whats up brother?" Taylor: (moment of silence because my heart is racing) "Are you going to be riding this weekend?" Biker Fox: "Yeah, I will be riding, whats up?" Taylor: "I just wanted to see if you were because I wanted to get a picture with you and ride alongside." Biker Fox: "I will be riding on Riverside, Peoria, and Lewis this weekend." Taylor: "Thanks I will definitely be there."
I can't believe that he actually answered the phone! I felt like I was talking to Michael Jordon it was strange and awesome all at the same time. I am not sure exactly where he said he would be riding but I know I heard those three places.
So there you have it you know where I will be on Saturday from 2-5pm. I will meet the legend himself get some photos, hopefully a video, and of course go for a ride with him. Thank you to Gerad because he is helping make a dream come true.
So I rode my bike to work and back. Just the same old stuff. It is crazy how it is becoming just a normal part of my life. I am beginning to ask myself how long I can keep doing this. It could become a summer thing and I know my co-workers will truly love me if I decide on that. I am still the only one on the sidewalks in the morning besides kids walking to school or people catching a bus. I am hoping that one day another biker will join me. Kind of like a Forrest Gump moment.
The weather was colder than normal today (51F in the morning and afternoon) but not anything too difficult to overcome. At one point I was riding along and I saw a small girl walking to school with her friends. She was walking along and then all of her papers fell on the sidewalk and she neglected to pick them up. She tried to grab as many as she could, but missed a couple. So instead of riding my bike over the pages I scooped them up and called her name as I passed by (Julie was written at the top of each page). She reached out and we missed each other so I decided to get off my bike and hand them to her. When she took them from me she ran off with her friends toward school and I was not really sure what to say. So I shouted, "Have a good day at school." I wonder if people passing by thought I was her father or brother...still not too sure why I shouted that at her. I am super strange now because of this.
I did not get off of work until around 5:45pm tonight and did not get back home until 7pm. I did stop at T-Mobile to pay our phone bill and this is why it took me a little longer. While I was there I tried to prop my bike up on the side of the store (it lacks a kick stand) and as I handed my check over to pay the bill, my bike fell over! This was the first time that my bike has fallen over since it was given to me and I was devastated. It still works, but it was sad to see my main form of transportation slamming into the concrete. It made me think of a song that I listened to in high school. Here are the lyrics so enjoy:
Ghoti Hook-"My Bike"
There's just one thing that I love more than anything. I hold it so near to my heart. It has just one gear and a pair of blue training wheels, A headlight to see in the dark.
I like my bike, It's not like other bikes.
It has pinwheels and a purple banana seat, Loud cards in the spokes as they bend. It has a big horn that I honk when you're in my way, So I don't run over my friends.
I like my bike, It's not like other bikes.
I ride my bike to the girl that I like, And she looks at me and my bike. A tear fills her eye as she's filled with great pride, When I ask her to take a ride.
Me and my girl, we ride all over town on it. My guide is the street and the sun. We stop for a shake--I pretend we'll share all of it, When I hit the eject button.
The weather has been warm and the wind has been light the last couple of days. This has made for some great riding. Monday was not a very adventurous day, but rather a hectic one. If there was any day that I wish I had my car it would be on Mondays. Ashley and I attend a young married couples group at our church and it starts at 6:30pm every week. I have been able to lead worship the last few weeks and so I like getting there early and warming up. The only problem with getting there early is that it takes me an hour to get home because of the wind coming right at me. I did say the wind is getting better, but it is still intense enough to push my ride back 20 minutes! So, after getting home at 6pm on Monday I skipped dinner and tried my best to clean up so I would not stink during the service. Ashley does not get off till 6 so we left the house at 6:20pm. We made it by around 6:35pm and I was able to warm up and everything was still awesome. It was still a close call though.
A verse we went over at the group was John 12:24-25.
"Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain. He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in the world will keep it for eternal life."
The question that has been burning in my mind from this was, how are you planting your life into other people? After searching myself I realized that I have not been doing this at all. I am not depressed after realizing this, I am joyous! I love it when I am living my life the way I think I should be and God shakes me up. I know that each time I turn aside from my busy life and spend time with him that I need to do something with that. It is not only for me to know, but for those around me. There really is no pressure to say or do the perfect thing, but rather just to remember that I am called to plant life into others.
I am happy to hear that different friends of mine are stepping out because of this Blogrimage and starting their own journeys. I know this time has showed me a whole lot about myself and what I can be thankful for, so I hope it does the same for others as well.
Today was an interesting day that was supposed to end with some amazing fast food. I am talking about Jack in the Box! Now, I have never had In and Out burgers and many people will tell me it is the best, but Jack in the Box would have to be up there as well. The Ultimate Cheeseburger is truly a thing of glory and I was hoping to get my first one in a few years. This is the first Jack in the Box in the Tulsa area since the 1970s. I enjoyed it while living in Texas and have missed it a whole lot. As I arrived at around 6pm the line was going out the door! The place just opened yesterday and so I decided to pass on it for tonight and get some Sonic instead. Still a great choice but I had to eat my burger alone, while I knew there were people eating Ultimate Cheeseburgers across the street.
I did end up biking 4 more miles on top of the usual ride home and I made some bad decisions along the way. I do not like riding on the road because people in cars scare me, but I was forced to do this a couple of times. I had to take a different route home to get there and so many times the sidewalk would just vanish. It would reappear magically about a mile later and during that time I had to either go off road (which is super slow) or ride on the street (which is super dangerous). When I was about a block from Jack in the Box I was on the road and I could almost feel the side mirrors grazing my arm. Scary stuff...sorry about that mom. I am alive and I should make sure to call all my fellow co-workers tonight and tell them I will once again not be on the local news reports.
Got back to Tulsa from our Easter weekend adventure. I did not drive once the entire journey and I feel great. We will see how things go this week with temperatures reaching 80 F. Bring it on weather!
There was a time when bicycles and pedestrians had the right of way. Well, times have changed and cars now rule supreme. As I have mentioned many times before, riding my bike to work confuses and angers many motorists. I do not ride on the road so it must be the pedestrian crosswalks that frustrate people the most. I guess cars have forgotten the purpose of these due to the lack of non-motorists using them. From all of my riding I have only shared the crosswalk with one other person! Maybe driving instructors are to blame for this lack of respect for pedestrians, but it probably has more to do with our sedentary lifestyles in America. Ashley has always been an advocate of reclaiming the roads from motorists and will bravely walk out when I sometimes hesitate. I have decided to hop on the bandwagon and start stepping out with confidence. One by one we must reclaim the roads for pedestrians!
Today has been a great day with perfect weather here in Kansas. We spent some time in downtown Overland Park where we were within walking distance. If you live within one or two miles from a downtown area it is a whole lot of fun to just walk there. You do not have to worry about parking and you can enjoy the surrounding areas. One of the biggest things I have been surprised with is how much more you take notice of life outside of a car. It is hard to enjoy what is happening around you moving at 30-45mph.
While, I am enjoying my time in Kansas, I miss my bike. I decided to run a few miles to stay active, but was struck with jealousy every time I passed a biker (they actually passed me). Following my run I showered and weighed in for my first time since starting this blogrimage.
Weight: 198 Body Fat: any suggestions on how to measure this? Let me know...
It looks like after a couple of weeks of biking and walking I have lost a couple of pounds. I am still eating the same amount of food (if not more), so I expect to lose more weight as I continue on.
No word from Biker Fox, I will have to find him when I return to Tulsa!
Did not ride today. My wife and I are now in Kansas for Easter and I am looking forward to a fun weekend. I will be running tomorrow for some exercise and then I will have my first weigh in. I am not so sure that I have lost any weight with all the extra food I have been eating, but hopefully I have stayed about the same.
While Ashley was driving I got a chance to read some of the "Divorce Your Car" book. I am starting to realize that riding my bike everyday and only using one car could save a whole lot of money and frustration. My car actually has a tire that is leaking air, so that will need to get fixed before I start driving again in 18 days. There is also the high price of gas as well as oil changes a few times a year. I will be posting more information that the book talks about tomorrow, but it is close to 11pm and Ashley and I are sharing a computer tonight.
Two crazy things that happened today in Kansas before I go. The first was that we passed by a huge fire and actually drove through the smoke that was covering a large section of the road. It seemed like it was a controlled fire and we kept debating whether or not to turn around and take a picture. It would have been perfect but we kept going. The second thing that happened was that Kansas City experienced some intense wind today. We missed all of it, but upon arrival we saw that the wind was so powerful that it tipped a semi truck over! I thought I was dealing with some intense wind in Tulsa, but I can't imagine riding my bike into that. If I went with the wind maybe I could have flown...
I finally broke the 40 minute barrier! All of the riding for the past couple of weeks is paying off. The only issue now is that I am super early to work.
Afternoon start time: 5:15pm Arrival time:6:20pm Weather Conditions: Wind at 25-35mph, big surprise
I can't believe I am saying this but I am starting to despise my ride home from work. It is always windy and the drivers want to kill me. It usually only takes me 1 mile before I wish that I had my car. I know I will make it home eventually but as I am riding all I am thinking about is my car. Maybe this is just the two week hump that I am getting over before I will never need a car again!
Today was in fact my closest to getting hit by a car. It happened while I was nearing the end of my ride and was crossing the street. I was nearing the opposite sidewalk when a guy zooms by to take a right turn on red. I was doing the right thing on my part, but he was obviously only looking one way and did not see the person approaching! He did stop and I went around him, but man the look on his face was one of extreme sorrow. I believe he honestly felt bad, which is a step up from drivers pulling out so I have to go around them and staring me down.
This week has been a super busy one and it will only get busier this weekend. Ashley and I will be making our annual Easter trip to Kansas (where she is from). I am excited about getting to see some fun people but it also means we will be packing tonight. This week has just been one thing after the next.
I tried to convince Ashley to let me ride to the OK-KS border but she kindly told me no. Not really the safest idea and we are not leaving until after work so it would be too late in the day. While I have only been riding for the past 11 days it has been hard learning to put all my trust in other drivers. I am so used to being in control every single day and when I ride along I just have to sit back and let things happen.
Not sure how much I will blog this weekend, but I will make sure not to drive at all. Also if you enjoy eating healthy or want to start doing so then check out my wife's blog. I cooked the meal that is featured tonight!
No word from Biker Fox yet and I will make sure to post weigh in results for the week on Saturday.
