Utilitaires.
Bet you've never heard of them.
Mostly in the USA, amongst (from what I can make out) mostly women, "utilitaires" have a modest but dedicated following.
Think of them as "utility cycling".
You get a list of jobs, and try and do them using a bike.
Then you mark them off on the list, with details, when you have done them.
Think of a Utilitaire as an idea to try to encourage folks to find out what they can achieve on a bike, rather than just a ticklist of pointless exercises :-)
A typical Utilitaire list looks
like this.
The requirements for completing a card seem to be to tick off seven, nine, or all twelve of the categories.
So folks use a precise rule set (such as this one), and some folk don't.
Anyway, it's all a bit of fun, so don't get too hung up about it however you decide to "utilitaire".
As for me, I'm claiming an exemption from number 12 (haircut), as my wife cuts my hair at home, and has done since we got married (we've just passed our 11th anniversary), so I haven't travelled to get a haircut for quite a while!
My "easy" ones to complete on the bike would be:
1 (work - I cycle this five or 6 days a week!)
5 (grocery store - a bike is my most common way of shopping for groceries)
6 (any other store - my bike is also my most common way of doing other shopping too!)
8 (bike shop - I guess I go once every 3 or 4 months, almost always by bike)
11 (library - last time I went by bike)
I'll have to work a bit to get some of the others!
Have fun!
Footnote:
The big jobs that we have yet to work out how to do REASONABLY on a bike (or by public transport) are:
Bet you've never heard of them.
Mostly in the USA, amongst (from what I can make out) mostly women, "utilitaires" have a modest but dedicated following.
Think of them as "utility cycling".
You get a list of jobs, and try and do them using a bike.
Then you mark them off on the list, with details, when you have done them.
Think of a Utilitaire as an idea to try to encourage folks to find out what they can achieve on a bike, rather than just a ticklist of pointless exercises :-)
A typical Utilitaire list looks
like this.
The requirements for completing a card seem to be to tick off seven, nine, or all twelve of the categories.
So folks use a precise rule set (such as this one), and some folk don't.
Anyway, it's all a bit of fun, so don't get too hung up about it however you decide to "utilitaire".
As for me, I'm claiming an exemption from number 12 (haircut), as my wife cuts my hair at home, and has done since we got married (we've just passed our 11th anniversary), so I haven't travelled to get a haircut for quite a while!
My "easy" ones to complete on the bike would be:
1 (work - I cycle this five or 6 days a week!)
5 (grocery store - a bike is my most common way of shopping for groceries)
6 (any other store - my bike is also my most common way of doing other shopping too!)
8 (bike shop - I guess I go once every 3 or 4 months, almost always by bike)
11 (library - last time I went by bike)
I'll have to work a bit to get some of the others!
Have fun!
Footnote:
The big jobs that we have yet to work out how to do REASONABLY on a bike (or by public transport) are:
- trips to the local recycling/waste disposal site (aka "the dump") - as well as any issues about size and weight of the stuff being dumped/recycled, apparently one has to apply for a permit if one is not using a car for such a trip - I tried to email the local council for clarification, but their email link doesn't work!
- trips to the garden centre to pick up compost for the garden - we have a VERY small garden, and so on-site composting is problematic for us. There are sometimes some great offers on compost at the local garden centre (including the "peat-free" types), but we find ourselves resorting to using the car to move it. It is a similar situation with paving slabs, etc., although when we moved some skirting boards that were 3.6 metres long (about 12 foot), we walked to the shop and carried them home on foot!
- airport runs - as a 3 person family unit, we usually buy only two return air tickets every year (that's two between three of us, not two each - I usually get to stay home and go to work!), but getting there is expensive and problematic - a minimum of two trains and a metro trip. Taking a taxi doesn't really save any pollution either, as it makes little difference if a taxi driver drives the two of them to the airport and then drives back (probably empty - the local drivers don't have a permit for on-airport pick-ups!) or whether I drive instead. We have a particularly fuel-efficient car, and I usually drive in a particularly fuel-efficient manner, so it is probably better that I drive than they take a taxi!
- annual holidays - taken with a family member who lives by the sea, they are a combination of a visit and a holiday. Problem is, by public transport it would be four trains and a metro train, unless one is lucky enough to get one of the rare, more direct, trains, then it is three trains and a metro trip :-(
So we always end up covering the 580 mile (930km) round trip by car.
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