Transportation Law of 4.

Carfree American has developed the, "Transportation Law of 4" or TL4.  TM

Simply put, TL4 encourages people to think about, and try, alternative transportation before they jump in their car for a trip to the Quik Shop for a soda.

For driving adults: TL4 works like this, you need or want to go somewhere.

You ask yourself this question first: "Can I walk, bicycle, or take mass transit?" Then you ask yourself, "or should I take the car."

Four options.

For children and non driving folks: When you are going someplace with a driver, again ask yourself, and then ask driver, "Can we walk, bicycle, or take mass transit? Or do we have to take a car?"

There are times when the car is a good choice and necessary.Walking, bicycling, and/or mass transit may be a better choice. It is always nice to have other options.

I am comforted knowing I have access to a car anytime. I can borrow a neighbors, take a taxi, or rent a car. I have borrowed a car six times since being carfree.

TL4 is something to think about. I would like to encourage you to try this for one month. Let me know if you are game and I will do a follow up story on you.

The alternatives ways to transport yourself are cool and fun.

And besides,

You can always drive your car.



Peace and happy roads,

Bill

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.

.

Weekend KC events- KanBikeWalk meeting/ride and Cranksgiving.

On Saturday the 20th. Our good friend Randy Rasa of the http://www.kansascyclist.com/ will be leading a ride before the annual KanBiewalk meeting:

KanBikeWalk (http://www.kanbikewalk.com//) is holding their annual

meeting this Saturday (Nov. 20th) in Olathe. This is a great opportunity
to participate in making our local communities, and the state of Kansas
as a whole, a better place to ride a bike.

I'm leading a casual social ride, starting at 10am from the Indian Creek
Branch of the Olathe Library. This is located right on the Indian Creek
Trail (about 129th & Blackbob), so it's within easy cycling distance for
anyone in Olathe, Lenexa, Overland Park, Leawood, and other KC-area
cities. If you prefer to drive to the meeting, that's OK, too -- there's
plenty of parking space at the library.

Randy Rasa

The ride will be about 20 miles at a leisurely pace. The ride will
showcase some of the great facilities we're lucky enough to have in
Olathe. Most of the route will be on paved trails and streets with bike
lanes. If you haven't experienced some of Olathe's newest facilities,
such as the bike lanes and new multi-modal interchange on Lone Elm, the
bike lanes on 127th, and the new section at the southern end of the
Indian Creek Trail, here's your chance to get a guided tour!

After the ride, anyone who's interested can gather at Spin Pizza on
119th Street (a great local bike-friendly business) for lunch, with the
open house meeting to follow back at the library at 1:30pm.

I know most of you are interested in improving the safety of our
roadways, and ensuring that we'll always have a place to ride. Those
things don't happen by accident. People -- you and me -- have to speak
up and get involved. There are lots of ways to do that, and KanBikeWalk
is trying to help all Kansas bicyclists and pedestrians speak with one
strong voice. We can do more together than we can alone. Here's a great
chance to step up and make your voice heard.

Even if you're not able or willing to become involved in the
organization, we'd love to have you ride with us, no strings attached.
All are welcome!

Here are the details on the ride and meeting:
http://www.kansascyclist.com/news/2010/10/kanbikewalk-annual-meeting-2010/

Hope to see you there!
Randy



Then....our good friends Jeff Perry and Sam Swearngin are inviting us to

Cranksgiving on Sunday the 21st

Local cyclists will come together, ride, buy food and necessities, for those less fortunate. Some ride slow, some fast, but all welcome. 


Where: Anita Gorman Discovery Center,4750 Troost Ave, Kansas City, MO


When: November 21, 2010 12:30 pm
What:Bicycle Alleycat Race to support St. Peter’s Food Pantry
Cranksgiving Alleycat Race
November 21, 2010 12:30 pm

On Kansas City, Missouri November 21, 2010 - For the fifth year in a row, bicyclists in Kansas City will ride an Alleycat race through the city, starting at the Anita Gorman Discovery Center at 48th and Troost stopping at grocery stores to pick up one or two items and rolling on to another, visiting up to 10 stores before finishing at St. Peter's Legacy Center at 6415 Holmes Road. Groceries will be donated to St. Peter’s Food Bank.

Cranksgiving, first organized in New York City in 1999 ,by Antonio Rodrigues and continues to be run there. After Rodrigues moved to York, PA, the event spread to there as well as to Des Moines,IA, St. Louis and other cities throughout the country.

The first Cranksgiving in Kansas City was started by local photographer and cyclist Michael Forrester, with Grant Redwine and Jason Wingate. The race brought together riders from the various communities within Kansas City area cycling. The following year, the Greater Kansas City Bicycle Federation and 816 Bicycle Collective began organizing Cranksgiving.

In 2009, riders filled the stage at the Brick with food donations. “In the first event,” says director Jeff Perry, “we gathered foods for a Thanksgiving dinner. It seems that hunger has become a larger problem, so now I ask the riders to gather staples like peanut butter, soup and cereal. Another item that the food banks have asked for in the past is soap and other personal care products, because people can’t use their food stamps for those.”

Alleycat races started as a competition between bicycle messengers and involve a number of check points, much like a typical work day in a messengers life. At Cranksgiving, riders are given a manifest that has a list of grocery stores and items to purchase. Riders will start riding at 1PM and finish at St. Peter’s at 3PM. Methods of carrying groceries vary from messenger bags and backpacks to baskets, panniers and even cargo trailers.

Riders pay no entry fee and register the day of the event, receiving a spoke card and manifest.
(Special thanks to Eric Rogers for description)

For additional information
Contact Jeff Perry, cell 816-807-7276 or jeff.perry@gmail.com

 Cranksgiving see event site on Facebook

Hope to see you there, and tell your friends!!!

Gobble, gobble!

Panniers & Peanut Butter a book review

Book Review by Bill Poindexter

Panniers & Peanut Butter by Laura Crawford and Russ Roca

“We have a love-hate relationship with Peanut Butter.”
The first sentence of this fantastic book sets the fun mood for the reader.

Panniers & Peanut Butter is a great how to bicycle touring guide by two people who live the lifestyle. Whether you are an arm chair adventurer, a S24O tourist(get the book to find out what this means), a multi day bicycle tourist, or an adventure cyclist, you will, I promise, love this book.  The book is broken up into relevant sections: touring styles, bikes, bedrooms, kitchen, porch, office, and wardrobe. Laura and Russ take turns with the writing which gives this book the rich uniqueness of feeling like you are sitting across a picnic table from them.

They keep it simple, only sharing information about the equipment they are using, how it works for them, and what they like best.

They added some information I have never seen in other books about bicycle touring. A section on their Porch, fun. A surprisingly fascinating section on tying knots with a link to videos on how to tie knots, off beat and extremely helpful. The Office, answers the question what equipment is needed to document the tour while on it.

Quotes, in between chapters, from a relevant past articles on their blog add flavor, my favorite, was the first, “The Great Fear.”

I have to share this from the Great Fear, “My Greater Fear is that I will rot beneath a matrix of fluorescent lights staring at the carpeted walls of a cubicle, or that I will wake knowing exactly what I will be doing every minute of every day for the rest of my waking life, or that I will wait until I am old and enfeebled to give myself permission to live.” Wow!

The photography is incredible and brings you into their adventure.

There are many other links to relevant information. I, with all e-books, make sure I read the text first all the way through, off-line, and then go exploring the links later.

“This e-book is our attempt to get you geared up and excited - and we hope itʼll help you find your way out your front door to explore what lays just beyond your usual path.” From Panniers and Peanut Butter.

The book can be purchased from their site at, http://www.pathlesspedaled.com/.

Enjoy!

Old Reliable- trusty transportation

OLD RELIABLE—as I am in the general store buying my supplies for winter, Reliable is tied to a post, and like any good pack animal, patiently awaits my return for the journey home. Stocky, graceful, and rugged. She takes me from point A to point B with never a whimper. She eats lightly as our fuels are complimented and combined in the transference of energy. The temp gauge reads 14f…with a wind from the north….yet I do not worry about her as I know she is well taken care of, in shape, tried, and true to road or trail…a four season animal. People walk past her in admiration, some disbelief shaking their heads as the wind bites their cheeks, partly because of the rider, but for her too. People wish they had the fortitude to be on such a steed in winter. Children walk near, and cannot resist to reach their tiny hands out for a touch… they are careful not touch too hard. She looks worn and used, not, like some of her cousins stuck in a dusty corner of a garaged, on display in a store, or hung upside down like a lynched person of days past. Nope, Reliable is a work horse. She is heavy and strong. She is my transportation, I take care of her, she me. The temp is now 13f. I will keep her as long as she will last, I will never put her to pasture before her time. I can count on her, and her me. When it is time, we will ride out into the wilds together and let nature take us back…reclamation. All the supplies now loaded in the saddle bags, I climb on her for the long journey home. She is eager and happy to please. I admire her magnificence.

No Pants!

I love riding my bike! Especially in shorts, in winter, below freezing! I know its a little nutty, but when you are carfree and in the elements every time you go somewhere your body acclimates to the temps. What would have been a uncomfortable ride three months ago was fantastic today.

Morning bike commute, 29f degrees, and sunny.

Since this a new blog, I am still finding my voice in my writing. I think it is important for you the readers to know more about me. Ask me anything?

Here is a good bio in the form of a article from the League of American Bicyclists and a podcast done by Randy Rasa of http://www.kansascyclist.com/news/index.php?s=bill+poindexter

carfree American tip 2: Survival tip. Understand you are invisible to a car-centric world. You are out on a walk or a bike ride, the people who drive cars are not paying attention to pedestrians or cyclists. Just assume they don't see-you will live longer. Be aware.