The economy of it all...

I have been trying to put as much ride to work possible for the past couple of weeks. The earlier plan is to ride on alternate days, but decided to change the plans a bit. As the team are planning to ride twice a week on weekdays (read here), I am forced to change my driving time to Tues PM and Wed AM, and Thurs PM and Fri AM. The arrangement will allow me to ride with the team, without risking riding back late in the evening.

Anyway, yesterday morning, I broke the spoke on my rear wheel. Fret not, its not because I have trained a lot, but more to the fact that I am currently on the heavy side. I already broke a front wheel spoke a few days earlier (most probably during storage), which means I really do need to send the wheels for repairs and truing. That said, it also means that I need to drive to office for the next few days.

As I was driving this morning, I started to make some calculations. The economy of going to work... by either car, public transport (Komuter/LRT) or cycling. So here is the rough estimation of what does it cost (for me at least) to come to work.

CAR
Distance : 35km (70km to and fro)
Time Taken : 40mins (80mins minimum a day)
Cost/day : Fuel (RM7.00), Toll (RM5.60 - RM3.80 to, RM1.80 fro)
Total Cost : on average RM12.60/day

TRAIN
Distance : 10km (from my house to and fro)
Time Taken : 60mins (2hrs minimum per day)
Cost/day : Fuel (RM2.50), Komuter (RM5.80 return), LRT (RM1.40 return)
Total Cost : on average RM9.70/day

CYCLING
Distance : 30km (60km to and fro)
Time Taken : 70mins (2.30hrs per day)
Cost/day : ??
Total cost : other than two bottles of drink? No toll and no petrol needed?

So, in a move to lessen my carbon footprint, I decided to ride to work more often. The cost is minimal (other than the two bottle of cordial drink I mix at home) and I can reach the office before 8am if I start riding at 6:45am. Nothing beats riding in the cool morning :)

Can't wait to ride again...

Read here and here (from CycleFriday and Dino's blog)