Have you ever wondered how far you actually drive when you take that short trip to the grocery store or bank? It doesn’t seem far and because you don’t think you have time, you decided to drive your car instead of riding your bike. By choosing to do this you missed an opportunity to get a little exercise and enjoy the area you live in, not to mention save gas.

I live on the east side Vancouver, Washington , where everything is fairly close. However, some places are a bit too far to walk, such as the grocery store which is 1 mile one away and though not too far for me to walk, it is a little far to carry three bags of grocery’s. The bank is 2.5 miles east of me and my parents live 2 miles west of me. Now I normally consolidate trips so I can tell you if I stop by and say hi to the folks, hit the bank for some cash, rent a DVD, and stop at the store for some popcorn it totals up to 10 miles. And I did not leave the neighborhood or travel on a street that has a speed limit higher than 25 m.p.h. It all adds up.

And what about the time factor? It takes around 15 minutes more to ride than it does to drive. So even though I may not be able to drive into work this afternoon, I can still get a bike ride in and get stuff done at the same time.

Red at SpokesNSpin is asking people to give it a try and take one trip by bike. Think about it. It isn’t hard to do and it does not need to be a 10 miler like I do, but you surely can ride one mile to the store or 2.5 miles to the bank. You would be surprised of how nice it is to get out of the car. Don’t have enough time? Plan ahead, do it on the weekend, and make the time to enjoy life. Riding a bike is one of the most pleasurable things I do during my day.

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