Wholistic Fitness

“ONE LESS CAR, BABY!”
WF WARRIOR NOD to CARDIO COMMUTERS!

When it comes to driving cars, we realize how deep runs our lower chakra Attachments. i have had to literally re-arrange my entire life and income potential just to stay out of the car. It is not natural for a human to spend large times of each day in the toxic postive-ionic field of an enclosed car surrounded by exhaust fumes and particulate pollution. As Paramahansa Yogananda wrote, “The saints stress nonattachment so that one strong point of material attachment may not prevent our attaining the entire kingdom of God. Make your life more simple and put your whole mind on the Lord.” Attached to car driving? This DL is for your consideration…

Bikes are as vital as blood to the master student of Wholistic Fitness! (photo of coach and Rick Baza by Wayne Williams on Mullholland Highway)

Cardio Commuters turn me on. I consider Cardio Commuters (see my book, TBT for more) contemporary Warriors who Engage their support of natural human movement and interacting with Mother Earth by the regular sweat and spirit instead of an addiction to comfort. Even one bike commute per month can transform a car addict to a Warrior of high inner dimension! Oh, i know all about your easy rationalizations. Save ’em. I have enough of my own, thank you. In our own WF Tribe, we can draw inspiration; We have Cardio Commuters who in-line skate to a bus station, run, and walk to Work to be Light on Mother Earth and Father Sky!

do YOU have a Cardio Commute to share on DL? i want to hear from you! I am collecting data for a future book project! Here is a story of Warriors from Flagstaff, followed by a few of my most memorable Cardio Commutes through the years.

Neither rain, nor sleet, nor …

By CYNDY COLE
Sun Staff Reporter
05/14/2005

Wind, rain and snow half a foot deep are no match for Susan Hueftle on a bike.

She rides uphill every weekday to her job on North Gemini Drive atop McMillan Mesa, unless the snow is deep enough to stop her.

Riding four miles a day keeps her healthy, out of her car and warmer than people who drive, she said.

Hueftle is rounding up co-workers at the Grand Canyon Monitoring & Research Center to ride for Flagstaff’s fourth Bike to Work Week, which starts tomorrow.

As many as 2,000 people are expected to log miles by bike in the coming week. Last year, 1,500 said they had biked to work during the week, according to the Flagstaff Biking Organization.

Cyclist Aaron Tomasi bikes 12 miles into work at UPS about half of the year from his home in Kachina Village.

Stephanie McCarthy, a Flagstaff Biking Organization member and wife of the group’s marketing director bikes 12 miles from her home in Timberline to her job at Northern Arizona University when she’s in the mood. It takes about 50 minutes each way and gives her time to relax.

She and her husband moved to Flagstaff five years ago partly for its good biking reputation and tight biking community.

Flagstaff Biking Organization will be doing a safety seminar Sunday at Heritage Square to train kids on riding etiquette and how to use hand signals.

For more info on week-long events, see www.flagstaffbiking.org or www.flagvelo.com.

***
El Coache’s Top Cardio Commutes
Most Beautiful:
A 12-mile roundtrip MTB ride along the San Juan Trail from the town of Tesuque, New Mexico where i lived to Santa Fe. It included a 1/4 mile hike-a-bike portage. When i first attempted the highly technical commute, i fell several times. A year later, i improved my bike skills enough to nearly master the entire route without ‘dabbing’ (taking my foot out of my pedal to catch balance). Then, i went on a road trip, came back to find that a Flash Flood destroyed the majority of the trail!

Most Gnarly:

A monster 36-mile round trip (see map above) from my trailer stuck on the Pojoaque Indian Reservation near a “town” called Jaconita, New Mexico into Santa Fe, where i worked at the famed New Age bookstore; The Ark on Romero Street. The infamous New Mexico winds ripped at me, bitter cold, and since my bike route was on the fucking state Highway; big rigs would throw up 60 mph rocks, debris, etc, from their tires. Items thrown at me during that time: beer cans, beer bottles, a half eaten apple, an exploding firecracker. I attribute the tenacity required from me during this commute instrumental in my later winning the State Cycling Championship.

Most Noble Gutter Ride:
Probably when i rode from my San Fernando Valley home in Tarzana into Beverly Hills and back to do my Yoga Teacher Training with Mark Blanchard. ooooof. it was about a 24-mile roundtrip through some of LA’s most toxic air and dangerous car addict behavior…particularly at night.