A total stranger on the Internet made the challenge: On your bike, run 12 errands in 12 days. Minimum total distance, 30 miles. This is the 2015 Errandonnée. “Why not?” I thought. Most of my bike riding is because I need to get somewhere in the city, not about “exercise” or “training.” The errandonnée fits into my daily life. The most challenging, unnatural part was remembering to take pictures. (“Pics or it didn’t happen!” as the kids say these days.)
Well, probably because I didn’t view the errandonnée as a challenge, I had only 8 different errands at the end of the 12 days. For posterity, this is my snapshot of 12 days of city-life-with-a-bike:
- I biked to & from work for 7 of the 12 days. (By the rules of the errandonnée, I can only count 2 of those.)
- Kids & bikes go together well! I rode with the kids to school, to a soccer game, to a playground, and to Baskin Robbins.
- Need to run to a store but dread finding parking? Bike! I made two shopping trips (Chrome and Swift Industries).
So, while I may not qualify for a cool errandonnée patch this year, my thanks to the Chasing Mailboxes blog for putting the challenge together. I love seeing people celebrate the practical side of biking.