We had quite a year of riding…and our “club” of Bikecommuters.com readers who are also Bikejournal.com users posted some big numbers in our inaugural year.
As you can see from the sidebar (just below the links to our Interbike 2008 coverage), Bikecommuters.com/Bikejournal.com “club” members posted 41796 miles, saving $7592.94 in gasoline costs and preventing the release of 45975.6 lbs. of C02 into the atmosphere. All this from a group of 39 members…with only a dozen or so who regularly post their mileage to the club page!!! Bravo to each and every one of you!
The club leader this year was Alan Field (user “Fatall”) of Melbourne, Australia, who posted a whopping 4604 miles for 2008. For Bikecommuters.com staff members, our own Russ Roca handily led the pack, coming in at #5. Former staff member Lance Lowry came in at #7, I came in at #10, Moe was at #12 and former staff member Jeff Rossini rounded things out at #14.
Posting miles is a lot of fun, and we like to showcase our combined efforts on the sidebar there. If you are a Bikejournal.com user, please consider joining our “club” (search for “www.bikecommuters.com” in the club search area). If you’re NOT a Bikejournal.com user, please consider that…it’s free for a basic membership and it is a great way to log your ride particulars and meet new cyclists in your area.
Happy riding in 2009!
A note about the gasoline savings: Normally, when I update our club stats (done periodically throughout the year…approximately once a month), I use the current average U.S. gasoline price as published by the U.S. Energy Information Administration on their Gasoline and Diesel Fuel Update page. For the year-end tally, I used their averaged gasoline price for the entire year of 2008, which is posted at their Short Term Energy Outlook page. In all of these calculations (gas savings and C02 emissions), we use an average mileage rate of 18 MPG…
Popularity: 10% [?]
Related Posts:
Bike Commuter Essentials at PricePoint.com
12 responses so far ↓
1 Bob // Jan 1, 2009 at 11:51 pm
I have never kept an “official” record of my mileage, but I decided to give it a try because I get tired of the skeptical looks I get sometimes.
Now I wish I would have read this posting before I went and learned how to build a spreadsheet with Google Docs. Maybe I’ll do both.
2 Ghost Rider // Jan 2, 2009 at 4:48 am
Bob, we’ve written about Bikejournal.com before:
http://www.bikecommuters.com/?s=bikejournal
You can tailor your homemade spreadsheet to include clothing and other gear used, average speed and lots of other measurements. That makes doing your own useful.
For other folks who don’t want to mess with Excel or Google Docs, the basic subscription to Bikejournal only offers a few tools, but the inexpensive paid subscription offers quite a bit more — either way, it is fun and easy to use.
3 Jake // Jan 2, 2009 at 5:09 am
I searched for the Bikecommuters.com “club” on Bikejournal, but I can’t seem to find it… I’d love to add my mileage for commuting!
4 2whls3spds // Jan 2, 2009 at 6:15 am
Then there are the thousands of us who don’t bother to track mileage, wear “normal”
clothes and ride our merry way along. LOL I quit tracking mileage years ago. Base on general averages I probably rode ~1000 miles this year. I am sure I spent more than I saved in fuel costs (vintage bikes have a tendency to be that way) but my cycling is an outlet, a way to stay relatively healthy and a stress release, as well as an inexpensive hobby.
Happy New Year Everybody!
Aaron
5 Ghost Rider // Jan 2, 2009 at 7:41 am
Jake, on your Bikejournal.com profile page, hover over “clubs” (or from the start page, hover over “clubs”) and select “manage my clubs” if that link is available. There’s a dropdown arrow…scroll down to “www.bikecommuters.com” and add the club.
They’ve changed the club search tool. It used to be that you could search using keywords rather than selecting a state and all that.
@Aaron — sure, there are plenty of folks who don’t log their miles. For those people, Bikejournal.com is a waste of time. For those of us who like that sort of information (bikes ridden and their respective yearly mileages, weather conditions and all that other stuff), Bikejournal.com is a goldmine!
6 Mike Myers // Jan 2, 2009 at 9:12 am
Thanks, Ghost! Seems like a very useful site. Don’t know how I missed it.
7 Rick // Jan 2, 2009 at 1:49 pm
I’m #1 for 2009. Whoot.
8 Lance // Jan 2, 2009 at 3:00 pm
Great resource for tracking miles. I’d come home from rides excited to post my mileage and see my totals. Helps to gauge yourself and set realistic goals for the next year too.
Also cool to just be able to realize that there are others out there with you, commuting the good commute!
We’re not alone out there, though the vehicles make us feel like that way sometimes.
9 ian // Jan 3, 2009 at 3:38 am
i’ve just signed up so there is another 5500km to add to the total (3500miles)
10 Bob // Jan 3, 2009 at 5:46 pm
Ghost Rider: I will keep track of my combined trainer miles and riding miles on my spreadsheet.
But I joined Bike Commuters club on Bike Journal to track my commute and utilitarian miles.
11 ponger // Jan 6, 2009 at 5:44 pm
Something I noticed was that while looking at the 2008 stats, my miles only appeared on the primary club,not the others I had joined, one of which was bikecommuters. So I’ve changed my primary club to bike commuters for 2009 and now my rides appear for that club.
12 Ghost Rider // Jan 6, 2009 at 5:52 pm
Ponger, that’s how Bikejournal’s club system works — your miles only get credited to your primary or “default” club. Thanks for adding yours to the pool!
Leave a Comment