Environmental comparison of bicycling vs driving

[Tom Bourgeois]

Great thread, Jeff and everyone. One of the reasons that I returned to New Orleans some 20 years ago was the fact that I could pretty much bicycle year-roundaround here. These days, I don't log the miles like I once did but I try to bike to certain places whenever possible, even grocery shop at some places hereUptown. I wish more people would ride more, but we can't even get people to car-pool. Lord knows there's room in all these huge vehicles I see on theroad. Kudos to all you guys out there getting to where you are going via bicycle---ToM/NOLa

[redlines68]

LOL. I loved reading this. Well i guess theres nothing for me and Steve to debate about now.

Driven my car a grand total of 5 times since i bought my new Cannondale about a month ago. I am starting to see a savings from the cost incurred in buyinggasoline. My eating habits have stayed the same as they were before when i relied on my car to get from A to B. I eat 3 square meals a day and 2 snacks. Theonly thing different is my water consumption is more. I have a 3.5 liter water bladder that i strap to my back and usually go through it after 2-4 hoursdepending on how hard im riding (commuting or riding for recreation makes a difference in how much i consume as my recreational rides are faster and moredemanding). Before i started riding again i drank about 8-10 glasses of water a day (this does not include water i consumed while working out). So im notseeing a bigger cost incurred in the food department because my eating habits were already geared for being active.

One thing to remember is that while cycling and being physically active in general requires plenty of calories the same can be said of those that aren'tactive. In general the majority of the US population is grossly out of shape. Your average 9-5 commuter has a horrible diet. People are addicted to fast foodcontaining massive amounts of calories and im willing to bet the calorie consumption of those that arent active and eat junk food is right on par with thosethat require lots of calories in order to keep themselves functioning during physicly demanding tasks. So im not seeing a difference in consumption ofresources when it comes to food in the bike vs. car analysis. The only difference is one is burning it off and the other is not getting rid of it. And ofcourse one is using fossil fuel to get them from A-B while the other is making use of the food they consume to get to where they are going. Making it obviouslya cleaner and cheaper alternative. Just my 2 cents.

[TexKitty]

Justin, what kinda hydration pack do you have? Mine is a 2L but if I can fit a larger bladder inside the pack, I'll go for it.

[redlines68]

Kitty- Its made by Dueter. The model is called Race X Air. Its pretty cool. Even filled to the full 3.5 liters it has plenty of storage room. The part thatfits against your back is concave so it fits your back making it more comfortable than a regular backpack or hydration device. Its very light. I rode 42 milestoday with it on and my back never hurt once.