2 Mile Challenge

[onimity]

Very cool Eden, thanks. My no-drive radius is more like 10 miles, more if you include transit, but everything (apart from my office) is within a 6 mile radius of my house, and biking that distance is faster than driving.

I'm like you in that I shop almost daily. I find that I eat a lot better that way, but I am lucky to have a store a mile away and a Wild Oats (which I usually go to) a little over 2 miles away. I just made my first bike-to-Costco trip this weekend (it is about 6 miles away and I definitely pushed the 70 lb limit on the trailer!) but it was a lot easier than I expected. Not to mention that I got serious props from the cashier and some good-looking guys in the parking lot.

A trailer has made a big difference for me in making errands bike-friendly. I used to walk out for cat litter & detergent but it is so much easier & faster on the bike with the trailer.

Anne

[Tri Girl]

That was really interesting, Eden- thanks for posting it!
I guess I didn't realize how many of the things I go to are in my 2 mile radius. There's so much traffic, that I hadn't considered riding my bike... until recently. I just bought an OLD steel bike that I'm restoring (got if for $5 and am putting about $60 into it). It'll be my errand bike. I plan on putting a basket and rear rack and using it to grocery shop and go other quick places.

[elk]

Gosh...the world is at my doorstep!! But in order to get to it, I have to do some major hills on narrow, bike lane-less and fairly well traffic-ed roads...

But I can go to the park and a coffeshop really easily!
Gosh darn it, I think I will!

[Deborajen]

Thanks for sharing the link. That's a good challenge - and a good reminder. Cargo seems to be my biggest obstacle, but when I can work around that, why not?

We're golfers and there is a golf course within two miles of us. My son used to (and still does sometimes) take his putter and ride his bike to the practice greens. We're still trying to figure out how to take a whole bag of clubs. We all laugh at the thought of carrying them on our backs, but who knows - they make kid trailers - maybe we can rig a trailer out of the hand cart --

Deb

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

4 1/2 years ago when DH & I bought our current house, we made a big decision to give up on the idea of living out on some isolated coountry road somewhere and instead buy a house on the village outskirts so we would not be so dependent on cars to get anywhere. This was the best decision!
We bike all the time to the bank, the PO, drugstore, bakery, etc. I can't even imagine how much we now save in gas and car use, and we don't pollute the air like we used to. Many times i'll walk the mile round trip to Main St and back for some little errand, just because it's wonderful exercise.
Because we are now more aware of using our cars, driving somewhere seems like a bigger deal than before, and that makes us consolidate our car trips more too.
The only thing is our house is at the top of a VERY steep 1/4 mile hill, so every time we walk or bike out the last thing we do is have to climb that hill. We have pretty much gotten used to it though, and truly the hill doesn't seem quite as steep as it did a couple of years ago.

[kelownagirl]

The only place I can ride in 3km is work (school). Hard part is that it's downhill the whole way which means a long slow climb after work with a full backpack and whiny kid. We haven't figured out a way to do our grocery shopping via bike yet. If we're out riding, we really don't want to weigh our road bikes down with trailers etc. However, we are currently a one-car family now and we're doing pretty well saving energy that way.

[HappyAnika]

I live in the old central part of our town. While the newer outskirts have fantastic bike lanes and roads with shoulders, it is very difficult, if not impossible, to get to any of the retail areas safely on a bike. It's easy to get out of town and ride to neighboring towns, which is why I'd rather ride the 40 miles round trip to work (out of town) than ride the 4 miles round trip to my gym (in town). Some places are easy to get to on my bike, like the library, the ice cream store, the pool, but others just aren't. We can also walk to a lot of restaurants since we are just 2 blocks from the old downtown area.

Oh, and I just love it when people honk at me on the highway (between towns) like I'm in their way because I'm on my bike (on the right side of an 8 foot wide shoulder). From my point of view they should be thanking me I'm not yet one more car in that awful 2 mile long line of stopped cars waiting to get through the next traffic light.

[Eden]

Thanks for sharing the link. That's a good challenge - and a good reminder. Cargo seems to be my biggest obstacle, but when I can work around that, why not?

We're golfers and there is a golf course within two miles of us. My son used to (and still does sometimes) take his putter and ride his bike to the practice greens. We're still trying to figure out how to take a whole bag of clubs. We all laugh at the thought of carrying them on our backs, but who knows - they make kid trailers - maybe we can rig a trailer out of the hand cart --

Deb

I've seen a golf bag specific bike attachment! I'm going to look for it right now.

Ha it took some doing but found it! (originally came across this as I was trying to figure out how to make a home-made bike trailer)

http://www.traileron.com/

[SadieKate]

Even though you can do the same search on mapping functions, somehow it's more fun with all the little bikes. Since I'm moving soon, this help put some perspective on my errands. Cool.

[teigyr]

We walk everywhere. We walk to the grocery store (DH takes a backpack), to dinner, and just for fun. Home Depot is walking distance as are many other places. If we go downtown, we will generally take the bus unless there's a really good reason for us not to.

It amazes me the people who will drive 3/4 mile for something minor.

Costco is more than 2 miles away but even if it wasn't, I'd have to drive. We buy many, many heavy things.

[Deborajen]

I've seen a golf bag specific bike attachment! I'm going to look for it right now.

Ha it took some doing but found it! (originally came across this as I was trying to figure out how to make a home-made bike trailer)

http://www.traileron.com/

Wow - I can't believe there actually is one! I figured there would be something that would work with a little altering --

And it works with hand cart - (use the hand cart on the golf course as well), or it works with a kids' wagon, or with a basket on wheels - hmm . . . could be really useful for other things as well.

Thanks for posting that.

Deb