anniversary

While I don't remember the exact date it was sometime in late October of last year that I sold my car and decided that I didn't need another. I wasn't driving it all that much anyway. And my wife has a car so if I need to go get a bunch of groceries then I can. So, mostly what changed is that I have now for the last year pretty much ridden to work every day instead of driven. Figuring 4 days a week for most of the year and 7 days a week during harvest I think I've ridden the commute close to 250 times. So about 2,500 miles of commuting. What has that done? It has had a more profound effect on my fitness for sport riding than I would ever have guessed. My general strength is up. I don't worry too much about getting training rides in anymore except one long ride midweek and another long one over the weekend. The year's not quite over yet, but it looks like my hours of saddle time will top 500 - near a record for me. There's 150 gallons or so of gas that I didn't burn. That's 2,700 lbs. of carbon less in the atmosphere, which I'm pretty stoked about. That's $600 on gasoline I didn't spend not to mention the insurance and repair and maintenance. I'm guessing I'm a couple grand to the good. Even with my somewhat obsessive spending on all things bicycle I think I came out about even this year. So in one sense getting rid of the car has eliminated or more accurately offset my bicycle spending. I arrive at work a bit more alert in the morning and I get home with my head a bit more cleared out - both good things.