Wednesday, July 3, 2013

Pedal Power

My primary mode of transportation has always been my trusty steed, my single speed, "full-suspension," heavy bike.  In most places I have lived, getting from one place to another by bike has always been very easy, and besides being a little sweaty wherever I go, pretty convenient.

Living in Pullman is a little different, though.  First of all, it is a very spread out place, with my house being 2.5 miles from my work, and 4 miles from the grocery stores that I frequent.  Secondly, and more burdensome is the hills.  The Palouse is inundated with rolling hills formed by the glaciers a very long time ago, and the area within city limits is no exception.  I climb about 300 feet up a hill on my way to work, which is fairly gradual, but then going home, I also climb about 300 feet, but the hill is much steeper.  I actually am going uphill both ways.

Since the beginning of June, I have been using a workout app on my phone to track my bike commuting, just to get a general idea of my average biking in a month.  I know I said I wasn't going to to biking reports on this blog, but I figure this is a little different, since it is not really competitive, just informational.

In June, I rode my commuter bike 128 miles, which saved me about 7.5 gallons of gasoline, saving me about $28 on gas for the month.  I also saved about 135 lbs of CO2 being released in the atmosphere.  Of course, one of the representatives of the state I now live in thinks I produce more CO2 than someone driving (not kidding, check that out here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/04/ed-orcutt-bike-riders-pollute-environment-washington_n_2805658.html?utm_hp_ref=fb&src=sp&comm_ref=false).

Despite it being quite a bit harder to commute by bike, I still very much enjoy it, because it is a nice way to just have some time to think to myself before and after work and laugh at all the people that are always in a big rush.

Sorry no pictures this time, just a boring monologue.

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