Fossil Free Friday: Swapping Your Car for a Bike

That's an honest to goodness bike trail I am parked on - really!

Nope, I haven't done it yet. But I keep getting closer. I am about 50/50 on car trips vs. bike trips now. The ratio changes a great deal if we're looking at miles traveled, but it's still progress.

A Bike Is Your New Car

[Self-congratulatory sidebar (Feel free to skip this part.) I recently spent time in Alamogordo, New Mexico; but I did something a little different on this trip - I took my bicycle. I ran errands and explored the town. And I came to an amazing realization - I could do it! I climbed hills. I was able to haul (small) stuff. I haven't known if I was physically up to it. I figured out that I am. And I was doing this on a non-electric, non-cargo bike. Imagine what I could accomplish on an electric cargo bike!]

The idea intrigues me. For me, it's the most financially realistic path to giving up the gas. (Although a used Leaf is sure tempting too.) Giving up the gas is one way I work at being the MIWB and pursuing personal carbon reduction. As I watch climate change quickly become the new norm, I pray that countless others will take on similar quests. So, how about you? Does the bike in your garage ever call your name and say, "[Insert your inner super-hero name here], pick me! Together we can save the world!"?

A Bike That Will Replace Your Family Car

I was in a meeting this week with a guy I had not seen in  a few years. We were discussing how long it had been. He said, "But I see you all the time riding your bike to work." It's was strange to realize that I have become that guy. I think I like it!

My Family Gave Up Driving for 30 Days to Stick it to the Man (This is a long article but very worth the read. I love the section about the Xtracycle. "The Xtracycle cargo bike is popular in bikes-will-save-the-world places like Portland, Oregon, and Berkeley, California, but in our own it was the oddball equivalent of a blue-footed booby showing up on the seawall." Where else can I get that many hyphens, a cargo bike, and a booby all in the same sentence? I could hang out with this Todd Balf guy.)

So there you go, a few articles to read, a few personal anecdotes, and pictures from a faraway and exotic land of enchantment. How about you? Do you ever ride? Do you ever take a bike trip in place of a car trip? Are you looking for ways to do less damage in your everyday running about?

May you bless and be blessed.