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I have completed my first work week of commuting to work on my bike.   Today was an especially hard ride home because there was a very strong wind going the opposite direction of me.  While I was riding home I was doing a few calculations for fun.  Let’s say that for every 10 I work I will make 1.50 (based on 9.00/hr).  Then by taking the extra 20 minutes every day I am losing 3.00 of pay every day.  If you expand that out to 5 work days a week for 3 weeks that comes to $45.00.  Now by the same token if I were to have driven to and from work, it would take approximately 2 gallons of gas every 3 two days, (based on 24miles/gallon).  Therefore in 3 weeks it would cost me $32.50 to have driven.  That is a difference of $12.50 every 3 weeks assuming I actually make the trip in 30 mins.

Having said all that.  I still fully intend on continuing my riding every day and think that the $12.50 is considerably cheaper than a gym membership would be. So I can just think of the opportunity cost as a cheap gym membership.   I also find that my exercise is considerably more consistent when it is something purposeful like riding to work.  Consistency is good when it comes to exercise.

Speaking of work.  I have a new job in Fresno that I’m not sure I mentioned.  This job is still a software development job and he has recently (today) given me keys and alarm codes to make me a full-time employee.  Right now that doesn’t mean much, but 3 months from now as long as I’m still impressing him I should be getting benefits and a considerable rate increase over what I am making now.  That would be wonderful.  Especially since three months from now I should be attending Fresno State University.  I turned in my application for that this week and should be finding out sometime in the next 3 weeks whether I will be getting in there or not.  I also filled out the FAFSA to see if I qualify for any aid.  I don’t qualify for the Pell Grant, and they expect me to contribute $15,000 towards my education.  That is a little over half of what Kim and I made in combined gross income last year!  There’s the efficient government for you.  I’ll see if I can get any money elsewhere.  Maybe there is a scholoarship for a young married couple, who both work full time jobs and want to go to school.  Anyway, Adieu.

I have had my first adventure of many while biking to work this morning.

The link to the left is the map of my route to help clarify the story.
I started off by deciding not to go the same route that I had gone on Sunday and managed to get myself heading north, thinking I was heading east. Then I followed a really nice bike path that I knew was going kind of the wrong direction, but a lot further in the wrong direction than I thought. Then I was sure how far I was and backtracked to get to familiar terriorty. All-in-all this morning I biked approximately 11.6 miles in slightly under an hour. This evening on my way back, I biked approximately 6.4 miles in about 30 mins.

It was a good ride all the same though. I’m looking forward to doing it daily. I also am happy with the fact that I have new slick tires on my bike, which has made riding on the road much less of a chore. Now I’ve got to make sure I stick with the biking long enough though to justify the addtional $110 I spent (Tubes, tires, bike pump, and labor) on my already expensive bike.

Anyway, biking is fun and good. You should all do it. Over and out.