First off, a map of everywhere I've cycled. Not surprisingly, there is a lot of overlap, particularly on the Iron Horse Trail between home and work.
(Click to Enlarge)
Start Date: December 15, 2007
Total Distance: 1,008 km
Total Time: 66:28:24
Average Speed: 15.2 km/h
Max Speed: 52.6km/h
(Northbound on Victoria St. This exceeds the speed limit. Yay!)
1,000km is roughly two tanks of gas, at say $60/tank, or $120. Which means riding my bike for an hour saves me on average $1.80 in gas. No wonder it's hard to get the general population to ride to work...the incremental money savings are negligible.
Alternatively, if you assume that my riding a bike saves us from having a second car, and you figure even a modest $500/month in total cost of ownership for a second vehicle (insurance, payments, gas, parking, maintenance, etc.), then I saved 9 x $500 = $4,500, or $68/hour when I ride my bike. Of course, this assumes my bike is free.
1 comment:
Hard-core mountain bikers cited typical annual maintain costs of about $500 (multiple replacements of tires, chains, brakepads, etc.), which seems like an upperend estimate for someone doing urban commuting. (http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=435339)
Assuming another $500 a year to represent purchase price, it still works out to savings of $52/hr. Sounds pretty decent to me.
And if I were regularly cycling 2hrs a week and chasing chickens on the weekend, I'd probably also dump my gym membership. Does that also figure in, in your case?
Congrats on your megameter (and in the same week as 'Car Free Day')!
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