But I digress. Happy new year to my few readers out there! The holidays came and went without much fanfare. As I grow older I realize I don’t want as much “stuff” as I once did. I’ve been on a consumption diet as of late. Leo Babauta of ZenHabits wrote a post entitled, “The Case Against Buying Christmas Presents” which I am very much in agreement with his views on what Christmas has become and why I don’t view it innocently like I once did. On my time off (compliments of my new employer) I spent time to reflect on myself. What really matters to me these days. I don’t want stuff to matter. I want experiences and relationships to matter more. Therefore, I’ve told folks I would rather spend money on an experience to enrich a person’s life rather than on something that can eventually break or be forgotten. If you’re reading this and you know me personally, please do not give me any more “stuff”. I would rather you take the money and donate to a fund-raising effort. I’ll take this time to pimp those out: 1. Tour de Cure which is a ride to cure diabetes. 2. CCC ride for the Arthritis Foundation. This will be my second year. The first year was AWESOME!

I’ve also been reading another blog called The Path Less Pedaled which documents the journey of a Long Beach couple, Russ & Laura, who decided to sell all their personal belongings and go on an epic bike ride in 2009. I have been reading their past posts non-stop on my in and out of work. This was when I ride the bus this week. So far I’m at August 2009 where they made it up to Portland, OR and have been cruising around there and are at the state of Washington. Both authors can write so I enjoy reading their recollection and Russ is a photographer so his pictures are amazing! Some are taken from his iPhone and edited on the fly. As I poured through their entries, I am constantly reflecting on my own situation. I don’t think I own as much stuff as they did but it is a considerable amount. I need to start going through my crap and throwing things away. Even though I’m not going anywhere (yet), I’d like to lighten up the possessions. I guess I’m striving for a more simple life. I’ve been striving for a few years now. To try to minimize as much as I can.

Another interesting point in one of Laura’s post mentioned the critical mass of stuff that needed to make a home feel like a home. To fill it up with the right things so that it was more inviting. Since they had to go through this mass cleansing, they found themselves torn apart by their stuff and their overall goal to get out on the road. I have similar sentiments about my current home of 2 years. I’ve be reluctant to furnish the place fully. My bedroom just has a bed and a side table that was given to me by a friend. My living consist of a lounge chair given to me by a friend of my dad and a futon bed given to me by a buddy of mine. Coffee table is something my uncle gave me that was sitting in his garage collecting dust. My rug was bartered for some work I did for a carpet company. I got my tv stand as a present for the gf. I did splurge on the TV. I’m slowly regretting that purchase but can’t bring myself to admit it because everytime I turn it on to watch sports, I am reminded why I “had to have it”. I’m being owned! On the other hand, I’m feeling the pressure to “feather my nest” so that it feels more inviting. I’m so torn.

On another note, I am going to be getting a new bike! The one thing I don’t feel guilty about buying for myself is this custom built Surly Cross Check built by the Flying Pigeon LA guys.

Isn’t she beautiful? Build details will come later when I go pick it up this weekend. It’s missing some lights and a chainguard in this picture.

I then attempted to join one of these groups. I searched for a Freecycle group near my neighborhood and immediately found a Yahoo! Group for the city I’m living in and adjacent city. I signed up with this group just to see what was happening. Besides getting inundated with emails after emails explaining rules and what not to post, I finally got to see the message board. What I saw was listings of people making “OFFER” for stuff that they don’t need and are willing to give it away or people requesting goods in a form of a “WANTED” post or a note that what they had offered had been “TAKEN”.

As an experiment, I wanted to participate in this community. I had a used paella pan that was given to me but never used. I think my girlfriend thought we would be making paella but that never happened. It just became a nuisance moving in and out of the oven whenever we wanted to bake. I was ready to just donate it somewhere but never found the time. So this was a perfect item to offer to the mass population of Freecyclers. My first post was immediately denied. Apparently you had to put your location in the subject head. I reposted and didn’t check my account for a few hours after I had place the post. When I got back, my in-box had 16 messages all asking about the pan! I was shocked that it worked and that people really WANT a paella pan. I decided to give the pan out to the first to respond (response time 15 minute). Unfortunately, that person said she couldn’t pick up the pan until Monday. Since I was making the rules in giving my stuff away, I wanted it to be picked up that afternoon so I chose between 2 requester who said they can pick it up that day. The one I ended up with gave me a time frame which was very helpful.

Some people gave me very specific reasons why they needed one. Others were questioning what it looked like and how big it was. When I read all these messages, I was seeing very interesting behaviors. It felt good giving my paella pan away that day. The smile on the person’s face and gratefulness was awesome. You experience something similar to when you are volunteering for charity. Freecycle just gave me another option to do with stuff I don’t want. So if you have a closet full of crap that you don’t want but still works, why not Freecycle it? With for over 4,000 groups and 7 million members, you’re bound to find someone who might want it.

Here are some highlights of my 2 months experience.

• Bought rain gear, but did not bring it when it did drizzle. Still had fun riding in the wet.
• Rode 855 miles during this time which included commuting, some group rides, and my Santa Monica excursion.
• Had 4 people ask about the Xtracycle.
• Had motorcyclist compliment on my Xtracycle.
• Realized that LA still has a long way in becoming a bicycle friendly city and there are dedicated individuals who are out there fighting for a better LA as we speak.
• Los Angeles have so much things to experience outside of a car.
• I could go practically anywhere in LA if I planned it right.
• People generally are surprised and doubtful when you tell them that you’re giving up your car. They’re almost sympathetic for the cause and some do offer rides.
• Some people don’t think it’s possible to be car-free in LA. Some think it’s social suicide.
• Your iPod is your best friend on public transportation.
• My friends are realizing that I’m not messing around.
• Using the bike rack on a bus is easy.

For the next step, I am going to get my car washed and detailed and will be putting it on Craigslist for sale hopefully by today. It is going to be good to lose this 3,000 lbs from my life. The revolution has begun!

Photo provided by nyoin on Flickr.

This is the coolest thing I’ve ever seen. Kudos to Trondheim, Norway for implementing this bike lift to encourage more bicycling in their city. Thanks for @bikeoven for bringing this up. Not sure if this will work too well if you’re riding fixed. I suppose you would have to take your left leg off the pedal.

Bicycling has taught me to be more patient. Riding a bicycle to places gave me a reason to plan and structure my day but ironically at the same time, riding the bicycle doesn’t require me to structure my day. I know that if I leave 1 hour before the start time of work I would have plenty of time to coast into work and not break a sweat. I take my time and enjoy the environment around me. I can hear, smell, and feel every cough, breeze, and sprinkle. The concept of being in traffic has been removed from my life. I am no longer bounded by the inconsistencies of getting to a place either 20 minutes or 1 hour just because of a car accident or road construction. I am free from the vast waste of land called parking lots or parking structures which is erected to help house our cars. I don’t have to pay the parking tax either at these wasteland or leaving my car with a complete stranger eager to take my car for a quick spin around the block while he’s digging for loose change. I am no longer mad when a person cuts me off or speeds off in front of me. Why are they in such a rush? Why can’t they just slow down to listen, hear, and smell the things I’m experiencing? That’s right. They’re in a car with their noise insulated windows and cabins bumping the latest tunes on their thousand dollar stereo system. They are busy letting the rest of the world know how better they are because they’re driving a fast and powerful beast of a car. They scoff and laugh at me as they pass, but they don’t know how sorry I feel for them for they are the ones missing out in life. They don’t realize that by driving these monolithic SUVs they are just making things worse. People in their hybrids often think that they are doing something to help our problems when all they’ve done is reduced their consumption on gasoline. They still need gasoline to power their smug bug. They’re still occupying the same space as before on the roads and highways. We still have traffic. We still have accidents.

I remember day-dreaming in college about how cool it would be to commute by bicycle to work. Honestly, I never thought I would be the bicycle commuter let alone get back on a bike after I got into the working world. I’m living the dream! A true dream that I didn’t think was possible. My bicycle(s) changed my life again. It’s taught me that it’s never to late to try something different. I was able to learn how to work on my bikes in a matter of months. I am self-reliant and don’t need to pay a mechanic to service my bikes now. Even after 30+ years, I am able to pick this up with no problem. I am also paying this forward when I go help people with their bicycle problems over at the Bike Oven co-op. What’s a better way to make an impact on someone’s life than to help them get their bike up and running? Maybe they’ll have that chance to feel the way I feel. They have this opportunity to feel some of things I’m feeling. Maybe something they never felt before.

Whatever it is, whenever I am with other bicyclists, I see the same burn. The same drive I see in myself. However different we are I am able to connect with bicyclists just because I am one of them. I’m not talking about your weekend warriors in spandex and fluorescent jersey. I do train with those types but they are not as cool as the people who genuinely love bicycles not because it’s got the latest and hottest component but because the bicycle had a story behind it. Every bike has a story that is associated with it. I remember some of those stories. About someone picking it up from a yard sale and spray painting it. About someone who saw it lying on the street and decided to adapt it and rebuild it from the ground up. Some great stories behind how each other’s rig was pieced together and how long they’ve been riding their trusty steed is what I enjoy listening to.

I’ll have people telling me that I’m the one who’s crazy to go without a car. They tell me I’ll be missing out and that I can’t live without a car. They tell me that riding a bike fully loaded is silly. They make fun of my helmet. Bicycling has also taught me to be courageous and trust in something whole-heartedly to a point whenever I have naysayers telling me it won’t work, I don’t have self-doubt. I can confidently brush it off or better yet show them that it is possible to live a car-free life and still be happy with overwhelming amount of experience to share. The proof is in the pudding. I’ve never blogged as much I have for the past 2 months. I just have so much to share and the words are coming out much easier than ever before. I’m not the one missing out. I’m living it up and enjoying every minute of it.

Now that I just finished the 2nd day into my second month, I was presented some new challenges. I visit my folks weekly and when I got there this week, I did not have the keys to their place. I was locked out in the cold and couldn’t get a hold of them and friends. If I had a car, I would have the keys with my car keys. No, that did not discourage me but made me realize that I need to be more conscious about having keys with me or perhaps stashed away somewhere in case I forget again. Another challenge comes from the weather. Early in the week I saw rain in my forecast. Since I haven’t purchased rain gear for riding, I’m not going to ride the bike home. Instead I’ve planned it out so that I got a ride from a co-worker after my CERT training at work. The rain has raised more awareness as far as going to destinations like the library. Luckily I bribed a friend at work to take me in exchange for joining him for a lunch out. Otherwise, that would have been coming into work later than normal and taking 2 bus rides and a train stop to the library and then work, in the rain. The last but least significant thing I am experience is that I may be socially out casted from my friends who are planning to have monthly / bi-monthly poker games during the week. There’s no way in hell I’m riding over to Culver City on a school night for a poker game. I knew it wasn’t going to be easy so I’m glad I have these challenges. But this is definitely something I’m willing to live with. My spirits are high and I can’t wait till November 14th when the 8 week is done. Hopefully, nothing will change from now until then. I’ll be glad to announce that the car is for sale!

Boulder Bike Story from Bikes Belong on Vimeo.

Found this on the BikeMore! LA blog. Like Ron, I too am waiting for LA to be more like Boulder, CO. I wished I had known about this when I went to Colorado 3 years ago. Of course, it was freezing then and when I visited Boulder, I didn’t remember seeing that many bicyclists around. Not to mention I was not in the bicycling scene as I am for the past 2 years so I did not seek out the bicycling scene. It was already strange being one of the few Asians there.

What was most interesting part that I found was their story about how the couple met at the bottom of the Grand Canyon. Seems more like a script straight out from a short film. A southern gentleman who used to live in Alaska buys a red Toyota pick-up truck. Drives it down to the Grand Canyon. He hikes down to the canyon and finds one camping spot. It so happens that he meets his wife there and they hike back up and spend 2 more months on the road. They eventually got married and have several children who are born in various places ranging from Florida to the Netherlands.

This story as well as the past summer’s real life story of 2 geeks riding across America from Pennsylvania to Oregon are a true inspiration to me. I too am looking to do something similar in my life time. I’ve already taken steps to learn more about camping as well as prepare for a potential trip up the coast from south of California to San Francisco. I may even continue year to year up north until maybe even to Alaska. People like this keeps my hope and spirit alive that this feat can be accomplished. Living car free should make this more easy for me to do it physically.

By-the-way, I’m done with my 3rd week of my car-free trial. I had to start my car and get some gas since I was running on fumes. Even though I didn’t use my car, I had to make sure it wasn’t going to be in worse condition than before I started this. I still have to keep it maintained so people would buy it from me in a few weeks from now.

Most importantly, the bicyclist did not put out any pollution whereas the commuter had 1lb of carbon and the car produced 6lbs of carbon for that same 5 mile race.

So how about a race between bicycles and a helicopter? There shouldn’t be any way bicyclists can win, right? See this video provided by Treehugger.com.

Imagine living in a city like San Paulo where it is so congested that there are helicopter transportation services that you can take. In the end the bicycles produced no carbon whereas the helicopter produced 3.75kg of carbon, which translates to about 8.27lbs of carbon (thank you Google for the conversion).

I’m thinking these scenarios may not be feasible in Los Angeles because of how sprawled out our city is. Nevertheless, even if we’re traveling slower than cars, we’re green and we’re not stressed.

Saturday, I rode the Xtracycle over to the party along with a money tree, my Timbuk2 messenger bag, and a foldable chair (since she asked visitors to BYOC). The ride wasn’t too bad for the most part. LA is surprisingly hilly. I got caught on some mean hills and was fortunate to ride some down towards Wilshire Blvd from Los Feliz. I got there in about an hour and half. Hung out until about 8PM and started my journey home. I primarily took 4th St to La Palmas Ave which runs parallel with Highland. I pretty much had a quiet ride without much traffic through very “rich” neighborhoods. I eventually made it to the Hollywood and Highland Metro station and hopped on the train towards NoHo. Luckily there wasn’t alot of people taking the train at the time so I was able to take the elevators down with my extra long bike and walk right on the train without worrying about blocking the door. Even getting off the North Hollywood station was a breeze.

On Sunday, I had told my parents I was going to visit since I didn’t the week before. I had to swap some bicycle tubes at the Flying-Pigeon store. They had a dim-sum ride in the morning and I got there just in time to join the huge group of people who participated. I also learned that there is a bike path in the area. Very convenient to ride back and forth from Highland Park to South Pasadena. Along the way we had a few things happen. I opted to stay behind to look over folks and make sure no one was left behind. The first incident, we had some fainting. Luckily a few of us was there to hold her up and seat her on the side. She ended up walking back to the shop after eating some candy. I’m guessing she was diabetic. The second incident was that a lady who had not been riding for 12 years had fallen down while trying to ride onto a sidewalk. Fortunately, she scrapped her knees but nothing serious. Myself and another fellow rider rounded up about 5 riders who were straggling at the end and made sure everyone reached their destination. I bid farewell and went home to see my folks. On the ride back, I rode non-stop. Found some new routes and had to turn around because of some closures to the LA River bike path. It took me about 2 and half hours to ride home. A lot longer than I expected. All I knew was that I was exhausted and thirsty coming home. I had to go to a 7-11 to pick-up some Gatorade to recharge.

7 more weeks to go! This week will have some birthday dinners in Pasadena so we’ll see how that’s going to work out. I’m planning on taking the train and having friends pick me up and drop me off. It should be interesting so I’ll report back again.