Bicycle Commute Is the Way to Go

On Nov. 12, I calculated that I had commuted by bike 10,000 miles since my employer started its commuter incentive plan in October, 1990. That is 10,000 miles on my bicycle just back and forth between home and work.

I can hardly believe how quickly the miles added up, the money I saved and how my stress level has decreased.

My commute is 26 miles per day, and I commute 80% of the time, regardless of the weather.

This equals 100 miles every week. (I also bike 100 to 400 miles each weekend.) If you figure 30-cents-per-mile savings ,then I saved $3,000 during this two-year period. My car insurance also decreased (fewer miles driven), and my employer paid me $480 per year to commute by bike. Therefore, I save over $2,000 per year! And my health has never been better.

My 10-year-old daughter intends to make me a T-shirt that shows our planet surrounded by: “Save the Earth, Ride a Bike.”

It is amazing how children can see the global significance of the smallest act. What you and I do today will affect their future.

Bike commuting may be one way to get them safely there.

JIM VON TUNGELN

Irvine