Bicycle Commuting Products: A new variation on skinny biking - Flipcrown

If you poke around Mesquite Hugger much at all, you have probably seen a post or ten that mentions biking being a path to being skinny. Last summer I dropped about fifteen pounds in the National Bike Challenge and I have kept that weight off through the winter. And I hope to drop that much again this spring and summer. For me, biking is a path to skinny.

The internet is an amazing place, and it constantly amazes me how far this little local blog reaches. Last week I was contacted by Patrick Jacquet. Patrick is half of a pair of self-proclaimed cyclophiliacs from Ghent, Belgium who do design work. (Digging their bikes and their linguistics!) Patrick contacted me to ask if I would check out their new bike products and their Indiegogo campaign that starts today. I did, and I must say that they have some cool offerings for bicycles, especially for bike commuters who find their bikes to be tough to store, park, or transport. In essence, these guys have created some sleek hardware to help you make your bike really skinny and easy to manage.

 

If you want to convert your own bike for skinny storage, they can hook you up with several options - and they will even offer you a way to hang your skinny bike on the wall. On the other hand, let's say that you want a complete skinny bike, these guys have some really beautiful bikes for sale - the kind that you would not be embarrased to hang on your living room wall. Who says that a bike can't be living room art as well as your way to work? (My ebike has been hanging out in the dining room for a week, and my wife has shown amazing patience with my piece of "art".)

Patrick and Rob, I wish you success in your campaign and commend your beautiful work.

May you and your bike be as skinny, adaptable, and beautiful as you want to be.

Personal Carbon Reduction: Planning the Raised-Bed Garden Monster

Yep, that's what people look like in South Austin.

Earlier this week, I wrote about personal carbon reduction through gardening, so I have been looking around a bit to figure out how to get started. And I found something out of Austin that has me feeling inspired.

First, let me tell you that I do love Austin. I especially love South Austin. I have not found a cultural attitude like it anywhere else in Texas - defintely not in our conservative and often stifling Lubbock.

I also love white-board animation and pallet-based projects, and I am not opposed to ukele music.

All that is to say that I was really excited yesterday to find a Derek Markham  article on Treehugger that features some South Austin greenies teaching me how to build a self-watering raised-bed garden out of pallets and political signs. The project is almost completely out of repurposed materials and can be built by people with limited tools and skills. (All of which fit my budget, tool collection, and skill level!)

Treehugger: FoodIsFreeProject.org self-watering raised garden bed

And that lead me to watch a series of videos from the the Food Is Free Project - and I really like their idea of building better and healthier communities by encouraging neighbors to build these raised gardens to create a neighborhood food system of tiny shared gardens. (And their videos have white-board animation and ukele music.) I am impressed! Now, I just need to snag some free pallets and talk to my neighbors...

foodisfreeproject.org

May your small projects lead to big changes!

(Does anyone have any Randy Neugebauer or Glen Robertson signs I can cut up and use to keep the fertilizer where it belongs?)

Razor Ecosmart Scooter vs. the Storm Ebike

How much do you like to gamble? Say you have $600 in your pocket - would you be comfortable plopping your money down on a gamble, or would you try to do something practical with it? How patient are you? How fearful are you of being accused of being a dork? If you are in the market for a low-cost electric cycle to get you around, you might spend some time answering those questions for yourself.

With all of the buzz around the Storm Ebike Indiegogo campaign, I have been thinking about other ebike options in the under $500 price range. The Storm has indeed created a storm - pledges have flooded the campaign. In a little over two days, more than $2.4 million has been pledged for the $500 fat-tired ebike - and that price is before shipping. If my math is correct, that means that 48,000 ebikes have been "ordered". The logistics of that many ebikes being built and delivered in 3 months - staggering! I imagine that a lot of people are in for either a long wait, a lot of disappointment, or both.

So let's say that you have been tempted but have been holding off. You really want an inexpensive option for scooting around on electrons instead of decayed dinosaurs. What can you do?

Well, here's an option for you to consider - the underrated Razor Ecosmart Metro Scooter. (See, I wasn't kidding when I stated that Razor is becoming one of my favorite EV companies.) I first became  aware of the Ecosmart when I started seeing a young lady in my neighborhood who has one as her sole means of transport. (That kind of thing is phenomenally rare in West Texas.) And she loves the ease and practicality of hers. For less than $400 you can have one sitting on your porch, and you could be riding it next week. Remember all those questions in the first paragraph? Go back and try to answer those again.

Honestly, the Razor is not as sexy (or fat-tired goofy) as the Storm. And it does not have the (advertised) range. While I have no recommendations for the making that beast sexy, the range issue can be fixed somewhat easily. Switching the lead batteries out for smaller-lighter-more-powerful lithium batteries could easily double or triple your range while making the scooter a bit lighter. And you can even save up for those during your first year of ownership. (Lead batteries generally show signs of degradation after a year or so.)  You can also go to larger or more lead batteries and have a big impact on range. There are several resources available for scooterists who want to up the performance of Razor scooters.

If you care to learn more, here are a few links for you to check out:

Razor EcoSmart Scooter Review - youtube

Razor.com Ecosmart page with link to owner's manual

Modified Electric Scooters: Razor Battery Options Forum

Do I think the Ecosmart is the best option for everyone? No. Do I think it offers a great deal for the money and will fill the needs of many consumers? Absolutely.

Subtopic: Recipe for Pimping My Ecosmart Razor (If I had one.)
Upgrade to a 48V lithium-ion battery
Upgrade the controller and throttle to 48 volts
Add some bigger brakes
Fuzzy dice and a fake fur seat seat cover
Some big Elton John shades (circa 1973)

May your commute be fun and clean, and may you be happy with your choice.

A Tiny House Even Closer to Home!

A tiny house in the LBK!

You may remember a few months back when I was excited to learn that Spur, Texas had become the first American town to declare itself tiny-house friendly. Well, imagine how excited I was this week to find a tiny house right around the corner from my own house! Sasha snd I went for a walk and (BOOM) there it was. We talked to the neighbors, kicked the tires, and looked through the windows - this thing is cool!

It's actually pretty big for a tiny house - notice the triple axle trailer and the substantial height. The inside is unfinished at this point, but you can see that the windows are well placed for passive ventilation. It also has two lofts, so it has the potential to be a two-bedroom affair. It is being built by Sherwood Construction, and their work looks great.

All the excitement wore Sasha out! (Other Sasha Sightings - Thoreau and Sashadoption)

I will try to get you more details as the project comes along, but I was excited to share this with you. For me, this was just as exciting as the day I saw a Tesla passing through Justiceburg.

May greener living be welcome in your town, and may we all reap the benefits.

Mesquite Hugger Opposites Day: Lots of Free Stuff or Pursue Minimalism?

Yesterday was a day of much inspiration in the Mesquite Hugger office complex. Besides the Treehugger article about carbon-eating gardens and a really long Endless-Sphere thread about the validity and controversy over the Storm Ebike, my brain was also kharmic-ly b*&^%-slapped by two more articles. These two were about the stuff in our lives.

The first came from Keith. He and I have both been busy lately, so we mostly communicate by sending each other cool articles. He definitely won this round. I don't post them often, but I follow articles about dumpster diving. They always seem to play into the epidemic of food waste. Well, he sent me one about a guy in Austin who dumpster dives behind non-food retailers. It mentioned finding lots of profitable stuff for resale and for building cool stuff like electric mini-choppers and electric skateboards. And it dealt in financial numbers significant enough to put a Mesquite Hugger family member or two through college. (Wowser!) It's a long article, but definitely worth the read - and a little too inspirational for a guy who loves alleys like I do. It came from Wired magazine. (Don't quit your day job!)

The Pro Dumpster Diver Who's Making Thousands Off America's Biggest Retailers | WIRED

 

While reading it, I could just picture the mountains of cool stuff one could garner for virtually no money. My dreams of minimalism slammed into the stony mountain of stuff!

 

Then I ran across an article on Green Living Ideas that offered me a bit of help.

 

Minimalist Mindfulness: The 30 Day Minimalism Challenge

 

This article challenged me to do things like declutter my digital life, participate in a no-complaint day, and clean out my closet. It also encouraged me to downsize my beauty collection, but I wasn't sure if I should give up my soap, my shampoo, my deodorant, or my toothpaste. (My officemate would encourage me to skip that particular step.) Overall, however, if you are considering doing some kind of cleanse, a person could do vastly worse than this 30 day list.

 

So, what's it gonna be? Put on the snorkel and flippers in preparation for diving OR invest some quality time in cleaning out the old brain? Whichever you choose, may it help us all to have a better life.

Personal Carbon Reduction: The Carbon-Munching Garden Monster

Thanks to Greenpeace for the image!

 

With Spring on the way, things are changing around the Mesquite Hugger home. I hope to spend a lot more time outside, and I hope to ecologically clean up my act. That's generally a three-sided proposition for me: conserve water, reduce petroleum use, and cut down on carbon release. It's easy to point fingers at everyone else, but every revolution needs to begin at home.

Conserving water has already been happening - conservative fixtures and the homemade rain barrel have helped a great deal. We'll step it up with some rain gutter additions and another rain barrel or two.

The electric bike, the non-electric bike, and the bike trailer will help with petroleum reduction.

And the carbon thing - well, that's an area where we definitely need to step it up.

On Treehugger today, a great article appeared that explains the impact a garden can have on CO2 levels. And I am feeling pretty inspired in that direction. Check it out for yourself. I hope you find it as inspiring as I have.

Treehugger: Your garden eats carbon (so please feed it well!)

Along these lines, I hope to be posting more carbon reduction and gardening articles. I invite you to join me in gardening and cleaning up our acts this season!

On a more personal note, our family landscape has changed. There's a six-year-old whirlwind moving to town, and I am hoping to turn him into a junior backyard-farmer. I hope to share our adventures with you as well.

May we all chip in to make this world a very liveable place, and may you know peace.

Fat-Tired E-Bike on the Cheap? Hmmm...

$500 Act Now! (Feb 6, 2015, it goes up to $599)

Okay, call the Mesquitehugger a cynic, but I am having a hard time believing this one - I do not see how anyone can offer a $250 bike with $500-800 worth of electrical components for $500. Even with economies of scale, no one has yet been able to offer a decent 36 volt lithium-powered e-bike in that price range. Sure, it is a limited time and they are trying to generate operating capital. And the "guarantee it will be less than $194" shipping definitely puts a squeeze on the bargain factor, but I am having a hard time buying into it.

So, check this thing out and ask yourself the following questions:
Can Storm deliver this thing to your front door for less than $700?
Can they deliver it in May of 2015?
Will those fat tires make you look skinny?

If you decide that you like your odds, go ahead and sign up for the two-for-$998 deal. I will take mine in blue!

The indiegogo crowd is definitely eating this one up. Today (Feb 1, 2015) is the first day for the campaign and they have already hit 367% of their funding goal.

You can check it out here:
Storm Ebike on Indiegogo

May eco-friendly transport truly be this inexpensive!