Save fuel, the environment, and your heart!

If you own a car then you know that gas is a serious expense.  And if you’ve ever been in a touring band and traveled in a van with a trailer, or even worse a bus, you know that gas accounts for about 80-90% of touring expenses.  Our van and trailer combo gets about 11 miles per gallon when loaded up.  And that’s highway mileage by the way.  So who knows how terrible our in-town mileage is.

When touring, we’ll get to town and have daily tasks like going to Panera for the free WiFi, or going to the mall to promote the show that night.  Throw in random trips and we use anywhere between 2-10 gallons of gas driving around town.  These trips are often within a 5 mile radius.  If we didn’t have to drive everywhere we would save a lot of money, not to mention reduce our carbon footprint.  I’ve found a great solution that offers an additional health benefit…

Ride a bike instead.  If you ride a bike for all of your short trips, not only will you save gas, you will get an extra dose of exercise.  You can easily bike an average of 12 miles per hour so you can get a lot accomplished biking in a 5 mile radius.  I’ve been taking all my short trips by bike to places like the gym, the bank, and the grocery store (for small runs).  I really love it.

Not to mention, cycling can easily burn 200-400 calories an hour.  Do this all week and you’re shedding pounds and saving dough.  This is a great lifestyle change whether you’re on the road or at home.  A bike will pay itself off quickly, not to mention it’s fun!

I recently got a Trek Hybrid 7000 bike (pictured above), but any bike will do.  You can use a road bike, mountain bike, hybrid, or even a bmx.  As long as you’re comfortable while riding, ride it!

To read more articles by Zack Pennington, check out his blog at www.road-warrior-fitness.com