Most advocates talk about bike commuting as a way to get more people to use their bikes and possible live a car-light lifestyle. They advocate how easy it is to gradually build up even riding 12 to 15 miles one way. It is all true. They promote it by hosting a country wide Bike to Work Day.
The only hurdle in this method of advocating is the people normally live twelve to fifteen miles away from work, sometimes without an efficient mass-transit connectivity. The distance, to some extent, dissuades people from leaping into a bicycle-rich lifestyle. Riding on the roads as vehicles, debating space with fellow vehicles one hundred times heavier is another factor that turns beginners off from commuting to work. Then, there is the sweatiness factor.
Bicycles generally improve the quality of life. Living a bicycling-rich life may more effectively begin if not leapt into it but trodded onto softly.
Andrew Cline has put together a One-Mile Solution (link). He proposes to draw out a circle of one mile radius around your home and visit businesses in that area on a bike that you would normally visit in a car. An easy way is to visit www.walkscore.com and plug in your home address.
There is a larger impact when people accepting the ease and popularity of bicycles by celebrating’ a ‘Bike to the Grocery Store Day’, ‘Bike to the Diner Morning”, or ‘Bike to Movies Night’.
And what equipment/gear would you need to do it? A pair of shorts, sandles, a simple bike with a front basket. The front basket is a handy piece of equipment. Mine (Wald 137) is the perfect size to fit a grocery store bag for that mid-week grocery store run or a doggy bag from the Thai place down the road.
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But right now I think the idea of having a really bike-concentrated lifestyle is a little bit off still. I can’t see myself driving myself to the cinema with a bike. I can’t give up my Hummer. I mean, who doesn’t want to be in a Hummer and driving along the city?