Sixteen weeks by numbers
My urban bicycle adventure – with sprinkles of travel to other places – has been active for sixteen weeks. That’s about thirty percent of my year of cycling completed.
This blog documents a personal experiment in bike riding and story-telling. I’ve committed to riding my bicycle as much as possible in everyday life. I’m testing the boundaries of myself – my laziness, discipline, fitness and lifestyle – as well as the boundaries of my city – its infrastructure, culture and lifestyle – for cycling with ease.
The project is about the bicycle as a means of transport, the healthy lifestyle it brings, the money it saves, the simplicity, the freedom and the smaller footprint it leaves on the earth. It’s about where my bicycle takes me and where it doesn’t.
Since the experiment started on 1st December 2014, I’ve been using words to share my stories. I’ve also been counting some numbers about a variety of facts. So for this post, here are the first sixteen weeks by numbers.
1284.77 Kilometres travelled (except for the week on Lord Howe Island)
389 Kilometres of car journeys replaced by a bike journey
151 Journeys by bicycle (+LHI)
91 Typical weekly kilometres
83.75 Pedal hours
52.5 Fastest (km/hour) (yep, that’s a new record!)
45.54 Longest ride (kms)
42 Journeys under 5 kms
10 Car journeys (includes 3 weddings & Christmas when riding not realistic)
13.5 Average speed (km/hour)
10.9 Steepest gradient (%)
3 Kangaroos
2 Dead snakes on the road
1 Times I was doubled on Jane’s scooter
0 Live snakes
a bike for all seasons 
“10 Car journeys (includes 3 weddings & Christmas when riding not realistic)”
I have this problem: cycling and living without a car is actually very easy in our area: it is the expectations from others (Like holding a wedding in a village miles from the reception in a big city) that make things difficult.
LikeLike
Yes, it means we have to use our car occasionally. The long distances we have between towns in Australia complicates things and with the public transport not always effective as an option, using the car is the norm for most. The good thing is our car is being used less and less.
LikeLike