John S. wrote:
An interesting but very incomplete analysis of the true costs of
commuting by bike.

Take the average commuter that lives 20 miles from work. To make an
8-4 work schedule that commuter will have to get up at 4:00 to begin
riding at 5:00 to arrive at work by 8:00. The commuter then does the
same in reverse and arrives home at 7:00 The times assume he is able
to find a lot of flat and downhill both ways with few traffic and
stoplights.

Incremental cost: New bike every year plus repairs $2,000; Medical
expenses from road injuries $2,000

When it snows, or rains the commuter is either off work and not paid
because he cant make it in, or he is forced to get a hotel room close
to work because he can't ride home in inclement weather.

Incremental cost: Lost wages $5,000; Hotel rooms $1,000

Tiring of those exceedingly long riding days and days missed with no
pay the commuter decides to shorten his commute by moving closer.
After some research he determines that to reduce his commuting distance
by half he will have to pay twice as much for the same house because he
is much closer to the big city now.

Incremental Cost: $200,000

The commuter works in sales and he is asked to make a presentation to
two potential clients, one located 90 miles south on the coast and the
other 45 miles west in the mountains. The commuter presents his boss
with the proposed 6 day ride to cover both potential customers and is
promptly fired.

Incremental cost: Annual salary $100,000

Before the commuter has a chance to shorten his ride, his wife sues for
divorce because he is gone so long from home that she became lonely and
had an affair with the cable tv repairman.

MY wife would probably like it if I was gone more ....


Incremental cost: Alimony and child support for the next 20 years.
Yeah, but if she's sleeping around with the cable guy, the the divorce
probably goes in the "plus" column, not the minus.



And interesting and incomplete analysis. You forgot something. How do
you (or your teenager) make out on the back seat of a bike.




donquijote1954 wrote:
"Too bad our economy rolls on four wheels. Many of us are enslaved to
our automobiles. There is help, you can Divorce Your Car, if you are so
bold. Heck, you could save $30,000 over the next five years ($6000 per
year)."

Yep, just like you deserve to be free from a bad marriage (tell me
about it), you deserve to be free from the enslavement of the
automibile. Well, then you can get into a hot romance with a red (or
whatever color you like) bike or recumbent. They are simply cool as
well as more troublefree and cheaper. And they'll give you a nice
attention-getter physique wich is bound to end in a torrid affair
(unlike an SUV with tinted windows meant to hide a short fat man).

Anyway, whatever your reasons, don't tell you wife...


Cars: True Cost of Ownership

Gasoline is $3.11 per gallon in Port Townsend this week (unleaded
plus). Some feel this is expensive, but gas prices in the USA are cheap
compared to the rest of the world where upwards of $6 per gallon is
more the norm. If your car gets 20 mpg, you currently have to pay
$2300+ for a years (15K miles) worth of gas (per car) - such a deal.

http://ptslacker.blogspot.com/2006/0...ownership.html

WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE
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COMING OUT OF THE JUNGLE
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BIKE FOR PEACE
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