BAT Bike

It's funny what it takes to get us going sometimes. I've been thinking for a long time about running some of my errands on a bike. I use to do that but when we moved to the country and everything was so far away I stopped. Well, it's not the country anymore. But, I always seem to have an excuse...too much traffic, don't want to chance my bike being stolen, what to carry stuff in, etc. All bad excuses...and I know that for sure now.

I was inspired yesterday by the author of my favorite blog, Claudia's Blog (you can access it from the right side of this page). She decided to start replacing some of her car trip errands with a bike and has challenged others to do the same. She's calling it BAT/KAT, Bicycle As Transportation/Knitters Alternatively Transporting. We can do our part to use less gas and get some cars off the roads. She's going to get a tally on Mondays of how many BAT trips we're all making. This should be a lot of fun to see how the idea spreads.

It's funny how that one post finally got me going. My daughter had recently cleaned up my '64 Raleigh (she thinks it's cool!) and my husband had some packs to put on it and I was off. I ran my first BAT trip this morning to make a bank deposit. It was actually really fun. The fresh morning air and the birds singing was really nice. I enjoyed sitting upright because I'm usually bent over on my road bike, mountain bike or our tandem. It was nice to be able to easily look around at the scenery. I could enjoy the scenery more too because this bike is NOT fast. It reminds me of the old Volkswagens we drove years ago...we learned to enjoy those trips in a different way because they were slow and we didn't go anywhere very fast. The bike clinks and clicks, has really only one gear, and the brakes aren't the best. But, I love this bike. It's so cute and fun to ride.

I felt like Merin (sp?) on "Men in Trees" (one of my favorite tv shows right now). She's always riding her old bike around town in Alaska looking cute and cool. I felt soooo cool this morning. Like the surfers down at the coast who ride their bikes with their surfboards attached to the side. Or the few people in cities that ride a bike to do errands. I always think they're so cool. I was cool today! And I felt like I was doing something important by not using my car. I even found a tool along the way (my husband always finds tools on his bike rides...he loves that). It was broken though. But...I brought it home to throw away. So, I did my part to pick up litter too. :)

It took twice as long (40 minutes) to run this errand than it would have in a car. But, I also got exercise. I've been walking about that long each day. So, I actually came out ahead, time wise.



This is a picture of the chain ring on my 'vintage' bike. Notice the goose heads. So cute!

I can't forget to mention that I took my knitting along for the ride. I wasn't planning to stop and knit but I don't like to go anywhere without it!

If anyone would like to join in on this project it would be great. You can check in with Claudia or me or just do it on your own. However you do it, I think you'll be glad you did. It's fun, it's good for the earth, and it's great for the body and soul.

Happy knitting...and biking! :-)