Map of locally sourced produce

I think I was actually quite late learning to ride a bike, but I can vividly remember scooting around our small back garden on my sky blue Raleigh Chopper trying to get the hang of it. My parents gave me the freedom to start cycling the couple of miles to primary school when I was nine or ten and I haven’t really stopped cycling since (I’m now 30). For the last six or so years, I’ve lived about 8 – 12 miles from work and have always cycled year round. One year I cycled to Spain for my summer holiday. Last year I got a new bike computer and made the point of counting every kilometre – I racked up 6,203 over the year…

According to the Act on CO₂ website, which rates our car (Peugeot 206) as emitting 152 grams of CO₂ per kilometre, this has (almost) helped me ‘drop a tonne’ of CO₂ emissions, to coin a phrase from George Marshall’s excellent Carbon Detox book. With fuel consumption of about 45 mpg, it also put an extra £375 in my pocket (assuming an average petrol price of 95p a litre over the past year – and we all know the only direction that figure is heading)*

Are these the kind of figures that could help inspire more people to jump on their bikes rather than automatically getting in the car? I hope so. And here are some other facts: a quarter of all UK CO₂ emissions come from road transport and 60% of this total comes from people driving their cars. More than half of those journeys are less than five miles – meaning that a staggering 8.5% of our nations total CO₂ emissions are from these short trips in the car. When you think that a cold engine can use up to twice as much fuel, these trips have a huge environmental and financial impact.

All my colleagues and most people I meet who find out how much I cycle think I am some kind of freak and that they could never do the same. But here I disagree. I am not an unusually gifted athlete (however much I wish I was!); I have just cycled for so long that my body has got used to it and this is the same for everybody. I really believe that everyone has the capability to get out there and cycle more than they do. Here are two of the main reasons I think people would use to avoid their bikes:

I couldn’t cycle that far/not fit enough etc.: Sorry, but I just don’t agree. Why don’t you try it and see? I don’t suggest you start cycling EVERYWHERE, but maybe just one short trip a week instead of your car and build up…

It isn’t safe: In 2008, 2,538 motorists were killed on Britain’s roads, compared to just 115 cyclists. Okay, that still means that 115 cyclists died, but on the face of it, it seems a smarter decision to avoid your car if you can. There are certainly a lot of motorists out there that pay scant attention to the safety of cyclists on the roads (I have probably met most of them) but there are also cyclists that aggravate motorists by jumping red lights. If you wear a helmet, make sure you are highly visible and cycle safely, following the rules of the road and with an attitude that tries its best to spread mutual respect between all road users, I maintain that cycling is a perfectly safe way to get around. And of course the more people cycling, the less cars are on the road, so things just keep getting better.

Of course, I accept that cycling isn’t for everyone and for many reasons, people are tied to their cars. But I also truly believe that there are many people that could benefit both physically and in terms of enjoyment by cycling a little more. So go on, start with just one short trip that you’d normally make in your car and jump on your bike instead!

*Indeed, having written most of this post about a month ago, prices are already 10p a litre higher than this figure.

A long time ago I remember reading an article about someone who took their dog camping a lot.  Rather than carry the dogs food themselves, they made their dog carry it in little panniers that they made.  

 I thought this sounded excellent so after a little further reading I discovered that dogs can carry quite a bit in panniers and you can buy them online.  You have to be very careful as dogs backs are generally very weak but you start with very small amounts and can then gradually work up.  

We found a set of Panniers for Riley at the Pet Store in Botley, next door to the Hilliers Garden centre.  He now helps us to carry our shopping back from Bishops Waltham.