Machka 

My weeks vary widely.

When I was car-free in Winnipeg, I commuted 13.6 km/day (68 km/week) just about year round … but since I was into randonneuring at the time, I did a whole lot of other cycling.

A week during the spring/summer/autumn might include anywhere from 200 km (on a rest week) to 600 km … and one week during that time I covered about 1392 km (865 miles). So my 68 km/week of transportational cycling made up about 30% of my weekly total at most … often quite a bit less than that.

However, during the late autumn, winter, and early spring, my cycling amounts dropped. I needed the rest! Sometimes my commute ended up being 100% of my cycling. Other weeks it might make up 50% of my cycling, or anywhere in between.

I rarely used my bicycle for transportational purposes other than commuting. I didn't use it for grocery shopping or to go to night classes or much of anything else at all. On the odd occasion, I’d ride to the Dr but that was about it. When I needed to get groceries … I walked. When I went to night classes … I took the bus. For me, NOT using my bicycle for things other than commuting was about peace of mind. I simply didn't want to leave it locked up outside the grocery store or college.


Since Winnipeg, my human-powered transportation has shifted from a mix of cycling and walking … to walking almost exclusively. I have rarely cycled for transportation over the past decade. But I have done a whole lot of walking for transportation!

In our previous town, for example, we lived 800 metres from where I worked … so I walked to work, walked home at lunch often stopping by the grocery store to pick up a few items for dinner, walked back to work, and walked home again at the end of the day. 3.2 km 5 days a week. We also walked to just about everything else in town.

However, at the end of a long Saturday ride we might stop by the grocery store on the way home and pick up a few things, then cycle the 500 metres home … so I suppose 500 metres out of, say, 50 km or 100 km were transportational. Or maybe the whole ride could be considered transportational … the scenic route to pick up a few groceries.


I’m just getting back into the swing of things after being sick for the past couple months, and it is winter here (chilly mornings, darkness by 5 pm, etc.), but this is what our last couple weeks look like …

Last WeekThis Week
As I feel stronger again, and as the weather and daylight hours improve, there will be a whole lot more cycling ... and most will be recreational. But it's possible we may do a bit more transportational cycling as well.