My neighbor's $12 thrift store bike got me to dig out my old one, and I feel dumb about the years I spent driving 1.2 miles

Alex Taylor · 2026-10-19T16:50:04.516912+00:00

Last week my neighbor Glenn, who is 68 and retired, asked if I wanted to ride with him to the corner store. I said sure and he rolled out this rusty 10 speed he got at a garage sale for $12, and I felt weird driving my car for a trip that is 1.2 miles each way. He made this offhand comment that stuck with me: "I just figure every trip I don't take the truck is a few bucks I keep." I did the math that night and my short trips around town add up to maybe 40 miles a week, mostly school runs and grocery stuff, which is nothing I can't bike. The dumb part is I have a decent bike in my garage that has hung on the same hook for 3 years collecting dust while I warm up the car to go half a mile. I pumped the tires, oiled the chain, and did 3 of those little trips on the bike this week, and none of them took more than 9 minutes longer than driving. Now I'm looking at my weekly routine trying to figure out which errands I can keep on two wheels instead of four, so what finally got you out of the car for the short stuff? Was it a cost thing or just a nudge from somebody like Glenn?

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My neighbor's $12 thrift store bike got me to dig out my old one, and I feel dumb about the years I spent driving 1.2 miles | Climate Action - Opinions Matter