About two weeks ago I got a bike computer installed on my utility bike and decided to keep stats of some of my trips. I made a list of places in Kanata that are within biking range and that I frequent on regular or semi regular basis. I wanted to determine what factors made it a good or bad destination for cycling.
Since I installed the bike computer I clocked just over 60 km.
Closest places are the library and daycare centre. These are the places that I will bike to by default and only take the car if the weather is bad or for some other very good reason (scheduling issue or a trip in which this is just one of the stops). Even if I am driving to work, I will bike Trev to daycare and then bike back with Owen and get into the car. The round trip lasts less than 5 minutes and it saves me the trouble of driving to the daycare and parking in the daycare parking lot which always makes me uncomfortable. Both locations are under a kilometre away from my home, and the routes to get there are as low in traffic as residential Kanata gets.
Next closest places are the grocery stores, Metro at 2km (10 min) away and Farm Boy at 3.5 km (15 min). The time it takes to get to both stores is twice as it would take me in the car. Over last two weeks the number of trips I’ve made by bike was about the same as by car. Even though it is closer, I prefer biking to Farm Boy than to Metro because of the three hills I have to climb on the way back from Metro with groceries. One of this hills (between Metro and March road) contains moderate traffic which I would prefer to avoid. In fact, before I got the bike computer I very rarely shopped at Farm Boy, but after this experiment I will always consider it first if I am about to go shopping on the bike. Another interesting thing I learned last week is that I prefer biking to Farm Boy on roads than on paths. The paths contain a number of hills which are probably not an issue on most bikes, but on my heavy bike with kids and groceries it can be a bit grating. The residential feeder roads to get there are wide, have sufficient bike infrastructure, traffic calming measures and I feel very safe on them.
The problem with groceries is that my bike is not set up to carry anything other than children and one medium sized bag. If I leave Owen at home I can fit one grocery bag in his seat and I might be able to fit one overfilled grocery bag in Trev’s seat, but I have not yet gone to the grocery store without him. Once the kids are old enough not to be riding on my bike, I will probably install panniers and/or a crate but that is too far in the future to seriously think about. Currently, space is limited and I do not have the umph to pull children AND more than two bags of groceries on the bike.
The next location is the Centrum. I timed my trip to the hair salon near the movie theatre, but I think that the timing is close enough for all areas of the “mall”. This distance is 4 km and it took me just under 20 minutes. I have not timed the equivalent trip by car, but I think it would take half the time. Getting to the edge of Centrum is a breeze, but I do not feel entirely comfortable getting into the area and biking “inside” it. Ironically enough, it is probably easier to bike than to walk there. Fortunately for me, no stores that I frequent on the regular basis are inside the bird’s nest so I can handle the occasional trip by bike if need be.
I’ve already talked about biking to work, but over the last two weeks, I’ve made some readjustments in my opinion on it. I found out that, while biking to work in the morning takes 20 minutes longer than by car, biking back takes the same time or no more than 5 minutes longer. This is due to afternoon congestion on March road going towards Eagleson. I’ve also found this trip is near the comfort limits of trips on this particular bicycle. The distance, the hills in Morgan’s Grant, the extra weight I am carrying in internal and external children and the general clunkiness of the bike makes it unlikely for me to be willing to make the trip two days in the row. My legs are slightly sore and I feel bad for Trev having to stay at daycare for 20 minutes longer than if I drove, which I am sure he doesn’t mind half as much as I do.
There are three more locations on my list that I have not biked to, and might never actually get around to biking to but as they are within easy biking distance I feel I need to consider them.
Costco is one of the places I don’t see myself biking to. Getting to the corner of Terry Fox and Katimavik should be no problem, but I would be reluctant to go from there to Costco due to high traffic. It would be even harder to get back as I would have to navigate the same traffic up the hill with groceries. Whenever I go there I get at least 20 kilos of groceries which is equivalent of the two of my children plus two bags of groceries. It should be doable once I am not pregnant, but I would have to go without the kids which I would prefer not to do because I like to spend as much time with them as possible.
Hazeldean road has a number of stores that I visit semi frequently. Despite it being relatively far, getting to Hazledean should be no problem (except that it would take over 20 minutes, probably closer to half an hour) but Hazledean itself is a busy road with little or no bicycle infrastructure. I would not go there unless I am really in a mood for a long bike ride.
The last destination in the Riverglen Farm on Carling. The way there is quite safe, mostly on paths and wide paved shoulders though it is far (just under 6 km). It would be a fun ride with kids though so the distance is justifiable. However, currently our veggie pick up is on night that I have other commitments so I do not have an hour to spend on a round trip bike ride. My schedule should change soonish so I just might consider this a fun family weeknight activity.