Here is my exercise for today:
I have been driving a bit too much lately… Well, here is the comics (Bicycle Comics – Yehuda Moon and the Kickstand Cyclery) pretty much demonstrating how I felt.
The Bet Goes To...
Just Like Riding A Bike
Didn't You Just Fill the Tank?
Turn! TUUURN!
The Nightmare is Over
Today on my ride to work, I broke my personal and probably most people’s record in the flats. And I am not only talking about the quantity but also quality.
Ok, start from beginning. I just recently moved to a new place in San Jose. Now my commute instead of involving suicide missions on Matilda Avenue in Sunnyvale, I just jump on the Guadalupe Trail at my condo and ride that all the way to Alviso. I have to cross a single road. The bad? Well, the Guadalupe Trail is currently mostly packed gravel. But it is totally worth it. Especially on my fixed gear. I zip at 20 mph and not worry about the cars.
Well, today in the morning I was waiting to cross the single road I have to cross and as everywhere in the Bay Area, the intersection has the car friendly but bike unfriendly sensors. So, I jumped on the sidewalk and pressed the pedestrian button. On the way back on the road I went through some brush. When I started to ride, I notice my tires are covered with some brown stuff. So I stopped to remove that and to my horror realize that the stuff was about a hundred thorns per tire. After removing couple of them, I heard the tire deflating.
So, I walked back home and switched to my road bike and zipped using the surface roads to work. Those roads are actually pretty good backup, especially since there is actually less traffic on them and are generally faster than my old commute from Sunnyvale. That is even though my new commute is close to 8 miles and my old one was close to 6 miles.
But back to my tire problem. I have not yet taken the tire apart, but I am convinced that what I will see is a tube littered with tiny holes all over the place. Coworker recommended I get the puncture proof tires. He recommended Armadillo. I guess I will see. It would be nice to find some with a more aggressive profile than a regular road tires. Something that will work good on the gravel.
Should the bikes be on the roads? Well, this is a tricky question… for some people. For me it is pretty simple. Yes. But, let’s go baby steps. What is the best way to travel? It turns out the most efficient way is bike. The least efficient way is a single passenger car. In between are things like trains, buses, walking, etc.
But what is the cost of each mode of transportation? Well, walking is pretty much free. For biking, you got to buy a bike. Most people will say that trains are super expensive, because you have to build tracks etc. But what about cars? What is the cost of a car? Well, let’s do a quick math. My assumption is that we buy a car and throw it away 10 years later.
Did I forget something? Anyway, according to my math, the total cost of having a car for 10 years is about $58,990. But is that the total cost of driving?
Let’s start by comparing this to a bike. Not completely fair comparison, but let’s try it anyway:
Did I miss something here? Well, the total is $4,400. And this is for a bike that is tuned twice a year, gets new tires and break pads once a year, has panniers, trailer and so on.
Ok, how about public transportation. Assuming you live in the Bay Area, you are looking at the cost of a bus and Caltrain, Bart, Ace, or Amtrak. So, you are looking at anywhere from $5 to $12 per day for the commuter rail, and couple of dollars per day for the bus if you need a local connection. Assuming the worst, you are looking at $2 for a bus in the south bay, $6 for the Caltrain to San Francisco, and another $1.5 in San Francisco. This twice a day is $19 per day, which in 10 years is about $49,400. But this is the worst case. Also, all public transportation modes have 10 rides or monthly plans. Also, there are commuter tax breaks for the public transport. All these incentives can lower the cost of riding down to couple of $100 per year.
So, according to this, whoever can bike to work should. There is significant saving in that. So even ignoring impact on environment, health, and time, this should be enough motivation for most people to change their transportation habits.
Here are some random pages I saw and I thought were cool/funny/interesting/crazy:
Transportation
Vegan
Social Security Number
