Chernobyl Legacy

This isn't a blog exactly, but I thought some of you might want to watch this. I don't know how to warn you about what you are going to watch (should you choose to) except to say I wept.

http://inmotion.magnumphotos.com/essay/chernobyl

Article(s) and old bikes

My article was Urban Gardens Tainted With Lead, Arsenic by David Runk from Huffpost Green. Back-yard and community gardens in Indianapolis, Boston, and New York were tested for lead levels as well as other chemicals that could poison the soil. The research found that 9 out of 10 of the gardens in Indianapolis had high lead levels. In Boston they found 4 out of 5 of the gardens tested had high levels. A non-profit group in two Boston suburbs even had raised beds with freshly composted soil installed, but tests four years later showed that lead content had tripled. Their advice? To continue to test soils, not only when they are first planted, but over the ensuing years. They also suggest washing your hands after gardening to reduce exposure to contaminated soil, to wash vegetables thoroughly, and to avoid tracking soil indoors. Tests on garden beds in NYC have been more promising, finding fewer than 10 percent of them had high lead levels. There have been efforts in the city to bring in clean soil and compost for raised beds.

I also found this article about the "green-ing" of Greensboro:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/travel/the-impulsive-traveler-going-green-in-greensboro-nc/2011/02/24/AFoEhKWB_story.html?wpisrc=emailtoafriend

There was an unexpected death in my family over break, so I went home under different circumstances than planned. I took and found some pics, though:


Me on my bike. I think I was about 7 or 8 in this one. Apparently I could ride a bike and not put myself in mortal danger at the time.






My aunt and uncle's old bikes.

Biking + me = bruises

So I went out Saturday with my friend Kevin and bought a new bike. Thank god he was there. I was clueless about some stuff. Anyway, here she is! Pretty, isn't she? I rode around on the bike a bit before I bought her. I was WAY wobbly. I didn't expect that at all. I've been riding without training wheels since I was 7 or so. I remember it being second nature. My ride Saturday was anything but. I was really surprised. I rode in the park near Mock Orange (where I purchased the bike) and it was incredibly embarrassing. There were a lot of expletives coming out of my mouth. I didn't see any kids nearby, so hopefully I didn't offend anyone. There ware several skids made so I could stop. I'm used to the brakes on a single speed, I guess. It's weird to feel so unnatural on a bike. I've never felt that way before. Unluckily for me, nothing changed on my bike ride Sunday.
I decided to go back out on the greenway where I had plotted out how to get to school without actually encountering traffic. Thank the gods I knew in advance I was not ready to be in traffic. I would have died. As it is, I did take a spill and got a skinned elbow and some bruises. Again, I have no idea why I'm no longer adept at bike riding. It's been a few years, but I thought it was something you could just pick back up. They say "it's just like riding a bike," right? Except it wasn't. Not the way I remember it anyway. I've never been the most graceful person (at least on land), but I can't remember the last time I fell off a bike except when I had my training wheels taken off. Could a few years hiatus really have left me so inept? It must have. I thought that since I've been working out I wouldn't have any problem getting up the hills. Wrong. I had to get off and walk the bike twice. Also embarrassing. I think the highlight was falling off, though. Apparently I waited until there were plenty of people around to see it. *sigh* I guess I'll get some more practice in before I try to ride it to school. I paid over $50 in gas Friday afternoon and that was definitely what pushed me to make the purchase this weekend. I was hoping to save some money by biking soon, but I guess I need to at least make it up all the hills first.

Biking and media article

I went to the Y on Main today to ride a stationary bike. I'm a member and I work out there 2-3 times a week, but I'd never used the bikes before. I can't remember the last time I was on a bike, so I figured I'd start out with something simple. I'm not sure if I've ever ridden a stationary bike before, so I had to figure out all the screens, but it was pretty simple. I set my level pretty low and I did 4 miles in twenty minutes. That was about as far as I could go since I left my ipod at home and was bored out of my mind. It had a tv on it, but you had to have ear phones to listen. I'm not sure if the ipod ones would work on it and I didn't want to use some that other people might have used as I'm a mild germaphobe. I liked the fact that it shows how fast you're going, the miles you've gone, calories burned, and time you've been riding, but I have to remember to bring something with me next time to stave off the boredom. The guy beside me was reading a book, which I doubt I could do while riding, but he was also on one of the bikes with a back on it. Maybe I'll try one of those next time. My friend Kevin is going to help me find a new bike. He's really, really into bikes (he owns 21 of them), but not in that annoying "hipster" way, unlike this guy:

I love Portlandia.

For my media article, I found one called "Dolphin Deaths in Gulf Region Spike, Probably Because Of That Massive Oil Spill That Happened" (as I said, I'm not being facetious; that really is the name of the article) by Jason Linkins from the Huffington Post. Baby dolphins are dying at an alarming rate on the coasts of Mississippi and Alabama. As of the time the article was written, 17 baby dolphins, some barely three feet long, had washed up on the coasts. I've since found an update siting that they've now found 60. Some are stillborn and some die soon after birth. Oil from the BP oil spill remains stuck on the bottom of the sea floor in the Gulf of Mexico. The microbes that were touted to quickly degrade all the oil (supposedly by 2012) have worked on about 10% of it. Unfortunately, the media coverage on the oil spill has almost completely died out. Where is this area going to stand in 20 years? In fifty? Does BP not understand the ramifications not only on the sea life, but on the people who's lives were sustained by it? Or do they just not care?

A walk and service project

I went out this afternoon to map out a way to get to Salem by bike with the least amount of involvement with traffic. Initially, I went down Marshall (I live on 1st) and then crossed over on Academy. I took the strollway back and this seems to be the best option to avoid traffic. I'll have to walk my bike (when I get one) up 1st as it's one way between my place and the strollway, and then bike once I reach it. I wanted to ask if anyone has opinions/ideas about buying a bike. I've been doing research online, but with all the info out there, it's kind of overwhelming. I don't want to spend a bazillion dollars on one, so that leaves the custom bikes out, but what should I be looking for in an everyday fixed gear bike? This was much simpler when I was a kid and all I had to decide about a bike was whether or not to get the white wicker basket with the daisies on it. :)

As for my service project, the one with Novant Health on Bike City USA seemed the most appealing to me since one of my majors is Creative Writing. I wasn't in class the day the person from the Center for Design Innovation came, but the project on Generating Buzz About The Bike also seems interesting since it involves creativity, too.

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

The Top 50 Bike Friendly Cities were chosen by a number of factors, including the existence of segregated bike lanes and municipal bike racks. All of the Pittsburgh Authority Garages have bike racks. The Century Building downtown offers secure, covered bike parking inside re-purposed shipping containers. For $100 per year, you can rent a place inside. Also, there is a large number of free, outdoor covered bike parking at this location. The University of Pittsburgh offers bike parking and secure bike lockers, where you can store your bike, helmet, and shoes all in one place. Carnegie Mellon offers the same. Hundreds of Three River Bike Racks are already set up throughout the city. These unique public art racks provide parking for two bikes each. In 2010, there were five miles of bike lanes and sharrows already in Pittsburgh, with a promise of 25 more in the next two years. Bike PGH, a non-profit cycling group in Pittsburgh, also provides bicycle valet parking for some of the large events in the city.

Sniffly Walk

I'd been waiting to do the bike ride until I felt better, but my cold didn't budge by Sunday, so I did a walk instead. I started out at the head of the Salem Creek Trail off Peter's Creek. First off, I've never seen a trail that started at the back of a shopping center before, nor have I seen an almost completely paved trail. Maybe I'm a bit spoiled? I've only ever been on trails in the mountains or the country, so I was a bit surprised with the asphalt and the power lines and the constant awareness of cars nearby. I guess I thought it was going to be more nature-y and quiet. The creek had a fair amount of litter on and around it, too, also something I didn't expect. I didn't walk terribly far, just to Main Street and back. It was a fairly nice afternoon which was pleasant, but I couldn't really enjoy the fresh(er) air because I couldn't breathe! I'd like to see what the other trails/parks in the area have to offer, as I doubt I'll try this one again. It did make me want to try to find some of the trails I used to use back home when I was a kid, so that's positive. I think a lot of them are grown over by now, but maybe I can suss something out.