Shortest ride!

[MGBLemonrider]

It appears I've grasped the concept as cycling as viable transport.

I got back into cycling at the end of last summer trying to commute 11 miles each way on a collection of old bicycle which I rapidly destroyed having mixed results, but the seed was set.

In September I bought my Dawes Giro 400 which has now clocked up nearly 1700miles mostly the commute but occasionaly other rides 20-40 miles just to get some exercise if off work and one long trip (60 miles) to Cambridge (just because).

Today I needed to run some repeat prescription requests to the Doctor's just under a mile away. I have walked this on occasion but it's so easy just to hop in the car, but not today!

So just slipped on the SPD's and reflective bands to act as trouser clips. No lycra or other cycling specific gear not even the helmet!

2/3rd's of the route is on cycle paths but a round trip of under 10minutes. I don't think I'll log the 1.9 miles and 7:32 on mapmyride, it can just get lost in the general discrepancy.

I think I can see more local trips taking place. Perhaps I need a shopping bike rather than a offroading leisure bike (looking at cyclocross) when they (hopefully) launch C2W for the next financial year.

 

[gb155]

After 12 months of commuting I started cycling to the supermarket, docs etc etc Normally I would have jumped in the car, now I will do everything I can to jump on my Ribble, no matter how short a ride it is.

 

[Moodyman]

Me too.

Was a nice day a couple of weeks ago and I needed to run some errands (as they say over the pond).

Wife got me the car keys, I told her I don't need them and hopped on the bike.

Got the job done quicker as I didn't have to find parking space.

However, still haven't got to courage to ride to the in-laws yet. Some family members still think I'm odd for commuting by bike.

 

[BrumJim]

Only the other day my wife said to me:
"Can you check that I remembered to shut the back door".
So I walked out of the lounge, round to the front door and into the garage. I then cycled round to the back of the house, through the back gate, and up the garden path. Fortunately she had shut the door, so I cycled back again, hoisted the bike back into the garage roof, and came back in the front door.
"Yes dear," I replied "It's shut and locked."
"Good." she responded. "However, you've left the back gate open."
So off I went to the garage again to get the bike out.......

(readers may wish to go off for a cup of tea at this point)

 

[Captain]

How do you guys stop?
I've had my bike all of three weeks but I'm too afraid to leave it anywhere other than in my garage or in the BikeStorage at work (which I finaly get to use tommorow!)

Captain

 

[onlineamiga]

Yeah cycling is great. About 4 miles from me is where all the bars and restaurants are in my town. So when going out for lots of drinks etc on an evening. I drive there, get the taxi home, and then the next day shake off the hang over by cycling back to my car. Put the bike in the car, drive home sorted I dont have to worry at all, and only pay one way for the taxi.

 

[onlineamiga]

Captain, im very lucky to be living down in southern spain. I commute from the spanish border to gibraltar where i work to save on traffic queues at the frontier. We have bike racks at the side of where i work and have neve rhad a problem. ive left my bike there all weekend before. Infact there was one bike that was there for about 2 months and no one bothers. Not everyone even bothers locking them up either!

 

[PpPete]

One of my ebay purchases that didnt go quite as planned ended up as a general purchase "shopping" bike, and recipient of all the parts I didn't want elsewhere. It was good because it almost didnt need locking up. But then I got another 531 frame and turned it into a fixed and I use that in preference for local trips now.

 

[summerdays]

I regularly ride a 0.2 mile ride to drop my children off at a club ... so about 0.4 by the time I get back again, I've even done a 0.2 mile return trip to the post box. I love riding my bike - I used to love walking but its been replaced by this 2 wheeled thing.

 

[onlineamiga]

haha summerdays 0.2 miles! Actually your post reminded me of something I did as a kid. I got my bike out of the garage to cycle to go see a friend where I was going. I forgot to tell my mum, and having realised I took my bike. She ended up having to search all over the town for where I was.

Well I was at my friends... who lived across the road Yes i'd cycled across the road - and yes i was in big trouble, my mum was searching for hours!

 

[summerdays]

Cycling across the road would beat my 0.2!

Luckily I will have used my bike to go on further journeys so I don't have to log those really short rides. However when I broke my arm and stared cycling a week later I did log those very short rides as a way of tracking my progress.

 

[buddha]

Last week having just returned home from a ride I pushed the bike into the hallway. Behind me I heard the postman push some letters through the door. Looking through them I saw one was for the house 3 doors away.
So, I put my helmet, gloves back on and cycled the <50 metres to deliver the letter. Didn't even use the pavement

edit: I hate walking BTW

 

[Muddyfox]

I often cycle to our village shop which is less than 1/2 mile away .. i spend about 10 hours a day driving so any excuse not to get back in the car is good for me

Simon

 

[GrasB]

Anything less that 15min walk (circa 1 mile) is not worth the hassle of getting the bike out unless I'm taking the bike somewhere. From there I'll automatically go to the bike up to about 30 miles & will consider anything up to about 50 miles. From there it's undoubtedly much quicker & simpler to use a car.

 

[MLC]

I have followed the littleun on her bike around the block 0.3 miles.

Following a 53 mile ride on sunday (my longest this year) I was asked by her later in the afternoon to come out into the street (we live in a cul de sac) and I had to do a small circle around the banjo end of the cul de sac about 7 metres and then perform a drag race the length of our street (6 houses) about 5 metres of course I had to get the bike out and oblige.