Green Minded Wallet

I mentioned a while ago that I got a bike for 50 cents at a garage sale. Well, I’ve got it all cleaned up and a I’ve been riding it for a while now, so I figured I would share about my fabulously frugal find. I must admit that while the initial price was $0.50, I put another $50.00 worth of parts and labor into it, to make it safe and pleasant to ride. Even so $50.50 for a fully functioning bike is great. One really nice thing about it is that even though it’s not bad to ride, it doesn’t attract too much attention on campus (I still lock it up of course), if I decide to ride it in. While it’s a bit heavy (my neighbor calls it “The Tank”), it still rides rather smoothly, especially since it has thinner, smoother tires than a mountain bike (which is normally what you find in lower price ranges). It’s perfect for trips to the library and grocery store when I want to carry back a decent-sized load or I just don’t feel like walking. It isn’t bad for a nice trip around town, though anything over eight miles can get a little uncomfortable (it doesn’t have the best bike seat in the world). The only problem that I have had with it is that the kickstand is rather loose, though I think that it could probably be ameliorated with an appropriate sized socket wrench, but I haven’t tried yet. So that’s it, that’s my fifty-cent bike. Would do you think? The biggest problem is that I am now the proud owner of three bikes (though one of them is hanging up in my friend’s garage 700 miles away).

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I received a text message from a friend a few days ago, about how we should not buy gas in two days, as part of an attempt to decrease prices. Now I had been reading about a gas boycott on a site the other day, so I figured that was what this was about. Here’s the funny part: when I googled “gas boycott 2007″, I actually found that the boycott day was the 15th, which was the day I originally received the message, so my friend’s boycott will be two days too late. The sad part: people think this is actually going to work. Everything I’ve read about previous boycotts, and this one as well indicates that one-day gas boycotts do not work. Think about this, what if for one day everyone in America boycotted Walmart, then went on shopping there as usual for the rest of the year. Do you think they would notice? Probably. Would it impact their profits? Probably not. Why? Because people have just delayed their purchases versus altering them in any significant way.

But I do think that a gas boycott could work, if it went something like this: drive less. Seriously walk, ride a bike. After all May is Bike-To-Work Month. Carpool. Take the bus. Take vacations closer to home. I think if everyone did this, it could make a difference. What if people reduced their automobile usage so that they were only filling up once a month? Think anyone would notice? I go through about a quarter of a tank (2.5 gallons) every six weeks or so. It is possible. Do you think this would work?

If you’re interested in learning more about gas boycotts, here is a Snopes article (Urban Legend Reference) that outlines the history of the gas boycott and some sample gas boycott emails (warning: bad grammar and all caps).

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And by bikers, I’m referring to those riding the non-motorized variety. I write this post because I walking home yesterday afternoon after getting off the bus and someone did an “on your left”. It took me a while to figure out what was going on since I took a bit of a nap on the bus. Well, I let the person pass and was all happy about it for ten seconds or so, then I started to get annoyed as I realize we wouldn’t have even been in that situation if they weren’t riding their bike on the sidewalk on the wrong side of the road. Now to be fair, there is no biking allowed on the street on this particular, well street but still, not cool. So I’ve come up with a list of things that I found help foster happiness between bikers, pedestrians, and car people. This list comes from being a biking commuter and some of the issues and problems I’ve discovered and discussed with others over the years.

• Do you homework. Know the rules of conduct and what’s expected of you as a biker in your community. Learn which signals you are expected to use, and use them. Seriously, signaling goes a long way. If fact, some drivers might want to brush up on these as well.
• Travel in the same direction as traffic. It doesn’t matter if you’re on the road, the sidewalk, or the bike path. There just isn’t enough space for bikes to ride in two directions on the same side.
• Pick a place and stay there. It’s really frustrating for cars and other bikers if you switch between the road and the sidewalk. Unless there are signs specifically indicating that you need to get off the road and use the sidewalk, please do everyone a favor and stay put; it makes things flow so much more smoothly.
• Have tools to fix your bike if need be. A patch kit and a spare tube will cost you less than ten bucks. Some people just carry a patch kit, but I’ve busted tubes so bad that couldn’t be repaired (example I split one at the base of the valve once, fun) so it doesn’t hurt to have a tube handy.
• Get a bike pump with a pressure gauge and check your pressure regularly. I’m not saying you have to check it every day, but I always check mine every few days. If fact the reason I found that I went through a lot of tubes when commuting was because my tire pressure was way too low. Once I bought a pump with a gauge I was able to make sure that my pressure was in the recommended range and I went from having a flat every 3-4 weeks to having none. Seriously, I know they are expensive, but they’re worth it.

Note, this is just my opinion of things that are important (and often overlooked). There are other things that are important (helmet, duh) or even necessary (lights, etc). You can likely find some great web resources and there’s probably some good info at your public library as well about biking. But these are some things that I’ve found to be invaluable in my time as a bike commuter.

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May is National Bike to Work Month. Different states/cities have their own “Bike to Work Week”, but next Friday May 18th is National Bike to Work Day. It’s a time were we can all proudly do something for the planet and our wallets by showing up to work nice and sweaty, while sporting big dorky helmets. As incentives, organizations will be giving out food, prizes, and other goodies to those willing to get to work the two-wheeled way (incentives vary by location). So, if you have a commute that would be feasible on a bike, or if you don’t work (or work from home), but want to bike around the town and get some free stuff, check it out. Then get ready to put on your spandex, don a helmet, and hop on your bike. You’ll be doing something good for your planet, your wallet, and your legs.

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