Lincolnite

Riding my bike everywhere has not only helped my pocketbook, but my sanity.  So far this year I have filled up my truck twice, the car a few times.  I really only drive when I have to go somewhere with the partner or big shopping.

And I think we pretty much know the things that are making the price of gas so high.

I’m jealous that BorK can do that. We live too far from downtown to make biking a viable option on workdays and the wife works on the opposite side of town. The amount of money we give to the oil companies sickens me.  Once school starts, I have to drive to get my son to school on time.

Kinda wish we lived closer to downtown now.

I filled up for over $45 dollars on Saturday.  This caused me to do two things:

1. Consider a downtown YMCA membership so I can bike and then shower.  Biking is not an option without showering before coming to work.  I would have done this already if the weight room at the downtown Y didn’t have the feel of a dungeon and the equipment that Arnold used when he won Mr. Olympia.  Without a satisfactory weight room, I have to have a gym membership elsewhere, which means I have to travel way out of my way almost every day.  In addition, I don’t want to pay for two gyms.  So if my place of work had a shower, I would bike instead of drive.

2. Scooter shopping!  I need one that goes at least 45 mph and doesn’t cost too much.  I found a couple online in the $1400-$2000 range that will go over 55mph and get no fewer than 60 miles per gallon.  Getting the scooter will help in many ways: a) Cheap(er)/easier transportation around town, b) Will extend the life of my 100,000+ mile car, and c) gas prices aren’t going down, so a significant investment now will certainly pay off in the long run.  Weather will create some issues, but last I checked this is neither Seattle nor the North Pole, so it should be worth it. 

Does anyone own a scooter and/or use one for for primary transportation?  I know I haven’t thought it completely through so assistance would be appreciated.

No, StarTran is not an option. 😉

I am very fortunate to live 1.1 miles from work.  During my ride home for lunch I get a bit warm, but not too bad.  If I parked I would have to walk 4 blocks to get to work, and I live 10 blocks away.

As incentive I have joined the Cornbread Commuter Challenge.  having to buy 13 beers and post a pic of yourself driving keeps me on it.

Smelling funny at work is not a good idea.  They have showers in the basement of the capitol, but I do not need them.

The wife works even closer and drives every day.  I can beat her home every time.

good scooter discussion here

Dave K - Yeah tell me about the lack of a really great gym in DT. I live near DT and I drive all the way to south Lincoln to my gym 3-4 days a week. Love the gym - Lifepointe - but the drive sucks. Yes I realize that by big city standards I shouldn’t be complaining because the drive really isn’t that bad, but one would think that there would be a really nice gym open to the public in the DT area, and unfortunately the DT Y is not one of them.

I paid one month for the downtown Y.  It was horribly crowded and one can only see so much man meat.

I swear two buff dudes were talking by the lockers nude, I swam, ran, and stair stepped.  When I came back they were still nude conversing.  I am all for the GLBT rights, but PLEASE cover that stuff up and hit a bar or something.

Thanks for the link, bork.

If there was a suitable gym downtown, my daily commute would be cut from 16 miles to roughly 6.  I go all the way to 70th and Pioneers (Anytime Fitness) every day, and I live in the vicinity of 48th and O (Sports Courts is not and never will be an option).  I asked the owner/operator of that place if she would think about opening a downtown gym (I told her she would sell thousands of memberships). She said the only thing she would consider doing is a smaller version of AT, but even that was a longshot.

So, the aforementioned Y is out of the question.  The other downtown gym ‘option’ is the Downtown Fitness something-or-other.  I made the mistake of reading the source code/meta tags of their website when they first opened.  Since this is a family site, you’ll have to email me if you want details.  Nevertheless, I will never think about going there. 

All this has got me thinking that if I were to open a small place that is essentially a stand-alone locker room, it would be successful.  I bet if one of the 900 coffee shops downtown wanted to stand out, building ‘locker rooms’ would be the way to go.

that is a very interesting idea.  Of course there would be “issues”, butt (he he) if centrally located it might just work.  The monthly fee would have to be much lower than a gym.  Maybe a truck stop shower type thing / bike storage facility, oh man that would be cool

Soon the bike trails that will be connected to downtown.  Although I hear that the downtown garages are going to be doing bike storage areas here soon.  I think I saw one being built today at the centrum garage.  It would be a monthly fee cage where folks get cards and can still lock their bikes up.  Gotta love the bike friendly intentions of this fine city.  I will take what I can get.

I wish downtown businesses (well, mine at least) would become biker friendly.  I know of a couple people that bike to work and they don’t shower.  I couldn’t do that.  I’d have a 3-mile ride in the morning but that’s still enough to stir the sweat glands.  Locker rooms are a staple in downtown businesses in bigger cities.  That’s a big-city trend that would be good to see roll through Lincoln.

Saint Paul United Methodist Church is at 11th and M streets and they have a nice locker room attached to their gym.

They don’t have the staff to open early to allow people to shower in the mornings, but if people were willing to pay an affordable fee to use the locker for a quick shower after biking to work, maybe they could hire someone to unlock the place early.

I know I would be willing to pay for that. What do you suppose a reasonable fee would be?

I would pay $15-20 per month for simple locker room amenities.  It needs to be low enough so as not to consider a Y membership.

I’m not in the market for this, so take this with a grain of salt. It seems like a fair price would be $2-$3 per shower, or $15-$20 per month. Does that sound about right?

I shower every day, so $2-3 x 20 days = $40-60. 😉

Well right, but don’t you expect a volume discount?

I’d expect to pay a monthly fee which would be the same whether I use it or not.  Paying by the day makes the economic considerations more apparent.  For example, if I were to pay $2-3 per day, I would not save any money day-to-day by biking, since that is roughly what I pay to drive. (I wouldn’t bike solely to save money, but economics do need to fit into that decision somewhere).

Good info.! If enough people signed up they might be willing to try it.

I wonder how many people would be interested in using it? If you’re so inclined, put out some feelers among bike commuters you know to see if they think it’s a good idea.

In the meantime, I’ll ask the church if it’s something they’d be willing to consider.