May 30th + 31st

Yesterday I rode my bike to work and back. I also did that today. In addition, I walked to the grocery store and back after work to get some things.

may 30th + 31st

16.62 miles
508.78 miles cumulative
20.0114 total gallons saved

May 29th

I started the day out with a bike ride down to the bank and back.

After returning home, I worked on a few things around the house while I tried to motivate myself to go out and do something in the heat. Finally, I hopped on my bike and went for an 18 mile ride. With the heat, lack of water, and an empty stomach, I did pretty well until the last few miles, when my body started to shut down. When I got home, I got replenished, took a shower, and head back out, this time on foot to my friends house to take care of his cats. I tried a new route. It took me up and over Mt. Tabor, out to his house, and then onto to division to loop back to the house.

may 29th

25.02 miles
483.76 miles cumulative
19.3504 total gallons saved

May 28th

Yesterday I rode my bike to work and back.

I'm not really sure why, but lately I've been thinking about pickled eggs a lot. Which is weird, because I can't even remember the last time I ate one.

I'm competitively loosing weight right now, which means I don't get to do much cooking, so I thought it would be a perfect time to make my own pickled eggs. I get to cook them, which gives me something to do right now; but they wont even be ready until after the contest is over, so there's temptation to screw up my fast right now.

Anyway, I needed a lot of ingredients, so I also walked down to the grocery store and back last night.

When I got home I made habanero garlic pickled eggs. They should be pretty awesome, but I wont really know until I after I get back from our trip to Europe.

may 28th

9.4 miles
458.74 miles cumulative
18.3496 total gallons saved

May 27th

Today, I started the day by riding down to our friends house with my wife. We're playing "the biggest loser" to see who can lose the most weight in a set amount of time. After weighing in, we rode to Stumptown to get some coffee, and then back to the house. Later, I rode my bike out to my friends house to take care of his cats. While I was out in that direction, I went to home depot to get some things for the store, and then I rode home. After that trip, I walked to Fred Meyer and back to get a "for sale" sign to put in my truck. After I got the sign situated in my truck, I went for another bike ride with my room mate. We rode down to the spring water corridor, down to Sellwood, and then up through the Woodstock neighborhood and then back to the house.

I feel pretty good about the day. I got a lot of things done, didn't use any cars, racked up a lot of good mileage, and finally got my truck on the market. 22.63 miles by bike/2.3 on foot.

All good steps in the right direction.

may 27th

24.93 miles
449.34 miles cumulative
17.9736 total gallons saved

May 25th

Yesterday I rode my bike to work. Afterwards I stopped at green dragon for a beer, then rode back to the house. As I was turning into the driveway, I got a message saying to meet down at Dot's. I rode to Dot's for dinner before returning home, later in the evening.

may 25th

10.58 miles
424.41 miles cumulative
16.9764 total gallons saved

May 24th

Today I was all over the place, and I went by bike. I think I'm going to start including bike trips on here. I still like walking, but I've finally come to terms with the fact that sometimes I need to ride my bike because otherwise I can't fit everything I need to do into one day. It's still avoiding the car, which I guess is the main point.

This morning at 8:00, I went over to a friends house to take care of his cats while he is away. Later in the morning, I took my bike on a hunt for new brake pads, which ended up seeing me to 3 different stores around SE. After I found the pads, (and got a new lock), I returned home to install everything. After that, I rode over to Belmont Station to get a couple beers for a BBQ tonight. After I returned home with those, I made one final trip to new seasons for some last minute grilling stuff, and then came back. It didn't feel like I spent too much time traveling today, since I I was able to get a lot of other things done; but mapmyrun.com reveals that I went 15.98 miles running all my errands.

may 24th

15.98 miles
413.83 miles cumulative
16.5532 total gallons saved

May 23rd

Yesterday I was busy mostly selling car stuff, but I did make it out to the grocery store and back on foot. I picked up a few things to BBQ, so I could enjoy a little more time outside last night.

Today I need to head out to a friends house to take care of his cats while he's away; and I'm working, so I should get some decent miles under my belt.

The truck is almost ready to sell. It's bittersweet. I feel like it's a step in the right direction, but I have so much time and effort and unrealized dreams tied up in that thing, that it's still sad to see it go. Not driving and having a hot rod in the driveway has been a really big conflict for me. It will be tough to see it go, but I think it will also be a lot easier to not think about driving once it's gone. I keep telling myself to think about the more positive things I can do with the money, and how I'll be able to use the driveway space in it's absence.

may 23nd

4.2 miles
397.85 miles cumulative
15.914 total gallons saved

this week

I got a little lazy posting this past week. First I had a friend in town, and then my sister and her family; so I've been pretty busy. I only worked at the store two days this week. On Sunday I finally pulled my bike down off it's hook in the garage, and rode to work and back. I would have walked, but we planned to BBQ when I got back, and I didn't want to hold everything up by walking, so I pedaled instead. Today I walked in and back. Between the two commutes, I did a little walking here and there, but not enough to keep track of. On my days off, I was pretty busy taking pictures of things I don't want, listing them for sale online, and meeting buyers to show them the goods. The big news regarding that and this blog, is that I've been selling all of my car related stuff, and that I spent a portion of the past week getting my CARS ready to sell!

may 22nd

14.4 miles
393.65 miles cumulative
15.746 total gallons saved

may 14th

Yesterday I started the day by walking in Mt. Tabor park. From there, I checked out the new Mexican place on Division, La Salsa, which was muy authentico.

After La Salsa, I hung around the house with a friend, before making our way down Hawthorne to see a movie at the bagdad.

After the movie, we made our way back home via North Bar, and I called it a night.

may 14th

7.97 miles
379.25 miles cumulative
15.17 total gallons saved

pub crawl

Yesterday morning I walked to work. I got a late start, so I I really pushed myself to make up some time. I was able to move a lot faster than I expected I could, and got to the store early.

After work, a friend from out of town came and met me at the store. We walked to green dragon for the walking man meet the brewer (had jay walker RIS and 2009 Sasquatch), then to Lucky Lab to have a Pavlov, then across the river to for a 2005 mirror mirror at deschutes, then to Rogue for a Charlie 1981 and an I2PA, then back across the burnside bridge and over to sassy's for a ninkasi, and finally back towards the house.

My friend doesn't walk as much as I do, and ended up hailing a cab before we reached our final destination. Still, I ended up cranking out 9.77 miles by days end.

may 11th

9.77 miles
371.28 miles cumulative
14.8512 total gallons saved

may 11th

today I had to drive my wife to work because we got new fish for the display tank at the store, and I didn't think it would be safe to walk with them for an hour in a plastic bag in the sun. Once we got to work, I floated the new fish in the tank to get them adjusted, and then walked downtown to grab some lunch to bring back to the wife. Afterwords, I let the new guys loose in the tank to get acquainted with everyone. Apparently, we made some good selections, because everyone got along just fine, and started mating immediately. That's guppies I guess. Other than walking the dog twice, that's all the walking I did, and the only walking that will count towards gas savings.

may 11th

3.38 miles
361.51 miles cumulative
14.4604 total gallons saved

May 9th

Yesterday I got up early and walked to my friends house. From there, we drove into the gorge for some hiking. We decided to check out tunnel falls trail. While it was a little too accessible and well maintained for my tastes, the trail offered some of the most beautiful views I've seen on a hike in a long time. Because we were rushed for time, we did not complete the trail, but we covered a good amount of ground. The one thing that was inspiring about this particular trail was that it's size, grade, and condition begged for it to be run on. We saw a few trail runners out there, and it was hard at times to keep myself from running too. If I was better prepared (not wearing jeans) I would have. Trail running is something I'd definitely like to get into this summer.

After returning to Portland, we parked at the house and walked to Fred Fest at the Hair of the Dog brewery. Fred Fest was easily the best beer festival I've ever been to. The crowd, the vibe, the atmosphere, and of course, THE BEER were fantastic (and the food!). Never have I been to a beer fest with a line-up of brews of that caliber. After Fred Fest, we walked home. The return trip was a bit hazy, to say the least.

may 9th

7.9 miles (not counting the 6 or 7 from the hike)
358.13 miles cumulative
14.3252 total gallons saved

may 7th

yesterday I walked to work. In the morning, there was a pretty steady rain on the way in, but I brought my jacket, so I was fine. On the way home, the sun was out and it was relatively nice outside.

Last night I decided with a friend that we should go hiking and camping up in the snow on Mt. Hood tonight, but it's looking like we'd be getting out there a little too late tonight, so we're going to do a closer hike tomorrow morning in the gorge.

may 7th

7.2 miles
350.23 miles cumulative
14.0092 total gallons saved

past few days

On Sunday, I walked to work in the morning, and then decided to check out a new spot after work to get a hamburger for dinner before returning home.

One of the neat things about all this walking has been that I've found it easier to try new things, and really get to know the city better. Life on four wheels found me mindlessly taking the same route everywhere I went, and I found my life getting a bit too monotonous. Possibly countering some of the calories I'm burning from all this walking, is some of the great food I've been finding along my new routes. A decent trade I think.

I haven't had to go to the store for the past few days, and I've started working on our basement remodel again, so I haven't really left the house since Sunday.

I mostly started walking to not use a car anymore, so staying home the last few days still maintains that goal. Still, it's dissatisfying to end a blog post without many new miles to report.

may 3rd

7.2 miles
343.03 miles cumulative
13.7212 total gallons saved

may 2nd

nothing exiting, walked to work and back.

may 2nd

7.2 miles
335.83 miles cumulative
13.4332 total gallons saved

training for belgium

In June, I'm going to be in Belgium for a few days with the family. The idea for the trip is to take the train up from Paris to a town in west flanders, called Poperinge. From there, we'll either walk, or ride bikes across the country side to visit a couple trappist breweries, which are settled among the hop fields in the region.

Yesterday, I trained for the event.

Interestingly enough, a young couple from Belgium came into the store, and we talked about the trip. He corrected me on my pronounciation (it's "pope a ring ee" not "pop err inj"). He also tried teaching me some Dutch.

After walking to work, and doing my time there, I continued on into north west portland to the NW quimby Lucky Lab location for "portland cheers to belgian beers". It was a belgian style beer festival and competition between local breweries, for charity. I tried several (too many?) really good belgian style beers there, and then walked home about 6 miles later in the night. 6 out and 6 back was pretty easy, even after liberally sampling tasty higher-abv libations.

Now I just have to learn dutch for "I'll have another" and I'll be ready for the trip.

may 1st

11.77 miles
328.63 miles cumulative
13.1452 total gallons saved

April 30th

Yesterday, I got up early and walked to the store to meet some construction guys that had to update some of our plumbing before a new city inspection. While I was hanging out, I prepared a bag full of beer to take home for what turned out to be the last Blazer game of the (post)season. Once I returned home, I did some stuff around the house, and then walked to a friends house for the game. What a disappointment!


april 30th

9.3 miles
316.86 miles cumulative
12.6744 total gallons saved