Hello, friends!
Greetings from Saint Louis and a Happy Halloween to you all. Mizzou ACF decided to do some community service tonight instead of having Large Group, so I decided that this week I was going to stay in Saint Louis instead of driving to Columbia and back. As much as I love CoMO, the chance to spend 12 days with my wife was too good to pass up. =0).
But, since I knew I was going to be away from CoMO for almost 2 weeks, I decided to bring Sulu along with me for the trip! I wanted to see if having a bike in Saint Louis actually made sense for me or if it was just a pipe dream that really shouldn't happen. Yesterday I biked to FloValley as a "dry run." Here are the things that I learned:
- My commute is hilly, but not terrible. Here is the map that I take to get from our apartment to FloValley. It is about 5 miles. It may be hard to see on the map but it has a few hills that are a bit beastly. However, I was actually surprised by how doable those hills were. Each uphill is prefaced by a downhill, so I have some momentum going in. They are still a trek, but it was better than I thought.
- Saint Louis in not as bike friendly as CoMO. There are no bike paths on my commute, meaning I have 2 options. Either I ride in the street and run the risk of getting hit by a car who is probably not used to seeing a bike on the road, or I ride on the sidewalk and have to avoid all the pedestrians who have the right of way and are standing, waiting for the bus. It is a tough call. I rode mostly on the sidewalks yesterday after getting honked at a few times.
- If I go, I go alone. One of the great things that makes biking great is my baby jogger. I can attach it to Sulu, allowing me to carry more stuff, from supplies, to guitars, to anything that weighs less than 110 pounds. Well, the streets and sidewalks are so narrow here in Saint Louis that a baby jogger probably wouldn't survive. If I were to bike to FloValley, I wouldn't be able to take a lot of stuff with me, which kind of defeats the purpose.
- Grocery shopping is totally doable. Getting to FloValley is a bit of a beast but getting to the shopping center just up the road is actually relatively easy. The question is whether or not bringing Sulu back and forth just so I can go grocery shopping is worth the hassle.
So, there you have it. I love biking and I will definitely continue to ride in CoMO but I am on the fence about whether or not bringing Sulu back and forth is a good idea. I am leaning towards "no" but we shall see.
Stats:
Places traveled: To FloValley and back
Distance: 10 miles ($.83)
Meters: None
Total: $.83
Grand Total: $319.86
Left to Save: $263.17
Happy Biking!
~Adam
The story of a guy trying to rationalize the money he spent on his bike and other random thoughts.
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Biking is so much cheaper...
Hello, friends!
Today, I had an experience that reminded me how much money I can save biking. Actually, it was a series of experiences. Allow me to break it down for you.
On Saturday, I went to get my oil changed. Normally, I change it myself but time is short nowadays and I was way overdue, so I figured that just this once I would have someone do it for me. A conventional oil change costs about $35. If I wanted the high mileage stuff (which I should use, now that the Rolla is coming it at over 275,000 miles) it would cost another $30. Do you know how much it costs to change the oil on a bike? That's right, $0.
Fast forward to this morning. While the nice people @ the lube shop were changing my oil, they topped off my windshield washer fluid and noticed a leak. So, this morning I dropped off my car at the mechanic to see if they could fix it. The gave me a call later in the morning saying there was a crack at the top of the tank and it would cost $250 to fix it. On top of that, it would cost another $250 to fix the pump that pumps the windshield washer fluid onto my windshield. On top of THAT, it would be another $250 to fix a minor issue with the tires because it would also require an alignment. (I didn't do any of the work). Guess how much it costs to do all that work on a bike? If you guessed $0, you'd be right!
But, wait! There's more! While waiting on the nice mechanic folk to look at my car, I went to the nice people at the insurance office to see how much it would cost for Meg and me to get put on the same auto policy. It's not worth going into how much it will cost because you can see where I'm going with this. Even if I wanted to insure Sulu, there's no way it would cost what it costs to insure a car.
What's my conclusion? Biking is awesome and WAY cheaper than driving. Oftentimes driving is a necessity, and I do love driving, but boy is it expensive...
Stats:
Places traveled: Campus, home, mechanic, insurance office, campus, lunch downtown, back to campus, and back to the mechanic
Distance: 4 miles ($.37) and 5.1 more ($.46)
Meters: 4 hours on campus ($4) + 1 hour downtown ($.60) + 5 hours on campus ($5)
Total: $10.43
Grand Total: $319.03
Left to Save: $264.00
Happy Biking!
~Adam
Left to Save:
Today, I had an experience that reminded me how much money I can save biking. Actually, it was a series of experiences. Allow me to break it down for you.
On Saturday, I went to get my oil changed. Normally, I change it myself but time is short nowadays and I was way overdue, so I figured that just this once I would have someone do it for me. A conventional oil change costs about $35. If I wanted the high mileage stuff (which I should use, now that the Rolla is coming it at over 275,000 miles) it would cost another $30. Do you know how much it costs to change the oil on a bike? That's right, $0.
Fast forward to this morning. While the nice people @ the lube shop were changing my oil, they topped off my windshield washer fluid and noticed a leak. So, this morning I dropped off my car at the mechanic to see if they could fix it. The gave me a call later in the morning saying there was a crack at the top of the tank and it would cost $250 to fix it. On top of that, it would cost another $250 to fix the pump that pumps the windshield washer fluid onto my windshield. On top of THAT, it would be another $250 to fix a minor issue with the tires because it would also require an alignment. (I didn't do any of the work). Guess how much it costs to do all that work on a bike? If you guessed $0, you'd be right!
But, wait! There's more! While waiting on the nice mechanic folk to look at my car, I went to the nice people at the insurance office to see how much it would cost for Meg and me to get put on the same auto policy. It's not worth going into how much it will cost because you can see where I'm going with this. Even if I wanted to insure Sulu, there's no way it would cost what it costs to insure a car.
What's my conclusion? Biking is awesome and WAY cheaper than driving. Oftentimes driving is a necessity, and I do love driving, but boy is it expensive...
Stats:
Places traveled: Campus, home, mechanic, insurance office, campus, lunch downtown, back to campus, and back to the mechanic
Distance: 4 miles ($.37) and 5.1 more ($.46)
Meters: 4 hours on campus ($4) + 1 hour downtown ($.60) + 5 hours on campus ($5)
Total: $10.43
Grand Total: $319.03
Left to Save: $264.00
Happy Biking!
~Adam
Left to Save:
Sunday, October 21, 2012
Finding a New Rhythm
Hello, friends!
Sorry it's been so long since I've posted. I've been biking some, but the truth is that it's been a little tough to find the miles.
When I was in the 8th grade, I had to audition for the orchestra. I played the cello and even though I was going to be the section leader, it was important for us to be put in the right order while playing. We had to play a scale and prepare a piece to play for about 1 minute. Honestly, I did pretty terribly. While I was practicing I couldn't seem to quite the the notes to do what I was supposed to do. Just to tell you how I wasn't much of a cellist, it wasn't until I looked at the piece after my audition that I realized the problem: The song was in 3/4 and I was trying to play it in 4/4.
I tell you this story not so I can embarrass myself but because that was the first story that came to mind as I was reflecting a how I need to find a new rhythm.
The truth is that a lot has changed in the past few weeks. I'm no longer living in Columbia; I live in Saint Louis. I'm no longer single; I am married (and loving it). The circumstances of my life are now different and that means that the things that I used to do don't always work anymore. It means I need a new rhythm in my life.
Now, you may be thinking to yourself, "what does this have to do with biking?" Well, one of the big rhythm questions for me is how does Sulu fit into my new rhythm, specifically in Saint Louis, where I will be spending most of my time. I know that I will be biking on Tuesdays and Wednesdays when I am in Columbia but I would love to find a way to get Sulu to Saint Louis so I can do some riding here. I guess we'll just have to see how it goes.
As for the past few weeks, it's pretty much just been a trip or two to campus. But hey, every penny counts, right? =0).
Stats:
Places travelled: Just back and forth to campus twice.
Distance: 8 miles ($.22)
Meters: 6 hours on campus ($6)
Total: $6.22
Saved to date: $308.60
Left to save: $274.43
Happy Biking!
~Adam
Sorry it's been so long since I've posted. I've been biking some, but the truth is that it's been a little tough to find the miles.
When I was in the 8th grade, I had to audition for the orchestra. I played the cello and even though I was going to be the section leader, it was important for us to be put in the right order while playing. We had to play a scale and prepare a piece to play for about 1 minute. Honestly, I did pretty terribly. While I was practicing I couldn't seem to quite the the notes to do what I was supposed to do. Just to tell you how I wasn't much of a cellist, it wasn't until I looked at the piece after my audition that I realized the problem: The song was in 3/4 and I was trying to play it in 4/4.
I tell you this story not so I can embarrass myself but because that was the first story that came to mind as I was reflecting a how I need to find a new rhythm.
The truth is that a lot has changed in the past few weeks. I'm no longer living in Columbia; I live in Saint Louis. I'm no longer single; I am married (and loving it). The circumstances of my life are now different and that means that the things that I used to do don't always work anymore. It means I need a new rhythm in my life.
Now, you may be thinking to yourself, "what does this have to do with biking?" Well, one of the big rhythm questions for me is how does Sulu fit into my new rhythm, specifically in Saint Louis, where I will be spending most of my time. I know that I will be biking on Tuesdays and Wednesdays when I am in Columbia but I would love to find a way to get Sulu to Saint Louis so I can do some riding here. I guess we'll just have to see how it goes.
As for the past few weeks, it's pretty much just been a trip or two to campus. But hey, every penny counts, right? =0).
Stats:
Places travelled: Just back and forth to campus twice.
Distance: 8 miles ($.22)
Meters: 6 hours on campus ($6)
Total: $6.22
Saved to date: $308.60
Left to save: $274.43
Happy Biking!
~Adam
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