Earth Day!

Today was an epic April afternoon!

It is my fabulous younger brothers birthday!!!

Happy...HAPPY...HAPPY Birthday Moey!!!  Over the years you've brought so much laughter and fun to our family, I am very proud to be your sibling!

Family fun...circa Christmas 2014

In addition to being Moey's fabulous birthday, it was also Earth Day!

As we all know, our impact on the planet every day matters and taking the time to recognize this is one of the first steps in keeping our planet healthy.

As most of my friends and family know, I've been choosing to commute by bike over the past two years and it's led me to increase my training time in the saddle, but it's also been a way to be a little greener in my every day life.

In fact, the young ladies on my "Girls on the Run" team pointed this out the second time we met for practice.

"Ms Dana, why do you ride your bike everywhere?"  They asked as we walked out to the track.

"Well...I really like riding my bike and it's fun."  I replied balancing a box of water bottles on my handle bars.

"AND it's green for the environment!"  Squealed several of the girls as they ran out the door.

I always forget this part because I selfishly enjoy riding my bike just because it's fun for me, but it is true.

After tracking my mileage in the National Bike Challenge last year, it plainly showed the numbers of what commuting by bike each day was saving.

Over the course of the year (2014) I averaged 20 commuting miles per day, which according to a Colorado Department of Transportation publication "Colorado Bicycling Manual- A Guide for Using Roads and Trails", saved .5 gallons of gas per 10 miles and approximately 7,300 pounds of CO2 (burning 1 gallon of gas in your car creates 20 pounds of carbon dioxide).

I've never been a big number crunching person, but knowing we can each choose to make small changes (like commuting by bike) to change our carbon footprint is important to reflect on.

Which is why we have Earth Day!

As the month of April is coming to a close, I'm looking forward to the start of this years National Bike Challenge in May!  

Make sure to log on (nationalbikechallenge.org) and sign up if you haven't had a chance!