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Old August 21st 16, 06:57 PM posted to uk.rec.cycling,uk.transport
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Default Who Wants Motor Vehicles Cluttering Up the Driveway Anyway? It Just Forces Cyclists Onto the Grass!

"JNugent" wrote in message
...
On 21/08/2016 05:39, Bret Cahill wrote:
Most people with normal 9 to 5 jobs and weekend activities generally have
hours or days to plan a trip.


But do they want to *have* to plan the trip, as opposed to being able to
decide on the spur of the moment when/if/where to go, dependent on factors
such as the weather.

When you need something quick, i.e., a lime or onion, cycle to the corner
market.


Er, which corner market is that? You evidently live in a town where there
are such things. I live in a large village but the only shop that it has is
(currently) a cafe that is open mainly for the benefit of walkers; I don't
think it even sells essential commodities such as a loaf of bread or a pint
of milk in its latest incarnation. It used to be a post office and general
store until shortly before we moved there and since then has gone through
three different incarnations as various types of cafe.

The nearest convenience store is in the nearest town, about 10 minutes'
drive away, and it's probably about as quick to get to the full-size
supermarket in the centre of town, since there are no shops on the road into
town approaching from my direction so to get to a convenience store (eg
Londis) I'd have to go almost all the way in and then part of the way back
out in another direction.

There is a half-hourly bus service which is as fast as a car once you're on
the main road, but about 15 mins to walk to the main road in the first
place. There's also an occasional bus that stops right outside our house and
goes into town, but via a *very* tortuous route. I think the only people who
use it are the infirm who can't walk to the main road for the fast service.

The main road is too busy and dangerous with traffic to/from the coast to
cycle along (only a very small amount of it has a cycle track or pavement
alongside of it). There is a back road which is quieter (though being
narrower it's probably not much safer) and it's probably about twice as far.
[Actually, I've just checked on GMap Pedometer site and it's only about 1/10
mile longer - but there several nasty hills.]

Not having an "essentials" shop is a real nuisance on rare occasions, though
normally I combine driving into town for shopping with going in for other
reasons (eg going to bank to pay in cheques or going to tip to take garden
rubbish or going swimming).


A few years ago I had to stop driving for several months for health reasons
until I got the all-clear from the consultant, so I got very used to walking
out to the main road to get the bus either into the nearby town to the
doctor's surgery or else the opposite way into the city for hospital
appointments. Luckily it didn't take long after being discharged form
hospital until I was up to the walk to/from the bus stop.

It's a shame that the nearest shop is too far to go by bike, because I might
well cycle rather than driving if I only needed a few items that would fit
in a rucksack. But 8 miles each way is a bit too far and I'd be a sweaty
wreck by the time I got there - once you stop at the other end there's no
longer any cooling breeze!

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