Driver, Driver, Spare That Cyclist!

Now that I don't have my print column I can't run my annual plea for people to not run into people riding bicycles.

I usually try to include people on motorcycle on that plea -- fair is fair -- although I have yet to see any motorcycle group include bicycles in its annual plea.

They're zooming by at 70, I'm panting by at 15, maybe they don't see me. Whatever.

What got me thinking along these admittedly self-centered lines is a link WSU Physics Prof. Dan Schroeder put up on Facebook to this guy (click), a blogger who writes about saving money.

Pleas about safety and humanity haven't gotten either cyclists or car drivers to pay attention -- maybe appealing to cold hard cash will earn them some respect.

The guy who writes this blog saved so much so quickly just by being thrifty that he retired before the age of 40.  One of the ways he did so was to downsize to one used gas-sipping car and ride bicycles as much as possible.

He, as do I, hears people say bicycles aren't as safe as cars. He makes a very good argument that riding a bicycle is actually safer -- numbers and statistics are such fun -- although I have to admit he totally lost me. Still, I sincerely believe that I am safer on my own bicycle, and I do save a bundle riding it.

That's because the annual cost of owning a bicycle is really low, while the annual cost of owning a car is not. I just put $45 worth of liquid gold into my car, which puts  a real dent in the old Social Security check. That gasoline will last, maybe, three weeks.

I haven't spent that much on my bicycles all year, so far.

The problem most people face, of course, is living lives that allow them to use bicycles for anything other than recreation. We all grew up with cars and constructed lives around them -- our jobs are convenient to highways, our homes are an easy drive to stores and so forth. People who live in Plain City apparently don't mind driving 10 miles to buy groceries.

For a significant number of Americans to switch to bicycles, they'd have to shift their entire lives around. They'd have to find homes close to where they live and work (no more commuting from Ogden to Provo!)  they'd have to start walking, or running, or (wow!) riding a bicycle a little bit more each day so they are in shape for the average 2.3 miles Americans ride every day.

I'm fortunate in that my "job" at Union Station is an easy 10 minutes away by bicycle. My wife can walk to her job at Weber State University. If I just need one or two things, I can even ride to the grocery store -- and riding a bicycle is amazingly limiting on impulse purchases, another money suck.

It will not be easy, but everything counts. A Sierra Club fact sheet (click) linked to in the blog says even the less than 2 percent of Americans who do use bicycles for basic transportation crank out 9 billion miles a year. Divide that by average car mileage, multiple by the price of gasoline alone and you have a chunk of change saved. Total savings are even more -- around $4 billion, if you figure - as that article does - the cost per mile of a bicycle is 10 cents, while a car costs you more than 60 cents.

Personally, I think 10 cents is a bit high.  But then, I do my own bicycle maintenance.  My total cost is usually a set of new tires every three years or so, which is about $100, and worth every penny (buy Gatorskins!!). 

And I haven't even mentioned the cash value of health benefits of riding. Go by bicycle, save wads of cash in money spent on cars AND medical bills. As the MMM Blog says "It is not an exaggeration to say that a bicycle is a money-printing fountain of youth, probably the single most important and highest-yielding investment a human can possibly own."

If the number of people using bicycles to get around in Utah were to double, there might be enough voices to get the UDOT to spend less money on highways like that idiotic west Davis extension of the Legacy Parkway, and more on bicycle lanes/paths/trails. 

We'd save $600 million right there, all tax dollars that car drivers have to pay too. And that's just one road we wouldn't need if more people pedaled.

So, car drivers, if you see someone on a bicycle,  be nice -- that poor soul pedaling along is trying to save you money too.