Why Jimmy Carter Was Right

As I write this it is 17.45 GMT on December 16th 2011. According to Met.ie the temperature at my nearest Met station in Ballyhaise, Co Cavan was 1 degree Celsius (33.8 F) at 1700 hours. By now the outside temperature here must be down to zero. The temperature in my kitchen is 21 degrees (69.8 F). A difference of 21 degrees.

A year ago around here the nighttime temperatures were falling to -15 c (5 F). On December 20th 2010 the coldest Irish day ever recorded was at the Ballyhaise Met Station, with the highest daytime temperature of only -9 c (15.8 F).

This winter has not yet produced temperatures this low so it's taking a lot less timber to heat the house. Normally we like to keep the kitchen at a balmy 21 or 22 Celsius on a winter night. But last winter during the very cold weather we put on an extra layer of clothes and settled for 17 c to save fuel.

When it was -15 outside and our target was 17 degrees indoors we were trying to keep a difference of 32 degrees. And the law of diminishing returns applies with a vengeance, when you want a difference of 32 degrees. It takes a lot more fuel than the 21 degree difference I have right now in my kitchen.

When you get to a 32 degree difference every extra degree you want has a huge extra cost in fuel. When we tried to keep our kitchen at 22 degrees instead of 17 degrees during the very cold weather of 2010, those extra five degrees almost doubled our fuel consumption.

The easiest way to save on heating costs is to accept a lower difference between internal and external temperatures, every degree less you accept will result in major fuel savings. President Jimmy Carter in the late 1970s told the American people he was turning down the thermostat in the Oval Office and putting on an extra sweater to save fuel. This is still good advise.

The Joys of Long Distance Bike Travel

A long car journey is a simple thing, you decide the route, the time you want to arrive and away you go. Barring an accident or a breakdown you are pretty much guaranteed most of the time, to get to your destination without any drama and on time.

A long bike ride is always an adventure, you never know how it will go on the day. The single biggest variable is the weather and in particular the wind. A long day spent riding into a strong headwind is among the most unpleasant experiences in cycling. It’s a remorseless, tiring, morale sapping grind.

The Great Western Greenway

On the other hand a day spent cycling with a strong tail wind is one of the most uplifting experiences on a bike. Many years ago as a very fit young man I cycled from Galway city to Cavan in six hours, on a heavy steel bike, with maybe ten kilos of cargo. I took a one hour break in the middle, so in five hours on the bike I covered 100 miles. It was quite a buzz bombing along over the gently rolling countryside at 20 mph, alone with only the road and my own thoughts for company.

Temperature and rain can also impact your progress and morale on a long journey but nothing trumps wind.

Your physical and metal state will also have a major impact on a long bike journey. Starting a long journey well rested, and in good shape, is very different to being tired and suffering from a cold. If the journey requires several days on the bike, you must pace yourself. It’s no good to do 100 miles the first day, finish exhausted, and then be unable to go more than 40 miles the next day. Better to pace it and do 70 miles both days.

A Bridge on the Greenway

The key to covering very long distances on a bike is to keep the pace low enough that you never get tired, and to cover the distance by spending a lot of hours on the bike. Make full use of your gears, find a sustainable rhythm and keep it going no matter what the gradient. Slow down enjoy the journey, experience the countryside, its sights, sounds and smells. Take lots of breaks, eat well.

Nothing beats a bicycle for exploring country. You are moving along at a modest speed, out in the open, sitting up, you feel every little rise and fall in the land. You will feel the slightest gradient in your legs, if uphill the increased strain, if down the reduced strain. After you cycle over a tract of country you will know its shape intimately. After crossing it in a car, you hardly know it all.

The Raleigh Oakland Reviewed Part 2

When I last wrote about my Oakland in September I had done about 3000 km on it and I said it was due a full service. Well the road to hell is paved with good intentions, it did not get that full service. In fact it got no service at all.

In the meantime I kept cycling and put up over 2000 km more on it. But last week the bottom bracket (BB) began to squeak and developed some play. I stripped it down and discovered it was worn. So I changed it for a new sealed BB, which I bought in Halfords for 20 euros. Time will tell whether this low cost BB is good value.

My Raleigh Oakland fully serviced

When changing the BB I gave the bike a full service, so she is now fully roadworthy. I bought a tool kit from Halfords for 37 euros which had almost everything I needed for the service, except the tool to remove the cassette from the back wheel. This I also got in Halfords for 10 euros.

It probably took me five hours all told to do the service, I was learning as I went along and proceeding with extreme caution. Now I know how to do it and I have assembled a full tool kit, I could probably do a full service in an hour and half.

The chainwheels are showing a lot of wear but with care I should get another few thousand kilometers out of them. If what I am reading is right when I change the chainwheels I will also need to change the chain and the rear cassette.

Total cost of the Oakland so far (excluding accessories) 300 euros to buy, new back wheel 35 euros, new set of brake pads 3 euros, new bottom bracket 20 euros. Throw in a little grease and lub takes the cost to about 360 euros. Not bad for over 5000 km traveled.

I still love this machine and have no intention of changing it for a more expensive bike.

Oakland Reviewed Part 1
Oakland Reviewed Part 3
Oakland Reviewed Part 4
Oakland Reviewed Part 5
Oakland Reviewed Part 6

VP Components BC-73 68*118mm Bottom Bracket

http://www.halfords.ie/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_11101_catalogId_15551_productId_159696_langId_-1_categoryId_212653#dtab

Halfords Bike Tool Kit

http://www.halfords.ie/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_11101_catalogId_15551_productId_522915_langId_-1_categoryId_212639

Bikehut Freewheel Tool

http://www.halfords.ie/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_11101_catalogId_15551_productId_714311_langId_-1_categoryId_212639

A Bird in the Hand

Until a few years ago I owned two guns. I had to sell them when I was really stuck for cash as I could not afford the license fee and the gun club membership. I originally bought them to hunt game for the table, but with all the costs involved I was not making them pay.

Shot at dawn Nov 30th

Fortunately living in the countryside I have not had to give up eating game, as many of my friends and neighbors are hunters. Some of them just hunt for recreation, they never eat it and some of them shoot more than they eat. So at this time of year there is a surplus of pheasant and duck in my area. A few of my neighbors will often drop in a freshly shot pheasant or duck when they are passing. In return I give them a bottle of whiskey at Christmas.

If you live in an area where there are hunters try and cultivate this kind of relationship with them. This is the cheapest and most convenient way to get a regular supply of game.

A lot of people hang game for a few days before plucking and gutting it. I puck and gut right way and get it into the fridge. If you have never plucked and gutted a bird try YouTube, see below for some links. It is a primitive and visceral business and you may make a mess of it the first few times. But the only tool required is a sharp knife and with a little practice you soon get the hang of it. Needless to say take extreme care with sharp knifes and always cut away from yourself.

5 minutes later ready to cook

I usually cook game the next day. I parboil for 15 to 20 minutes and finish it off in a Pyrex dish in the oven covered with tin foil, this keeps it from drying out.

Unlike buying meat in a shop you never know what wild meat will taste like. The flavour will vary depending on what the animal was feeding on, its health and age. At worst the meat may be tough, but at its best there is nothing to beat wild meat for flavour. And wild meat is all lean.

I never use any kind of flavorings or sauce, just the meat served with a few spuds and veg and a little butter.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AmoTthxTnv8&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_BVYOhCocw&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0ddDzGGtiU&feature=related

First in the Country then in the Town

Back in September CNN had a story about the rising poverty in American suburbs. I can’t imagine what it’s like to be poor in a suburb. I have experienced poverty in the city and in the country. But in both there are advantages that take the hard edge off poverty. Being poor in the suburbs must be a living hell, they have all the disadvantages of urban living but none of its advantages, and they have none of the advantages of rural living.

Part of my Kitchen Garden

As a young man I lived in Dublin in the late 1980s during the last Irish recession. I lived in a single roomed bedsit in the city centre and survived on welfare. But I managed my money well and took full advantage of the cities amenities. In a small city like Dublin everything was within walking distance, so I had no transport costs.

My big shop of the week was done late on Saturday afternoon in Moore Street, the cities traditional open air market. There was no market on Sunday so all perishable goods like vegetables, fruits and baked goods could be picked up for small money. Traders would accept almost any offer for goods, as soon as the market closed they would have to dump them anyway.

Dublin is full of great libraries, galleries, and museums, which I made full use of. As a young man who liked alcohol the opening of exhibitions were always a good source of free wine and entertainment. In Stephens Green (the main park in the city centre) there would be lunchtime recitals by brass bands, more free entertainment. There were always good buskers on Grafton Street. Cinemas had half price afternoon shows. I was poor but life was good.

Living in the countryside is the easiest option for a poor person. While it does not have the cultural life of the city it has a lot more opportunities for foraging resources. I have written already about foraging firewood (see Windfall in September) but free food is the real treasure on offer in the countryside.

The bounty starts in spring with nettles which make an excellent soup and sorrell which is a good salad leaf. But the real easy foraging comes in autumn, when the hedgerows are full of fruit like blackberries, crabapples, raspberries, wild strawberries etc. My brother is an avid collector of edible wild fungus in autumn. There are lots of neglected fruit trees in the Irish countryside.

All year round wild game can be shot and trapped. The rivers and lakes are full of fish. If you live near the seashore shellfish and edible seaweed are available. In the countryside it’s never to hard to get some land and start growing your own food. It’s always possible to keep to small livestock like poultry, rabbits or goats.

Lots of people will tell you that it's impossible to live in the countryside without a car, but if you are fit and have lots of time a bicycle is all the transport you need.

The CNN story

http://money.cnn.com/2011/09/23/news/economy/poverty_suburbs/index.htm?iid=HP_LN

Bicycles are faster than cars

In the early 1970s Ivan Illich wrote
The model American male devotes more than 1600 hours a year to his car. He sits in it while it goes and while it stands idling. He parks it and searches for it. He earns the money to put down on it and to meet the monthly installments. He works to pay for gasoline, tolls, insurance, taxes, and tickets. He spends four of his sixteen waking hours on the road or gathering his resources for it. And this figure does not take into account the time consumed by other activities dictated by transport: time spent in hospitals, traffic courts, and garages; time spent watching automobile commercials or attending consumer education meetings to improve the quality of the next buy. The model American puts in 1600 hours to get 7500 miles: less than five miles per hour.

My Raleigh Oakland a cheap hybrid

So a bike is a lot faster than a car when you measure all the time required to keep a car going. I ride a 15 kg cheap steel hybrid bike and over level ground, for a sustained period I can get three times the speed of a car on my bike. Over a short journey I can do four times this speed.

Even with a full touring load of 15 kg I can do twice the speed of a car and cover 80 miles a day. And I am almost 50 years old, when I was in my twenties I could cover more than 100 miles a day cycle touring.

If you do most of your driving in a city then the real speed you achieve with your car is probably a lot less than 5 mph. A bike also allows door to door travel, no driving round town looking for parking or walking to the final destination. No sitting in traffic jams. In cities nothing beats the bike for speed.

I bought my Raleigh Oakland in the June for 300 euro, since then I’ve spent about 50 euros on spares and maybe three or four hours servicing and I have done over 3000 miles on it. It will cost about 100 euros in servicing costs to do 6000 miles a year and keep the bike road worthy. I will be doing all own servicing, if I was to pay someone else to service the bike the cost will at least double. But that would still only be 200 euros a year.

A very high percentage of car journeys are under five miles, an ideal distance for the bike. This kind of short car journey with a cold engine uses a lot of fuel and results in a lot of engine wear. Apart from the money saved the exercise and fresh air will leave you feeling invigorated. In the long run you will live a longer and healthier life and save on medical bills.

The bike is I believe humanities greatest invention and as we pass peak oil its importance will only grow. And just to finish here’s Ivan Illich again on the bike.

Cycling on the Great Western Greenway

Man on a bicycle can go three or four times faster than the pedestrian, but uses five times less energy in the process. He carries one gram of his weight over a kilometer of flat road at an expense of only 0.15 calories. The bicycle is the perfect transducer to match man's metabolic energy to the impedance of locomotion. Equipped with this tool, man outstrips the efficiency of not only all machines but all other animals as well.


Bicycles are not only thermodynamically efficient, they are also cheap. With his much lower salary, the Chinese acquires his durable bicycle in a fraction of the working hours an American devotes to the purchase of his obsolescent car.

Home Accounts Software

We have been keeping household accounts for about ten years. To keep control of spending and make sure  we know where the money is going to and coming from we record everytime money goes in or out. For many years we done this with Excel spreadsheets but since the start of this year we have been using an accounts program Simple Home Budget. Cost 29 dollars 95 cents, and available for 30 day free trial

http://www.home-budget-software.com