So why the eBike? Pedaling too good for you?

So why am I riding an eBike in the first place? In a word: laziness.. and cheapness. Wait, that's at least two words. Let me explain...

I hate exercising.  Well, that's technically not true. What I hate is exercising for the sake of exercising. I cannot go for a run, ride a bike, take a swim or lift any weights simply for the need to getting fit. I find it all terribly boring, thus something I don't continue doing on any regular basis.

On the other hand I don't want to die of a heart attack or diabetes any time soon either. So my solution has always been to make exercise part of something else. For instance when I was single the grocery store was about half a mile away from my apartment so instead of driving to the store I would walk. Always take the stairs over an elevator. Ride a bike when appropriate. My current house is about a half a mile from a metro stop and my work sits on top of the Bethesda metro station, so I walk roughly a mile a day during my daily commute.

This is all well and good, but anyone who rides the Metro knows its not exactly cheap. $3.80 during rush hour each way to be precise, and this is where my cheapness comes in. While $7.60 a day is cheaper than owning and maintaining a second car its still adds up to a nice chunk of change over time.  A few years ago when the Capital Bike Share came to town I grabbed an annual membership for half price via a living social deal (about $40 for a year). Since there were about 4 bike docks within a five minute walk from my house it seemed like something worth trying at that price. I found it to be very handy service and have renewed my membership. During the summer months I experimented with using the bike shares to ride home. Unfortunately the closest bike racks were located at the UDC metro station which required me to still use the metro (thus spend $$$) and the commute would take me down Connecticut Ave during rush hour, which isn't exactly the safest thing to do. You're either on the road pissing off drivers or on the sidewalk pissing off pedestrians.

Thankfully some time in 2014 two things happened: 1) Capital Bike Share expanded into Bethesda and put two bike racks within spitting distance of my office and 2) something bad happened one afternoon in the Bethesda metro. Bad enough that the metro station was closed *and* the fire and rescue trucks completely blocked the bus terminal so all public transportation was hosed, and I had tickets to a Nats game that night so hanging around until all was well wasn't a great option.

"Okay, I have a bike rental membership, I should be able to get to the next stop at Friendship Heights." This is what led me to discover the Capital Crescent Trail. It crosses Woodmont Ave about 3 blocks from my office. Perfect. It got me to Friendship Heights and home in time to catch the first pitch.

This got me to thinking: can I realistically ride home via the trail? The map showed that I could take the trail for roughly 7 mile, at which point I'd be dumped onto K St. in Georgetown. From there it appeared to be only a couple extra miles via bike friendly roads. So, one summer Friday I bailed out of work early and attempted it.

The commute

Needless to say, since I hadn't used the rental bikes to go more than 2 or 3 miles at a clip, let alone 11; that first trip home was brutal. But it did prove it was possible, and cheaper than using the metro.

Capital Bike Share pricing is that any trip less than half an hour is "free." If you have an annual plan ($75) then any trip between 31 and 60 minutes costs $1.50. There are a couple of bike docks right where the trail ends on K street, which is about the halfway point time-wise for the entire commute. During the first few weeks of riding I was clocking about 30 - 40 minutes per leg, so at worst I was paying $3.00 per trip home: a savings of $0.80 a day. This, however, improved pretty quickly as I got used to riding the bike. After about a month I could do Bethesda to K street under half and hour about half the time, and consistently beat half an hour on the K street to home leg. This made my commute home roughly $0.75 a day; a savings of $2.95 a day. Saving money and 11 miles of bike riding exercise a day. Not too shabby...