Why cycle commuting to work is better than driving alone...

Slowly over the years, my bicycle commute has grown a longer and a little more consistent. It started with five miles each way a few times a month and now I'm proud to say that on a good week, I put almost 75 miles on my bicycle commuting to work.

Bicycle commuting has always been a fun way to get to work and now with the rising price of gasoline, it's starting to become the sensible option.

Because the commute to work has become a steady part of the week (25 miles round trip), it's easy to see that all those miles can add up pretty quick. Let's say I drove to work by myself every day. I figure that's about $5 in gasoline (20 mpg at $4 a gallon). Now, in addition to that I cross the Golden Gate Bridge every day. Let's add another $5 (it's $4 with Fastrak), but this makes the math easy. That's an average of $10 a day and that doesn't include any maintenance for the car itself.

$10 a day times five days a week times 50 weeks a year. (Math gears spinning). That's $2,500! Whoa! Not to mention that's post tax. Now we're looking at over $3,000 easily. And let's not forget that I still haven't factored in car maintenance. Although insurance, parking, car payments, etc. are pretty much fixed and independent of how much you drive, that will increase that number even more.

Okay...realistically, I'm not going to give up my car. And as much as I want a hybrid, I think driving less is more practical.

So we're looking at a good $3,000 pre-tax that I can work with. Let's say I ride my bike on average of two days a week (more during the sunny months and less during the wet ones). And those other days I find people to carpool with to work (it so happens that I've found three other co-workers to carpool with). Now that means that I drive on average 1.5 times every other week.

So some more mental math here. 1.5 times every other week is 0.75 times per week. That's $7.50 in gas and bridge tolls per week. Wait! The Golden Gate Bridge lets you cross for free if you have three or more people during commuting hours. Now it's $2.50 per week. Multiply that by 50 weeks and you're looking at $125 a year.

Wow! From $3,000 to $125. Maybe that's not enough to make you rich, but it adds up quickly.

So there you have it. Reason number one. It saves you money! And if you carpool it saves you even more. There are plenty of other reasons too, but it's getting late and I have a bicycle commute to do in the morning. Stay tuned.

Velomobile

This past semester I have been taking a course in entrepreneurship at the city college and tonight I give my final presentation. The main task we have been working on all semester has been to pick a business idea and turn it into a viable business plan. The presentation is supposed to mimic what we would tell investors or lenders.

Starting the class I had a whole list of ideas. The ideas ranged from importing custom suits from China to launching a video surveillance forum to manufacturing a modified recumbent bicycle. Each idea was sparked by conversations I've had in the past with family and friends, so in essence each business plan already had a partner in place.

The idea I ultimately chose to nurture was a vehicle designed by a good friend of mine, David Parrott. David is an industrial designer with a pretty killer track record. He has worked for some very respectable companies and is sort of a Dr. Frankenstein if you will. Not only does he come up with some brilliant ideas, but he's the type to really dive into an idea and make it a reality. His resume says, "fabrication in ALL materials," and he really means it.

The proposed business is manufacturing velomobiles. A velomobile is a combination of a recumbent bicycle, an aerodynamic shell (fairing), and a motor. The idea is not completely new, as they are gaining popularity in Europe, but it is something that isn't hugely popular in the US...yet.

David's design can be seen by visiting his site and viewing the 'Capstone' project in his portfolio.

David is currently taking graduate courses and working on his design for his thesis, so the timeline for this project is a little ways out. In the meantime, we will be working on refining the business plan and plan to field test his designs in March by riding from Portland, Oregon to San Francisco.

So look out for us on the road and for velomobiles in your neigborhood!