MFM Day 25: Sole Power

September 23rd, 2009: Motor Free Month Day 25, Sole Power


We're taking it to the streets today, baby. No car, no bike, I'm getting around on sole power alone today. Why? For the No Impact Factor? Naah, there's really no "impact" difference between biking and running, once one disregards the sunk impact of manufacturing and shipping the bike itself. Of course my running shoes had to come from somewhere too, so there's some impact there. Oh never mind. No impact drives me crazy.


James Brown, Soul Power, Pts. 1 & 2. That's what I'm talkin' about.


More for the experience, the challenge, am I lacing up my running shoes and jogging to work this morning. All well and good, but a car-and-bike-free day requires some advance planning to pull it off. First of all, the night before I had to stash my work clothes at the office. I could have carried my work clothes with me, but that is really annoying and uncomfortable, so I stashed. Since my commute is only 2 miles, I can bike to work in my work clothes without any issues. Running 2 miles, however, is somewhat more strenuous than biking 2 miles, and how do I put this delicately, leaves a more aromatic trace on my clothing. Hence, work clothes were stashed the night before.


Secondly, since I really don't want to run with a backpack or carry anything extra at all while I run, yet I still needed to eat lunch, I had to carry some lunch money, on in my case, my credit card. The rest of my wallet was left behind as unnecessary, but it did make me feel a bit naked during the day. It just felt strange to not have my wallet with me. The only other required item was my work badge, but I also brought my mobile phone and my camera, though the latter was only included since I'm obsessively documenting every aspect of this greater adventure.


The 2 mile run into work was very enjoyable. The weather was cold, probably in the low 40's, which necessitated a jacket, hat, and gloves, but overall I think it is more pleasant to run in those conditions than bike. Probably due to lack of wind chill action on foot as opposed to bike. It usually takes me about 20 minutes to run to work, as opposed to 12 or 13 minutes on the bike. I didn't bother bringing my running watch with me today so I don't know how long it took this particular time.


I got to the office and changed into my work clothes. This time the only article of clothing I forgot to stash was an extra pair of socks. So I had to wear my stinky running socks all day but it didn't bother me. Probably bothered everyone else in the office but I was comfortable. As an aside, I must admit that going motor free has resulted in a smellier, sweatier, dirtier me overall. And I must also confess that I think I'm getting used to it. One of the more subtle drawbacks of going motor free is that I may end up driving all my friends away due to my relative decline in hygiene.


The work day passed uneventfully. At lunch I walked over to the grocery store across the train tracks and used my credit card to purchase a sandwich, chips, and a drink. Typically I ride or run home for lunch to check in on our animals, but C_ graciously agreed to do it today, saving me a trip. I will point out that this was only the second time all month that I have not gone home for lunch, so generally speaking I am not slacking off there too much.



After work I was to meet my friends for our weekly group run. So I changed back into my running gear from my work clothes and stashed my work clothes away once again. Then I ran over to where the running group was meeting, went on the group run, and finally ran home. I didn't have my watch with me but I think I ran about 10 miles in total during the day. A good workout!


Observations on going motor and bike free; probably not sustainable, even for me with a 2 mile commute. I think I could do this about one day per week, but it's near impossible to sustain for multiple days in a row. Stashing work clothes for multiple days alone makes this concept nearly impossible to execute. The experience didn't feel too much different than riding around everywhere, but the novelty counted for something.

MFM Day 24: World Car Free Day n Stuff

September 22nd, 2009: Motor Free Month Day 24, World Car Free Day n Stuff


Cool, I have a book at the post office! I just need to ride down and get it. Or I could tell them to just leave it at my doorstep. Oh what the heck, it's Motor Free Month, I'll just ride down and grab it on the way to work. It's just one book, right, it's probably wafer-thin at that! So this I do; the weather was cloudy and brisk, but far better then yesterday. And I managed to locate my rain pants so I'm ready for anything now. On to the post office in old town, about 1 mile from home, and probably 1.5 miles from work. I give the post officer (officer? what do you call them anyway when they're not actually carrying mail?) my little slip and he wanders on into the back, appearing a short time later with an enormous bag from the British Post containing what could be the collected works of Charles Dickens inside. Uh, I was under the impression there would be only one book? Apparently this was my annual "free-bee" book shipment from The Folio Society, a brilliant book retailer by the way, and the one book I did order was lovingly accompanied by 3 others I did not order, but was presented with as well, and 2 other books that I did not think were coming until next year. Cool bag though, but how the heck am I going to get this, well, anywhere?



Won't fit in the backpack, that's for certain. Don't think I want to haul that on my back anyway. Won't fit in the rear pannier either, it's way too big for that. I don't have any way to strap it down either. You know what I wish I had? Yes, that's right, a car. They're oh so handy. On would car free day, too. How ironic.


Problem solved -- sort of -- by draping the top of the bag over my left handlebar so I could grip both it and my bike with my left hand. That left the books swinging freely with every change of momentum into the tire or my shin on alternate pedal strokes. When it swung back I could feel it slowing down the momentum of the bike!

And this arrangement made the left brake next to impossible to operate. You know a trailer would have come in handy as well, now that I think about it. All part of the adventure! I sort of got used to it after a few blocks, and was even able to make a death-defying crossing of Prospect next to the Hilton carrying this thing.


















I love how the picture states "Eat Britain Post." Makes me wonder, what does Britain Post taste like? I'm going with Stale.


My Colorado readers will know that we're experiencing (The Kooks,) Stormy Weather these past few days. Luckily for me Ft. Collins seemed to avoid the worst of it today. My ride home for lunch (where I deposited my books at home once and for all, ending that adventure) was windy but dry. It was quite windy, not quite a biblical wind, more like an apocryphal wind; seemingly significant at the time, but ultimately not that important.


One other bit of news to impart; it's official, I will be riding my bike down to Denver for the weekend! If you're going to the Great American Beer Festival, come visit me, I'll be pouring beer for Buckbean Brewing Company on Saturday, and possibly Friday as well. I'll see you down there!



Wednesday I'm going both motor and bike free. Foot power, baby.




I just realized this post really has nothing to do with World Car Free Day, other than probably convincing you that going car free is not always the birghtest idea. So, well done there. But that steve nash infomercial for Vitamin Water is pure gold. "Are we crazy? Maybe!"

MFM Day 23: The Worm Turns

September 21st, 2009: Motor Free Month Day 23


I awoke last night to the sound of thunder, "how far off," I sat and wondered
-- Bob Seger, Night Moves

Boom. ok here it is, the first rainy, cold, really crappy day since I started my Motor Free Month.

Ok, waking up to thunder is never a good sign, particularly in Colorado. In Colorado, thunder is typically heard in the evening, and then is followed by a brief refreshing cleansing rain shower that makes everything green and pretty.

Morning thunder on the other hand is typically followed by an all-day gloom-fest with soggy drenching showers that put everybody into a foul mood and flood the bike paths. Morning Thunder is also a tea, I believe. I don't like it. The tea or the weather phenomenon.

First order of business; check the weather forecast. How cold is it? Can I expect rain all day or will it pass? My favorite web site Weather Underground -- no relation to this Weather Underground, or this song of the day: Weather Report, Umbrellas -- provides the answers, which pretty much make me want to go underground myself:

Yea, motor free! I should be steeled for this, as it's my 23rd day of Motor Free Living, but I'm probably more annoyed now than I would have been if this deluge occurred earlier in the Month. Can we just get this experiment over with without it sucking so much right now? That'd be great, thanks. Well so what. I've ridden in worse. I rode my bike to work in 5 degree Fahrenheit weather one day last Winter. Still have the bit of frost-nip on my cheek to prove it. So I can handle a 40 degree rainy commute for a couple of days. Suck it up, daffodil!


It's all about gear. Proper gear = tolerable ride. Earlier this month I could ride to work in my work clothes, and nothing extra. As documented last last Friday, though, lately I've found it necessary to wear a jacket, and even on some days light gloves during my morning commute. Usually by the afternoon and evening it's warm enough to dispense with those accouterments but I can smell the change is coming (you can smell it).



But rain requires a whole new level of gearing up. in addition to the light jacket and thin hat, the first required new clothing element is the rain jacket. Bright yellow and non-breathable for me, thanks. Then the rain pants. Unless I want my legs to be absolutely soaked by the time I get to work, proper rain trousers are essential. Heavy water-proof gloves are also on my list. None of these thin knit gloves or half-finger riding gloves. Time to bust out the heavy waterproof leather fireman's gloves. Man gloves. Something Howie Long would endorse. Wouldn't want to ride far in these bad boys due to the brethability/sweat factor, but dang they're nice for the short commute. My hands do get the coldest when riding in bad conditions so I don't mind over-doing it with the gloves.


Lastly, and totally optional, is the plastic bag over the shoes look. Keeps the feet dry but they are annoying to get on, and they get all torn up by the pedals, so they're not terribly reusable. Not to mention really geeked out. Those riding with clips and those special clippy shoes can opt here for special weather-resistant shoe covers which are pretty slick. Or one can put the bag between sock and shoe, sacrificing shoe but keeping foot dry and uncomfortable (again, breathability. Like drinkability, only less so). I choose to go without the shoe bags today because I know that worst-case scenario, I have another pair of dry shoes at work. Which reminds me that it's important to bring an extra pair of dry socks on a rainy day, lest you arrive at work with sodden feet. Not a pleasant way to pass the working day, I can assure you.

And although it's not clothing per se, let's not forget the all-important Rear Fender. Otherwise my rear tire will kick up all manner of mud and road sludge, subjecting me to the highly embarrassing Brown Line of Shame, which will emanate from my posterior in a pointillist line of fashion hell towards my skull, like Pollock emulating Seurat on commission from UPS. At this point I really should be waring a dunce cap, although the bike helmet will suffice as a beacon of geek in this case. Luckily for me my rear pannier seems to do the job, and my back pack takes most of the additional abuse, leaving the back of my shirt and trousers brown-free. Of course I can not see my backside so I really don't know how successful I am at avoiding this fashion faux pas. Dark slacks are recommended for rainy days. Brown, mostly. Unless you live in Flagstaff, in which case ochre might be better.

Well let's see how I did today:

• Light jacket: check


• Light hat: check


• Howie Long-approved gloves: check


• Extra shoes at work: check


• Rain pants: missing, presumed with camping gear (also determined to be missing after frenetic search)


• Plastic bags for feet: rejected. Not rainy enough!


• Extra dry socks: forgot

This resulted in my hands and torso being warm and dry, and my legs and feet getting absolutely soaked on the ride into work. Although I've successfully hiked a 14er in Dockers Khakis before (the by-product of another frenetic and unsuccessful search for camping gear), I can't completely recommend them as one's first choice for poor-weather commuting. So I got to spend the morning at work in soaking wet khakis and sporting my office-stashed shoes "commando" style, sans socks. I'm amazed they let me in the door to the office.

What have I learned here? Planning. Jeez, wasn't I a Boy Scout once? Be prepared, buddy. I know the plan, I just don't bother to execute completely. Partly I think, eeeh, it's only a 2 mile commute, how bad can it get? Pretty bad. Just have to look in the mirror to see the little frost nip on my left cheek to remind me of other 2-mile commutes gone horribly wrong. That small spot on my cheek may look like a freckle to you, but it is really a badge of, um, stupidity. Also I think, eeeh, tough it out, ya wilting lilly! What would Howie Long do? (drive a truck, actually.) We don't need no fancy water-proof gear! Just stand out there and get wet like your ancestors!

Happily, conditions improved quite a bit by lunch, and I was able to ride home and back without getting wet. But it was windy! So now we've got that to deal with. Wind, though, not nearly as bad as rain. Tougher to pedal through sometimes, but far fewer comfort-related aftershocks to deal with. But I thought I spied patches of snow in the hills off to the West above Rist Canyon during a break in the clouds. Might I be able to make this day a trifecta of weather-related bike commuting fun? Autumn Soon, indeed.

But as things turned out, the weather did improve gradually and grudgingly throughout the rest of the day. It remained blustery and raw, but stayed dry, which was many times better than the morning's rain. I rode to yoga after work, and rode home just as the sun was setting, a colorful but grim sunset on a still fairly nasty day. But I survived it. Maybe I just need to get used to the fact that Summer is over, and rougher weather is going to be more common for the next few months. I certainly need to find those rain pants at least.

MFM Day 22: Be Here Now

September 20th, 2009: Motor Free Month Day 22

Song of the Day: Oasis, It's Gettin' Better (Man!!)

How can I love being here now, when I'd rather be up there now? I love to go fast. Almost all of us do. We celebrate speed, weather it be by car, bike or foot. And living Motor Free is really killing my ability to go fast in an absolute sense, but I think I might be getting a bit faster within my own nutshell. But let's talk about speed for a while.

In 1898, Gaston de Chasseloup-Laubat set a land-sped record of 39.24 miles per hour (mph) in an electric Jeantaud automobile. Barely over 10 years later, the auto speed record had leaped to nearly 126 mph, set by Victor Hémery in a Benz (before Mercedes bought them out I presume!) The record for wheeled land speed currently sits at over 760 mph, set by Andy Green in a jet-propelled car in 1997. At the risk of stating the obvious, that's fast. You might think I view these records slightly askance, due to the tremendous energy used to produce these amazing speeds. But actually I'm quite impressed, and a little jealous even. Impressed at the incredible ingenuity and engineering prowess and courage that surely went into setting each of these records, and all the records between them, and jealous that I'm suck in a world where I can at best achieve the 1898 land-speed record on my road bike, and that only going down a steep hill. As I assume these records were set on flat surfaces, I'm actually solidly under the 1898 auto land-speed record. Yes, I've set myself back over 111 years in the name of going Motor Free.


Sam Whittingham, though, is a chap that deserves a mention here. He has achieved a speed of nearly 80 mph on a bicycle, on a flat surface, over a distance of 1000 meters. Impressive! But done on a recumbent cycle, which I do view askance. What about elite cyclists? The Tour de France peleton travels at about 25 to 30 mph, depending on the terrain. Still quite speedy, but also slower than the 1898 auto land speed record! Yours truly averages a sluggish 17 on my road bike unless properly motivated, and about 12 on my single-speed cruiser, motivated or not.



And what about on foot? The current world-record for the mile run, set in 1999 by Hicham El Guerrouj, is 3 minutes and 43 seconds. That's about 16 miles per hour. And I'm officially a slacker since I ride my road bike in about the same speed. Of course I can cover 2 miles -- or more -- at that speed. I'd like to see Sr. Guerrouj do that. Who's the slacker now? I digress. The world record half marathon (13.1 miles) time is 58 minutes and 33 seconds, set in 2007 by Samuel Wanjiru. That is about 13.4 mph. More like me on my cruiser, then.



Anyway, where is this all leading? I ran a foot race today, a half marathon of my own (the Ft. Collins Crossroads Half Marathon). I must mention that Tera Moody raced as well, she's quite good. I was not quite as fast as Tera (she ran the halfy in 1:16), and I was of course a little slower than Samuel Wanjiru would have ran had he bothered to show up. I finished the race at 1 hour and 33 minutes. Just behind my friend Eddie, whom I was chasing the last 2 miles to no avail. My speed was about 8.4 mph. I'm actually quite pleased with that result, having never ran a half marathon that fast before. As an aside, I think the Motor Free Month is helping my fitness, and this must be the proof. Regardless, 8.4 mph sounds pretty fast considering I'm on foot, but it's really not that fast considering a) how fast Samuel and Tera can run, b) how fast I can bike, c) how fast the Tour peleton can bike, and d) how fast any of us can drive in a car. Even a car built in 1898. Even a Yugo.


Hey I know, let's graph it! Seems to be my thing lately:

Note that the scale is logarithmic; I did this to help accentuate the differences between most of the speeds, which fall between 10 and 30 mph.

What it shows me is that none of us are coming close to approaching mind-bending jet car speeds on a daily basis. When I put the jet car in the graph, and use the log scale, I don't feel so bad about being slow and Motor Free. None of us are jet cars, we're all in this together!

What happens if I take the jet car out and go to a linear scale though?

I see a lot of "me" under the 20 mph line there. And a fairly steep mountain to climb to achieve speeds that an auto could achieve 100 years ago. One cyclist has gotten close, somehow, but something tells me this is an unusual circumstance at best.

The conclusion is, if you're going to be Motor Free, you'd better enjoy being Here Now, because Here is where you're going to stay! But I suppose it depends on your perspective. When I'm running, I don't feel slow. I don't feel stuck Here. Because "Here" becomes this block, not this city or this state. I think my brain compensates somehow. I don't compare my foot speed with that of a car, or a bike even when I'm running. I still feel fast. Imagine that; 8.4 mph can feel fast still! It's fulfilling, too. I get my speed fix, just in my own neighborhood.

MFM Day 21: What's Golden

September 19th, 2009; Motor Free Month Day 21

Song of the decade: Jurassic 5, What's Golden


What a day! Pure Gold. a "2%'er", my friend Scott would say. Golden for the first gold leaves of the season I saw on my bike ride to the CSU football stadium. Also for the "Knights of the Green and Gold", and a gift-wrapped win over the Nevada Wolfpack.




I don't really have any big thoughts or big ideas today, and I'm pretty happy about that. It was one of those "in the moment" days, not too much room for reflection, and therefore discourse. Just got up and just had a golden day around town. I took three bike trips today, once to the horse tack shop with C_, then across town and back to the football game, and finally out to dinner at venerable Avo's.

Mural at Avo's by Susan K Dailey, Fine Artist

The ride to the stadium, heck the whole day, was so pleasant it was practically criminal that I got credit for it being Motor Free. It felt like something I would just enjoy doing all on it's own terms. It certainly didn't feel Motor Free, it just felt right. Which is ironic because riding my bike to the football game is one of the least likely biking activities I can think of. And also kind of silly, considering C_ and our friend Heather drove while I rode. So this was the second time this month I rode and she drove from and to the exact same place! Silly, ironic, just my style. Although I did feel like a biking super-hero leaving the football game as I was able to maneuver quickly through the long queue of cars on my way out of the parking lot. C_ and Heather actually beat me home but I attribute that fluke occurrence to the fact that I hung out at the stadium for far longer than they. That's what I'm telling myself at least.


But I didn't mind hanging out at the stadium, for the weather was ideal Saturday, for watching a game or riding around town. This was perhaps made more so by the knowledge that the weather was supposed to turn for the worse the next day. I think I've pointed this out before, but weather plays a critical role in living Motor Free. I obsess about the weather anyway (my favorite part of the newscast!) but it actually matters a lot more to me now. I have a general sense of dread wondering what fiendish winds and storms tomorrow might bring at this point. And it makes me almost desperate to wring as much enjoyment out of today as possible. Bad weather is tolerable in a car, but merely survivable on bike.

MFM Day 20: Logical Conclusion

September 18th, 2009. Motor Free Month Day 20.


Whoo-hooo day 20! Got my hair cut at lunch, MOTOR FREE, that's right.

Then there's this guy: No Impact Man

Then there's this guy: John Coltrane, Stellar Regions

Danielle clued me into this chap Colin Beavan, who has just released a book and movie called "No Impact Man", which is about his Year of living a "no impact" lifestyle in New York City. Certainly no motorized transport like yours truly, but he also takes it to a whole new level: eating only locally produced food, no meat either, no purchasing of new things, no TV, no air conditioning, no plumbing (couldn't verify that one), etc , etc. Did I mention that he was doing this with a wife and a young child as well? I'm torn between admiration, humility, and incredulity for this grand experiment. As an aside, can one be torn between 3 simultaneous feelings?

Admiration: There's always something more that can be done. I'm motor free for a month. Will that save the planet? No. Will this guy's actions save the planet? No. But he decided to write about it, make a film, publicize his experiment. Other people read about it, think about what he's doing, maybe try their own experiment. Maybe change one thing, for one day. Maybe change something forever. I truly admire what Colin is doing.

Humility: Every time I run a race, there's always someone faster than me. Now here I find someone who makes what I'm doing seem not very news-worthy! Go Motor Free for a month? Pffft, amateur hour. Anyone can do it. Try going No Impact. For a year. Then come talk to me. Fair enough. And I have to admit, going Motor Free has not had a tremendous impact on my lifestyle. But, and this is important, I was hoping it wouldn't! I look at what No Impact Man is doing, and I am humbled by his commitment, but I'm skeptical that I would ever want to go that far down the path Motor free Month is leading.

Which leads to Incredulity: No Impact Man says he's happier now; he feels healthier since he eats locally produced farm-fresh food. He's healthier since he has to walk and bike everywhere. He's happier since he spends more time with his family instead of watching re-runs of Scrubs on TV. All of this sounds good, but, there's something in the back of my mind that won't let me believe him completely. What if you liked sports? No football? Not good. Or listen to that crazy John Coltrane song again? Or watch a movie? What if you had friends and family you wanted to visit in another state? What if you wanted to travel and see the world? All of these things are good things, things that enrich our lives.

I mean, how far do you take it? Colin still has to eat, still has to clothe himself and his family. Although the food is produced locally and the clothes are second-hand, there still was some impact created by producing and distributing the food, and creating the clothes in the first place. Heck even by breathing Colin is having an impact. One that he offsets by planting trees and engaging in environmental volunteer work to his credit, but there is still an entropic factor at work here. You can't really have no impact, and I think you'll go crazy trying. Entropy always wins.

Entropy. A funny word, with many definitions. This one will do today: a measure of the partial loss of the ability of a system to perform work due to the effects of irreversibility. Huh?

(Cartoon by Sydney Harris)

In other words, everything we do results in a little (or a lot) of wasted energy that can never be retrieved again. This usually manifests itself in the form of heat and noise caused by friction. When I ride my bicycle, as efficient as it is, I always have to put in more work into the bike than I get out of the bike. Where does that extra work go? Mostly it goes into a slight increase in tire heat and crank heat, and noise caused by friction and rolling resistance. That entropic heat and noise is not reusable because it is low-grade energy. It is lost potential work. Now think of a car. Same concepts, except that the energy put into the system (the car) came from gasoline, and not leg power. And that gasoline had to be produced, and the production of that gasoline resulted in lots of unusable heat and noise as well. Heat and noise. Commonly accompanied by pollution and greenhouse gases. And overall, the amount of entropy can only increase in time. The "logical conclusion" is that at some point in the future, all we will have left is unusable heat and noise. It's all rather depressing.

At a subconscious level, I think Colin, and to a lesser extent me, are trying to slow down this process. But it can not be stopped completely, and personally I think you can go a bit crazy trying to do so. I've joked about this with my friends before, but you really want to have no impact? The only logical conclusion is to go live in a cave like a neanderthal.

But that's not being fair to what Colin is trying to do, which is sincerely and ultimately admirable. I guess my point is, there is a scale of impact-living. From, say, commuting to work via helicopter on one end, and living in a cave like a neanderthal on the other. Most of us are comfortable somewhere along this scale. The point is to find out where you are on the scale now, and decide if you can nudge it down a little bit. We don't have to go no impact. We probably can't all go no impact. Someone had to create the second-hand shoes that Colin wears. And as attractive as Daryl Hanna is, we certainly don't want to go back to Clan of the Cave Bear. Something tells me the women didn't look like that anyway.

MFM Day 19: Autumn Soon

September 17th, 2009, Motor Free Month Day 19.




Mostly I notice the change in the morning, not in the evening. I think that because my routine is more consistent in the morning. I wake up, feed the dog, and head to my back room/office to write this blog every morning; at the beginning of the month it was light out when I woke up. Now it's just before the dawn as I write this. September is a beautiful month, but it is also a month that changes everything. At the beginning of September I'm riding around town in shorts and a t-shirt. Now, just over half way through, I'm wearing trousers, light-weight gloves and a light jacket in the morning. By the end, I'll likely be wearing a warm hat, heavier gloves and jackets.

Song de jour: The Church, Autumn Soon



If you think about it, it's totally natural, downright Newtonian why September (and it's mirrored-reflection March) would change so rapidly. As we know, the reason days are shorter and longer throughout the year is because of the angle at which the earth tilts in relation to its rotational axis, relative to the sun. If there were no tilt, every day would be like September 22nd (roughly) -- the Equinox. There would be an equal amount of night and day, every day. That just sounds unnatural to me! But in fact people living on the equator do have less variability in their seasonal daylight amounts. In large part that explains why they don't have seasons in the tropics like we do in more temperate latitudes. Typically they get a wet and dry season, not winter, spring, summer, and fall. And this also explains why people living in more northern climes get extreme winters and summers, and (I presume) not much Spring or Fall. But no matter where you live, the quickest path to Autumn and therefore Winter is through September. Its where the sun makes its most hasty retreat from the passage of days. This annual march and retreat of the sun can be graphed as a sine wave, as displayed here:
Note that the graph is counter-intuitive; the red line measures time of day when the sun rises, not amount of sun during the day. But the point is the same. Note also the slight difference between the downward and upward curve slopes. I'm guessing this has to do with the earth's elliptical orbit around the sun, but I'm not certain of that.


The greatest slope of the red curve represents the greatest change in the amount of daylight available on a given day. This graph looks different at different latitudes (this is for latitude 45, which is north of Fort Collins, probably closer to Chicago?), More compressed as one heads towards the equator, and more exaggerated as one travels towards the poles.






Point being, I can see it happening, living Motor Free! I feel more in tune with the daily sun rise and sunset. A part of me mourns the passing of Summer, as it does every year, but more so this year. Perhaps more so every year as I get older, but maybe I appreciate the sun a little more this year, as I'm more dependent upon it now.






We had big plans Thursday to attend the New Belgium "Bike-In" cinema, but we were feeling a bit like homebodies so we opted to stay home instead. If you've been following along, you know that Thursday is our day to ride down to the Fort Collins Brewery and pick up our weekly share of CSA vegetables. C_ rode her bike to work as well on Thursday, and since she works just down the street from me, we met up after work and rode home together, with a quick stop by the grocery store for some pizza dough. Our house is on the way to our CSA pick up location so we stopped home first, changed, and then went back out on bike to the brewery. We enjoyed a nice refreshing pint with the one employee left at the brewery, and then loaded up our bounty of the fields, and then rode home. By this time it was a little after 7. We could have gone to the bike-in movie. We probably should have gone to the bike-in movie! It would have been something to blog about, certainly! And it's Thursday, practically the weekend; get out there and do something! But alas we decided an evening at home would be better. So we made home-made pizza with our new vegetables (eggplant, onion, and spinach this time, with homemade sauce from CSA tomatoes), drank a beer, and watched a movie at home instead. I still feel a little bad about missing the bike-in movie since it was the last one, but my faithful readers will just have to use their own imaginations when thinking about hundreds of cyclists let loose on the streets of Fort Collins after watching "Superbad" and drinking Fat Tire.







The bailing out on the night's planned activity got me thinking that the days of the week follow a similar sine wave as does the amount of sunlight during the year. Except instead of "amount of sunlight", the weekly repeating variable is "amount of fun". Weekends are like a miniature Summer of Fun, with lots of fun available. Wednesday is therefore the Winter of Fun. A seasonal nadir of fun. Not much fun to be had on a Wednesday. Thursday is like the Spring of fun. It might be fun, it might not. It's unpredictable, but tacking towards another Summer regardless.







Note on graph: the y-axis is in IFU, or International Fun Units. Enjoy your weekend.