My Edible Bike Plan

A few years ago the city installed sidewalks along Churchill Way and Preston Road, going south to Forest Lane.  Our neighborhood is full of pedestrians on Friday evenings and Saturday mornings, previously neighbors would squeeze between overgrown shrubbery and 50 mile-per-hour traffic to attend Sabbath services.   Now I see sidewalks are being installed on Preston south of Forest, which is great, because that is exactly what my bike plan for Dallas would include.  It would also include more people going out and buying a bike and riding it to the corner supermarkets, for conservation, for economy, and for fun - but to do that, they must feel safe.

I do.  Once sidewalks were installed that went all the way to Preston-Forest I bought myself a bike.  It's customized with fenders (don't like that rain-thong look when I hit a puddle) and a removable basket on the front.  I wear a helmet, granted it's a skateboarding helmet, but my baseball cap fits better underneath.  If my kids happen to see me riding, they inevitably begin the chant for Almira Gulch as she went to collect Toto, that's OK, part of the enjoyment is my middle-aged defiance of my children.

The front basket happens to exactly fit one recyclable grocery sack which can be enough food for several meals.  I split trips between Tom Thumb (no bike rack, but their patio is wrought iron) and Whole Foods (they have a nice bike rack), bringing in the basket because when it's full, you're done shopping.  Gone is the half gallon of milk, better is the quart purchased more frequently, a half dozen eggs lasts our family 2 weeks, so do we really need more?

That's not to say I've completely given up driving to the store, it's difficult to get diet Dr. Pepper in any significant quantity in the basket.  But it has become a replacement to the "just running out for a few things" trips to the corner markets.  It's a great cardio workout and doesn't take much more time than firing up the car and fighting traffic and parking.   It's a completely edible plan, try it.