Reasons to Bike to work!

[Pike]

There are so many good reasons! whos with me?

 

[meebs]

Depends how far from work you live but yeah its cool

i used to do it all the time before i got lazy Now i shall bike just for fun, until a time i get a job close to me.

 

[vandeda]

dood ... I'm all for it. Actually, I do bike to work, and church, and friends places, and youth group, and stores for errands/shopping, whenever I can. I put almost as many miles on my bikes as I do my car. Almost all of that riding/commuting is on a fixed gear no less

But, in that link ... the first point ... a $450 bike is pretty low. Used you could get something decent, but new I would expect half of the components needed to be replaced in a typical year of my riding (4-5k miles). Especially the rims, which I would expect to be a strong as butter. If you're going to make it reliable transportation, you gotta spend more than 450 bucks imho.

My only problem is ... right now, my car is worth about $5k-$6k ... my bikes are worth over $10k ... i think I have a problem ... no, I know I have a problem.

dan

 

[Christ Aficionado]

My only problem is ... right now, my car is worth about $5k-$6k ... my bikes are worth over $10k ... i think I have a problem ... no, I know I have a problem.

dan

That's definitely a problem. Let me say a little prayer for you--->

 

[Oblivious]

Believe me, I'd love to ride to work if it was possible. But with 30 miles one way and winter temperatures, I'll pass.

Kudos to everyone who is able to and does.

 

[vandeda]

That's definitely a problem. Let me say a little prayer for you--->

Nah ... not if you really think about it actually.

Typical year:
Commuting by car = ~7000 miles (yup, I qualify for cheap insurance)
Commuting by bike = ~4000 miles

Avg. Speed:
Car lets say 40 mph. It's probably a lot higher than that because the majority of driving I do in the car is longer distances on highways going 60 mph+. But lets be very conservative here

Bike say 16 mph. It's probably slower because winter riding is significantly slower due to bulky winter clothing which create significant wind drag. But again, lets be conservative

Time Traveling:
Car = 7000 miles / 40 mph = 175 hours commuting in my car each year
Bike = 4000 miles / 16 mph = 250 hours commuting on my bike each year


Also ... in about 3 or 4 years, it'll be time for a new car as my car is higher mileage and the transmission in my car is a known weak point. 3 or 4 years from now I'll be riding the same bikes. 10 years for now I'll probably be picking up another used car, but I'll be riding the same bikes. 20 years from now another car, but again, same bikes.

So ... why buy a cheap bike when I spend more hours riding than driving, and a good bike will be here for 20+ years (one of my bikes is almost 18 years old now) with reasonable maintenance (which is significantly cheaper than car maintenance), whereas a car won't last that long without maintenance costs quickly adding up?

So given my situation, when you do the math, it's actually not outrageous (I just joke about it sometimes personally), it's just that most people see biking as a hobby or a sport, whereas for some of us it's our main form of transportation, and for a few it's their only form of transportation by choice! Quite frankly, my car can sit in the driveway or garage for over a week without moving even I could be going somewhere every night after work that week and be at church both saturday and sunday.

"From walking to air travel, in terms of caloric cost (a calorie literally being a unit of energy-producing potential equal to the amount of heat released upon oxidation, whether that fuel be in the body or from gasoline, electricity, or any other fuel source), bicycling is the absolute most efficient means of transport that has ever been invented. Anywhere. Ever."

Anyway ... I've rambled on and on. As you can probably tell, I'm a huge bike advocate ... I wish more US towns/cities would be bike friendly, it is just the most fantastic way to travel imho.

Dan