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I had to stop somewhere after work on the way home, and I'm testing some new stuff out on my mountain bike this week. Actually, just today. I think I found out what I needed to know after one day of use.

On my way out, a guy was on break, standing next to my bike. We talked for a bit while I unlocked it and got things situated. He asked how far I have to ride to get home. I said "Not too far, only 2 miles."

He repeated: "HAH! 'Only' two miles."

I think a lot of people have this recollection of "Running the mile" in gym class more than a decade ago on their high-school 400-meter ovals. When it comes to cycling, they fail to comprehend how oddly efficient it is -- likely because many people haven't ridden a bicycle nor walked very far in quite some time.

I haven't ever sat down to do the math, but I've heard experts say you can travel 4 times faster, 4 times further in the same amount of time given equal effort between cycling and non-mechanized transportation. I didn't break out into Wikipedia mode on this poor fellow, but I did explain that it's faster and easier than walking the two miles before I bid him farewell.

I think this kind of confusion is one of the biggest barriers to getting people out of their cars and onto bikes for short errands.

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