Beat the high price of gas . . .

Record-high price of gas in Missouri got you down? No relief in sight?

How about taking a bike ride to replace that expensive car trip?

Trips less than three miles long give the worst gas mileage (stop-and-go driving on a cold engine), are the most polluting (because it takes a while for your car's catalytic converter to warm up and fully kick in), and hardest on your car's engine.

By coincidence, such short trips are easiest to replace with bicycling or walking. One way to go about making the switch is this:

1. Pick a common destination within an easy walk/ride of your home--school, church, store, library, park, post office, bank, friend's house, etc.
   
2. Figure out a route to get there safely and comfortably by foot or on bike.
   
3. Try out the route a few times just for fun.
   
4. Once you've got the route worked out, make a commitment to yourself to always walk/ride on trips to that destination.
   
5. Repeat with other common destinations near your home.

Before you know it, you'll have walking/cycling worked into the routine of your daily life.

Tips:

• If you find yourself making trips at dusk/dawn or in the dark, invest in lights (both front and rear lights are needed for bicycling at night)
  
• If you need to carry items (shopping) investigate racks/panniers or bicycle trailers. Many bicycle trailers convert into jogging strollers/carts which are very useful for shopping by bicycle or on foot. Panniers and bicycle trailers are really quite inexpensive, especially when compared to cost of the motor vehicles they (partially) replace.

The time difference between driving and cycling for such short trips is really astonishingly small. For instance, it takes me 5 minutes to drive to my son's school (about a mile away), 7 minutes to bicycle, and about 14 minutes to walk.

Related links:

• Read about Simon Baddeley's adventures in learning to use his car less and his feet more.
  
• Read about Jennifer Mann's daily bicycle commute.
  
• Ceej's bike commuting page (lots of tips and ideas).
  
• Join Kansas City's Bicycle Commuter Challenge (May 2004).
  
• Participate in St. Louis's Bikers Wanted Challenge.