Utility Cycling - When does recreational cycling become utility cycling?

I've always considered myself a recreational biker. I ride for enjoyment and exercise mostly, replacing the workouts from field sports given up to injury. But I would like to regularly commute if I can find a route I'm comfortable with. I have fitted my bike with a rear rack and a method for some modest transport of goods.

Yesterday I rode into town to meet a friend for coffee. While out, I picked up a newspaper and rode home. The total trip was about 15 miles. Needless to say, I got my exercise and my recreation. But, would the transport of the newspaper be considered utility?

Yesterday I rode into town to meet a friend for coffee. While out, I picked up a newspaper and rode home. The total trip was about 15 miles. Needless to say, I got my exercise and my recreation. But, would the transport of the newspaper be considered utility?
Sounds like you might be stuck in the intermediate zone of fred-ness. If roadies are gay and Dutch postal workers het, you might be bi. It's a spectrum, but people tend to gravitate toward the ends. You may feel conflicted, for instance, about whether having 6, 18, 28, or 36 spokes is the right choice for carrying a newspaper, or confused about whether it's OK to have electrolyte drink in your water bottle/hydration system when you're actually going out for coffee. if you wear a helmet, is it aerodynamic, and what implications does this have for your stated intent of getting exercise, where more drag gives a better workout?

semi-seriously, i'd call it utility cycling if it's undertaken in fulfillment of errands you'd complete by other means if you had no suitable bike and related equipment, such as driving, walking, or taking the bus. if it happens also to meet a recreational and exercise need, that's just gravy.

so, were you going to get coffee with your friend and bring that newspaper one way or another? utility cycling. did you enjoy yourself more than you would taking another means of transit? you win.

LOL... barely... no just kidding I think honestly any time you replace a car, bus, train or walking with cycling as a means of transportation to get from point A to point B... If you use your bike to go get a newspaper, of just to go to the coffee shop it is considered utility cycling in the simplest sense of the term. Obviously some people go beyond that and add racks and trailers for even more utility... but if you are replacing a trip you would have taken in your car (for example) it is utility cycling.

tfarhner - nice reply I got interrupted while typing mine other wise we may have submitted almost the same answer at the same time... LOL...

I consider this utility.....you didn't drive your car, you did something almost mundane....what better definition of utility?

So you just got coffee and a paper....next time it might be bagels, or take out. or a prescription or some milk.

Utility is simple. It does not have to be hauling huge loads. I have no stats but I would bet money that well over 50% of the errands people run in cars could be done with just your run of the mill bike and a basket, panniers or even a backpack.

Some times I think people forget the simple part of bikes and utility.

ok off of my soap box

If it was an LA Times from ten years ago maybe it was a utility ride but your description sounds like a life style choice.

Well, I was going to ride anyway yesterday. The weather for early March in VA was fantastic. But, when my friend suggested coffee I figured I'd ride to the shop and pick up the paper. While I've figured out how to get some groceries with the bike, I'd not really thought about it being used as a *utility* device for a Washington Post.

Now, if I can just figure out how to find a safe path to work.....

There are a few sites that can help pick good routes here is one:

http://bycycle.org/

I've always considered myself a recreational biker. I ride for enjoyment and exercise mostly, replacing the workouts from field sports given up to injury. But I would like to regularly commute if I can find a route I'm comfortable with. I have fitted my bike with a rear rack and a method for some modest transport of goods.

Yesterday I rode into town to meet a friend for coffee. While out, I picked up a newspaper and rode home. The total trip was about 15 miles. Needless to say, I got my exercise and my recreation. But, would the transport of the newspaper be considered utility?

To me… one crosses over to Utility Biker status when you start finding yourself looking at packs of bungee cord straps, and tie downs, and wondering what you could strap to the rack of your bicycle with them. Or you find yourself thinking, I bet I could pull my Bass Boat, if I could figure out a way to hitch the trailer to my bike… just for the heck of it.

Also when you find yourself looking at new bikes, and wondering how much weight the rear axle is capable of supporting, or how hard it would be to ad an Xtracycle kit to it. Or, last but not least… when you lay awake at night trying to think of places to ride your bike were you can haul stuff to, or were you can buy stuff to haul home on your bike because you are running out of challenges. Then you may call yourself a Utility Biker…

Just my humble opinion… :D

P.s. I'm not quite there yet, but I'm not far from it either... I just got to get a stronger bike.:)

Have you ridden home with your handlebars hard to deal with because of the amount of grocery sacks hanging from them?
Have you used your bike to drop off your dry cleaning?
Do you own a trailer and use it to carry things other than children?
Have you even thought about carrying something larger than you on the bike?

http://homepage.mac.com/awcg/.Pictures/Bike/Giant/Rug.jpg

One of the coolest things about cycling is how it adapts to your present need. I've raced, toured, and ridden mostly for recreation. After years and years and tens of thousands of miles I find myself somewhat bored with that. I've slowly started to use the bicycle for errands and general transportation. It's reinvigorated my love of the bicycle. My longer weekend recreation rides seem special again now that I'm not riding similar routes during the week. I've re-discovered that you can ride in street clothes and that an otherwise stressful commute can be fun.

If you would have gone out to meet your friend and/or pick up the paper in a car (or any other method of transportation) then I would say you just went on a utility ride. It's a fine line.

But really I think we're all some combination. Even if you're a die-hard roadie, you could argue that cycling gives you a workout, thus cutting down on trips to the gym, thus providing ... utility. I would say that I am not a recreational cyclist at all. But I do love to bike, so even though I may say my rides are not recreational, sometimes it's a hard point to argue. If I feel the need for a ride, I may "remember" some task to do. My wife likes to bike for the fun of it and laughs at me when I try and attach a reason for our rides.
"Okay, why don't we go to the CD store? That's right off that bike path you like."
"Do you need anything from there?"
"No, but otherwise we don't have a good reason to ride out that way."
"You mean like just because it's a nice day and that's a nice ride."
"Right. Where's the point in that?"
"Sigh. Okay, let's go to the CD store."

Meanwhile I've been known to take a route home that takes me completely around the city, rather than just straight to my house. I'm commuting, so that's utility, right? But if I could get to the same destination with 1/3 less time and miles, it's hard to argue that it's not recreational, too.

My first post on this thread was kind of “Tongue in Cheek” so, I wanted to chime in another time…

For me, “Utility Cycling” is more of a Non-attitude about cycling more than anything else… I’ll try to explain: When I see someone on a bicycle I don’t automatically think that they should be dressed a certain way, or riding a certain type of bike, because bicycles can have so many uses, and be so many things to different people.

Personally though, I think once you get into a “Utility Cycling” mindset, you never look at people on bicycles the same way again. If I see someone on an old bike, with a basket on the front, and rear panniers made out of milk crates, or old ammunition cans; maybe pulling a trailer made out of part of an old shopping cart… Unlike many of my friends I don’t instantly think… “Oh, look at that poor homeless person”, or “ That’s what you get for driving drunk so many times” … I tend to admire the persons ingenuity in finding a different way to haul something on their bike. By the same token, when I see a Roadie in a full kit riding just as fast as they can go… I think, good for them; they are out getting exercise and having fun on their bike.

As far as defining when cycling becomes “Utility Cycling” to me that would be somewhere between the person who jumps on their bike in shorts tee shirt and sandals and rides to the corner store to pick up a two liter of pop, and rides home with one hand holding the two liter in the other hand… to the person with a flatbed trailer on their bike pulling a refrigerator home. It just covers so many things it’s hard to define. JMHO. :)

Never mind all that - the much more important and amusing question is: "When Does Utility Cycling Become Recreational Cycling?" Here's when: http://tinyurl.com/dzlqr9 We do this stuff year round, and it keeps us smiling as we roll.

Rob E, I know exactly what you mean! I usually have to find some reason to go for a ride. I stumbled upon this thread (http://forum.ctc.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=20761) on a British cycle forum, and it gave me a reason to go for the longest ride I've done in 10 years.

Val - that looks like a fun day out!

Nah, you have become a street person ;)

You do not have to haul cargo to be a utility cyclist. Using the bicycle for something other than just riding a bicycle turns you into a utility cyclist. However, on the other hand, do be aware that wearing spandex turns you into a bicycle cultist :)

If roadies are gay

lmao

Yesterday I rode into town to meet a friend for coffee. While out, I picked up a newspaper and rode home. The total trip was about 15 miles. Needless to say, I got my exercise and my recreation. But, would the transport of the newspaper be considered utility?

Yeah, I'll give you utility points. For me, utility riding is when the purpose of the ride is to accomplish something else besides riding.

lmao

Not that there's anything wrong with that!

So, for those of you who want to try it the other way (i.e., turning Utility Cycling into Recreational Cycling), here's your next chance in the Puget Sound area: http://www.rideyourbike.com/cargobikeride19.html For those who like the idea, but are nowhere near us, every town needs to have regular Cargo Bike Picnic rides - start some!