Mmmmm

Il Stelvio in Northern Italy - Grazie allo "Rouleur Magazine" per la bella immagine. (need I say more?)

Wow

I thought that when I was done with school, things would slow down a bit. If anything they've been as busy as ever or busier!

Breakdown of what's happened:
1) Family trip back East - Philly, DC, and New York.
2) Started traveling with work a bit, been to St. Paul, MN
3) Prepping for the MS 150 bike ride (Please donate!)
4) Just got back from our annual 50 mile hike, this time in Southern Utah (pics to follow)
5) Taking pictures of friends
6) Working full-time
7) And last but certainly not least... I GOT A NEW BIKE!!

Now for some pics...

Cole and Tate:


Bike:

Want to double your fuel economy?

Without a doubt, there are many gimmicks and suggestions for improving your fuel economy, more-so now than ever due to the recent increase in US fuel prices. Some of the gimmicks and suggestions work great, some work only marginally, and others don't work at all. One that is guaranteed to double your fuel economy is carpooling (when compared to driving alone).



Roughly 99% of the cars I see on the freeway or on the road in general have only one person in the car. If you put another person in the car, you double the efficiency of the car, thus doubling your fuel economy. For example, let's take your average Toyota Corolla. We'll pick that car because right now I'm sitting on the bus in the express lane passing one that only has one driver in it. (Yes, that's right, I'm posting this using the free wi-fi that's available on the bus). If you have one person in that Toyota Corolla, the car is getting around 30 p-mpg (passenger-miles per gallon). Meaning you have one passenger multiplied by the miles per gallon. If you put just one more person in that car, the fuel economy jumps to 60 p-mpg because you now have 2 people multiplied by the miles per gallon (2x30 = 60). Put a third person in the car and you get 90 p-mpg, and so forth. Carpooling is the best thing you can do right now to lighten your wallet when it comes to fuel costs. And it's guaranteed to work, no gimmicks or tricks.

Now on to the reason for this post. The reason is that I found this awesome website that connects you to people that are traveling your same commute so you can easily find them and start cutting your fuel costs in half. It's called eRideShare. Go to www.erideshare.com for more information. Best of all, it's free! Happy motoring.

ps, pics of our trip back east are coming soon!

Bakfiets

I couldn't help but post this when I saw it on the news tonight. We've posted about the "bakfiets" (cargo bike) before: See here, and here. But this takes the cake because it's an Orem family doing it. They stopped driving their car for short errands and just take the bike instead... complete with child seats, seat belts, and a convertible roof for the rainy days! See here for the complete story.



They're a bit pricey, but Mad Dog Cycles in Orem can get them in apparently. Now I want one even more!

Have your cake and eat it too

'Nuff Said:

Wasatch Backcountry

We couldn't have asked for a better day to celebrate two Presidents' birthdays! The sun was shining, we have lots of snow, and the avalanche danger was low. So we decided to take advantage! We had a hard time deciding where to go, but we settled on snowshoeing to Donut Falls in Big Cottonwood Canyon. It's a short hike, but very scenic. The best part was how much wildlife we saw today. There was a huge herd of elk on the mountain by the side of our house when we left with one large buck heading up the harem of females. Then we saw a few moose while snowshoeing and later in the day we saw a bobcat dart across the road below our house. It's amazing that within 15 minutes of the city, you can see all that wildlife and simply "get away from it all." Now for the pics...

Classic one-hander

The Tongue

Leap of FaithMt. Olympus on my shoulderQuiet SolitudeThis is Donut Falls just to the right of the rocks (about 5 feet under the snow)Moose Buddies (see the one on the right too?)

Unfortunately we didn't get pics of the elk or the bobcat, maybe next time...

***PS*** We also went on a SLC photo tour with our friends on Saturday, click on the teaser pic below for more great shots of SLC.

An American Institution

Dan's Home!

My little brother Dan just got home from his LDS mission on Feb. 5th. I am a little slow processing the pics, but here they are finally! It was so good to see him again after two years. We sure missed having him around, and now he's back and better than ever. I'll never be able to explain how much my mission has helped me in my life, and I'm sure Dan is the same way. He was a great missionary and it has been fun to hear about people that he taught while he was in the Philadelphia Pennsylvania mission.

Miles per Dollar?

I heard a good suggestion the other day. That is to start thinking about fuel economy in economic terms, i.e. to think about it in "Miles Per Dollar" or, MPD. It's all too easy to just stick in that credit card on each fill-up and just kind of forget about how much you're actually getting for that money. Some people just pour that money down the drain (or out the tailpipe for that matter) without even thinking twice about how much it's costing them. To other people, they couldn't care less how much it's costing them no matter how high the cost.
Now for some examples using $3.00/gal fuel:

A 15mpg (insert nearly any SUV here) would do roughly 5 miles per dollar.
A 22mpg Audi A4 (which I used to own and loved) would do roughly 7 miles per dollar.
A 25mpg (insert nearly any regular sedan here) - 8 miles per dollar
A 30mpg Honda Civic - 10 miles per dollar
A 45mpg Jetta TDI still only allows you 15 miles per dollar

So next time you're driving down the road in an "economical" car (e.g. Toyota Camry) doing 25mpg, just count mile posts! Every 8th mile post you pass, pull a $1 bill out of your pocket. For you locals, a normal round-trip drive from Provo to SLC (45 miles) costs over $10 in that "economical" 25mpg car! If you drive around town frequently, just try zeroing the tripmeter in your car at the beginning of the day and see where it ends up at the end of the day. You may be surprised. Let's just be glad we don't have the $6+/gallon fuel that other parts of the world have.

Remember, gas prices go up in the Spring! :-)

Smooth Steel

***Rambling post alert!*** ***with videos***
Airplanes are great for traveling long distances (long being 1,000+ miles) but for shorter distances, trains can't be beat. I know you're thinking clickety-clack

but believe it or not, as much as it has been shunned in the USA, train technology has been doing more than just "clacking along". As mentioned earlier, UTA is starting up their "Front Runner" commuter rail line from Ogden to SLC with a line from Provo to SLC to follow in the next few years.

It's going to do about 80mph so that means that during heavy traffic on I-15 (which is most of the time), it'll be faster than driving! Not to mention the comfort of Wifi, work tables, and comfy chairs perfect for napping as the train cruises along the smooth steel. As cool as that is going to be, there is something better on the horizon for parts of America... high-speed rail. You may be asking yourself, (see the steam train pic above for reference) c'mon, how can trains be that fast?

This one to the left really is that fast... 357.2 mph!! That train is the current world speed record holder. Should be fast enough, eh? The technology that goes into making that train go that fast is not trivial, for example, if the wire above the train doesn't move back and forth enough, it will burn right through the pantograph! The physics behind the contact point of the wheels to the track are unbelievable to allow them to spin that fast.

I know this is a video heavy post, but they are worth it if you're interested in trains, alternative transportation, energy independence, engineering and a whole slew of other issues. Below is a proposed (and very likely at this point) high-speed rail line from the Bay Area in California to Los Angeles. Other lines are planned from L.A. to Las Vegas that would be a maglev train which would be even better!

For you locals, imagine sometime in the future being able to book a high-speed train from Salt Lake City to Las Vegas that leaves at say 9:00 am. Now swing back to what it's like to make that trip now... You have to be to the airport at least an hour early (they recommend two hours) and then the plane waits for 15 minutes (at least) on the tarmac to take off. (trip time=1.5hrs) Then you fly in cramped quarters, unless you fly JetBlue or Virgin America which don't fly to Vegas from SLC, with the heavy-set man next to you taking up more than his two purchased seats. Because of the dry aircraft air, you're pounding the Ginger Ale and H20 so you'll have to pee at least once on the trip. Those bathrooms are a joy, aren't they? Think of the movie Tommy Boy. (travel time=3hrs) You spend another 15 minutes at least at the destination airport on the tarmac (total trip time 3.25hrs). Then you wait, and wait, and wait for your bags at the luggage carousel for 30 minutes, and don't forget that you're now one bag lighter than you were when you got on the plane because your other bag is in Mexico City. (trip time=3.75 hrs) So after roughly 4 hours, you're in Vegas! Which is good, because driving would have taken you 5 hours to get there (depending on how you drive) so you got there an hour earlier.

Now imagine the first scenario where you book your 9:00am high speed train from SLC to Las Vegas. You arrive at the train station about 15 minutes before the train is set to leave. You take your bags to the train and you watch the conductor load them on the same car you're traveling on after which he gives you a hand as you board the train. You get settled in a very roomy seat with huge windows, foot rests, and various recline positions. You can also get a work table seat if you'd like. All the room you need to stretch out. The train slowly pulls out of the station and gently accelerates up to above 200 mph almost without you even noticing. You arrive in Las Vegas rested, having used the spacious, nearly full size restroom on your car and after having a drink from the cafe car. As the train pulls into the Las Vegas station, less than 2.5 hours have passed. The train has saved you more than an hour of travel time and has also saved you more headache than you can imagine! All the time you have used much less energy to travel the same distance and with the new trains, they will either run on electric powered rails or be maglev powered. If that energy comes from a clean, domestic source, you're better off still! My opinion is that with the $1.2+ Trillion we have spent in Iraq, (somebody's got to pay that someday BTW) we could have built a large high-speed rail infrastructure which would help to get us off of foreign oil and increase national security and still have enough left over to completely double cancer research in the US, treat every American with heart disease and diabetes that goes without care today, and implement newer, energy efficient cars. That's a good chunk 'o change.

***EDIT*** I just came across this article talking about a train from Madrid to Barcelona which happens to be the same distance as Salt Lake City to Las Vegas that I referenced above. It's challenging planes at that distance, and I know I would surely take the train over the plane for a 410 mile trip!

Fields of Fuel

First off, I'm not going to do this film justice in any way, shape, or form without holding your hand and taking you down to the theater to watch it full-length. That might be a bit difficult to do, so I'll do my best to try to get you interested in seeing it yourself.

First off, the trailer.

Gina and I really wanted to see this movie, and thanks to Tom getting us tickets at the SFF we were able to go!

"A Crude Awakening" and An Inconvenient Truth" were good and decent, respectively; however, on a scale with the three films together, "Fields of Fuel" is way ahead of the curve. While the first two show us all how screwed up we will be if we don't do anything, they don't offer very many glimpses of hope and they make it seem like there is nothing the individual person can do to help the problem.

Fields of Fuel, on the other hand, offers a very humanizing view of the current energy situation that the US faces. It does not dwell on well-documented but not-quite-proven theories (like the Theory of Global Climate Change and that crazy Theory of Gravity, for instance) but instead focuses on tangible evidence that the way we use energy here in the US is not sustainable and has backed us into a corner that requires immediate change. While some other countries have done this too, we don't live there, we live here and should worry about it here. Josh Tickell then continues on to give the audience various ways in which the individual can make a difference. Below is a list of 10 things he suggests. Not everybody can do all of these right away, but everybody can do at least one of these.

1) Buy a biodiesel, hybrid, electric, or ethanol car
2) Change your fuel to biodiesel, ethanol, or electricity
3) Switch your local school buses to biodiesel
4) Get your gas station to sell biofuel
5) Start a biofuel purchasing co-op
6) Get green energy education into your local schools
7) Use public transportation, bike, or walk
8) Vote for leaders committed to green energy
9) Buy electricity from solar and wind companies
10) Learn more: read Biodiesel America

In the film, Josh gives a very holistic approach to the use of biofuels. He realizes that they are not the ultimate answer, but they are what we can do NOW to get the ball rolling in the right direction. He tells the audience very matter-of-factly that the only way to fix the energy problems in the world is to move towards a diversified energy structure where the energies being used cannot be monopolized by governments or by any one large corporation.

PS, did I mention it received the Documentary Audience Choice Award at Sundance?!