Tonight (Tuesday) I had a meeting in Thrapston, about a 10 mile round trip. Unfortunately a couple of weeks ago I put our small car in a ditch and it is away being repaired.
So I have been getting around by bike, something I have not done enough of in recent months. However, I needed to take a fair bit of stuff for the meeting tonight including:
- portable PA
- data projector
- laptop
- microphone stand
- microphone
- XLR leads
- DI box
- Power extension cable
- paperwork
- books
As it was cold and wet I also wanted a change of clothes.
Quite a load, so I took my Y-Frame bicycle trailer. All fitted nice and easily in a 70 litre plastic box (with a rear light and reflectors fitted) plus the bag from my bob yak trailer for the PA. Then a bag for clothes & bits plus the microphone stand sitting on top.
I towed with my full suspension mountain bike as the low gears are very handy for the hills. In the end I averaged exactly 10 miles an hour for a total of just over 10.5 miles. So slower than the car but on the other hand at the far end I was able to wheel the loaded trailer all the way in at the far end saving 3 trips to and from the car.
By doing this with plenty of time I did not feel rushed and could go as slow as the poor road surface (well that did make me worry about the projector bulb - but I had used one of our settee cushions for padding) and feeble legs required and I did it without getting out of breath, without getting stressed or getting very tired.
So why don't I do it more? I'm going to explore that in other posts thinking about my own changes in what I look for in a bike plus looking at the infrastructure (hint in the 10 mile ride there was one cycle facility for a total of 15 metres).
There are also factors that make using a bike directly for work (rather than for commuting to/from work) a challenge. I have definitely felt restricted in two weeks without a car (except when the other car is not needed for Jane to get to work or as a taxi for the kids). There are visits I have not made, meetings that have been a problem and things have taken longer which means others could not be done. This is especially a problem when living in a rural area and with a job that requires you to go to people and places that are not served well by public transport:
- 24 mile round trip to the nearest general hospital (but there are 4 other hospitals that I sometimes need to visit)
- 2 of the churches I serve are 10 miles away (in opposite directions)
- 12 miles to the nearest crematorium
- Schools for assemblies up to 10 miles away
- Church members scattered in an area 20+ miles long
All this in an area where cycling facilities are almost non existent.
This is something that as a Church we will need to explore, it seems to me that with the need to reduce the carbon footprint (due to the combination of climate change and peak oil) we are going to have to re-look at much of how we do Church.
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