Biking to Work - Is it Free?

I've been thinking about this quite a bit lately, and who hasn't. Gas is approaching European prices and we are all looking for ways to save money. I don't know about you, but i have been known to ride a bike from time to time, so i thought that riding my bike might be a good cost saving alternative to driving the truck. (see previous post about MPG) I know i have shared this thought with a few of you, but i thought i'd post about it.

I live 21.5 miles from work. At 14 MPG and $4.79 per gallon that is about $7.35 each way for me to go to work. When i ride my bike to work my computer says that i burn over 2000 calories each way. How much food do i need to eat to get those 2000 calories back? How much does that food cost? If i didn't care about eating healthy (actually i really don't, heck, that's why i ride my bike after all....JUNK FOOD) i could buy 3 "hand spun" milkshakes from chick fil-a and that would cost me almost 10 bucks. I think those would come in aroud 2000 calories. If i want to go healthier it could be as high as 15-20 bucks for that 2000 calories.

I know, I know, i'm going to ride that 40 miles anyway, but that's not the point. What if i didn't "occasionally" jump on a bike and go for a ride? This would be a whole new expense. Plus, if i did eat only cheap food to get the calories back, would that cause digestive problems? produce gas? maybe an equivalent or greater amount than the truck. I don't see a particulate filter on my backside (does underwear count?) Maybe there is something to this "couch potato" lifestyle that i am missing. Think of the money i would save.
Wouldn't only eating 3 meals a day be soooo cool!!

Visiting the N-laws

Spent a long weekend with the n-laws in Michigan. They live on a lake so even though it was a bit on the cool side for June, we forced ourselves into the water to sail and ski. Check out my awesome cycling tan lines. In some pics the contrast between my feet and calves is so great i look like i have socks on.

6.4 Litres = 1.69 Gallons....should i really expect better than 17 MPG?

Here is my new "game". I drive like an old man, easy accelerations, i do the speed limit, i brake early for stoplights in hopes that i am still rolling when it turns green. I'm trying to see how good my mileage can get with the big truck. With a 6.4 litre engine (with two turbos) there will be a limit to how good the mileage will be. Currently with my daily driving i am averaging 14.5 mpg, which is up from 12.8-13 with my old style of driving. I need to do a time/cost analisyst to see if my time is actually worth more than the 1.5 mpg and the 10mph slower on all the roads. I'm having a few transmission issues (nothing major) so i plan on taking it in next week. While it is there i'll have them update any and all programs on the truck. Maybe ford has released a program update that will improve the mileage further. I haven't done any long trips in the truck since last fall, so i am curious what the freeway mileage will be...maybe 18....call me crazy.

I'm thinking a Mini Cooper Clubman in yellow with black stripes would make a nice "drive to bike races" vehicle.

I AM IRON MAN!!!

Have i told ya? I found out a little while back that i have Hemochromatosis. It basically means that my body absorbs much more Iron than normal. My older sister found out she has it back in November. I call her Iron Maiden...pretty catchy huh. It is a hereditary thing, so i had my doctor check for and...i've got it too. As far as genetic things go, this isn't bad assuming you find out early like i have. I basically have to bleed my iron level down to a low level, then go 3-4 times a year to keep the level down. If I didn't find out till i was much older, i would have started having heart/liver problems and other issues. I have given 4 pints of blood in the past 5 weeks. I've got at least 9 more pints to go to get to the low level. This makes staying fit for cycling kind of tough. I'm basically riding as much as i can to slow down the loss of fitness. Hopefully i will be done with the weeklies by July and i can start building my hemoglobin/redbloodcells/ hemocrit back up. Would this justify EPO? will my insurance pay for it? I've basically scrapped any plans i had to race this spring/summer. I just hope i can stay in shape enough for cyclocross.

Tour de Georgia Re-cap

Here are a few pics of the Tour de Georgia. I watched the first KOM on stage 5 and then went to Dahlonega to watch them finish. Sunday Sara and I went down to Atlanta to watch Stage 7.

Here is Tyler Hamilton hitting the top of Burnt Mountain, he was cooked, he looked even worse when he finished the stage
Here is the last corner of stage 5. A race in the south wouldn't be complete without Waffle house support. (I got a WH t-shirt and head band too....SWEET!)
This is the winning move going into the last turn.
Emma and Mary Anna are big cycling fans....althought i think they like hockey better.
This is what the peleton looked like all day sunday. High road was pulling the train all day...they ended up winning the stage, the race and the sprinters jersey too.

I did see Micheal Ball of Rock Racing , i wanted to get close to him to maybe hear him drop a few F bombs....but alas i didn't get near him. He was sporting a jacket with the special sunday TDG Rock racing jersey.

A good time was had by all. It is pretty cool to have a big race like this going right past where i live.

The Tour Duh Georgia

It's pretty cool that even in a state like Georgia that they can put together a cycling race that attracts Pro-tour teams. I am heading out today to watch the Tour climb over Burnt Mountain. My parents live on Burnt mountain and the tour is going right past their driveway...They feel sooooEuro. I'm going up the road from their driveway a little bit to watch the race pass the KOM. No sense sitting on the downhill side...the view will be really short. Although the downhill is 18-20% and there is one corner that could cause some problems...not to mention a few nasty potholes. Good luck on the descent racers. After they pass the KOM i'm heading to Dahlonega to watch the finish. Should be fun. I'll take a few pics.

SUNDAY, SUNDAY, SUNDAY....WE'VE TURNED THE BOTTOM OF THE OMNI INTO A GIANT 6 FOOT DEEP...

MUD PIT!!!!

Is there a point where it would make sense to just lose the entry fee and skip a race because it will probably cost you more to repair the bike than the entry fee??? So far this year i have done two big rides and both have taken their toll on the bikes that i decided to ride. The First was De Ronde, things don't seem as smooth as they were before, but i think i can fix most of them...maybe a new chain is needed. The second was the Cohutta 65 i did this past Saturday. (The 65 is the Big Sissy version of the 100) It was a rough 6 hour slog through the mud. Driving up to the race Saturday at 4:30am it was raining pretty steady, It had rained most the night. When the race started the entire course had about 2cm of squishy mud on everything. About half of this race is single track and the other is fire road, i thought the fire roads wouldn't be that bad, but it turned out the fireroads turned into quicksand or something similar. To add to the slick fun, i learned about 4 miles into the race that my middle chainring needed to be replaced because with just a little bit of mud and slop, it started sucking. 45 miles of switching from the big to granny until, with 12 miles left, it started sucking in all gears. I stopped and cleaned as much mud as i could off, put some lube on the chain and it worked until i got to the finish. 6:03 or something like that. Here are some pics of my pretty bike...i'm thinking i will tear it down and make sure everything is okay.

Finished 21st....i think