Get Paid Like a Pro to Bike to Work

This article is not written for cycle-commuters. This article is written for those who think they can’t, wish they did or have never even considered it!

Jared Hall

I first started cycle commuting as a twice-a-week challenge to lose a few pounds. Those first 20 mile days did not come easily, even in cycle-friendly Boulder, CO (where the bike lanes are numerous, but the hills even more so). However, with a little stubborn dedication and the discovery of a new and exciting challenge, I started to see good things happening… my “Mac and Cheese” belly began to recede and I began to see more “potential athlete” than “beached whale” when I looked in the mirror. 1 year after I began my quest, I had lost over 40 pounds, completed my first 100 mile ride and truly began to look and think (and eat!) like a “cyclist”. The feeling of riding is like nothing else on Earth; you can conquer a mountain as Sir Edmund Hillary did Everest, smoke through an obstacle-laden section of curvy chicanes mimicking Michael Schumacher in his Ferrari F1 car and meditate on the beauty and oneness of nature like the Dalai Lama—all in the space of a few miles!

So, now we have all agreed that riding is joyful and riding to work is just an extension of that delight (see the other articles on this website if you still don’t believe). How the heck do you get paid to ride? It’s easy. There’s no trickery, no hidden meaning, and no inside joke to this title. It really can work and (here’s the great part) you can do it too!

Suspend your disbelief (and your innate aversion to mathematics) for just a second and I’ll tell you how to get paid.

STOP USING YOUR CAR.

I know, it sounds so simple, so obvious…. But have you ever REALLY considered it?

Let’s break it down:

According to the US Census Bureau, the average American commutes about 10 miles each way. Riding this same distance at a pretty manageable 15mph would take about 45 minutes. We also know (thanks to The Energy Information Administration) that the average US automobile gets about 20 miles per gallon and today’s average US gas price (again from the EIA) is $2.26/gallon.

Using all these figures to do the math shows that getting to work by car requires ½ gallon of fuel or $1.13 in financial terms. By riding instead, you can save this money!!!

So if your ride takes 45 minutes then doing the long division shows that you can save (or “get paid”) $1.51/hour just to ride in. Of course, that doesn’t include additional savings from wear and tear on the car, reduced stress and, oh yeah, doing your part to protect the environment.

“BUT WAIT!!!” I hear you cry… “That doesn’t even match minimum wage, let alone what the stars of the pro cycling world earn!”

True enough—but what if you could, as I have done, get rid of your car altogether?

Let’s head back to our sources;

The average US car payment is around $447 per month (www.just-auto.com) and insurance runs about $80, according to carinsurance.com. We already know that fuel for the average commute is about $45 per month. Tags, maintenance and car washes can probably make up another $70 at least for a typical 3 year old vehicle.

If we tally all that up and then divide it over our 30 hour per month bicycle commute, it’s easy to see how riding to work and back every day can put over $20 per hour in your pocket.

Now for the good bit!

If we multiply this hourly rate by a full time working year, it comes out to almost $45,000. Most cycling pros are paid far less than this; even the domestiques in the Tour de France barely break $50K in salaries!

I’ll be the first to admit that I have it easy — my wife doesn’t share my passion for the bike and requires a automobile in her life, so groceries, trips to the mountains and the occasional run to Home Depot are not out of the question for me, but even if I were only saving a “paltry” $1.51 per hour, it’d still be worth it just for the personal benefits and the feeling that comes with riding.

So next time you see me on the road, snow flying and freezing wind whipping about my limbs, no need to ask why I do it: Because I get paid to!

by Jared Hall, BikeDenver Volunteer

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