Yesterday I Became a Bicycle Commuter
I wrote about commuting by bicycle a couple months ago, but it was too cold, and got dark too early to seriously consider commuting home from work in the evenings. With the weather warming up and the daylight lasting longer I’ve decided to tune up the bike, purchase a helmet and map out a safe route home. My wife will drop me off at work in the mornings with my bicycle and I’ll plan to ride home. Riding to work is not feasible now because I am in such horrible shape it would take me an hour to catch my breath, shower, change, cool down, etc. For now, I’ll stick to riding one way home because there I can collapse in comfort.
Fortunately, my job is only located five miles from home, but those are five miles of traffic-congested roads not particularly safe for the bicycle commuter. I’ve mapped out a route that will make for a longer ride, but offers a safer, residential alternative to crowded city streets. I would rather take a little longer to get home safe and sound. Besides, I could use the exercise.
My initial investment is a bicycle helmet and Cateye bicycle computer (I actually bought the bicycle computer last year, so maybe I can finally get some use out of it). I stay motivated when I see the miles rolling off, and I will make it a personal challenge to increase my mileage on the bike every week. I’m not buying any fancy clothes, just shorts, t-shirts and some comfortable shoes. I know from reading other biking blogs that bicycle shorts and shoes are recommended gear, but since I am not concerned with wind drag or other performance issues, I opt for comfort. Besides, spandex wasn’t designed for us endomorphs!
By eliminating the use of my second vehicle we should save about $50 a month in gas, plus additional wear and tear on my already older vehicle. Add back in some basic maintenance costs for the bike and I should see a realized savings of about $35-40. Assuming I can sustain this routine for nine months out of the year that is an annualized savings of about $300. As an added benefit, I expect to lose a little weight from this routine as well. Over time I may increase the mileage by taking alternate routes home. This should add to the cardio benefits of using my bike to commute from work.
image credit: stop.down
If any of you out there are bicycle commuters, please feel free to share some tips in the comments section.
This is awesome! Congratulations on making this change, and I look forward to some good “riding to work” stories!
Good for you!
My husband commutes by bike. He has about a 12-15 mile commute, but most of it is bike path. When he has to drive, it makes him crabby. I think the daily exercise does wonders.
He doesn’t wear any special “bike” clothes either. Totally not necessary.
His big improvement was getting a good set of panniers so he doesn’t have to carry a pack. Actually, his big improvement was building himself a new bike last year — so I don’t know how much money we’ve really saved, but it’s certainly eco-friendly.
I know he loves this site for bike parts, etc.– http://www.velo-orange.com
I truly WISH I could ride a bike, but my job has me visiting stores daily and putting 100 - 250 miles per day on my car!
Congratulations to you though.
Kudos for this progress!!
I used to bike about 5 miles to school when I was in college and that was through Chicago traffic, ye gods and little fishes! And I didn’t have on orange or helmet, lights Yeek!. We will be biking about two miles to work when we move to SD. I plan to build up to it and bike even in extreme cold. I figure if it comes on gradually, I can experiment with proper clothing and acclimate.
I commute 3 days a week, 10 miles each way….and I love it! Most of it is on a bike path. Good luck on your commute! It feels so good to ride, esp. when I ride by gas stations!
Congrats! My partner and I tuned up our bikes last night for our first ride of the season. I will ride my bike five miles to work at least once a week throughout the summer. It is mostly bike trail riding, so I have it pretty good.
I don’t wear special clothes (I ride an Electra townie, so I would look pretty ridiculous in bike gear…), just my helmet and sunglasses. Good show regarding the bike computer - you’ll love being able to know how many miles you biked this year - plus if you’re like me and like to set challenge goals you can try to beat your best time everyday (with the “safety first” caveat, of course).
Enjoy!
I’m jealous. I live too far to bike to work, but I’ve been considering using my bike to run errands into town. I just need to invest in a helmet.
My best friend commutes on his bicycle when the weather is decent here in Iowa (sometimes, that’s rare). It really works for him - it keeps him in shape and is certainly cheaper than putting miles on his car.
@Frugal Dad Make sure you are determined to ride in all weather conditions throughout the summer. If not your savings will be significantly less. Also, that helmet will save your life some day so take good care of it. If you go down hard spend the $40 for a new one, don’t trust a damaged brain bucket.
@Roger I used to bike all winter long in North Dakota. I found with a good face mask and gloves -35º F was my limit. Also for snow/ice riding don’t go cheap by making your own studded/spiked tires get some Nokian studded tires.
Congrats! My husband went bike shopping last night. He can’t ride to work because he has 40 mile commute, but we both wish he could. We could totally get rid of our second car.
I wish my husband could do this, but he works on the busiest road in town
I am so proud of you for doing this- I bet there will be tons of health benefits and other perks you will find from this type of commuting!
I commuted by bike in Boston, about the same distance you will be (combined 10 miles round trip).The first area I lived in was great for bikers - Somerville/Cambridge has a bike lane most of the way, then a straight shot down the prettiest part of Boston, the Charles river, over the bridge to downtown. Now I tried commuting from Jamaica Plain to downtown. there is no bike lane, the “path” I’m on is not so good, and the cars…they could care less about recognizing bikers and sharing the road.
tips -
1. do not be in a hurry
2. do not rush through stop signs, lights, or whatever
3. always wear a helmet
4. even if it is daylight, have a flashing back light on. anything added to draw attention to you via car drivers is a good thing.
5. have a headlight too, in case you are riding home in the twilight
6. follow all rules of traffic. you may not be a car, but unless you don’t want to get run over by one, you’ll act one
Good luck!
Wow!My husband too!His office is just a
8-minute-ride away.To save money,why not ride his bike?LOL!
I use a combination of public transit and biking.
The buses here have bike racks that hold 2 bikes. If both bike racks are occupied, Plan B is to drive that day. I haven’t worked up the stamina yet to bike the full 12 miles.
Riding the bus takes me an extra hour in the morning due to the bus schedule and the time I have to be at work. Lately, I’ve been using that time to catch up on household chores and time with the baby. I am thankful for the option to commute via bike, at least part of the way.
recommend the panniers. I have some that I use all the time for groceries and other errands.
Also, if you don’t already have them, get some “street slick” tires. Off road tiers provide to much resistance. For $20-30 these are well worth the expense.
Bike pants don’t need to be spandex. I use mountain bike pants that look like normal cargo shorts. The advantage of these is the padding. Get them on sale at pricepoint.com.
These aren’t the bike bags that I use, but I have been dreaming about them ever since I stumbled on them:
http://xtracycle.com/
They are pricey. I figure that in gas costs it would take me 18 months of using them back and forth to the grocery store to pay for them - with these I could do the weekly shopping. I am 99% sure I would use them as since putting on my panniers and a bike light, I ride to the store all the time. Now I hate it when I have to drive.
Here is what I use:
http://www.jandd.com/detail.asp?PRODUCT_ID=FGBP
These work great. Easily carry 2 bags of groceries, or all the gear needed for a trip to the park with the kids.
Way to go FD!
Awesome! I’ve added a mile walk to my bus commute home from the library (when I take the bus, which depends on the day). Unfortunately, the price isn’t any different, so the benefits are entirely personal.
I discovered that the bus route curves around in such a way that I can walk half a mile before catching my bus and still catch it on time and then I can walk an extra half mile getting off the bus early and still make it home at the same time. No commute time loss and a great walk. Or if it’s raining I can just wait inside for the bus and walk the half mile from the bus stop.
Good for you! While my husband doesn’t commute by bike, he did convert an old kid bike trailer to a cargo trailer for me, so the kids and I tool around town rather than driving.
Congratulations! I look forward to reading about your biking adventures and about your improving health!
That is so awesome! I’d love to get my bike tuned up and use it to run grocery errands, etc.. I drive between 10 and 25 miles to work, up and down steep hills, so I just won’t ever switch to full-time biking (plus it rains for 6 months during the fall/winter/spring here in Seattle… ehk). But since it’s finally getting warm, I should start using my bike to go to the grocery store, the thai place up the street, etc.
Thanks for posting this!
[…] myself, I’m not sure I’m qualified to help with the food issue, but because I am trying to slim down, and because I’ve learned the hard way how to unplug from overspending, I thought I would […]
You know i see so many benefits in getting rid of that car and riding your bike to work.
Here a list
1) You healthier for it. Gets you juiced and up and awake in the morning
2)Better for the environment
3)Save yourself valuable time
4)Saves you more money than you realise
5)Set a great example to other people
Well done and great idea!
Young Investor
http://www.investmentrealty.blogspot.com
Congratulations on the new commuting strategy! Another added bonus to biking home is that you don’t have to build in time for an exercise routine after work.
Words to the wise:
If you’re going to ride in the rain you might want to invest in a back fender to avoid tire spray from wet roads and get yourself a good rain jacket. It doesn’t have to be fancy “biking” gear, just something light and well fitted.
You’ve probably already considered this, but make sure you know how to change your tire and bring a spare tube with a patch kit and 2-3 tire wrenches. Walking home because of a flat tire is no fun.
I commute about 7 miles round trip and it’s definitely the highlight of my day (even if there’s a little fist shaking at oblivious car drivers). Happy riding!
I commute by bike to the gym that i work at part time. Eventually I will bike to my regular job but it is not light enough in the mornings yet (I have to be at work before 0630 and the roads are not lit AT ALL.)
[…] Yesterday I Became a Bicycle Commuter. With the weather warming up and the daylight lasting longer I’ve decided to tune up the bike, purchase a helmet and map out a safe route home. Look forward to hearing how it goes! […]
Awesome to hear another commuter is out on the road. As a pretty active cyclist, don’t get your hopes up too much about how much money you’ll save. The cost of additional food you’ll be eating probably will add up…but at least you’ll be healthier!
I’m confused about something. If your SAHM wife drives you to work and drops you off in the morning, then drives home, then what is the real savings? My husband and I carpool to work 15 miles each way. His office is about 1.5 miles from mine. Our a-ha moment was when we would call each other on our cells in traffic to see where the other one was stuck.
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[…] Bicycle Home from Work. I personally don’t consider this move very crazy, but my friends and family seem to think it qualifies. It is probably because I have never been much of a cyclist, and I am what they classify a “heavy rider.” I’ve still got some work to do to maximize this effort such as adding some panniers to my bike, and finding some better road tires. Still, with the rising cost of gas I’m saving nearly $60 a month by not driving our second vehicle four or five days out of the week. […]
[…] we eliminate four days worth of gasoline expense per month. I’ve even taken to the idea of riding my bike home from work a few times a week to offset the costs associated with operating our second vehicle (and to lose […]
I’m confused on how riding a bike one way home from work can actually save on gas money. If you were to drive everyday, it would be one round-trip drive (to and from work). But in this case, your wife is dropping you off, so she’s still making the daily round-trip commute from home to office and back, exactly what you would have done had you driven yourself each way.