Inspiration

The idea for car pushing came from a conversation that I overheard- some people were talking about the physical training of the actors in the movie 300. Supposedly, the trainer rented a airplane hangar and filled it with very heavy objects. The workouts consisted mostly of just moving or throwing these objects around.

It apparently works



I've never been a fan of gyms, and even though I can most definitely see the fun in lifting a weight up and putting it back down again for hours at a time, breathing recycled air with a bunch of other sweaty people looking at themselves in mirrors, the weight room has never been a draw for me.

I don't really have any desire to look like any of the 300 warriors, but I wouldn't mind a little extra muscle when it comes to hiking this summer. I'd like to be able to hike all day straight up a mountain, with a 40 lb pack, get into camp for the evening, chop wood and still have enough stamina to stay up and look at the stars.

Actually I can do this now, but not without lying in the sleeping bag until 4:00 the next afternoon, wondering how much a helicopter airlift would cost.

My first try at car pushing was a few months ago. I recruited my sweet sweet wife and she reluctantly agreed to steer, while I pushed the car around the neighborhood. This was surprisingly fun(and hard!)and was going great until one of our neighbors(Craig) saw me pushing and ran out to help. I tried to convince him that I was doing this as an exercise experiment, but it was kind of hard to do when I couldn't really breathe. The Turdcel, although very dependable, has a definite broken down look, so he laughed it off like I was joking and pushed it with me the rest of the way to the house. When we got there, I had Sara start the car prove it really did run and Craig slowly backed away with an interesting mix of fear/disgust/pity/unbelief on his face. I shrugged it off but my sweet sweet wife was considerably embarrassed for some reason and refused to steer again. This was actually ok, because I couldn't walk for about 4 days after that. Summer started and I had plenty of biking/hiking to keep me active.

It kind of got put on the back burner, until recently I went to the gym and found that lifting weights hadn't gotten any more attractive. My game plan was to recruit other guys from the neighborhood, because from Sara's reaction when I brought it up again, this wasn't a female thing. I figured if I worded it right, we have enough cool neighbors that would be willing to give anything a try for a laugh. I pegged them right and we've got a club.

It's really hard to beat as a workout. You've got fresh air, camaraderie, a full body and aerobic workout that only takes about 3 minutes to achieve. If you don't have a heart attack, you've got the rest of the day to do whatever.

Since we are timing the pushes, it's kind of like auto racing, except manlier.

A short history of the Tercel

No doubt you fully support and understand the point of this site, but you might wonder about the history in regards to the Tercel. Read on.


On the way to a week on the Diablo/Ross lake system




My sweet sweet wife purchased the Tercel for $500 cash when she started college back in 2000. It faithfully provided her with 5 years of breakdown free college transportation and when we got married in 2005 it was decided that this car had earned a place in our household forever, or until it fell apart, whichever came first. It's been another 5 years and the only money we've put into it is the occasional oil change or tune up.

This car is the definition of dependable. There are no creature comforts(at all) but it will get you from A to B without a doubt. The last few years, we discovered that it makes a brilliant mountain car. You can pack up your camping supplies, canoes, backpacking gear mountain bikes and whatever else, drive it into the wilderness/trailhead and leave it for weeks, with full assurance that no one will try to break into it. Actually, people probably won't get within 5 feet of it, as we always bring a garbage bag full of trash and spread it around the interior before we head for the hills.

Somewhere along the line, it picked up the nickname "Turdcel" It wasn't us, and I don't even remember who it was that came up with the name. This was passionately rejected by my sweet sweet wife at first, but eventually it stuck and is spoken as a pet name, not out of any disgust for this fine machine. I'm not really even sure what prompted the name, but it could have something to do with the seat covers that kind of resemble a bear that has been decaying for years. People poke fun, but they will rub those same seatcovers for good luck before any mountain bike ride in the forest

The defrost doesn't work so if there is any temperature difference between out and in, you can't see anything. The 0 to 60 time is nonexistent if there is any kind of load on because it tops out at about 57. This is ok though because on trips, it's all about the journey. Empty it can get above 60, but might as well not since it takes about 3 hours of solid stomping on the accelerator to get there. People who see us in it give us sympathtic looks and occasionally offer us change in parking lots(especially after a week on the river or hiking in the mountains) This is ok too, because every time we strike out on a trip, it always feels like it did when we were first dating and had absolutely no money but lots of excitement about our future together. The radio only plays one station(country of course) but that's ok really because the cabin noise is so loud, you can't hear anything after you hit about 40 miles an hour.

There are many great memories associated with this car, but I'm sick of typing. I just wanted to give a little background for viewers and especially for future pushers of this fine automobile.


Loaded up for a day in Capitol Forest