apple juice

I love riding my bike in the rain. Something about cruising down the street, water hitting your face, feet getting wet, nose cold and damp, it really makes you feel alive. While in Sweden, I learned that those crazy people just don’t care and ride in any sort of conditions. So, in an attempt to channel my inner Swede, tonight I rode about 7 miles to pick up some dinner in the wet. The decision to go riding in the rain came after a trip today to REI, from which I escaped with only minimal damage, including some new fenders for my bike.

But why did I suddenly decide to upgrade the wet weather capabilities of my bike? During spring break, I purchased a new bicycle. This was a big event for me, as this is my first new bike in about 10 years. (If you don’t count Pinkie or Mrs. Creakers) The main objective for this new bicycle is to get me to work. This has been a plan all along, but it took 3/4ths of the school year for me to get going on this.

Anyway, during the ride, I was thinking about the cost of transportation. I think that generally it’s assumed that travelling around this country in an automobile costs about .40 cents a mile. But with the recent increases in fuel cost, maybe that has risen. For the purposes of my arguments (in my head), I assumed .40 cents.

The inner truth that I came upon was that for anything that is within a 5 mile radius (10 mile round trip) of my house, if I bike there instead of driving, I can save a nice chunk of change. Four dollars to be exact.

Okay, I know that isn’t much, but repeat that over a year. How often would I drive to the hardware store, grocery store, bookstore, video game store, music store, coffee shops, various restaurants, etc in a year. All places that I can generally pack whatever I buy in a backpack, and all places that are within about 5 miles of my house.

Lots of times.

Of the 350 Miles I have on my bike now, approximately 250 have been either commuting or running errands.

250 Miles * .40 cents / mile = $100

Which I just spent at REI on gear for biking. 🙂

How high gas prices make politicians stupid. By Jacob Weisberg

Sustained high prices will bring about behavioral and political changes: energy conservation, public transportation, less exurban sprawl, and eventually the economic viability of alternative fuel sources such as biomass, fuel cells, wind, and solar power, which may one day undermine the power of the oil oligarchs. Are politicians too stupid to understand this, or just smart enough not to say it aloud?