Bikes and skateboards and gardens, etc. June 24, 2009
Posted by bibliosk8 in bikes, gardening, skateboarding, sustainability.add a comment
OK, I haven’t been posting here that much. So here’s what I’ve been up to.
Gardening: been growing lots of stuff in our 4 square foot gardens, plus some other stuff just planted in the ground. It is all going well. Just gotta keep it watered, as temps have already hit 100 degrees here.
Took the new speed board and various skateboards to Central Texas earlier this month to skate with a friend. The Comet worked like a charm on the hills. Sweetness.
Reconfigured the cockpit of my road bike. Now it has mountain bike bars, bar ends, and a nice Nitto Dirt-drop stem to make it nice and comfy. Been riding it all over. Love it. I guess I’m not a drop bar kind of guy. I still have the drop bars, and I suspect that if I ever do a really long road ride I might use them. But for now I find the flat bars better for riding around town, and the bar ends give me a nice hand position for distances.
My wife and I are preparing to begin a weekly podcast related to sustainability issues, and in particular modifying suburban lifestyles to be more self-sufficient, sustainable, etc. Stay tuned.
Comet Pagan May 9, 2009
Posted by concreteguy in Uncategorized.add a comment
Took the new downhill board out for some mild hills today, over in the Canyon Creek neighborhood. Skated a run I’ve done many times and it was fun. Then scouted out a new run — about a quarter mile long — maybe a bit longer.
Got a nice adrenalin rush at the bottom, where it hits a 90 degree intersection. Pavement in this area is concrete, and the intersections can be pretty choppy, so a 90% turn isn’t childs play for a downhill novice. Anyway, I found the line and blasted through catching a little sideways drift on the Retro Freerides. Probably not going all that fast — I’d say about 20 or 25 tops. But still, was fun. Wore helmet and slider gloves.
Can’t wait to get this board on some nice smooth asphalt and a longer hill.
Live Green Expo coverage April 20, 2009
Posted by bibliosk8 in sustainability.1 comment so far
GreenRoost.com did a nice writeup of the expo, so I’ll just point to it rather than rehashing a bunch of stuff.
So after the Expo, of course, I’ve been thinking a lot about how to improve the energy efficiency of our home. Right of the top of my head I can think of at least 10 places we are leaking energy, and all should be fairly easy to fix. Some of the other solutions are a bit more expensive. For instance, I’ve been interested in solar water heating for some time. I checked a couple of systems out, and they were around $6500. After some rebates, that equates to (according to the vendors) about a three year payback time, which isn’t bad.
But looking at some of these more expensive projects, it got me wondering about the effect our highly mobile society has on such things. How willing are people going to be to invest that kind of money in a home they don’t plan to stay in. Usually, people want to be able to “get there money” back out of their house when they sell it. Hopefully the average home buyer will become more hip to the benefits of some of these systems and learn to value them.
Live Green Expo April 19, 2009
Posted by concreteguy in sustainability.add a comment
I’ll probably point to some more detailed coverage of Plano’s Live Green Expo later, but that is where I went today, with my lovely wife. Met up with the owner of GreenRoost.com and checked out the various products on display in the vendors area, after hearing Ed Begley Jr. speak. Ed did a nice presentation – not technical – but kind of a pep talk with some very simple suggestions for increasing the environmental efficiency of your home. I think we will take a few of his suggestions, including getting a nice high-tech energy audit. A few cool things – the toilets that use less water for just flushing liquid, solar water heaters (there’s no way we can fit one of these in our house, which is a bummer), lots of rainwater reclamation vendors, etc.
What was really impressive was the crowd. I was blown away by how many people showed up, and I can’t wait to hear attendance estimates. I read some douchebag on Pegasus News criticizing Plano for doing this event. This thing was a huge success. So I hope that conservative tightwad finds out and perhaps shuts his yapper in the future. The payoff for the North Dallas/Collin County community was huge for this event.
Some harvest… April 17, 2009
Posted by concreteguy in gardening.2 comments
A small harvest of red leaf lettuce, curly lettuce, and spinach. Enough for a couple of dinners. We have lots more growing.
Garden production February 24, 2009
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We’ve harvested and eaten some really good greens (spinach, read leaf lettuce, and the like) from our garden. It is great to go out and get fresh food from one’s own yard.
However, it has made me realize that to really enjoy it, I need to plant a lot more greens, all over the yard. I want to have a really good supply at all times.
Richardson, TX/Galatin Nature Preserve Bike Ride February 22, 2009
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Today I rode the Electra Townie over to the bike trail that extends from the Arapaho DART rail station up to Galatin Nature Preserve, in Richardson. Eventually, the trail along the DART track, known as the Central Expressway Trail, is supposed to extend farther south, which will be real cool.
I’m really happy to have some good bike trails so close to my house. This trail end with some nice loops through the woods up by Renner Rd. and Central. When you’re back there, it nice and peaceful. You’d hardly know you are in the middle of the suburbs. Real nice. In the summer and spring it is nice and green and shady. They are currently building a road through part of the woods, which sucks, but it will keep Blue Cross/Blue Shield in Richardson. So I think the tradeoff will be OK, especially if they improve the trail right there.
The whole ride is posted here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bibliosk8/sets/72157614307451594/
Commuter tranformation February 21, 2009
Posted by concreteguy in bikes.Tags: bicycle commuting, bikes
1 comment so far
Just took the next step in converting my mountain bike into a commuter. Added a Topeak Explorer rack. I can use the quick release basket from my single speed mixte on it. It’s kind of a tight fit under the saddle, but no biggie. Just rode it to the grocery store and back to pick up a few things and it worked well.
However, I really appreciate the step-through frame of the mixte now. If I were putting together a new commuter, or buying one, I would absolutely get a step through frame, like those offered by Breezer. Much easier to get on and off a fully loaded bike if you don’t have to lift one leg over the basket.
Greens February 20, 2009
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Greens from our square foot garden. Spinach and red leaf lettuce. Good stuff, and plenty more out there.
