Bikes save a wad of cash

Sky-high gas prices aren't giving Bill Figel the blues. He's managed to save money by navigating around them. Two years ago he gave the family van to charity and, instead of buying another second car, he invested in bicycles.

"I purchased three bikes from garage sales, fixed them up and use them to commute downtown by train," said the 53-year-old political consultant and president of Chicago-based Figel Public Relations. "After I walk my three kids to school, I bike to the 107th Street station on the Metra Rock Island line. The 9:17 is never on time, but still gets me to my desk downtown before 10 a.m."

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