In a couple short days, I will have successfully navigated another lap around the Sun. This week has been crammed full of dinners out and various celebrations. But as is customary, the people I love have been asking what I would like for my birthday.
As a “grown adult,” I have the means to buy the things I need when I need them, so the easy stuff has already been purchased long before my birthday. Plus, with my birthday being only 3 months after Christmas, I already received all the clothes I would need or want for the year. That generally leaves only the expensive items on my list so it makes it difficult to come up with a suitable recommendation. This year, after much thought, I finally came up with a suitable gift that also was in a suitable price range.
Cash.
“Cash?!? Are you kidding? That’s not much of a present,” is the response I expected and received. Neither my parents nor my in-laws like to give “impersonal” gifts such as cash or gift cards. They prefer to find a need and fulfill it. Unfortunately, there are no needs this year that I feel comfortable handing off to them. So, I insisted on cash.
“Ok, we’ll get you cash. But what in the world do you want just cash for?”
A bicycle.
“A bicycle?”
“You know, a bike… Like the kind with wheels and brakes and a seat and you take it out on the road and it gets you to where you want to go faster than on foot.”
I’ll spare you the rest of the transcription and get to the point: I want a bike so I can ride it to work. I live about 1 1/2 miles from my office and I have thought about riding my bike for quite a while to save on gas and maintenance on my aging truck. The only problem until recently is that there wasn’t a safe path to take. In the last year, a small strip mall-type development appeared on one side of the most dangerous road I would have to take. With the addition of that building’s parking lot, I now have a safe way to avoid both of the dangerous roads I would have otherwise had to ride on instead of cross over.
I haven’t yet calculated the estimated savings that I could realize by taking my bike, but a quick inventory really says a lot:
- Gasoline – $50 every month or two
- Auto Maintenance – $45 (at least) every 3 months
- Gym Membership – $30 every month
There will certainly be start-up costs to traveling by bike such as clothing, luggage (backpack), safety equipment (helmet) and such, plus regular maintenance and a longer commute, but the overall cost plus the added health benefits will far outweigh driving every day.
I really can’t wait to get a bike and start riding. I hope to be “road ready” and able to get to work in a month or two and then I’ll be better able to estimate and report back on the costs and the savings.
I only wish suburban development planners had done a better job of handling bicycle traffic by at least providing a shoulder on busy roads. For now, I’ll have to stick to the sidewalks and parking lots next to the busy roads, which I’m sure will eventually run me afoul of the law. Oh well, wish me luck and safety!
