Health Hero Eileen Kadesh

Bike Commuter Extraordinaire

Eileen Kadesh, county Transit Planner, is a true Health Hero. Most people would think a Costco trip by bike was too daunting. Not Eileen and her husband! Thank you, Eileen for sharing your story:

Years ago, when living in Northern Virginia, I didn’t drive a car and used a bicycle as my primary mode of personal transportation. When I moved to the Seattle area at the age of 32, I started driving a car. How easy it is to become lazy, even when the nearest market is only a third of a mile from your house!

About six months ago, my husband and I got motivated to try running our errands by bike again. In fact, there was a little unspoken competition between us to see which of us would use the car less on our days off. Given that most of our errands are for grocery shopping within our own Kirkland neighborhood, there’s rarely any good reason for not cycling to make our non-commute trips. However, like most people, we were deterred by “the hassle factor” before figuring out some strategic tips to make it easier and actually enjoyable to bike to the store.

Two of the primary lessons we learned that made all the difference were to 1) use a simple lock and cable, rather than dragging a heavy U-lock, and 2) purchase bags for the bike that are designed specifically for the purpose of grocery shopping. The bags we use most are called “Townie baskets”, purchased online from Bike Nashbar for about $17 each. They attach easily to a rack on the back of the bike, readily accommodate a full bag of groceries and fold up when not in use. In case of rain, a zippered compartment at the bottom of the bag holds a handy rain cover that protects the groceries.

Knowing where the bike rack is at the store is also helpful. If the store does not have one, you should talk to the manager to see if one can be installed.

I have also found that wearing a cycling jersey or some type of shirt or jacket with pockets is very useful. When I cycle for errands, I generally take my keys, a wallet, my cell phone and a lock and cable. After locking my bike, I like to place the cell phone and keys in a jersey pocket, leaving my hands free to carry my wallet and cloth grocery bag into the store. I generally leave the small things like sunglasses and bike gloves in my bike bag on my bike and strap my helmet to the handlebars. I’ve stopped worrying about people stealing these small items.

For large shopping trips, my husband purchased a large Rubbermaid tote with wheels featured on Craigslist to haul behind his bike. The first time he used this for a trip to Costco, I looked at this get-up skeptically and said “Are you sure it’s really going to haul such heavy items?” He assured me that it would be no problem, so he loaded the tote up, and cycled out of the parking lot. As I looked back, I saw the wheels of the cart start bowing and scraping. Sure enough, the axle was too weak for the load. My husband had to cycle home and get the car while I waited with the groceries. But, he was determined to make this work and has since fitted the Rubbermaid cargo tote with a sturdier axle. It now carries four to five large bags of groceries and works great.

The most important advice for motivating yourself to use a bike when running errands is to “do it when it makes sense”. If you’re really strapped for time or simply have no energy, don’t beat yourself up about taking the car (hopefully, a hybrid). But, if it’s warm and sunny out, you have plenty of time, you only need small items, and you could use a little exercise anyway, then try biking. Once you get into a routine, it actually becomes addictive!