Divorce Your Car --and get into a relationship with a Bike!

dgk wrote:
On 17 Jul 2006 10:29:03 -0700, "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

My $300 Trek 7100 is going on its fourth year, around 14,000 miles.
I've paid about $300 over the years on various tuneups but flats and
chains I handle myself. Not medical expenses.

On days when weather is just too awful to commute by bike, I take a
bus and train.

My commute is 15 miles each way. It takes me, and I'm slow, 80 minutes
each way.

I do not, at the conclusion of my ride home, need to go to
the gym. In fact, my cholesterol and ldl, which used to be very bad,
are now excellent. The good HDL, previously low, is now excellent. My
doctor freaked on my first exam after starting biking. Cost of heart
attack, well, I'll hopefully never know.

Yeah, I bet you'll feel strange when, year from now, you are laying in
the hospital dying from nothing. :-)



I don't need to make presentations at clients, but if I do, my company
will arrange transportation.

Bill Sornson wrote:
george conklin wrote:
"donquijote1954" wrote in message
oups.com...
"Too bad our economy rolls on four wheels. Many of us are enslaved to
our automobiles.

Many of us are enslaved to our wives too, but that does not mean we
want a divorce. Both are necessary for a normal life.

Wow. So much wrong in so few words. Brava!

Well, at least he doesn't accept the leash!

Pat wrote:
Glad to see a post in this group. It's been dead lately. But please
don't try to impose your view on others and tell us what we need when
you have no idea. You and I live in a different world.

I see. Why don't YOU come up with a bicycle store?


One last example for you to think about. What if you went hunting and
got a deer. How would you bring it back to your house on a bike? 10
miles on dirt roads pulling a deer on your recumbant? It's be fun to
see.

How about asking the indians around how they managed in the
good-ol'-fashoned way? It would be fun too.


Oh, did I mention snow storms. I can't imaging a bike on 6" of
unplowed snow on a packed snow base when it's -20F and windy. Those
car heaters sure come in handy then.

OK, just use it in the mild seasons. When there's a will, there's a
bicycle, you know.

In article .com, Pat wrote:

But does traffic actually move faster than a bicycle? In chicago it
doesn't when 6 inches is on the ground.

I colleage from Westchester was in Syracuse and dreaded leaving an
office at 5:00 to head towards home. He didn't want to sit in traffic.
I told him not to worry about Syracuse's Rush Quarter-Hour.

Seldom to these places have traffic tie-up that would have a bike going
faster than a car. A big part of that is because "no one" lives in
those cities anymore. Everyone uses the expressway and commutes. So
the only tie up is on the way to the on-ramp.

Am rutinely in traffic that is slower than I ride, driving or bicycling.
This morning a traffic light defaulted to a stop sign. Huge backup as
drivers don't know wtf to do... I could have biked to work faster using
the back roads with nothing but stop signs. Trouble was I was I was past
the point of no return before I saw the backup thanks to the way the
roads are designed.

John S. wrote:
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.

Isn't that what you wanted? Then you are free to go out with that sexy
lady you met in the bicycle. And she will save you from a couch potato
life in which you were bound to have a heart attack in 3 years. As for
the alimony, whatever you saved in insurance, you know, consider it a
loss.

george conklin wrote:
"Pat" wrote in message
oups.com...


One last example for you to think about. What if you went hunting and
got a deer. How would you bring it back to your house on a bike?

He would cut it up into 132 pieces, eat 10, and bring the rest home 3 at
a time.

Either that or simply don't kill the deer. Just set up a trap and then
have him walk with you properly attached with a rope to the back of
your bicycle.

george conklin wrote:

Incremental cost: Alimony and child support for the next 20 years.

Nah, just make your wife ride with you for her health!!!!

OK, that's good --if he doesn't want to get rid of her!

greggery peccary wrote:
And they'll give you a nice
attention-getter physique

really? where's mine! ive been riding many years and im still as ugly as
ever!

Don't blame the bike, blame genetics!

But think how much worse it would be if it weren't for the bike.

Jack May wrote:
"Pat" wrote in message
ups.com...

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


That is evolution in action. Weeding out the failures in society like
donquijote1954

Don't say that. Just call me the "Black Sheep." You know why they were
expelled???

HOW THE BLACK SHEEP WERE EXPELLED

One day the Lion, who had been thinking how to best eat the sheep,
decided to dress as one of them... This way the common sheep trusted
the new sheep more and more every day, some confessing to him, others
voting for him, and most allowing to be fleeced by him...

Meanwhile, the Black Sheep--who was able to see through
camouflage--thought this way: "If he got big paws and teeth, and takes
the lion's share, lion he is..."

And that's the reason why from then on the Black Sheep weren't allowed
to mingle anymore with the simple and common sheep...

wrote:
1500 miles per gallon @ $3 per gallon of gasoline vs 20 mile charge
cost 5 cents.
Electric bikes typically travel at speeds of 10 to 20+ miles per hour
and go up to 12-20 miles charge. Charging your electric bike for four
to six hours uses 5 cents worth of electricity from common 110 wall
outlets. The electric bike power can give you a break from pedaling or
supply more power when you're going up hill.
http://www.bicycles-electric-bikes.com/bike_to_work.htm

Oh, I like that. Another advantage of a noiseless electric motor is you
can sneak up on your wife who you know is having an affair with the
cable man.