Cardio commuting to town via the Lower Oldham Trail. bicycles are 80% energy efficient; only 20% of any caloric energy used in bicycling goes to move the bike. everything else is used to MOVE! on race bikes, the stats are even better! photo by Ananda.
***
Live like a tree,
not like fire.
***
as a New Daddy Warrior, there are a whole lot of environmental issues tearing at my spiritual tissues these days…watching my cherished zen-influenced spartan lifestyle begin bulging at the seams is an exercise of WF Lifestyle Principle #1 for sure.
i’m constantly breathing and asking for Mother Earth/Father Sky forgiveness as i run enough water through my faucet to float a boat as i wash baby bottles. that’s just the start.
one of the most searing stabs at my increase upon Mothers’ resources comes from my near lack of a principle of WF that i first began forwarding as far back as the early eighties; Cardio Commuting.
granted, i am doing about 90% of my New Daddy Warrior errands on my motorcycle (and my POWERBAR backpack has literally split its seams and zippers as i push the limits on the poor thing’s carrying capacity nearly each day).
as i whiz past all my Cardio Commuting bros and sista’s here in Flag (which is a bicycle-commuting mecca) i wince as i throttle my sport bike into a corner instead of pedaling into it as i was once so accustomed. 
then…then arrives the odd day where ilg is forced into a car.
oooof.
cars.
our cars outweigh us by at least 20 to 1. a Pruis weighs 2,900 lbs and a Suburban loads the roads at 5k+!
that means nearly 95% (yes…95%!!!) of the precious Dinosaur flesh and blood is being used to simply MOVE THE VEHICLE.
in what other human enterprise would we settle for 95% INEFFICIENCY!?!?
a bicycle, by contrast, weighs often less than one-fifth of what you do.
less than 20% of the energy goes to moving the vehicle.
contemplate this as we clamber out of the car to fill up our tanks at even the
now archaic price of $4/gallon: $3.80 is simply feeding the machine.
sobering facts as i prepare to move my Clan out to the country where an additional 10 miles per round trip to town will spiritually itch at me each time ilg is forced into a car. upside? this winter (which is when ilg actually drives cars), i’ll be reducing my drives to the ski areas in significant volumes and relying on my own nordic/snowshoe courses in my back and front ‘yards’.
all of this is an ongoing exercise in WF Lifestyle Principle Number 3: Appropriate Action.
May this DL inspire all my WF Warriors to bike twice, drive once.
i do my best…that’s all i can do…or you.
Live like a tree, not like fire.
love,
your mountain yogi
special thanks to Flag bro; Peter Kosso
photo 2: one of my most cherished Tree Beings in the Kachina Peaks Wilderness. this delightfully spiraled Tree Being is located on the Bismark Lake Trail.
photo 2: Oak Creek Canyon, a dozen miles away, up in flames last year. photo by AZ Daily Sun.
photo 3: bike vs. Bala…an ongoing choice which steepens as a New Daddy Warrior! photo by Ananda
These teachings are the "Rasas" or "sap" of Wholistic Fitness. You’ll find insights to ponder, student chi to keep your own chi topped off, and plenty of proven training techniques to test on your own body, mind, and spirit! Also, you’ll find my very popular Race Reports, and news of our Sangha’s (community’s) latest transpersonal fitness adventures!