Dose of Reality

Considering the numerous ride reports included in this blog, photos of my bike leaning against various items around the state, and the Kent Peterson quote over to the right of this blog page, some might think I spend a freakish amount of time on my bike. Actually, I spend a freakish amount of time in a motorized vehicle, but I don't write about that (usually) because I don't like it. I like riding my bike, so that is what I talk about. Until today, when I checked the driving numbers. I did the math and quantification of what I'd been whining about to my beloved made it all the more real. It was a dose of reality that was difficult to swallow.

I bought a new pick-up in the fall of 2007. In 9 months, I've accumulated over 30,000 miles. After doing the calculations, I realized that I average over 100 miles per day. That's every day, including weekends, for 9 solid months. I think a reasonable assumption is that I might average about 50 mph. A lot of my miles are interstate, but a fair amount are in town and in Dallas area stop-and-go traffic. If we assume a 50 mph average speed, that means I spend over two hours of every day driving. Two hours of every day, including weekends, for 9 solid months. I did the computation twice because I couldn't believe the numbers the first time.

Kent Peterson, and other non-car-owners, are an inspiration to me and show what is possible. For me, it looks like I first need to work on trying to approach just an average amount of driving, then see if I can reduce further.

I desperately want those two hours a day back.