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General Discussion => Throw Down the Gauntlet => Topic started by: boy_bye on May 01, 2013, 09:40:04 AM

Title: Mustachian May biking challenge
Post by: boy_bye on May 01, 2013, 09:40:04 AM
Hey everyone,

To give Yolfer a break, I went ahead and made a spreadsheet for tracking our bike miles in May. If you participated in April, then you are on May's spreadsheet.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AirCRkSRGBoOdE95M3dTa2thRHJnS3ZSUjJYTHlSWXc&usp=sharing

I think it's working right, but if you see anything wonky, just let me know!
Title: Re: Mustachian May biking challenge
Post by: martynthewolf on May 01, 2013, 09:46:26 AM
Hi madgey, its a view only document for me. Do you need to change some settings to make it editable by all?
Title: Re: Mustachian May biking challenge
Post by: boy_bye on May 01, 2013, 09:48:08 AM
whoops, thanks for the heads up, wanna give it a try now?
Title: Re: Mustachian May biking challenge
Post by: martynthewolf on May 01, 2013, 09:53:09 AM
Working perfectly. Cheers :)
Title: Re: Mustachian May biking challenge
Post by: boy_bye on May 01, 2013, 10:02:38 AM
sweet!
Title: Re: Mustachian May biking challenge
Post by: etselec on May 01, 2013, 10:08:14 AM
Yes! My May goal is to get so much into the habit of biking that I don't need to buy a transit pass in June.

I feel a little bit disingenuous though, seeing my miles shown as reducing CO2 emissions. The subways, trolleys & busses run whether or not I ride on them...
Title: Re: Mustachian May biking challenge
Post by: StashinIt on May 01, 2013, 10:12:37 AM
I was kind of looking forward to Yolfers April wrap up after such a massive month. Yolfer, you still need to do it! :-)
Title: Re: Mustachian May biking challenge
Post by: boy_bye on May 01, 2013, 10:13:36 AM
Yes! My May goal is to get so much into the habit of biking that I don't need to buy a transit pass in June.

I feel a little bit disingenuous though, seeing my miles shown as reducing CO2 emissions. The subways, trolleys & busses run whether or not I ride on them...

yes, i wonder about that, too ... i see a lot of almost empty buses rattling around my city, spewing giant clouds of black smoke into the air.
Title: Re: Mustachian May biking challenge
Post by: olivia on May 01, 2013, 11:22:10 AM
Awesome, added myself!  I started biking to work 3 weeks ago and plan to keep it up.  Occasionally I'll probably still take public transit if I have to go elsewhere after work or if it's pouring rain (don't wanna do it even if I do get a rain suit!), but I never drive.
Title: Re: Mustachian May biking challenge
Post by: boy_bye on May 01, 2013, 11:29:01 AM
I was kind of looking forward to Yolfers April wrap up after such a massive month. Yolfer, you still need to do it! :-)

yess!
Title: Re: Mustachian May biking challenge
Post by: Ottawa on May 01, 2013, 11:54:21 AM
Often the business insider's "X reasons you should..." are lame.  However, I like this one on "13 Reasons You Should Start Biking To Work".  Well done!

Unfortunately for us Canadians...no $20 subsidy from government for cycling to work...Hey Harper...you hear that?


http://www.businessinsider.com/13-reasons-you-should-bike-to-work-2013-4# (http://www.businessinsider.com/13-reasons-you-should-bike-to-work-2013-4#)
Title: Re: Mustachian May biking challenge
Post by: yolfer on May 01, 2013, 02:19:45 PM
I was kind of looking forward to Yolfers April wrap up after such a massive month. Yolfer, you still need to do it! :-)

First off, thank you madgeylou for doing the spreadsheet this month!

Here's the lowdown for April (it's a sunny day here in Seattle so brace yourselves for extra exclamation points!):

This month was EPIC!!!!

A total of 48 riders participated in the month of April, blowing our previous total out of the water!

We biked 8,035mi (12,931km) in the month. That's like biking from Seattle, across the USA to Philadelphia, down to Jacksonville, FL, back over to Los Angeles, and back up to Seattle! It's also 167mi (269km) per person, the highest per-person participation since our first month tracking.

Our total cumulative mileage is.... 32,500 miles!!!  (52,303 km) (!!!) That's 1/10th the distance from earth to the moon! We've biked so far, earthbound distances no longer apply!

Since we started tracking, we've saved a total of 16 TONS (14.5 metric TONNNNNES) of co2 from being polluted. That's the same weight as the largest elephant on record. Imagine FACE-PUNCHING an elephant made of pollution so hard, it flies out of our atmosphere! That's what we've accomplished together in just a few months!

I'm really pumped for May, since it's Bike To Work month, and the weather is niiiiice in Seattle.

PS: I made a spreadsheet to track this stuff, you can view it here:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Am8qaK8Qf80edGV1dkJvV055b0pKNkZTY3BUZk9pNXc&usp=sharing
Title: Re: Mustachian May biking challenge
Post by: yolfer on May 01, 2013, 02:24:35 PM
PS: Instead of a monthly question, I added a column for "geographical area" so we can do the City VS City bike battle. I left it free-form so you can put whatever you want (city, region, continent). You could even enter in a place you don't actually live, thereby "donating" your miles to another locale. That's the beauty of the internet...nobody knows where you live for real. Or do they....?
Title: Re: Mustachian May biking challenge
Post by: boy_bye on May 01, 2013, 02:37:44 PM
awesome recap, yolfer! liberal yet excellent usage of exclamation points, too!!! :)
Title: Re: Mustachian May biking challenge
Post by: StashinIt on May 01, 2013, 04:14:19 PM
I was kind of looking forward to Yolfers April wrap up after such a massive month. Yolfer, you still need to do it! :-)

First off, thank you madgeylou for doing the spreadsheet this month!

Here's the lowdown for April (it's a sunny day here in Seattle so brace yourselves for extra exclamation points!):

This month was EPIC!!!!

A total of 48 riders participated in the month of April, blowing our previous total out of the water!

We biked 8,035mi (12,931km) in the month. That's like biking from Seattle, across the USA to Philadelphia, down to Jacksonville, FL, back over to Los Angeles, and back up to Seattle! It's also 167mi (269km) per person, the highest per-person participation since our first month tracking.

Our total cumulative mileage is.... 32,500 miles!!!  (52,303 km) (!!!) That's 1/10th the distance from earth to the moon! We've biked so far, earthbound distances no longer apply!

Since we started tracking, we've saved a total of 16 TONS (14.5 metric TONNNNNES) of co2 from being polluted. That's the same weight as the largest elephant on record. Imagine FACE-PUNCHING an elephant made of pollution so hard, it flies out of our atmosphere! That's what we've accomplished together in just a few months!

I'm really pumped for May, since it's Bike To Work month, and the weather is niiiiice in Seattle.

PS: I made a spreadsheet to track this stuff, you can view it here:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Am8qaK8Qf80edGV1dkJvV055b0pKNkZTY3BUZk9pNXc&usp=sharing

Thanks Yolfer, that made my day. :-)
Title: Re: Mustachian May biking challenge
Post by: swiper on May 01, 2013, 06:36:21 PM
sweet!  now that snow is melted I'm back into my 26 mile (daily) work commute
Title: Re: Mustachian May biking challenge
Post by: Nancy on May 02, 2013, 07:28:41 AM
I'm in for biking this month, but I'm not a fan of competition between Internet friends. I guess it's motivational for some, so good luck and have fun!
Title: Re: Mustachian May biking challenge
Post by: smalllife on May 02, 2013, 07:37:35 AM
I'm back in for this month - my goal is every day without rain!

 . . . I can't remember how I added myself to the master summary before, help?
Title: Re: Mustachian May biking challenge
Post by: boy_bye on May 02, 2013, 09:26:47 AM
I'm back in for this month - my goal is every day without rain!

 . . . I can't remember how I added myself to the master summary before, help?

awesomeness, smalllife! i added you to the master summary!
Title: Re: Mustachian May biking challenge
Post by: Mrs WW on May 02, 2013, 02:03:13 PM
Thanks Madgeylou for setting us up for another month of great biking! Could you please change the miles-tab in my sheet to kilometres instead?

Cheerio  -  the mrs
Title: Re: Mustachian May biking challenge
Post by: boy_bye on May 02, 2013, 03:06:31 PM
Thanks Madgeylou for setting us up for another month of great biking! Could you please change the miles-tab in my sheet to kilometres instead?

Cheerio  -  the mrs

hmm ... i'm not sure how to do that and make it feed into everyone else's totals properly.

anyone with advanced spreadsheet-fu want to lend a hand? :)
Title: Re: Mustachian May biking challenge
Post by: yolfer on May 02, 2013, 04:02:04 PM
Thanks Madgeylou for setting us up for another month of great biking! Could you please change the miles-tab in my sheet to kilometres instead?

Cheerio  -  the mrs

hmm ... i'm not sure how to do that and make it feed into everyone else's totals properly.

anyone with advanced spreadsheet-fu want to lend a hand? :)

It should be done but you (Mrs WW) haven't logged any trips yet, so once you do log one, double-check the Master Summary to make sure.
Title: Re: Mustachian May biking challenge
Post by: jpo on May 02, 2013, 04:18:04 PM
Since we started tracking, we've saved a total of 16 TONS (14.5 metric TONNNNNES) of co2 from being polluted. That's the same weight as the largest elephant on record. Imagine FACE-PUNCHING an elephant made of pollution so hard, it flies out of our atmosphere! That's what we've accomplished together in just a few months!
So, not sure if this applies to other riders or not, but when I bike, I bike a more direct route than when I drive to work. One way, it's 13.5 miles driving, but only 8.5 miles biking. So, in fact, we may have saved even more than anticipated! I wonder if we could incorporate a "driving miles avoided" column, or if that would over-complicate things. I have my own bike log spreadsheet and I track this as well as my actual biking miles. Over time they have become quite different... in fact, I have traveled only 70% of the miles I would have driven by using my bike!
Title: Re: Mustachian May biking challenge
Post by: StashinIt on May 02, 2013, 07:20:04 PM
Since we started tracking, we've saved a total of 16 TONS (14.5 metric TONNNNNES) of co2 from being polluted. That's the same weight as the largest elephant on record. Imagine FACE-PUNCHING an elephant made of pollution so hard, it flies out of our atmosphere! That's what we've accomplished together in just a few months!
So, not sure if this applies to other riders or not, but when I bike, I bike a more direct route than when I drive to work. One way, it's 13.5 miles driving, but only 8.5 miles biking. So, in fact, we may have saved even more than anticipated! I wonder if we could incorporate a "driving miles avoided" column, or if that would over-complicate things. I have my own bike log spreadsheet and I track this as well as my actual biking miles. Over time they have become quite different... in fact, I have traveled only 70% of the miles I would have driven by using my bike!

I started tracking driving miles avoided. I think they should have more of an impact on your "Total Badassity" but then we would need to come up with a formula for badassity.. can badassity be defined?
Title: Re: Mustachian May biking challenge
Post by: Mrs WW on May 03, 2013, 02:39:50 PM
Thanks Madgeylou for setting us up for another month of great biking! Could you please change the miles-tab in my sheet to kilometres instead?

Cheerio  -  the mrs

hmm ... i'm not sure how to do that and make it feed into everyone else's totals properly.

anyone with advanced spreadsheet-fu want to lend a hand? :)

It should be done but you (Mrs WW) haven't logged any trips yet, so once you do log one, double-check the Master Summary to make sure.

Thank you! I will never be able to navigate around the mile, so thank you!
Title: Re: Mustachian May biking challenge
Post by: Lord Cashmoney on May 03, 2013, 11:06:23 PM
Could someone please add me to the challenge spreadsheet? I am SO in this thing! :)
Title: Re: Mustachian May biking challenge
Post by: yolfer on May 04, 2013, 10:34:27 PM
Could someone please add me to the challenge spreadsheet? I am SO in this thing! :)

Done! Welcome! I put you on team Seattle, but feel free to change that to whatever.
Title: Re: Mustachian May biking challenge
Post by: Lord Cashmoney on May 06, 2013, 12:57:53 AM
Thanks, yolfer!
Title: Re: Mustachian May biking challenge
Post by: BWholehearted on May 07, 2013, 02:31:59 PM
Well, now that I have pictured the joy of punching an elephant made of pollution in the face, I can't help but join. I feel warm fuzzies inside already, excitement for my first official Mustachian challenge (new reader in the last month or two, but fan of frugal/earthy things for a long time).  I'm embarrassed to say that I have a commute of 43 miles, one way, 4-5 days a week.  The good thing is, its 15 miles shorter than it would have been from where we were living 2 months ago, and until recently my commute was a walk across the street.  I just started going back to school and live in a rural area, so the now house splits the difference from where my hubby and I have to get to. 

Days that I "bike" are really days were I drive the first 20 miles to where the bus line starts, bus the next 22 miles, and then bike the last mile to campus.  I could hop off the bus sooner to bike further but then I'd have to catch the bus an hour sooner to make it to class on time.  So if i bike more, it's because I hop off early in the afternoon when I have more time anyway.  I started taking the bus a few weeks ago, and figured out that at current gas prices, I'm saving $8 a day by not driving (the bus pass if free for students).  So if I take the bus/bike instead of driving every day then I would save $160 a month!!

Stoked! (even though I won't be adding tons of bike miles, at least I'm reducing car miles).

Could someone add me to the front page please?
Title: Re: Mustachian May biking challenge
Post by: grantmeaname on May 08, 2013, 01:47:32 PM
I'm in for tomorrow morning's ride to work! It's about 5 miles each way and pretty much flat, and I ride much further on the weekends for fun, so I should have no trouble! Plus, BC's right -- when else can you say you facepunched an elephant and lived?
Title: Re: Mustachian May biking challenge
Post by: yolfer on May 08, 2013, 01:50:53 PM
Well, now that I have pictured the joy of punching an elephant made of pollution in the face, I can't help but join. I feel warm fuzzies inside already, excitement for my first official Mustachian challenge (new reader in the last month or two, but fan of frugal/earthy things for a long time).  I'm embarrassed to say that I have a commute of 43 miles, one way, 4-5 days a week.  The good thing is, its 15 miles shorter than it would have been from where we were living 2 months ago, and until recently my commute was a walk across the street.  I just started going back to school and live in a rural area, so the now house splits the difference from where my hubby and I have to get to. 

Days that I "bike" are really days were I drive the first 20 miles to where the bus line starts, bus the next 22 miles, and then bike the last mile to campus.  I could hop off the bus sooner to bike further but then I'd have to catch the bus an hour sooner to make it to class on time.  So if i bike more, it's because I hop off early in the afternoon when I have more time anyway.  I started taking the bus a few weeks ago, and figured out that at current gas prices, I'm saving $8 a day by not driving (the bus pass if free for students).  So if I take the bus/bike instead of driving every day then I would save $160 a month!!

Stoked! (even though I won't be adding tons of bike miles, at least I'm reducing car miles).

Could someone add me to the front page please?

Done! Welcome! Glad you're here to help us punch pollution elephants!  You're totally doing the right thing by starting small on your bike commute and going multi-modal. Who knows, maybe you'll get faster on your bike and can get off the bus earlier without needing to wake up much earlier?
Title: Re: Mustachian May biking challenge
Post by: kendallf on May 13, 2013, 07:26:13 AM
My daughter loves elephants, and wants to be a veterinarian specializing in them.  Please, spare the elephants.  :-)

I haven't been online much the past few days, and I think I'm going to stop logging my mileage here as I keep a separate training log elsewhere (and have for years, actually).  I'm still riding, and I'll be reading forum posts when I can.  I may try to update the log near the end of the month. 

Happy riding everyone!
Title: Re: Mustachian May biking challenge
Post by: yolfer on May 13, 2013, 02:08:35 PM
My daughter loves elephants, and wants to be a veterinarian specializing in them.  Please, spare the elephants.  :-)

I haven't been online much the past few days, and I think I'm going to stop logging my mileage here as I keep a separate training log elsewhere (and have for years, actually).  I'm still riding, and I'll be reading forum posts when I can.  I may try to update the log near the end of the month. 

Happy riding everyone!

No actual elephants were harmed in the filming of this bike challenge. Only fake elephants made of pollution!
Title: Re: Mustachian May biking challenge
Post by: Joet on May 13, 2013, 04:00:24 PM
isnt strava a ginormously easier way of doing this? or do people consider that a privacy violation :)
Title: Re: Mustachian May biking challenge
Post by: grantmeaname on May 13, 2013, 04:24:54 PM
What's any easier about it?
Title: Re: Mustachian May biking challenge
Post by: BWholehearted on May 14, 2013, 08:25:35 AM
"Done! Welcome! Glad you're here to help us punch pollution elephants!  You're totally doing the right thing by starting small on your bike commute and going multi-modal. Who knows, maybe you'll get faster on your bike and can get off the bus earlier without needing to wake up much earlier?"

Thanks Yolfer, glad I can help with the pollution punching! The ride at the end is so short as is the time before class so I'd have to get pretty Ironman to even get off a stop or two early, plus I sweat super easily, but in the afternoon there is much more flexibility, I will ride to the other end of town and then catch the bus sometimes. I have to be strategic about that too because if the bike rack is full on the bus, I have to wait an hour for the next one. But it's great, in fact I'm writing this as I ride the bus.
:)

Title: Re: Mustachian May biking challenge
Post by: Joet on May 14, 2013, 11:45:47 PM
What's any easier about it?

what isnt easier about it? create group, join group, watch the auto-generated stats
Title: Re: Mustachian May biking challenge
Post by: grantmeaname on May 15, 2013, 06:26:47 AM
You'd have to create a new group when we already have two, and it would still require manual entry for everyone without a smartphone in addition to making everyone get yet another account.
Title: Re: Mustachian May biking challenge
Post by: Joet on May 15, 2013, 11:51:54 AM
ah yes, smartphones are pretty rare!
Title: Re: Mustachian May biking challenge
Post by: grantmeaname on May 15, 2013, 11:54:39 AM
Maybe not in the MMM community as a whole, but at least somewhat rare in the subset of the community that bikes, I'd wager.
Title: Re: Mustachian May biking challenge
Post by: Dwayne on May 16, 2013, 07:09:11 AM
Not sure who reordered the master list by mileage, but the geographical area question wasn't included in the sort, so they're all mixed up now.
Title: Re: Mustachian May biking challenge
Post by: YAR on May 16, 2013, 10:07:53 AM
Not sure who reordered the master list by mileage, but the geographical area question wasn't included in the sort, so they're all mixed up now.

Fixed mine, but not sure what to put for you since you had my region, lol.
Title: Re: Mustachian May biking challenge
Post by: El Gringo on May 16, 2013, 01:35:21 PM
Not sure who reordered the master list by mileage, but the geographical area question wasn't included in the sort, so they're all mixed up now.

In addition to my geographical area getting mixed up, the cell formula that linked to my tab got deleted too...not a big deal, though as I can easily plug that back in.
Title: Re: Mustachian May biking challenge
Post by: Donovan on May 16, 2013, 06:24:48 PM
I've always biked around for things but this is my first month actually tracking my mileage thanks to a new job and longer bike commute :)  I'm glad to join in on the charting fun.
Title: Re: Mustachian May biking challenge
Post by: Lord Cashmoney on June 01, 2013, 01:32:39 AM
Well, ladies and gentlemen, May has officially come to a close. Let's tally those numbers, shall we? While far from the mileage leaders, I clocked up 167.2 miles! A personal best for me, I do believe. Time to celebrate! I look forward to June's challenge. :) Let's see those numbers grow!
Title: Re: Mustachian May biking challenge
Post by: Skinnyneo on June 03, 2013, 06:12:52 AM
With May over is there a June challenge up yet?  (I don't know how to make spread sheets otherwise I'd start it).
Title: Re: Mustachian May biking challenge
Post by: yolfer on June 03, 2013, 04:34:57 PM
Hey Y'all, I'm gonna be pretty busy for the next couple days so can someone else do the June spreadsheet?

I'll tally the geographical battle (since I started it), so everyone make sure your city/country is listed properly. I know there was a mixup mid-month and some folks' entries got changed.
Title: Re: Mustachian May biking challenge
Post by: martynthewolf on June 04, 2013, 01:22:07 AM
Here is this months thread with the spreadsheet linked

https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/throw-down-the-gauntlet/june-mustacian-biking-challenge/

Let me know if anything is wrong and ill try sort it.