Cargo biking: Every Day a New Discovery No. 3

The freedom of being able to cycle through a patch of congestion (with all due care, of course) and sail off out of it.

Cargo biking: Every Day a New Discovery No. 2

Shopping is a lot easier by cargo bike. As I cycle along the Regent's Park Outer Circle through Clarence Gate at the top of Baker Street, I remember I need some DIY stuff and that there's a brilliant DIY shop in Melcombe Street. On foot, after a day's work, with toxic rivers of traffic heading south from Park Road and the Outer Circle, I might have just thought 'oh, forget it until next time'.

The cargo bike makes the spontaneous shopping stop easy. As the traffic grinds to a congested halt, I simply signal I'm slowing down to stop and roll her off the road onto a conveniently wide bit of pavement. She comes equipped with a frame lock. Seconds later she's locked and secure and I can walk down to the shop, load up, speak to the guys behind the counter without worrying about getting a parking fine, go back to where I've left the bike, load up the cargo box, unlock her and cycle back. The road traffic is often roughly where I left it.

Cargo biking: Every Day a New Discovery No. 1

The span of Borisette's two front wheels is only 85 cm but on roads which have lots of parked vehicles - or roads where vehicles park on both sides of the road - I often have to wait like everyone else behind a box van rattling with either a light load or emptiness before I can move when the lights change.

This morning ‏@K4RGO, helpfully translating from @Ecoprofile's Swedish, provided the following statistic:

Cyclelogistics: 51% of motorized freight transport in cities can be done by #cargobikes