I have to applaud you, Mimi. All summer, I kept thinking the same thing about trips to the post office, pharmacy/grocery, etc. Heck, one of the LBS's I use is only 2 miles from my home! I should be able to hop on the bike with a backpack and go, but instead I pick up the car keys.

Unfortunately, I am by nature a sloth For some reason, I can't get myself into the habit of using the bike for anything beyond "excursion" riding, when I load it up on the car and go somewhere to ride it.

This year's goal was to increase my riding distance. Next year's goal: Get off the trail and get comortable with road-riding, with the side-goal of using the bike for errands and such. Reading posts like yours, Mimi, should help quite a bit in achieving that.