You can’t do much today without seeing, hearing or reading about being “green.” We are all learning about our “carbon footprint” what it is and how we can reduce it. Never before has being “green” or being environmentally more friendly been more prevalent then it is in today’s world.

There are lots of simple things that each and everyone of us can do to be more earth friendly as we live our lives. Personally I feel there really isn’t any reason to not be doing these things. Then things get a little harder to be green more effort and thought is required on your part. So depending on your commitment and desire to live a more “green life” you may or may not choose to do more.

As our economy struggles to find a direction to head for an extended period of time we hear a lot about living in excess and saving money everywhere you can. When many people sit back and examine their lives I think they will find areas where they would agree that they live or have lived a little excessively.

Another prominent theme in today’s media is ways to save money on everything. You see ads on television, read articles on the internet and in the paper, books are written on the subject.

You may wonder what being green and saving money have in common and why am I writing about these two things. It is my viewpoint that we have become a disposable society in so many ways. We use things a few times maybe only once and then we throw them away. Maybe it is because we are done with them or they have outlived their useful life. In today’s world it is likely that the item has broken and it can’t be repaired, or it is cheaper to simply replace it then it is to repair it. Many times it is less hassle for us to simply replace it them to go through the trouble to fix it.

In my daily life I struggle to find items of quality to use. A recent outing to find some new jeans comes to mind. As I went from store to store to find some jeans that I liked I began to notice some interesting trends. The same jeans fit differently, were made from different fabrics and in many cases made in different countries. So a pair of Levi 505’s in a 36/30 were really not the same and each fit differently. I had to shop among stores for the better quality and the right fit. Or you had to sacrifice quality for fit. Not a very fun consumer experience. I imagine in the race to get the price down Levi just continually bid out the production runs of the jeans. My father in law also noticed this on a shopping trip for pants for himself.

To me it seems the general quality of the things we use are a lot worse than they have been in the past. When I talk to people about this almost everyone has a story of a product of poor quality or durability they have recently experienced.

I find it very interesting that two of the bigger subjects in our news seem to be in direct contradiction of each other. Being “green” and buying everything at the cheapest price possible.

If we as consumers want everything at the cheapest price possible then we have to sacrifice certain things. Quality and service come to mind. When we sacrifice quality for price we are consuming items that aren’t durable and increase our carbon footprint in the world because they won’t last as long as we need them for.

In order for manufacturers to keep creating and producing things at the lowest prices they need to seek out manufacturing facilities that can do it cheaper then the next guy. These factories are in countries with fewer regulations on their environmental impact. I’ll save for another discussion the impact that goes on in transporting these goods to areas where they can be purchased by the consumer.

What I am urging you to do is to seek out items of quality that will last you the life you need the item to last. Purchasing items that won’t have a short life and then end up in the local landfill. Preferably purchasing items that can be passed on to other users when you are done with the item. One of my wife’s and my favorite things is an antique dining room table that we purchased. We managed to find a table that was of better quality construction then most of today’s tables that we saw and considerably less expensive. This table is serving us well and we look forward to many, many more years of use before we pass it down to the next user.

In many ways what I am asking might be the greatest challenge in today’s world and your daily life. Finding items that are durable and useable for generations to come is not an easy task.

When we purchase items for the store we look at the quality of the item to make sure that it will last for the intended life of the item and hopefully for other people to use. This philosophy is one of the reasons we started our youth trade in program. This program takes perfectly good used bikes and gets them in the hands of others that can enjoy them for years to come.

This philosophy is one of the reasons I love to sell quality bikes. We see bikes that have been around for years being enjoyed by their owners. These bikes aren’t clogging up the landfills because they work the way the consumer wanted them to. If the owner can’t find a new owner when they are done with them there are programs that take these bikes and get them into the hands of people who can use them.

Please consider quality and durability when you make purchases. The world will be a better place and you will be a happier person from using an item that works they way it should with fewer hassles. You’ll have more time to do the fun things in life like ride your bike instead of dealing with something that isn’t working the way it should.

A Pro Ball Player taking an intern position in the off season, not something you hear about every day!

Read about the article on ESPN dot com.

With the “shopping season” here I encourage everyone to shop at locally owned businesses. It’s important for our local economy and work force.

There are lots of good reasons but here is a good article to start.

Supporting the Local Small Business Owner

The Importance of Buying from Neighborhood Merchants

Mom 1 day Kids 364 Fair?

I got out for a ride the other day and I had just started the ride and I was thinking to my self.

“I really do enjoy this I need to make more time for “me” and “me” to ride.”

Not a half mile later I rode by this church and saw the above sign. I thought to myself.

“How appropriate maybe someone is sending me a message. It certainly applies to me and not making enough time for myself, how many other people are doing the same.”

For me as of late I have been trying to cut out the stuff that isn’t critical and focus on the things more important to me that will make me more happy and less stressed. I really want to get out on my bike more and had such a great time riding. So then another message was sent to me later in the ride. I was riding with my friend Andrew. In April he made a pledge to ride 30 days outside for at least 45 minutes. He completed that goal and the results of it were really neat to see. Andrew has become a much stronger rider since I rode with last. That became apparant as he “danced” up the hills and left me to suffer!

So what have you done for you today? Probably not enough is my guess.

Have a great week!

Sometime during the month of March Ammon decided to issue a challenge to the employees of the store. The challenge was to ride everyday for 30 days starting April 1st. Nathan was quick to get on-board as were Scott and Tammy. They all wanted to see how much better their riding could be after a solid month of riding.

How much could your riding improve if you road everyday for 30 days?

The rules were simple. To met the criteria you had to ride everyday for 30 days. The ride had to be outside and at least forty five minutes in length.

So here we are at the halfway point. Little did they know when the challenge was issued that April’s weather would be some of the worst we have experienced in April for some time.

To date I know that Ammon and Nathan are still going strong. I am pretty sure that Tammy and Scott have also been getting a ride in everyday. Ammon and Nate have been riding both off and on-road while Scott and Tammy have been doing mainly road rides. Scott gets most of his riding in during his commute to work. Sadly I haven’t been able to ride everyday but I have managed to increase the frequency of my rides.

So the gang is well on the way to making riding every day or at least more often an habit for them.

Some photos from Nathan of his rides.

I love cycling and I think it can be such a great part of everyone’s lives, young or old. With the busy lives we all seem to live these days I think a few hours on the bike can be healthy and rewarding for all involed. I hope you enjoy the article.

Create Lasting Family Memories

In our lives which seem to get busier by the day the time on the bike allows us to escape, slow down our lives, while regenerating our body and our mind. The bicycle is a wonderful tool, a tool for fitness, a tool for transportation but it is also a great tool for the family.

I remember growing up our family would occasionally ride our bikes through Valley Forge National Park. Valley Forge was so cool because the bike path was rolling and wound around through so many great areas of the park. There was the long hill that was always a challenge to climb and at the top of the hill was a statute of a man riding a horse. (I had to look it up to remind myself that it is the statue of Anthony Wayne) That was also the top of the world’s best sledding hill at least in the opinion of a ten year old. After a hard fought climb I was always rewarded with a fun downhill ride that led off to the next adventure. The trail passes close by some of the cabins that George Washington’s soldiers spent the winter in.  I used to enjoy stopping there and wandering through the cabins imagining what it must have been like for the soldiers back then.  Of course no ride was complete without a stop at the visitor center where I could get some water.  Some of these rides were enjoyed by my Mom, Dad and I some of them were adventures that Mom and I would have.

I remember spending time with my Dad rebuilding the first bike he bought me that had gears from a garage sale, those gears certainly made climbing that hill easier.  While Mom and Dad had the coolest Raleigh 3 Speeds with a Brooks saddle I wasn’t afforded the luxury of a new bike just yet. That would come later as a Christmas Present.

I cherish all of these memories of time spent with the family all because of cycling.

When is the last time you took your family on a bike ride?

For more click here.

Happy New Year everyone!

Below are some comments from Jim Zorn’s radio interview about riding mountain bikes.

Jim Zorn on his Radio interview.

“[George W. Bush has] kind of got the ultimate courses. You know, I’m not the only one there, it’s not a duo. There’s a group that he has ridden with over the years, and it’s quite a group of experienced riders, and I’m a very small part of it. And he’s there to work out and I’m there to work out, and it’s been good. But I got to ride several times over the week, and you can get a lot done over a short period of time when you’re on a bike on a single-track trail.

“You know what, in this area there are some tremendous trails. There not that difficult to find, but you want to have the right equipment when you go out, and it’s a real thrill to be out in the state of Virginia. Even on the Maryland side there’s some tremendous opportunity to, you know, to get on the dirt.”

Jim is right there are lots of great places to ride in Maryland and Virginia.