August 8 - Drove (convertible)

I have one more wake-up to go before I start a 16-day vacation. The last two days I gave up the bike commute for an extra hour of sleep, likely I will do this tomorrow too - but we shall see.

When I work 12-hour day shifts it is really difficult waking up at 3:30 AM, get on the bike at 04:30 AM, arrive at work and dry off and change, and then take over the shift at 5:30 AM is really very early. After working a 12-hour rotating shift for the past 6 weeks, by the last 4-days I am burnt-out and the extra hour of sleep I get by driving is well worth costs associated with driving

luckily, I have been driving my wife's convertible VW Beetle, not quite a bike, but with the top down I still have the wind in my face. The car also gets about 32 miles per gallon of gasoline (or it only cost me $5.00 in gas to commute 4 days).

There was interesting article in the New York Times on Sunday, August 7, 2005, Section 14 - the "Westchester" section, commuters Journal, "The Ride Is Sweatier But a Lot More Fun", by Jack Kadden. The article is written about those commuters who bike commute to railroad stations.

Thinking about what I have observed at train stations in the New York metropolitan area, if you add up all the bicycles chained "willy-nilly to signpost and railings" you will find out there are a significant number of commuters who rely on bicycles for some, if not most of their commutes. I feel if the number of uncounted bike commuters are organized they could become a strong lobbying group for getting better bike commuting infrastructure. If you count the 47+/- railroad stations in Westchester County (http://ny.existingstations.com/counties/Westchester.html) and conservatively estimate an average of 10 bike commuters per station, that's almost 500 people using bicycles as part of their commutes, and this is likely underestimating the real number!

There is a lot information on bicycles as transportation system solutions and how to integrate bicycles into every day commuting. With the price of fuel and the nation being obese, now is a good time to start bike commuting.