One Less Car

The short phrase above is a common phrase among cyclists the world over. It's our own (sometimes arrogant sounding) way of saying how much better bikes can be compared to cars. Well, I don't always agree with that notion, but in many cases, the bike will get you around faster and more efficiently than a car would. Those that live in large, dense cities know this much better than the rest of us!

For me at the particular time, "One Less Car" literally means one less car, i.e. we sold the Audi and now have "one less car" than we did before. We are now down to a grand total of 1 automobile in our household and even with winter storms and long distances traveled (I work 40 miles from home) we haven't had any major problems with only having one car. On top of that, the one car that we do have is a VW TDI so it gets near 50 MPG regularly and costs under $50/month for insurance. AND it's more fun to drive than the Audi was! Because of the longevity and reliability of the diesel engine, I don't plan on having to fix it near as much as a gasoline car either!

Winter Commuting

We finally had the first storm and really cold weather hit us this year. Temperatures haven't gotten above freezing for the past 3 or 4 days. The mornings have been roughly -11°C (12°F) but right now (10:00 am) it's a balmy -3°C (26°F) so the ride to school this morning should be nice, cough.

Due to the snow and cold, I decided it was time to put away the slick tires for the winter and switch over to the cyclocross knobbies.

They've been working great and the commute has been good on them so far. I also couldn't live without the fenders, they keep me dry and also keep the salt off me. Now for some pics of the dirty yet efficient rig.