Originally Posted by Lamplight

I walk more often than I bike. In fact, in conjunction with the bus, I'll walk just about anywhere. But knees and feet start to hurt after five or six miles, and a typical trip for me involves no more than a couple of miles of walking. I mostly use the bike for trips when I need to carry large and/or heavy items, or just for fun, or when I want to go somewhere that's just not practical to walk to. For example, there's a lake I like to visit occasionally, and while it's only a couple of miles to get there, if I want to go around the lake it adds another 2.5 miles or so, and then I'd have to walk home again. That also requires walking up the brutally steep hill to get there. That sucks on a bike, too, but overall the trip is MUCH easier. I can also take the bus there, but to do so requires me to go downtown first (the opposite direction) on one bus, then catch another bus to the lake. Just getting there that way takes a good 45 minutes, assuming I time the buses right. And coming back takes even longer because of the way the bus route runs. So biking definitely wins in that situation. In fact, I may ride there tomorrow.