Originally Posted by
base2
In the summer, I see 52-60 commute a day as a possibility, but not a regular occurance. I did it 2x last November/December when I was at my peak, but I took the middle of December to the middle of February off on account of 37 degree rain or 30 degree dry weather (Seattle) was too much for my kit. So I invested in panniers, gloves, winter shoes and rain gear. I'm working on getting back up to 150 a week, albeit with 25 extra pounds of bike and 10 extra on myself. It will take some doing. 2-4 mph slower so-far with all that gear and what I lost in fitness The calorie count v/s cafeteria food cost kills the LCF economics.
I think I'll take the weekend off, then try Mon, Tue, Thur, Friday again next week and see how I feel before moving up to 5 days.
The "true" cost of petrol is a fair point I hadn't thought about. I'm telling myself the food cost could be a gym membership I probably wouldn't use & that makes it better.
What I ought to do is suck it up and bike both ways, then I can bring as much food as I want with out the hassle of pannier-on/pannier-off and do without lunch box complications for the bus.
The economics are always going to favor the bike if you're doing the math right. You only need a few cups of rice to replenish the calories burned on the bike. Or maybe like 4 salami/cheese sandwiches with mayo. You just need cheap, calorie dense foods, and those particular kind of foods are about the easiest to come by. Don't worry about whether it's healthy or not....as long as it's got calories.
If you start doing calculations to the point where you're figuring cost of food per mile on the bike....you also need to look at all of the costs associated with a vehicle that might not be readily apparent if you're just looking at gas cost. Insurance, scheduled maintenance, unexpected repairs, new tires/brakes, windshield wipers, car washes.