Saddle Up, Bend
Recently an article about how to save money in Bend during the summer months caught my eye. Another bike rider was hit pretty hard by the craigslist rants and raves, as is typical from those overly large humans out there who drive their SUVs. All the person was saying to those people who live close to work, burn some calories, get the heart racing, make less visits to the overpaid doctors, etc. I run into so many overweight women who complain that gym rates are too high. They have no time to work out but they have time to go to their favorite bar and eat. OK, let's work out the math people. The average car holds roughly 16 gallons of gasoline and medium unleaded costs $3.33 and this equates to $53.28 per fill. Now if you were to use a tank of gas per week this will run you $213.12 per month now multiply this by 12 and it will be in the ballpark of $2,557. This kind of extra income could be used for a vacation for your family, schooling, bills, food etc.
Now we already know that most people do not want to commute in the winter, not because it is cold or snowy, but because the city does not no how to clean the roads - even though we are in the USA and it is 2008. Perhaps if we all went out with shovels and cleaned the streets we could all drive and ride safely throughout Bend. Going back to riding in the summer when the weather is perfect, let's say most people live within 4 miles of work and have the opportunity to ride any bike. They can easily save $400 throughout that time and help Bend curb the growing pollution. They will help their cardio, see things they cannot in a car, say hi to the locals as they pass by, listen to the sound of the river or the wind in the trees, etc. Bend will never be like Portland, but it can head in the same direction. Wish you all well and hope to see more of you out there. In the summer you will see me on a bright pink single speed custom mountain bike wearing my girlie clothes.
Bye!!
Carrot Queen
