August 2 - Back and Forth w/panniers

Panniers are the best! Yesterday, I had to bring some packages to the Post Office so I grabbed my 17 year old Eastpack panniers and clipped them on my rack to carry the load. I had too much stuff so I also wore my back pack. However, today on my ride in I lightened my load and only used the panniers. My back was more comfortable and my shirt didn't get soaked with sweat trapped between my back and the back pack.

My panniers will now remain on the bike.

I now need a headlight and a computer so I can see in low light, and see how well I am doing. Now that I have the bugs worked out on the bike (I still want a new rear wheel, I need to adjust the chainring derailer, and I need to lube the bike).

My wish also includes lighter batteries. Lighter means going the same distance with less energy and easier climbing. Note: Lance Armstrong's bikes in the Tour De France weigh 15 pounds and some cost as much as $25,000. Look, he has light bikes and he goes really fast. I am guessing but my bike with motor, batteries, panniers, fenders, etc. weighs 70 pounds - that's a lot. If I could keep the motor and shave 20 or 30 pounds, I would be very happy.

Even at 70 pounds, my bike is doing really well considering the average car (not all those SUVs on the road) weighs about 3,500 pounds and gets about 21 miles per gallon (that's about 1.5 million callories per mile or 2,560 Big Macs per mile). On a good day the average car is driven 35 miles with most trips being under 10 miles. Now my 7.5 mile commute takes about 30 minutes by bike, 20 minutes by car. By bike, I use about 120 calories per mile, or about 99.92 percent less energy than the average car to go the same distance (the bike gets an equivalent of about 12,500 miles per gallon, or about 4.8 miles per Big Mac). Based on recent $2.67 per gallon gasoline prices, my energy cost to bike to work (after rounding) is $0.02 per day. Driving (because I drive a pickup truck that averages 15 MPG) costs $3.56 per day.

Now, my bike commute takes 10 minutes longer per leg, or 20 minutes more per round trip than by car. By bike comuuting, I am getting a solid 1 hour of aerobic excerise per day including a good upper and lower body muscle workout. When I commute by car I sit 40 minutes per day. To drive and get the same excercise I get when I bike commute, after sitting for 40 minutes I would then need to workout for and additional hour taking up 1 hour 40 minutes per day. By bike commuting, the extra 20 minutes I spend commuting, I save 40 minutes that I would otherwise spend excercising. My time, based on my pay, is worth about $50 per hour. So each day I bike commute I save $33.00 in time value alone.