Because we American’s drive too damn much. It’s got to stop. Peak Oil, global warming, bad traffic etc.. We as a family we realize it isn’t practical for everyone to give dump their cars completely (we haven’t and I don’t imagine we will any time soon), but we can drive less.
A lot less.
Right now we drive around 8000 miles/year. That’s a family of four. But we think we can do better. One way we got to this point is to have “car free days.” We try to park the car and get around on bikes, feet, or just stay at home and work in the garden. Sorry kids, we aren’t driving today.
We recently returned from Europe (yes, I know the carbon emissions of that flight were horrible. I’ll stay home for a decade to make up for it). The bike lifestyle in the Netherlands is amazing. Cars, pedestrians, cyclists, trains, trams, and boats, all living in transportational bliss. It’s all pretty inspiring (especially when you factor in all the stylish fit, contented Dutch eyecandy).
Needless to say, the trip inspired us to get our xtracycles built (they’ve been in the box since April), start this blog (to keep us honest), and see what we can do to reduce our automotive footprint.
Stay tuned.
-Tim and Anne
Anne & Tim
Tim King
Anne
cfdgirl
Tim K
Car Free Days 
Its coming, slowly and surely and one cyclist and blog at a time. Good luck! I’ll stay tuned.
Thanks for the comment , Mike. Good luck on your business. We were digging all the Bakfiets in the Netherlands!