My new job is so far from home that I had to buy one of those horrible machines that converts stuff that ought to stay buried in the ground into green house gasses just to get to work. (Yes I have officially joined, albeit ten years late, the rat race.)
Well today I ought to feel especially guilty, the US Coast Guard now believes that horrid oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is five times worse than expected (some two hundred thousand gallons of oil are spewing from the seabed into the water). I guess I do feel guilty, a little anyway. But I can draw comfort from one thing, a ratio, 40%, two days out of every five days in a working week I will be cycling to work, starting, well, this morning! In 57 minutes on a sweet little Specialized Roubaix I call Erin, I covered as much ground (home to work) as I typically cover in a loud little diesel Jetta, in 50 minutes. Sure it takes a whole 14% longer to ride than to drive, but I feel great, I burned calories, instead of diesel fuel, and I can go for two bike rides in one day, what could be better? Right, three rides in a day!
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Thursday, April 29, 2010
Friday, April 23, 2010
On April Fools
Well actually this is no joke, Saturday July 3 this will be my ride,
and Monday July 5 this will be the journey home (also by pedal power),
I have spent no small effort making sure that both routes are 321.87 kilometers each way, this is numerically significant because 321.87 is a round number... if you convert to miles! Yes that's right, just over 200 miles, each way, (weather permitting) in three days I will do two double centuries, and none of this metric century BS.
I am not doing this for charity, or for bragging rights, although the bragging rights are pretty cool on their own, I am doing this to prove I can do it, although I should point out while this is an achievement for me, it pales in comparison with the feats of far greater cyclists than myself, for example, Peter Oyler.
and Monday July 5 this will be the journey home (also by pedal power),
I have spent no small effort making sure that both routes are 321.87 kilometers each way, this is numerically significant because 321.87 is a round number... if you convert to miles! Yes that's right, just over 200 miles, each way, (weather permitting) in three days I will do two double centuries, and none of this metric century BS.
I am not doing this for charity, or for bragging rights, although the bragging rights are pretty cool on their own, I am doing this to prove I can do it, although I should point out while this is an achievement for me, it pales in comparison with the feats of far greater cyclists than myself, for example, Peter Oyler.
Thursday, April 22, 2010
On Used Cars
As I wrote earlier my new job requires that I drive to work every day. (I am working on biking to work, there is tremendous feeling of shame to drive today, Earth Day, especially since it is such a lovely day). Anyway I bought what I think is one of the most environmentally conscious vehicles out there.
No not a Toyota Prius, and I want to smack anyone who suggests a Prius is a good choice for the environment.
Consider for a moment that a Prius uses huge batteries filled with toxic chemicals that have a useful life of about four years, then all the parts that a Prius is made from have to be shipped from all over the world, its not like the thing is made from a pile of raw materials in Toyota City. The Prius has two different drive systems and a complex computer that does have a way of failing, apparently, as well as a convoluted transmission system and annoyingly grip-less tires, perfect for getting into a skid on Toronto roads in the winter.
The car I bought is a very used (300,000 km, or about 186,000 miles) 2001 VW Diesel Jetta. Being the physics major I almost was, I should point out that 300,000 km is how far light travels in a vacuum, in a single second. By contrast it took that little diesel almost ten years. So why is a diesel Jetta better for the environment than a Prius?
Well for one thing, a diesel is made from very conventional materials and parts, besides being cheaper, this means items typically do not travel nearly as far to get the vehicle built or maintained. Although admittedly the Jetta does loose to the Prius in fuel economy. On a recent drive from Toronto to Rochester and then tooling around Rochester a little and drive most of the way home (about 400km all in) I burned 21.88L or achieved 5.47L (of diesel) per 100km, by contrast according to the EPA fuel economy statistics a Prius should achieve a whopping 4.86L (of petrol) per 100km, in other words over the 300,000km my Jetta has been road worthy it burned an additional 1830L of fuel then had it been a Prius.
Of course since the Jetta is a diesel I should expect the car to be road worthy for at least another 200,000km or so, in short that Jetta should probably go on running for something in the neighbourhood of two and a half times the life span of a Prius. Building a car burns a lot of energy, 1830L of fuel equivalent? Probably a lot more, and really the energy is required to build two and a half cars!
Of course someone reading this is thinking about Ethanol as some sort of solution to all that ails the world; a solution that a diesel car cannot take advantage of. First Ethanol, at least corn Ethanol takes more energy to make than you get out at the end, in other words, corn Ethanol is not a solution to anything except low corn prices. Second Ethanol, because it takes so much energy to produce is actually worse for the environment than plain Jane petrol. Finally there is a plant derived energy source that requires little energy to produce, can be generated from plant waste, i.e. corn stalks, not just the edible corn itself, is actually edible and can be used as a lubricant, except it only runs in diesel and is called bio-diesel.
Is my little Jetta a cure for that which ails the world? Of course not, my bikes yes, not the car. But the Jetta is a step in the right direction.
No not a Toyota Prius, and I want to smack anyone who suggests a Prius is a good choice for the environment.
Consider for a moment that a Prius uses huge batteries filled with toxic chemicals that have a useful life of about four years, then all the parts that a Prius is made from have to be shipped from all over the world, its not like the thing is made from a pile of raw materials in Toyota City. The Prius has two different drive systems and a complex computer that does have a way of failing, apparently, as well as a convoluted transmission system and annoyingly grip-less tires, perfect for getting into a skid on Toronto roads in the winter.
The car I bought is a very used (300,000 km, or about 186,000 miles) 2001 VW Diesel Jetta. Being the physics major I almost was, I should point out that 300,000 km is how far light travels in a vacuum, in a single second. By contrast it took that little diesel almost ten years. So why is a diesel Jetta better for the environment than a Prius?
Well for one thing, a diesel is made from very conventional materials and parts, besides being cheaper, this means items typically do not travel nearly as far to get the vehicle built or maintained. Although admittedly the Jetta does loose to the Prius in fuel economy. On a recent drive from Toronto to Rochester and then tooling around Rochester a little and drive most of the way home (about 400km all in) I burned 21.88L or achieved 5.47L (of diesel) per 100km, by contrast according to the EPA fuel economy statistics a Prius should achieve a whopping 4.86L (of petrol) per 100km, in other words over the 300,000km my Jetta has been road worthy it burned an additional 1830L of fuel then had it been a Prius.
Of course since the Jetta is a diesel I should expect the car to be road worthy for at least another 200,000km or so, in short that Jetta should probably go on running for something in the neighbourhood of two and a half times the life span of a Prius. Building a car burns a lot of energy, 1830L of fuel equivalent? Probably a lot more, and really the energy is required to build two and a half cars!
Of course someone reading this is thinking about Ethanol as some sort of solution to all that ails the world; a solution that a diesel car cannot take advantage of. First Ethanol, at least corn Ethanol takes more energy to make than you get out at the end, in other words, corn Ethanol is not a solution to anything except low corn prices. Second Ethanol, because it takes so much energy to produce is actually worse for the environment than plain Jane petrol. Finally there is a plant derived energy source that requires little energy to produce, can be generated from plant waste, i.e. corn stalks, not just the edible corn itself, is actually edible and can be used as a lubricant, except it only runs in diesel and is called bio-diesel.
Is my little Jetta a cure for that which ails the world? Of course not, my bikes yes, not the car. But the Jetta is a step in the right direction.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
On The Highway of Hero's
As part of my new job I need a car. It sucks, I like to ride, but sometimes I guess I've got to burn the fossil fuels. So I decided, rather than burn a bajillion liters and wear out Lesley's brand new gas guzzler, I bought a very used 2001 VW Jetta TDI (diesel).
Anyway the guy selling it lives way out in Oshawa and I had to drive there today to give him the deposit. Now for people who are not from the greater Toronto area, every time a Canadian Soldier dies in the field their remains are flown to CFB (Canadian Forces Base) Trenton and then driven along the 401 to the Don Valley Parkway and south to one of the hospitals in downtown for an autopsy. Every time this happens, people of all sorts gather on the highway overpasses and drape flags over the side and watch, meanwhile the police close most access to the highway. The highway has been renamed, Highway of Hero's.
I bring all this up because Oshawa is between Trenton and Toronto, and some of our boys were KIA (Killed In Action) in Afghanistan. I had the chance, not that I would care to repeat it, to drive under all those patriotic overpasses and contemplate Canada's role in Afghanistan. This is what I wrote to a friend of mine:
Anyway the guy selling it lives way out in Oshawa and I had to drive there today to give him the deposit. Now for people who are not from the greater Toronto area, every time a Canadian Soldier dies in the field their remains are flown to CFB (Canadian Forces Base) Trenton and then driven along the 401 to the Don Valley Parkway and south to one of the hospitals in downtown for an autopsy. Every time this happens, people of all sorts gather on the highway overpasses and drape flags over the side and watch, meanwhile the police close most access to the highway. The highway has been renamed, Highway of Hero's.
I bring all this up because Oshawa is between Trenton and Toronto, and some of our boys were KIA (Killed In Action) in Afghanistan. I had the chance, not that I would care to repeat it, to drive under all those patriotic overpasses and contemplate Canada's role in Afghanistan. This is what I wrote to a friend of mine:
Every highway overpass had people out with flags and "Support our Troops" ribbons, more soldier's remains are going in for an autopsy.
I got on the 401 core lanes just before they closed access to the core lanes and whizzed into town. Meanwhile at every single overpass I was reminded of why I was averaging 120km/h on the 401 at 4pm.
I have to rant about politics for a second here, I don't doubt the integrity of people who would wait out, sometimes in snow or rain, sometimes on a nice day like today, to give their last respects. But we all know, in a couple months the last of our soldiers are coming home and then what? Have we actually done anything useful? Afghanistan is reverting to Taliban control, Hamid Karzi (our guy in Kabul) is a criminal and we've lost over a hundred boys and girls, they are children really, and several billion dollars. I used to think we were going to Afghanistan to get the
SOB who sent 767s into the side of the World Trade Centre, now I don't know what the fuck were doing there and the whole damned thing is really upsetting. Meanwhile people keep standing on highway overpasses with Canadian Flags and people like my neighbour (a reservist) get to contemplate going to a country to "liberate" the locals who feel they are under an occupation. In this situation we cannot possibly "win", so why send my neighbour at all why not just call it a bad day and move on?
Sorry I'm full of morbid thoughts, but I guess after that drive on the 'Highway of Hero's that's gotta happen.
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Watching the Paris-Roubaix
Well someone on a Specialized Roubaix won the Paris-Roubaix again, this time Fabian Cancellara of time trialing fame. Of course I cannot watch, Versus carries the race at 6 Eastern (right now!) But in Canada we don't get Versus, we get OLN which means instead of one of the great bike races of the year, we get re-runs of "Survivor Man". Hey Americans get President Obama, Universal Health Care, and real television (if you exclude Faux news... and most of the rest of the drival, that we get too anyway), maybe I should move to The States. Arrrgh! Anyone from OLN who ever happens to read this, pull the dumbass reruns, put a proper event on the idiot box, please, pretty please.
Friday, April 2, 2010
On Goals not achieved
Recently I published a list of goals. While I cannot say that my tongue was completely planted in cheek when I wrote my list, doing 75km/h uphill is damn near impossible short of a hurricane at your back, there were a few goals I did have that I was serious about, in particular, 6. Do. Not. Bonk. Ever. Well today I rode 222.9km (probably a little further, forgot to hit start on the GPS until I had covered about 2km). And predictably, I bonked!
Anyway sorry for the lack of posts recently, I have been hard at work on a novel. Yes really, I've already written about 2500 words, its a murder mystery that takes place in a post oil New York City, there are no cars, obviously, and global warming has run rampant. I've read over what I have written so far, I think it's actually pretty good. Who knows, maybe one day you'll be able to go to your local book shop and ask for the latest by Michael Cole!
Anyway sorry for the lack of posts recently, I have been hard at work on a novel. Yes really, I've already written about 2500 words, its a murder mystery that takes place in a post oil New York City, there are no cars, obviously, and global warming has run rampant. I've read over what I have written so far, I think it's actually pretty good. Who knows, maybe one day you'll be able to go to your local book shop and ask for the latest by Michael Cole!
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