May 23, 2008
The Cost of Bike Commuting: A Banana and a Bowl of Raisin Bran
This morning after my ride into work I overheard a conversation between two guys visiting our building. They were talking about gas prices. Conversation du jour. The first guy complained that his 15-mile drive costs him nearly $8 per day. The second guy, not to be out-done, said his commute was nearly 25 miles. He said this almost bragginly, expecting us to be impressed. He didn't realize I ride to work by bike; I'm probably the last person who's going to be impressed by a long car drive. The first guy responded by saying that his commute must be costing him about $12 per day. I chuckled. He turned to me and asked how much my commute cost each day. I replied, "this morning, it cost me a banana and a bowl of raisan bran cereal... I ride my bike." Apparently, this was not the answer he was hoping for. But he said "good for you," looked at his watch and apparently realized he would rather be someplace else and left. I guess he's last person to be impresseded by someone who commutes by bike.
4 Comments
Pity the fool that drives more than 10 miles to work every day. Even so, I always feel awesome when I ride my bike to work. I'll admit I'm a fair-weather bike commuter (something that is shunned in Boulder, Colo.) so I'm looking forward to the spring, summer and fall riding season.
So Patrick, what are you riding into work and what is your favorite bike?
Well, I do a lot of testing of bikes and components, so often times what I ride is sort of a Frankenbike. This is true for most of us here. Commuting for us is a great way to test components. So I'd be disappointed to find one of us that rides a stock bike. Most of our bikes have a random assortment of forks, seats, tires, frame colors, brakes - you get the idea. However, the bike I commute on most was the first generation Crossroad. Since my commute is only about 7 miles each way, I only have about 1200 miles on this bike, but it has been rebuilt a few times using different components. Hard to say if I have a favorite bike. It depends on the ride and my mood (sometimes you feel like a nut...sometimes you don't).
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