Salvage

Ever since my touring bicycle was stolen, I've been riding my old fixed-gear Schwinn Tempo for utility rides, such as getting to and from work and the grocery store—though one is, of course, free to question the utility of going to work. And riding the Schwinn has reminded me how, with a little effort and know-how, old road bikes remain great rides and how fixed-gear bicycles are fun rides and, most importantly of all, that one needn't spend a lot of money to get around town in comfort and ease and to participate in the city's great network of bike routes.

It's not just that one needn't spend a lot on transportation; having my bike stolen taught me that one shouldn't spend a lot on transportation—or at least not its utilitarian forms. Locking up a bicycle in a seedy public location is semi-stupid when that bicycle costs on the order of $1000. Chop a zero off that figure, and one can afford to have one bicycle stolen per month and still manage to spend less on transportation than motorists do and even the motorists who buy cheap and drive their cars into the ground.

Awhile ago, I wrote about how the fuel costs of bicycling and motoring are not that greatly different. Kilocalorie for kilocalorie, gasoline remains some of the cheapest food on the planet and far cheaper than anything humans can digest. Bicycling pulls slightly ahead of motoring with regard to fuel costs because with bicycling the transportation machine itself weighs literally a ton or more less, and far less energy is needed to move a bicycle than an automobile, mile for mile.

However, fuel costs are but a fraction of one's transportation costs and especially so for motoring. There are also depreciation, maintenance, and insurance costs. At the time I rid myself of my car, I figured car ownership cost me about $2k/yr, all things considered. As it happens, I spend much more than this on bicycling, but that has to do with racing and training and all my non-utilitarian bicycling pursuits. Actual utility pursuits of bicycling needn't be greater than a couple hundred dollars for depreciation and maintenance and, frankly, I figure most people would gladly pay $2k/yr to be able to eat 3,000-5,000 kcal daily and be my size. This is to say that measuring fuel costs in money alone doesn't do bicycling justice.

Also, my estimation of $2k/yr for car ownership is rather cheap compared to most people's car-ownership costs. Most car owners pay at least $2k/yr for depreciation alone: e.g., a $20k car owned for 10 years. Figuring that a lot of middle-class people pay more for their cars, own them for less time, drive them more miles and consume more gas than I did, and have more serious mechanical problems than I ever did, one begins to see how much of a racket transportation can be. A lot of folks' paychecks are largely redirected right back to paying for the machine that they use to go to work each morning.

Though I've been car-free for a little over two years and car-light if you consider that Laura owns a car (and takes the bus to work most mornings!), I was suckered into my own transportation racket by riding my too-nice touring bicycle around town for utility trips. Transportation is about (1) getting to where you're going and (2) having fun doing so. I don't speak for others when I say that, for me, any right-sized, well maintained road bike makes accomplishing #2 automatic. That leaves #1 and my recently relearned lesson that a cheap bike can work just as well as an expensive bike. I think the key word for accomplishing #1 is salvage. I ended up riding too much bike around town because I garnered expectations as to what my bicycle should be. I became particular about my method for accomplishing #1. Now, I'm riding my Schwinn not because it's the bike I want to be riding but because it's the bike that was easily and cheaply available at the time my other bicycle was stolen. If my Schwinn is stolen from me, too, then I'll replace it with whatever happens to be easily and cheaply available at that time. Salvage.

Except the saddle. There's nothing quite like the comfort of riding around town with butt atop a well made leather saddle. I question my judgment when I lock my Schwinn to a bike rack and leave my saddle exposed to theft. Perhaps instead I should be locking my saddle to the bike rack and exposing my bicycle to theft?