Taking the scenic route

Locals halfway through car-free challenge

Click to Enlarge Eric Strickholm rode his bike Tuesday from Orchard Mesa to the Amtrak station to meet old friends from his days being a conductor for Amtrak. Strickholm has given up motorized transportation for three weeks as part of a Brown Cycles/Free Press car-free challenge. Janet Penkaty and Kelly Zepp also have given up their car keys for three weeks. Sharon Sullivan

By Sharon Sullivan
September 19, 2007

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    Grand Junction CO Colorado

    Grand Junction — Janet Penkaty is not hurrying these days.

    As one of three participants in a Brown Cycles/Free Press biking challenge, Penkaty is obliged to avoid any motorized travel for three weeks. She temporarily turned in her car keys last week to bike shop owner Chris Brown, in exchange for a new kids tandem bike she gets to keep if she avoids driving or riding in a motor vehicle during the contest.

    She’s been hauling her three young sons to school, preschool, soccer games, field trips, the grocery store — while at the same time fighting a cold and sore throat.

    “I wake up feeling crappy, I have to take the kids somewhere, and end up feeling better after riding my bike,” Penkaty said.

    “It’s more relaxing than I thought it would be. It’s less stressful for me than driving. I can’t hurry. There’s only so much a body can do. Either I allow enough time to get there, or be late,” Penkaty said.

    She said she talks to her kids more while riding than she does as a stressed driver.

    Seven-year-old Joseph helps his mom pedal the big yellow tandem bike that the kids have dubbed the “yellow banana.” They pull a trailer carrying 4-year-old David, and Spencer, 8 months.

    Saturday Joseph helped pedal the 20-mile round trip from their home in Orchard Mesa to a soccer game at Canyon View Park, and his only complaint was, “his butt was sore,” Penkaty said.

    For David, his initial excitement of biking everywhere has worn off a bit.

    He’ll say, “No, I’m not going on the yellow banana,” and then, “Fine, but we’re not going up any hills,” Penkaty said.

    His mom and brother actually do all the work, but sometimes the 4-year-old thinks he’s helping. When Joseph is in school, David gets to take a seat on the tandem where his feet just touch the pedals.

    “I feel like it’s me pushing his feet around,” Penkaty said. But it’s better than having him sit in the trailer with Spencer, where the two of them become 60 pounds of weight Penkaty must pull.

    Penkaty makes it up hills without stopping, going three mph. Other times she’s cruising at 25 mph.

    In the past week she’s found several bike trails she was unaware of before.

    “I’ve found about six different ways to go on my bike to take my son to preschool. There’s only one way by car,” Penkaty said.

    She’s glad for all the bike paths but said she wishes the city would maintain them better. She’s found lots of pea gravel, making it easy to skid, and broken glass. Monday, after a trip to the grocery store, she pulled 25 goatheads out of her tires.

    “I’m very grateful for slime,” Penkaty said, referring to a sealant bikers put inside their tire tubes to prevent flat tires.

    Groceries are packed in the trailer, and eggs get securely tied to a rack on her bike.

Youthful 57

    Eric Strickholm is also going car-free for three weeks. He was an avid bike rider before the contest, so he’s doing what he tends to do anyway — going for long bike rides all over town.

    Crossing the pedestrian bridge over the Colorado River from his home in Orchard Mesa, Strickholm reaches downtown Grand Junction in about 15 or 20 minutes. It takes him 30 minutes, pedaling back roads to get to Borders bookstore, located on Hwy. 6, which he did Saturday, Sunday, and a windy Monday.

    Tuesday he rode his three-speed Breezer Citizen bike to the train station to see former co-workers as they passed through town on the Amtrak train. Strickholm retired from Amtrak in 2004, where he was a conductor.

    Even though Strickholm had open-heart surgery a year ago, he’s a youthful 57-year-old. He attributes his quick recovery to years of bicycling.

    “It keeps you young. One of the easiest things you can do for exercise is just hop on a bicycle,” Strickholm said.

Biking to school

    Kelly Zepp is probably having the easiest time of the three bicyclists, with no kids to haul, and living close to where she teaches at Mesa State College. She and her husband also live close to a grocery store and don’t purchase large amounts of food at a time.

    “I throw a few things in my basket for dinner and I’m good to go,” Zepp said.

    The furthest distance she’s bicycled is from a soft ball game at Canyon View Park to her home near the college.

    She and her husband have foregone out-of-town weekend trips for now to play golf close to home.

    Penkaty said she thinks more people would commute on a bike if they weren’t worried about getting sweaty.

    “If you go at a leisurely pace, you’re not really sweating that much,” Penkaty said. “It’s a good way to work exercise into your day.”

    “The thing about this contest, it’s not about finishing first. It’s not a race. It’s just about finishing. It’s a matter of getting there and accomplishing the task.”

    Reach Sharon Sullivan at ssullivan@gjfreepress.com.