The End of the Outdoor Season?

Well today may just be the end of the outdoor season for me this year. Temps have plummeted and the winds have picked up making rides outdoors difficult. The one nice thing is that the winds changed directions, so now I have a slight tailwind on the way back from a ride. With that said, I hope the weather cooperates for a few more rides; but it is almost December, so I may be breaking out the trainer. Of course this also brings me to another point... I need to find a quiet way to use a cycleops trainer on the 3rd floor of an older apartment building.

Taking a Stand for the Environment

Water is essential to life. Clean water is also important. Many of us choose to stay healthy by drinking purified water, which normally comes in easy to carry half-liter bottles. I drink about 4 of these bottles daily, and the same is true for many others too. Little do we know, while trying to stay healthy by drinking bottled water, we are actually depleting natural resources and hurting the environment. According to filterforgood.com, "Americans used about 50 billion plastic water bottles last year. However, the U.S.'s recycling rate for plastic is only 23 percent, which means 38 billion water bottles - more than $1 billion worth of plastic - are wasted each year." This is just one of the many facts about using bottled water. Even if the bottles are being recycled, plastic bottles waste the limited resources we have.

The bottom line is that you and I do not have to be part of the statistics. I am making pledge to stop (or at least limit) my consumption of bottled water as part of the Filter for Good Campaign found on www.filterforgood.com.

Here is how it works:
Buy a reusable water bottle and a filter for at home. Simply filter the tap water that comes to your house and fill up your bottle. Now you can enjoy clean, refreshing water with a lower impact on the environment. I have been doing this for a couple days, and even Milwaukee water tastes great when it is filtered. Personally, I bought a new "Filter for Good" Nalgene Bottle, dusted off the one I currently own (for a backup), and bought a Brita Filter. All I do is fill up my bottles in the morning, refill the filter, and put it back in the fridge for later.

I really think this is a great way to stay healthy and to help the environment. Who knows, maybe I'll use these filters at the races for my bottles so I don't need to bring as much water along!

If you want to know more, check out the website at: www.filterforgood.com and take the pledge.

Reason #5280 to Ride a Bike: No Parking Tickets

Well, I knew it would happen eventually. Especially with the number of "parking checkers" in the area. Everyday I watch as the little Euro Jeeps run around ticketing for anything from parking to close to a driveway to expired meters. Last night I decided to drive to campus and park on the street as usual. I plugged money into the meter and was off. I learned last night that the police check parking until 9:00 PM not 8:00 PM as I had originally thought.
As I walked back to my car at 9:20 PM, I saw it. A cute little envelope sticking out of the hood of my car. The paper said, "City of Milwaukee Parking Violation." I think the moral of the story should go something like... "Always pay until 9:00, not 8:00 PM"... More realistically it might say... "Ride a Bike to avoid $20 parking tickets."

Lesson Learned.