First Choice Transportation or FCT

Teach your family and friends this:


First Choice Transportation- before you leave your home ask yourself,

"Can we walk, bike, or take mass transit to our destination?"


It is about shifting the thinking and looking at the car as a LAST CHOICE for your transportaition needs.  Can someone create a logo for this?

Childs letter to parents regarding alternate transportation

Written by Emily D. an 11 year old


Dear Mom and Dad,

I learned about the environment today at school. My teacher, Mr. Kellar, told us that the future of the Earth rest on actions of the people of the Earth. He says global warming is a real threat to our existence. He had some very impressive facts and names of scientists I have never heard of, and gave us a reading list to back up his points.

Mom, Dad, I am scared. I do not want to die, and I do not want to hurt the planet.

 One of the solutions Mr. Kellar told us about is finding alternate ways for people to transport themselves. If people stopped using fossil fuels on a “unlimited” basis, there may be a chance damage done could be reversed. I believe him.

I have heard you both talking about global warming, we have seen news reports, the Earth Day special we watched on TV, and we even have some books in the house that talk about it. I even remember about Dad saying he had a environmental science class in college that talked about it?

I am confused; since Global Warming is real why do have two cars?

And…why do we use them all the time. Why do other people do the same thing when they know that one of the major contributors of global warming is car use?

Can we change as a family? Can we use alternatives for transportation, like walking, bicycling, and buses? When we are in the car I see other people who do not use cars. I think it would be good for the environment and it would save you money. Dad, if you bicycled to work you would probably loose that “spare tire” you are always talking about and Mom if you walked to work you would not have to drive to the gym everyday to work out.
My friends are asking their parents the same questions. We understand change will not happen overnight, but we know we can make change now by; walking or riding our bikes to school, carpooling to sporting events, walking to the grocery store and restaurants, staying closer to home and enjoying the parks close to home rather than driving to places we do not need to go.

Mom and Dad I love you. I want to feel safe that the world will be around when I am your age and I want my children to be safe. I am only 11, but I understand the problem.

So tomorrow, I will be riding my bike to school, I can do that everyday. In winter when there is snow, I will walk, I can do that. When I need to buy something I will walk or ride my bike to the store. My friends and I will go to the movies on the weekends and we will walk or bike there, if it is dark when we are coming home we can carpool home if we walked. If we need to go farther, we can take a bus. And I want to bicycle and walk with you two. Will you please make changes and allow me to?

Love,
Emily
(At the parents request her identity will be kept confidential)
Please share.
The parents letter will be published next.

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!

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.