This past week I had the opportunity to put my money where my mouth is, and do some errands around the neighborhood by bike. I’ve always been a big proponent of getting out of our cars and using other forms of transportation, but very often, when push comes to shove, I simply drive.

My goal was to get my morning coffee, and then pick up some things at Target. This was made possible due to the fact that I had picked up some bags for my bike recently. I’ve also talked about switching to a backpack and so I used this opportunity to try out a possible backpack to use when commuting (for carrying a laptop).

I headed out to the coffee shop two miles away, and had some coffee while I did some blog writing. Then I packed up and headed over to Target and grabbed a handful of supplies. I got everything loaded up and headed the two miles back to home without a single issue.

I still wish my city had more separated bike lanes, or even marked bike paths, but I was able to stick to lower traffic streets pretty easily. It felt good to be productive, while at the same time getting a little bit of exercise. I know that there are errands I could never run without a car (picking up heavy items etc.), but pushing myself to do simpler trips without driving is a worthwhile challenge.

As a bonus, I discovered that my coffee mug fits nicely in my bottle cage!