With the crazy season upon us once more (or does that just describe the entire year in 2020?!), it seems an appropriate time to remind you of the practical benefits of getting around on bike when traffic is at a standstill, as first mentioned in this post from Dec 2015. Five years later, I am even more heartened by how many bikes I tend to see parked up at my usual shopping haunts (and often bedecked with panniers, baskets, cargo racks and the like)…
‘Tis the season, and everyone is frantically rushing around getting their festive goodies. That tends to mean that traffic and parking get a bit crazy, which duly gets reported in the media (not that it’s really “news” if it happens every year…)
You may have heard of the term “quaxing” (i.e. shopping without a car); this article explains a bit more about its local origins (not sure it counts as one of NZ’s finest contributions to cycle culture?). Heck, it even was judged “Word of the Year” on one local website. Anyway, Christmas tends to be one of those times when quaxing seems to make a lot of sense, rather than fighting for a carpark space. And so it was that I found myself at Barrington Mall the other day collecting a few little items on my trusty steed – a few others had the same idea…
The bike parking leaves a bit to be desired in some places around town, but usually you have a much better chance of getting a closer parking spot and beating the traffic queues in and out. So, as more of the Major Cycleways roll out around the city, perhaps we will see increasing numbers shopping by bike – to the point that we’ll be crying out for more bike parking…
Have you done any Xmas shopping by bike? Was it easier than by car or bus?
FORGIVE ME !
I drove the car to the shops – but in my defense it was for concrete, which would have been a little too much for my bike+trailer.
In penance I will do my next shop on a bike, I promise !
You are forgiven; I also drove to the shops yesterday for some (larger-scale) Xmas shopping and was pleasantly surprised that the traffic/parking wasn’t worse… It’s a case of horses for courses. The day before I had biked to pick up a few items from the supermarket and was pleased to see the array of other bikes there for people also doing their groceries the simple way (in fact, it’s getting darn hard to find a bike park some days…)