I rode my bike to work today. And now for the big news, I rode it back home too. I’ve ridden to before, but Amber has always come and gotten me. It helps assuage her guilt about me riding while she drives places. Not that she should feel the least bit guilty. The ride is just over 7.5 miles each way (a little longer on the way home because of the frontage road situation). I’m going to try and ride Monday, Wednesday and Friday. That way Amber has the car when she needs it and I might get in a little better shape. If I can get the ride to less than 30 minutes in each direction I’ll be happy.
The morning ride is a bit different than the afternoon. First, it is darker, generally a bit more downhill, cooler and with less traffic. The drivers also tend to be a bit friendlier. They still cut me off and try to force me out of my lane, but there are fewer of them and they are less stressed not having been at work all day so they don’t actually look like they are going to hit me, they just look like they want me to think they are going to hit me.
In the afternoon it is about 20 degrees hotter and sadly a little longer and more uphill. Plus when I got on the bike my legs pretty well felt like I hadn’t just had a 10 hour rest. It felt like I had two lead weights on the pedals. But my sad, sore, heavy, worthless legs were really only part of the problem. The other part is that my butt apparently took it personally this morning. It is still punishing me now. Hurts like hell. I suppose I’ll build up calluses or something, but boy it hurts now and I’m sitting on the couch. On top of the pain in my butt my underwear also decided to fight back. They were bunching in ways and places that are as far as I can tell not in line with the laws of physics. Maybe a new seat is in order.
I do get some weird looks from drivers. Basically Texas is a place where people drive from their house to their neighbor’s. So they don’t take kindly to cyclists or walkers. I get a lot of “Why don’t you get on the sidewalk looks”. Here is why: The sidewalks run out without warning. They are full of bumps, cracks, dropoffs and holes. They meander up, down, left and right for no reason other than it makes them look pretty to people in their cars. And the trees. The low hanging limbs hit me in the head. I’m wearing a helmet, but still. So I’m in the road, right down the center of my lane. Yeah, you heard me. My lane. So just be patient.
I also get the why don’t you guys buy another car question from friends and coworkers. Big reason, we can’t afford it. Cars are expensive. You’ve got the purchase, the insurance, the gas and the maintenance. But also I am working hard to reduce our environmental footprint. We have the push mower. We have the A/C tuned and running at 78F. Plus now I’m cutting the gallons of gas for my commute in half. But the cost of gas is only part of it. AAA states that the average cost per mile is close to 38 cents per mile. We’ll just assume that is what it costs to drive the Subaru. So my 15 mile round trip commute costs $5.70 per day. So 2.5 days per week (every other Friday I’m off anyway so that day doesn’t count) saves $14.25 a week or $741 a year. Of course I plan to buy a better bike if I can keep this up for 6 months. Cost? Oh, $500 or more. Oh yeah, I bought a helmet too. And I need a new pump, red flashing light, water bottle holder maybe a shoe/clip system and probably panniers. Hmmmm…
But it isn’t all about money. I’m getting more fit too. Plus helping the environment. And by riding I’ve already got someone else at working riding in a few days per week. Who knows, maybe this is a revolution. Look out Texas. The best part? I get that cozy self righteous glow that you get when you are sacrificing just a little bit more than most other people are willing. If everyone else is all talk, if you take one step you look like a hero. Oh, you’ve got a hybrid? I ride my bike. Ha! So I’m putting my body where my mouth is and we’ll see where it takes me.
A few links about driving costs:
http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2006/05/31/the-true-cost-of-car-ownership/
http://www.commutesolutions.org/calc.htm
