Commuting by bike not cost effective?

In article ,
"Leo Lichtman" wrote:

"max" wrote clip) 4. Who says you need to spend $3 to replace the
metabolic hit of a 90 minute/3 mile ride? (clip)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Good point. If you're comparing two numbers, and they're BOTH wrong,
well....

math is hard.

..max

wrote:
:: This weekend I biked the 12 miles to work to see if it could be done.
:: It took around 1 hour and a half, however, I noticed this is really
:: not going to save me any money. The reason is the cost to replace my
:: 1000 calories burned will be more than the $3 gas it costs me to get
:: to work.
::
:: I can see the benefits if you are over-weight and need to lose
:: weight. But someone if just fooling himself if they think they are
:: saving any money by biking, no?

@ 40kcals/mile that's 480 kcals burned. You can buy a big bag of Cracker
Jacks for $0.99 that has about that many calories. Several other options
exist; buy in bulk at the supermarket or Sam's Club.

So, assuming Cracker Jacks, you're saving $2/day, or $10/week, or $500/year
(w/ 2 weeks vacation) just on not buying gas.

What gives with the shock links suddenly? I

It's in poor taste, and not at all like your usual contributions to
rec.bicycles.*


--
Luigi de Guzman
http://ouij.livejournal.com

"Luigi de Guzman" wrote in message
news
What gives with the shock links suddenly? I

It's in poor taste, and not at all like your usual contributions to
rec.bicycles.*


--
Luigi de Guzman
http://ouij.livejournal.com

Did you think that it might not be him?

On 2007-07-24, Luigi de Guzman wrote:
What gives with the shock links suddenly? I

It's in poor taste, and not at all like your usual contributions to
rec.bicycles.*

Those posts don't appear to be from Jobst. They were posted via a
different ISP, and stanfordalumni is misspelled on some of them.

It's an unfortunate fact of life that usenet posts, like e-mails, are
trivial to forge. That's one reason why the preview feature of tinyurl
is so useful.

I'd imagine the cost of car maintenance also needs to be factored in,
unless you have a really fancy bike. For my commuter bike, the only
maintenace it gets is tires, tubes, and breakpads. (For my "fancy"
bike I used to spend much more maintaining it than maintaning my car).


But at any rate I would never, ever do 1.5 hr bike commutes. Sounds
like a tough habit to develop. What if rains/snows? What if you forget
smth important at home and need to go back? Etc etc. I live within a
20 min bike ride, and that's exactly as much as I can handle daily.

On Tue, 24 Jul 2007 02:27:35 GMT, Leo Lichtman wrote:

"max" wrote clip) 4. Who says you need to spend $3 to replace the
metabolic hit of a 90 minute/3 mile ride? (clip)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Good point. If you're comparing two numbers, and they're BOTH wrong,
well....

This has already been calculated -

http://tinyurl.com/bby7q

Jobst Brandt

On Mon, 23 Jul 2007 21:26:20 -0700, wrote:

I'd imagine the cost of car maintenance also needs to be factored in,
unless you have a really fancy bike. For my commuter bike, the only
maintenace it gets is tires, tubes, and breakpads. (For my "fancy"
bike I used to spend much more maintaining it than maintaning my car).


But at any rate I would never, ever do 1.5 hr bike commutes. Sounds
like a tough habit to develop. What if rains/snows? What if you forget
smth important at home and need to go back? Etc etc. I live within a
20 min bike ride, and that's exactly as much as I can handle daily.

You do what works, I suppose. I'm kicking myself for not commuting
more. My Metro stop is about six miles from home, and I've ridden it a
few times, but not nearly enough. That's going to change soon.

I did know a guy who commuted almost an hour by bicycle each way. His
hour, though, was a lot farther than my hour--he was a retired pro racer.



--
Luigi de Guzman
http://ouij.livejournal.com

In article , says...

And exercise depletes vitamins, so you can't simply buy a pound of
butter and suck that down.

This would be important for anyone on the verge of malnutrition. But
the average American urinates away a surplus of vitamins every day.

--
is Joshua Putnam
http://www.phred.org/~josh/
Updated Infrared Photography Gallery:
http://www.phred.org/~josh/photo/ir.html

In article . com,
writes:
This weekend I biked the 12 miles to work to see if it could be done.
It took around 1 hour and a half, however, I noticed this is really
not going to save me any money. The reason is the cost to replace my
1000 calories burned will be more than the $3 gas it costs me to get
to work.

Okay, I just had to have one last peek.
Bill Sornson wuz right, gol' durn it!

So here's the deal -- you have to eat anyways,
right? Not just to power the bike, but to
power yourself and just get through the day.
You can't feed yourself while you feed your car
(unless you can metabolize gasoline.) But you
can feed yourself while you feed your bike.

Two double cheeseburgers from Rotten Ronnie's
costs $2.95. There ya go for a bunch of cheap
calories. Duffin's Donuts down the street from
me sells a dozen day-olds for $3.oo. I like the
French crullers.

There've been times of hard physical work on Empty
all day, when a bottle of Coke after work got me
12 or more miles home okay.

Actually I regularly do 12 miles on one of quick-cooking
oatmeal topped with a few scoops of plain yogurt and
a small can of crushed pineapple. And it's more like a
40-50 minute ride. That includes walking it over the
Knight Street bridge to gingerly avoid all the broken
glass and subsequent flat tires, not to mention falling
over the railing of the bridge into the murky depths of
the mighty Fraser River.

Lasagna is one of the most perfect cycling foods
for pre-ride load-ups. So is lamb vindaloo (on a
bed of basmati rice,) if you've got a good source.
A turkey clubhouse & a big pickle on the side does
the trick, too. So does a pastrami on soft light
rye dunked in hot brine and painted on top with hot
mustard (but it helps to have some Certs afterwards.)

I can see the benefits if you are over-weight and need to lose
weight. But someone if just fooling himself if they think they are
saving any money by biking, no?

ha ha, I laugh.

Calories are cheap, and in continental North America one
would have to be in an extremely dire situation to
starve to death. Like, if they're overly concerned with
feeding their cars.

Your $3.oo of gasoline keeps your car happy for a short
trip, but where does it get you? The Dairy Queen on
the way to work?

Too bad cars don't run on donairs. OTOH maybe they
don't deserve such pleasant satisfaction.

You're gonna get yourself one of those elecric motorized
bikes, aren't you? I increasingly see those folks around,
and I've got a gut feeling that's where your post is leading.

As for overweight -- to really make good use of a bike
you want to be healthily lightweight.

So here's the deal: within urban confines, you can't beat
bicycles for getting around. Sure, you've gotta eat. But
you've gotta eat anyways. Even die-hard car drivers have
to eat. The food vs petrofuel argument is a flat-footed
canard.


--
Nothing is safe from me.
I'm really at:
tkeats curlicue vcn dot bc dot ca