Bike To Work Week

[C.P.]

Anybody been riding to work this week?


gas savings calculator (http://www.thebikegeek.com/?page_id=77)

[MTBME]

Maybe next week. This week started a little too wet for my liking. I stayed home for a couple of days to keep my eye on the rising waters. I live as close to the Merrimack river as a long Adam Vinatieri field goal.

[Jisch]

I was going to bike to work this week, but I never was very good at riding a bike up stairs. Now the ride home, down that flight of stairs, was very fun. My wife is not happy about the skid marks on the carpet though, and that turn at the bottom of the stairs, yikes! Time to get out the spackle and get rid of the helmet mark in the wall.

I computed my weekly savings and it works out to about $0.00. While that doesn't seem like much, if I do it even half the year that's $0.00 x 26 = $0.00, wait a minute! This sucks... I'm always getting screwed on these deals.

John





I work from a home office in case you can't guess.

[robdesigns]

Next week for me too. Only 20-30 more time on the bike than if I drive to work.

[benb]

My commute is 20 miles round trip, car usually gets 26-27mpg riding to work.

According to them if I rode all year round every day and gas is $3.15/gallon I save $606.

Hmm.. guess I should drive my car, cause I don't think I ever get through a year without spending $600 on bike stuff! No matter what I tend to break stuff though I guess my "commuter" didn't break anything at all last year, it went through one chain and one set of canti brake pads, somewhere between 1-2 tanks of gas for the car. (Fixie, not much to break)

We have recently had this discussion a lot on a motorcycle discussion group I'm on... if our bikes get 50mpg they still cost a lot more to run then a car like a Honda Civic, mostly due to wearing through tires more quickly.

When you add up all the incidentals bicycles have the same problem, per mile they are probably more expensive then cars, it's only when you add in the health and environment benefits (and fun) that it's worth it.

[Quo Fan]

If I could figure out how to get my trunk load of inventory onto my bike, and be able to ride the highway at 65mph, while not getting all sweaty, and doing 4-6 service calls per day, I'd ride my bike to work.

[JSecor]

I'm 50 miles each way via the Pike so no ride to work for me. Wish I could make it work but I haven't even been able to figure out a good place to drive part way and ride the rest. Downtown Boston is too sketchy for me these days... :(

Uh, does it count if I drive my bike to work on a regular basis??? ::)

[antonio]

Tomorrow will have been 3 days - 16 miles roundtrip (from West Roxbury to Back Bay). This is my first week commuting and i have to say it's not as dangerous as I thought it would be. The climbs on the way back are a good workout, too.

Ant

[hammerhead]

I try to commute 2-3 times a week, but this week has been a challenge. Something about getting soaked between the house and garage at 6:00 AM makes it pretty difficult to then get onto the Felt for the 20 mile ride up the river valley.

I have postponed bike to work week and will take a 'Sun Check'

H.

[antonio]

Tomorrow will have been 3 days ....
Um, two days is still good, right?

[djspookman]

I only got to ride in once this week due to the massive amounts of rain we're getting. I usually ride in everyday though. Only 1.9 miles from home to work! :)

It actually takes the same amount of time if I bike or if I drive (finding a parking space takes some time!)

dave

[jaime]

Today's my 3rd day this week. 17 mi each way into Boston. Best part is I skip those Mass Pike tolls: every day I ride I save enough on that alone to get a free 6-pack of (cheap) beer! However, as mentioned earlier, riding ain't free and this will be the most expensive ride in a while: I discovered this morning that my 6 year old messenger bag leaks at the seams. Unacceptable!

jsecor: pm me and I can describe my route into Boston (mostly off-road in town) and a safe place to drop your car in MW.

[C.P.]

Bike to work Race in Philly (http://www.bicycleretailer.com/bicycleretailer/headlines/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002503851)

Well, I bailed (wimped out) when I saw the radar today. Of course, now that I made it in (not much precip on the drive in), I wish I rode in anyways... there's always next week.

[huff'npuff]

If I could figure out how to get my trunk load of inventory onto my bike, and be able to ride the highway at 65mph, while not getting all sweaty, and doing 4-6 service calls per day, I'd ride my bike to work.


EXCUSES,EXCUSES ! LOL.......hi Paul

[sizlinseagulsoup]

Out of the 3 most recent jobs I've held, 2 of them have been almost always faster on a bike. My current 1.5 mile commute across Waltham takes about 6-8 minutes on my bike and takes anywhere from 5 (middle of the night)-20 minutes (5 in the afternoon). Plus, it takes 8 minutes to walk to the building from the parking lot, whereas the bikerack is at the front door.

The commute into downtown Boston was the same, took about 22 minutes, someday that I really felt like pushing it took 18. One of my coworkers, taking the pike, would take anywhere from 15-2 hours.

Sure, if there is absolutely no traffic, a car is faster, but I'll take consistency any day.

[Z]

Well, bike to work week came and went without my noticing... I guess it's not really a popular pastime in LA!

But today I rode my bike to work for the first time. It was great! I needed the excercise and I showed up at work so much happier today. It's about 13 miles, just under an hour.

My coworkers think I'm a bit nuts, because there is definitely a stigma against the 'hood around the USC campus. True, I ride through all sorts of neighborhoods from our house in Venice to South Central LA where I work. Some a little sketchy.

But it's really sad more people don't ride to work around here! It's the best way to get around. The nice thing is that it's perfect weather, totally flat, not too many lights if you take the right routes. You definitely get a feel for the city and the diversity of people and neighborhoods, too. The beach is a bit of an anomaly, because you see people on bikes all the time, but get a little inland and forget it.

Oh, and people don't wear helmets here!

Anyway, I have Pete to thank for motivating me to ride in and helping me scope out my route. He's been riding to work almost every day since he started work a month ago! (for him the alternative is a 60 minute bus ride, or a 45 car commute through traffic, $7 in gas, and $8 parking) I wont be able to do it all the time because of my work schedule, but I'll be sure to try to do it a couple times a week as long as it stays light out in the evening.

So how was the annual Redbones party, anyway?

[SteveC]

I've been trying to ride at least one day/week to work. It's only @ 5 miles, and maybe 25 min, or 15 min by car. Riding home is always a rush in the cool midnight air......

[pk]

Hi Z!

Sounds like you have the perfect commute distance. Nice!

Come back for the Redbones Block Party. It was postponed (mucha lluvia) to:

Monday, June 19th

pk

[Z]

Oh wow... wish I could!

But that's the week of the World Mtb Bike Conference in Wizzler... Along with Pete, Toddski, Mike T, and others I'll be busy riding my brains out and hucking the gnar in B.C.! ;D

Have a pulled pork sammich and a pint for me, please.

[RideDaEpic]

My ride to work about 10 miles, and it's only ten minutes longer by bike than by car. As most of you pointed out it's really not worth the finical savings, but its a state of mind that makes it worth it. It's better than any cup of coffee in the am, and on the ride home I do a big loop. It's great cross-training for the mtb. I have 15lb bag on my back with all my clothes ect. and there are some big hills. I can see a difference in my mtb already. I hope to do about 2 to 3 days a week riding in.

benb- your totally looking at this situation the wrong way.
"Hmm.. guess I should drive my car, cause I don't think I ever get through a year without spending $600 on bike stuff!"

Think of it as a EXTRA $600 that's not going to your car so you can spend it on your bike! :)