tradeoffs

I've had a vehicle now for 32 days.

In this time, I've logged my two lowest weeks of mileage since starting tracking it on April 8 - but not because I've been supporting myself via truck instead of bicycle. In reviewing my Bike Log I can pinpoint a few reason:

• two days immediately following the purchase of the truck, I did not ride at all (playing with my new toy?)


• the following week, I was off the bike for four days - Adria and I went to Tahoe that week, and I was off-bike for three days beforehand, then rode hard in Tahoe for two days, then stayed off-bike for one day after returning


• the third week after the purchase, Adria and I went to Humboldt for an Aslanian family affair and I did not ride

So, I'm OK with how few miles I put in since buying a vehicle, and I don't connect it directly to having access to a vehicle. I think all other things being held constant, I still would have had a couple of low-mileage weeks even if I hadn't bought the truck.

And all that got me thinking about tradeoffs.

I can leave for work 20 minutes later in the mornings if I choose to drive. So, the benefit of driving is extra time. Chilling at home before leaving for work has always been valuable to me. My day is set up so much better when I don't rush out the door for work, but instead enjoy the solitude that morning presents, enjoy some good coffee while reading, make a nice breakfast, or practice yoga.

Then I thought about the cost of that tradeoff. There's the financial cost - $4 round-trip, plus wear-and-tear on the vehicle. There's the mental cost - waiting in lines of cars and not being in control of my world, and the stress that creates. There's the environmental cost - short trips put an inordinate amount of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. There's the emotional cost - the way I feel when I arrive at work after driving versus riding is the exact opposite of empowering (just knowing that I've ridden for 45 minutes before 7am...super-good feeling).

So, yeah, the benefit of driving to work isn't worth the cost. That being said, I also don't regret having bought the vehicle - it affords me many other benefits that are worth the cost. But I also don't regret leaving it sitting in the driveway more mornings than not as I roll down the street on two wheels.

In celebration of my revelation, I share with you some pictures from my commute to and from work today:

The sky that I got to stare into as I rode my bike:

The funnniest bumper stickers I've seen in a long time:A guy in a lab coat staring at the ocean as two girls walk by:

Actually, the guy isn't real. He's part of a mural on the Shopper's Corner wall: