Reached 30,000 miles today!

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Crankarm

Guru
Location
Nr Cambridge
Today crossed over the 30,000 mile mark. Incredible and the joints on my legs feel as good today as they’ve always been! My first ever commute was in June 2009 and I would never have thought I would hit this milestone, but here are some stats.

.................................2009............2010............. 2011 ...........2012 ...........2013 ............Totals
Bike days ................108 .............200 ...............223 .............219.............. 202 ..............952
Car days ..................24 ..............5 ...................1 .................0.................. 0 ..................30
Car Share.................0................ 3 ...................0................. 0 ..................0....................3
Rain days ................??.............. ?? .................15............... 53................ 30...................98
Mileage.....................3621.......... 6610 .............7182 ...........6652 ............6246..............30311
Bike Costs................£555.99 ......£1148 ..........£1238 .........£536 ............£348.............. £3826

2013 figures have been extended to the end of 2013 which is an extra 300 or so miles., which unless I loose a leg should be done


Bike costs relates to anything I bought for the bikes, tyres, clothing, accessories, tools etc, but excludes the cost of the Trek 6500 which was bought in 2011 on the Cycle to Work Scheme.

I think I can call myself an experienced cycle commuter, but there have been some great days and some not so great, but I think overall I have no complaints, although I do moan about the weather a LOT!, sorry about that

I have met some great people, cycle with them most days (when I can catch them) and have some good laughs along the way. Certainly a life changing decision to cycle to work, and certainly one of my best decisions ever made in life.


Well done for producing the stats Kevin! You are well disciplined, respect.

In the past I have started off recording data about my daily riding but soon flag, either forgetting or cba.

Since I started working in Cambridge just over two years ago I have ridden about 20k miles and saved a fortune in fuel and costs of tyres etc for my car although still use it to drive half way to work following being knocked down in a hit and run at start of oct (driver never caught). However during winter it was my plan as last year and the year before to drive half way to the GBW in St Ives then ride the rest into Cambridge in total safety except for rabbits, ducks and lots of horse sh1t to negotiate which is a round trip of about 30 miles maybe a few more miles. This I do 5-6 times a week. Then this summer in June when the weather finally got nice I started riding full distance from home to work 60-62 mile round trip which was hard at first but then by mid August I was thinking nothing of it only taking about 10 mins longer than driving half way and cycling the rest. But after the hit and run at start of October I promised my gf and Mum as they were so worried for my safety that I would go back to driving half way to the GBW and then cycling on this and the dedicated cycle paths and pavements of Cambridge to get to work. So like you riding to and from work has been an integral and essential part of my life and me. Passing the aftermath last week of the 16 year old girl cyclist knocked down and killed on the Milton Road has really shoot me up again. It's dangerous out there, be careful folks. Unfortunately there are quite a few farkers driving that wouldn't think twice about knocking you down and leaving you for dead.
 
OP
OP
kevin_cambs_uk
Location
Near Cambridge
Well done for producing the stats Kevin! You are well disciplined, respect.

In the past I have started off recording data about my daily riding but soon flag, either forgetting or cba.

Since I started working in Cambridge just over two years ago I have ridden about 20k miles and saved a fortune in fuel and costs of tyres etc for my car although still use it to drive half way to work following being knocked down in a hit and run at start of oct (driver never caught). However during winter it was my plan as last year and the year before to drive half way to the GBW in St Ives then ride the rest into Cambridge in total safety except for rabbits, ducks and lots of horse sh1t to negotiate which is a round trip of about 30 miles maybe a few more miles. This I do 5-6 times a week. Then this summer in June when the weather finally got nice I started riding full distance from home to work 60-62 mile round trip which was hard at first but then by mid August I was thinking nothing of it only taking about 10 mins longer than driving half way and cycling the rest. But after the hit and run at start of October I promised my gf and Mum as they were so worried for my safety that I would go back to driving half way to the GBW and then cycling on this and the dedicated cycle paths and pavements of Cambridge to get to work. So like you riding to and from work has been an integral and essential part of my life and me. Passing the aftermath last week of the 16 year old girl cyclist knocked down and killed on the Milton Road has really s*** me up again. It's dangerous out there, be careful folks. Unfortunately there are quite a few f***ers driving that wouldn't think twice about knocking you down and leaving you for dead.

Thanks for the reply Crankarm, 60 mile round trip, blimey you put me to shame mate.
 

BlackPanther

Hyper-Fast Recumbent Riding Member.
Location
Doncaster.
Well done, and interesting stats-particularly the rain days. Yup it's nice to ride in warm, sunny weather but when you keep a note, it's amazing how few times you do get wet. The chances of it raining on a particular day in England are, as we know quite high, but I only spend 1.5 hours a day cycling, so the chances of getting wet per day are actually quite low. Today was the first time in weeks that I got positively soaked....and that was just wheeling the bike from the garage!

A lot of people are amazed that we commuters ride 'in all weathers', but as I explain to them. Rain is just water, I wear waterproofs when it's cold, and if it's not cold, then my skin is actually waterproof anyway.
 

jonny jeez

Legendary Member
Cheers! Either my memory is getting worse or I never knew such league table was there!

As for the stats I wanted to make sure that I was saving money and since getting rid of the car in 2010, cancelling the gym car insurance tax running cost and petrol I estimated I saved about 9k
I think the petrol alone was about. 6 quid per day over 900 journeys was over 5k
In the early years I had to accumulate a lot of stuff like spares, clothes and tools so the costs go down the big spikes are when new wheels are needed

Kev

http://www.cyclechat.net/threads/are-you-a-high-roller.39476/

Blimey, it was 2009, not 2011...Have I been doing this that long!!

PS, your memory *is* getting worse.
 
OP
OP
kevin_cambs_uk
Location
Near Cambridge
Excellent and congratulations, very inspirational!

Going by costs for your bike, I notice it kind of mimics what I went thru. The first year of cycling the cost was very low, then in the next couple of years I experimented with new clothes, bikes, bike repair training, wheels and so on. Then in the latter years it settled right down again as I new what I wanted, how long components and clothes last, where to get better deals, etc.

Not counting the cost of bikes (as you mentioned), is that what you noticed as well when calculating your expenditure?

The big items were the wheels, first set were 550, they hang in the garage for special occasions now!, too good for commuting, I did 5,000 miles on them and the rim cracked so Trek replaced it for free, as they were still under guarantee, at that time I nicked the wife's wheels, and then bought another set which were heavier, but more robust. So now its mostly just consumables, tyres, chains, cassettes, break blocks. All the rest h been accumulated, the box of spares, the tools etc. So next year I expect it to be more around 300 per year, which compared to the car is brilliant.
 
OP
OP
kevin_cambs_uk
Location
Near Cambridge
Well done, and interesting stats-particularly the rain days. Yup it's nice to ride in warm, sunny weather but when you keep a note, it's amazing how few times you do get wet. The chances of it raining on a particular day in England are, as we know quite high, but I only spend 1.5 hours a day cycling, so the chances of getting wet per day are actually quite low. Today was the first time in weeks that I got positively soaked....and that was just wheeling the bike from the garage!

A lot of people are amazed that we commuters ride 'in all weathers', but as I explain to them. Rain is just water, I wear waterproofs when it's cold, and if it's not cold, then my skin is actually waterproof anyway.

I a not one to moan about the rain!:laugh:
 

Col5632

Guru
Location
Cowdenbeath
That's some effort, well done :thumbsup:
 
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