Thursday, June 19th, 2008
2999 Miles I am one mile away from hitting 3000 miles on my bike since it bought it in June of 2006. My odometer actually says 3083 already, but I haven't logged all my rides on my bike stats site.

On that site, there's a "USA Map" that shows how far I've ridden on a fictitious route across the country. What I found out yesterday is that the code that updates that map is busted. I'm having issues with my server, and the host so far has not replied to my email. So pretend that my line goes all the way across the country and into the ocean a little bit.

I've absolutely loved riding my bike to work over the past couple of years. The reason I started was because I get easily frustrated in slow traffic. I would get home every day and complain about some idiot on the road. At some point I realized that if I rode a bike, the road rage would probably go away.

So I headed to BikeTek in Springfield, IL, and they recommended a Marin Larkspur. I think it was on sale for about $320. I have since replaced stock parts with about $400 worth of upgrades/fixes, and by now there isn't too much original left on the bike other than the front wheel, handlebars and frame.

This morning the ride to work was spectacular. Usually there's a headwind or crosswind on both my morning and afternoon rides, but this morning it was calm. I ended up with my 4th best average speed (18.6) for any ride over 5 miles. All of my faster averages came with strong tailwinds, so today was something of an anomaly.

Saving Money
While you'd think I save a ton of money riding instead of driving, that really hasn't been the case. Three-thousand miles equates to roughly 150 gallons of gas (assuming 20 MPG, which is better than our minivan). That's about 9 fill-ups at the tank, at a total price of about $500 at $3.30 a gallon (it's more now, but was less when I started).

In the grand scheme of things, I probably haven't saved any money. If you figure in the cost of my bike, all the tune-ups, accessories, bike clothes, etc - I have probably spent at least $1,000. That's twice as much as the gas I've saved, although I imagine that to be fair, I should figure in some extra cost for maintenance of the vehicle that I would have been driving.

I think it's about a wash in terms of money saved. Which is too bad, because I think more people would ride if it saved a lot of money. Yes, you can get a cheap bike. But I think it would break down more and end up being less enjoyable because of that.

Silver Lining
So I'm not saving money by riding to work. But what's more important to me is the other benefits that come from commuting by bike. I get a daily workout now twice a day during a time that I would have otherwise spent sitting behind a wheel. I get to enjoy the outdoors in a way that you simply cannot while driving. I've gotten to know the streets of Springfield way better than I would have just by driving around.

I think more than anything else, I enjoy the freedom that comes with moving at your own pace without having to wait in line.