The Money Mustache Community
General Discussion => Share Your Badassity => Topic started by: PlainsWalker on October 02, 2017, 12:38:38 PM
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Today is my one year anniversary of bicycle commuting.
My car runs about 25 cents a mile to operate. My commute is a twenty mile round trip. Figuring 250 workdays in the last year means I have saved $1250 in car related expenses over the last year by using the bike. My employer offers an incentive to commute by bicycle that comes to $20 a month, so add $240 to the total benefit. In addition my wife and I have been able to drop down to one car since I can leave the car with her and pedal my way into work. Replacing her car was going to run about $5k along with $750 in insurance and other associated costs. I am calling it a victory to the tune of $7240 or there about.
There have been some bike related expenses for maintenance. I got tired of dealing with flats so when I wore out the set of tires that came stock with the bike I upgraded to some Schwalbe Marathon Tour Plus HS 404 tires. Those were $50 each. They have been nearly bullet proof with one flat in 10k miles (grocery runs and fun rides weren't included in the above commuting mileage) in the six months since I installed them. The stock chain did not appreciate last winter and needed to be replaced in the spring. That was another $20. I also managed to get some separation on the rear rim on a freshly bladed gravel road which was unfortunate. I replaced it with a Velocity Dyad continuing the touring parts trend to the tune of $120 with parts and labor for the LBS to lace it up for me. For a total of $240 in maintenance costs for the bike.
I am ready for some cooler weather. It has been a hot and sticky summer in my part of the great plains. I am looking forward to needing to bundle up in the coming months.
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20 mile round trip is truly badass , huge congrats!
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Congrats and great job! My commute is about the same distance, but I weenie out and don't do more than two days a week in Dec, Jan, and Feb . . . partly because of the cold and wet, and partly because of the amount of time I need to spend cleaning salt off everything.
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Partly because of the amount of time I need to spend cleaning salt off everything.
I am fortunate in that I am far enough south that the city doesn't bother salting the roads often. The major arterial snow routes will get plowed and sanded a handful of times through the winter. If we get a good storm they'll salt the overpasses and highways. With a little proactive route selection I can avoid all that unpleasantness and just have snow and slush to push through.
Thank you all for the kind words.
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Did you bike a lot before starting this? I am looking to get a bike with the long term goal of being able to do a 23 mile commute to my job, but I'm a total noob, so I'm trying to come up with reasonable milestones to reach on my way to being able to cut out some driving. Been reading about a lot of people who do this, so I just wanted to see how you got here - Thanks!
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Did you bike a lot before starting this?
Last summer I got started with a local no drop group ride sponsored by a brewery. I did that a few times and got hooked on biking. So I tried the ride into the office on a weekend to test feasibility. I figured out the route and how long it took and just went for it one Monday morning. I spent about three months building up to doing longer rides before I started commuting regularly last fall. It wasn't a structured program by any means I just caught the bug and started riding.
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Nice job!
My new-to-me road bike set me back a bit yesterday. I picked up a monster nail that went into the back tire head first (the painful way), leaving a big hole in the tire, two int he tube, and another into the rim (blew open a spoke hole by 2x). So I am out a tube and tire, grrr. Still, I have been >90% bike commuting my 15 mile round trip for about a year and a half and loving it. I find I am much more bothered by driving in traffic than I used to be on those rare days I drive. So much less start/stop in the bike lane.
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Congrats!
Your post made me realize I had my own 1 year bike commuting anniversary back in August. It has been great! It definitely seems to give me more energy during the day.