closetbiker

I've always commuted to work on my bike and I've run the odd errand on my bike as well. Still, I feel as though I should run more errands on my bike if I can.

I enjoy cycling and often it's faster, cheaper, and more convienent than the car but I still do run most errands in the car.

After Ken Kifer died, as a new years resolution, I decided to note on my bike miladge log, the errands I run on my bike. Nothing too anal. Just an E highlighted by a green felt pen, to be easily visable at a glance to see just how many errands I do run on my bike over the course of the year.

Recently, I decided to keep track of the errands I run in my car. Maybe some of those I could do on the bike, so I've tried to do a break down of the car errands to see if I can run more on my bike.

The restrictions that I have broken down are,

1) passengers - most often I'll run errands with 1 or 2 others

2) cargo - I know I can buy a trailer, but I can fit a lot of volume and weight in the car

3) weather - in pouring rain, or strong windy days, it's just easier to return the video in the car

4) entertainment - there are just some events where you have to primp and coddle yourself

5) long distance / time considerations - short rides locally can be done, but sometimes riding 2 hours to do something that can be accomplished in 30 minutes leaves you time to do other things

I'm going to note on a pad my errands in the car to see if most of them fall under these catagories.

kf5nd

That's a really good idea. Like a food log, to see what you're REALLY eating over a week's time.

closetbiker

yeah, and to see, objectively, if you can make any improvements.

noisebeam

Thats a great idea! I'm gonna keep a log of all transportation I do and use those categories you list, but also note if it is walking, bike, car. Time to make the chart...

I just put a first cut together it is an excell chart that looks like:

Date & Time, RT Distance, RT Travel Time, Mode, # of People, Trip Reason, Cargo Size/Weight, Weather, Notes

I'll put everything on it but bike commuting since I track that with much more detail elsewhere.

Al

closetbiker

After logging errands for a random 3 months, I'm done.

I work a 4 on / 4 off work schedual so I'm either at home or at work for half the month and each month I averaged 15 car errand runs and 5 bike errands.

In 45 trips in the car, I can say I only did 1 errand that I could have run on the bike.

I read a story in the paper recently that pegged the average Canadian driver putting in 16,000 kms a year. I thought that was a little lower than what I had read before, that an average driver puts in 12,000 miles (20,000 kms) a year, but maybe that was American drivers or maybe Canadians put in less miles or we have adjusted driving habits.

I put in 4,000 kms. commutting to work on my bike and I put about 12,000 kms on my car, so I guess that puts right up there with the average Canadian (aside from my bike commuting)

I can't be too suprised that my errand running doesn't lessen my car driving nearly as much as my commuting. After all, most errands that I run on my bike are within a couple of kilometers from my home, so even with a bike errand a week that's a total of about 200 kms a year on the bike. Not a big chunk at all, but it's still better than nothing.

knoregs

rain & wind = character builders... also builds mental toughness

closetbiker

Vancouver = 10 months a year of rain and wind

Closetbiker = 21 consecutive years of 320 trips a year riding, of which about 200 are rain trips.

How much more character do I need?

noisebeam

Phoenix = 300 days a year of sun, 36 days a year with measurable (>.01") of rain.
noisebeam = 2 consecutive yrs. of 200 trips a year riding, of which ~5 were rain trips

I have no character.

Al

closetbiker

That's OK. I may have character, but I'm also mental (and I don't know about being tough)

Jerseysbest

I've been doing basically the same for the past few months, anything I can do under 30 minutes (hour if I'm not gonna mind getting sweaty) on a bike I'll do unless its down pouring or I need to look all pretty. Sure enough, i've only had to fill up my civic once since mid-october;most of it going to the 80 mile round trip to my parents I take almost every or every other weekend.

May not seem like a big savings, but I was driving between 30 and 80 miles a day, 6 days a week during the summer, and to not fill up for more then a month is huge for me. If I continue with the same job again this summer (and don't get a real job with my degree just yet), I'll be back at home doing the 30 mile round trip hopefully a majority of the time on my bike. And what do I do when I get to work? Drive a truck.

knoregs

sounds like that should do it

this past spring I recall getting rained on a good 2-3 times a week... definately started to get old... not the riding in the rain but all that extra maintenance...

closetbiker

Yeah. We had a spot of freezing temps for a couple of days recently, so the roads were covered in salt and sand and my (wet weather) bike got really mucky. Kills the drivetrain and brake pads.

I posted this in the general discussion catagory, but I think it applies here too.

https://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9466932/site/newsweek/




I've also seen this point raised in some of the threads about riding in Netherlands as well. It's easier to give up the car if all that you need is close by.

matt_savvy

1) get your friends on bikes
3) ditch the tv and you won't need videos, and you won't need to return them
4) isn't showing up in cut offs, a messenger bag, and a nice coat of sweat classy anymore?

just being a dick.