Out of the box commuting

So how do you get people out of their cars onto more meaner, leaner and greener forms of transport?

For me, behaviour change came with a mighty crunch, when I ran my little and apparently tinfoil clad car into the back of a far sturdier vehicle.

Although I heartily don't recommend this as an effective means of getting rid of your car, a lack of other affordable options and the insurance money enabled me to toddle up to one of the Bike Station's feral Saturday morning sales and wheel myself back to Leith. Couple of bits of stretchy clothing and a helmet and I was ready for the 10 mile ride to work.

What a ride too. Crisp April morning, traffic on its best behaviour where I met it, bike running well and the happy discovery of just how well our side of town is served with cycle paths, and abandoned train stations with platforms calling out to be bunny hopped from.

The first trip took just over an hour, that's about 20 minutes more than the car trip and there was no point where there was nothing happening. It was a completely different experience to the boredom, disconnection and stress of the car trip. It was exciting and scary, you felt connected to the road, aware of everything round you and most of all moving, always moving.

It's not all been plain sailing and I've been over the handlebars twice so far. One thankfully slow encounter with a SMIDSY (Sorry Mate, I Didn't See You) driven car left me with two skint knees, helluva sore shoulder and a real knock to my confidence. One mis-timed hop up onto the pavement just left me with a red face and a reminder that concentration is key.

One of the real joys is riding past the petrol station and know that I don't have to Shell out £60 every few weeks (my bike only cost £70). If need fuel, I'll go eat a pie, and not feel too guilty about it.

So if I'm selling selling the idea of commuting out of the steel box, I'm not selling it as an easy option. It's really, really easy to just hop in your car every day and travel on the same road to the same place and look through your windows to see the same people walking down the street.

But every day I hop on my bike, I have the freedom to go whatever way I like, I can share smiles and nod with the people I pass, I can slide through the traffic like a fish. Every day I go on an urban safari of foxes and rabbits and squirrels and I nearly even ran over a moor hen one morning as I was careering along the canal. Every day I arrive at work, have a hot shower and a cup of coffee, awake and ready to go, at 5 o'clock I'm off again, winding my way home with the sun on my back.

Winter's coming and I suspect a few of the regular folk I nod at each day won't be seen for a few months, but I've got some lights, got some layers and I'll think I'll ride through it.