This one is on its way to the Big Apple.
Archive for May, 2007
This month’s Sustainable Industries Journal has a nice little piece about the cycling industry featuring Breezer, Strawberry, Bikes Belong, and (blush) Sweetpea Bicycles. While they mentioned our recent announcement about joining 1%FTP, they also had some great stuff from a company that has sustainability infused in almost everything they do: Chris King.
(On newsstands now. Get yours today!)
The word “sustainable” seems to be losing some traction. Everyone’s got it: “Our nuclear power plant is made from Soy, so it’s both sustainable and good for your heart.” And when everyone’s got it, it is sometimes hard to see the ones who are really trying.
With the word being bantered around so much lately, I have to admit that I really admire the gang at Chris King. There is a lot that really sets them apart in the area of sustainability (all their materials and manufacturing is done domestically, they donate money to breast cancer research, and they have an innovative recycling program). But what I think is really cool is the fact that they make a fantastic product that you buy once and never have to replace. 90% of sustainability is right there.
But what really impresses me is that the same ethic applies to how they approach almost everything. It doesn’t matter if they are working with their raw materials, a new machine, their employees, or the community; they take great care of the resources they interact with. This isn’t just sustainability, it is deep sustainability. And its nice to know that we can find it not only on our bikes, but so close to home.
We just moved into a new neighborhood. This means a lot of things: Living in a mountain of boxes, chucking the stuff we don’t need or haven’t seen for years, and taking 20 minutes out of our morning to look for where we packed the soap. But the really big project is finding new running routes.
So last night around 7:00, we took off exploring. We had heard of some trails nearby and wanted to find them. We hit some pretty crazy hills right off the bat as well as some roads where bikes fear to tread. And finally after trucking up this huge hill, we found a small poorly marked trail to our left. Perfect.
An hour or so later, we were completely lost. Let me rephrase that: An hour later, we were completely lost in the woods within the Portland city limits. We finally managed to crawl our way out into a residential area and stopped at a gas station to ask for directions back to town. The attendant said with a heavy British accent “Go that way, down the hill, and if you get to hell you have gone too far.” Maybe a little dramatic, but it was a little misty out and it was getting dark.
So having been out way longer than was on the schedule, in fading light and finally on some city streets, we started heading down the hill back home. . . when we noticed another small poorly marked trail to our left. Time for a little more adventure. We got home after 9:00.
I love the fact that I can get lost in the wilderness in town. Sure, I am not going to run into anything big, but that doesn’t deter from the fact that we are running on an unknown trail only a foot or two wide. Most days I am content running what I know, but I always have to remind myself that the real joy is in getting off the grid and exploring. The difference between being lost and exploring, I think, is knowing what is behind you. That, and possibly the thrill of taking an unexpected left turn.
The NYTimes calls it the new skateboarding with a dash of Zen like simplicity. The State of Oregon calls it illegal. Natalie calls it inspiration for haiku. I am just stoked that someone grabbed a camera to catch these guys in action:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0AFpq6jFok[/youtube]
