April Challenge.

In the spirit of a little thing called 1 World 2 Wheels comes Aprils challenge for the three of us. We have all agreed to forsake our cars for ALL trips 2 miles long and under. This means no quick trips to the gas station, grocery store or ATM if they are such a short distance away. And just to give a little incentive, although I'd hope that we wouldn't need more, I will be purchasing another sweet product from Twin Six to serve as a carrot, that being the Til Death poster for the rider who does not drive their car for the entire month for these short trips.

It is really alarming when you look at what really happens in those short trips, here are two facts from the 1w2w website for 2 miles or less:

_60% of the pollution created by automobile emissions happens in the first few minutes of operation, before pollution control devices can work effectively.

_24% of all trips are made within a mile of the home, 40% of all trips are made within two miles of the home, and 50% of the working population commutes five miles or less to work.

Although I am speaking for myself on this but there is a quote from a great movie Shawshank Redemption from Brooks when he's writing after he gets out of jail that seems very appropriate and mildly profound... 'Dear Fellows, I can't believe how fast things move on the outside. I saw an automobile when I was a kid, but now... they're everywhere. The world went and got itself in a big damn hurry...' We've gone and gotten ourselves in a big damn hurry haven't we? But maybe the real question is, what are we in such a hurry to get around to doing?

So for this month, Geoff, Brian and myself are slowing down a bit. Although this might be a naive dream but maybe we might see a little bit more of life that we so often fast forward over.