part of the problem
I've been driving too much lately. It feels bad regardless, and it felt especially bad the last two days when I spent significant portions of my errand sitting in traffic. Both times I was needed to go pick up something for this deck we're building in back of the house, and I left at what seemed to me like a reasonable time to avoid congestion. But yesterday at 3:00 all Bedford was packed with cars, so my short hop to the hardware store took half an hour. Then today at around the same time the highway was completely stopped up due to some police activity just before the exit I needed to get off at to pick up lumber; I was stuck going under 10 MPH for about five miles.
I don't gripe about being stuck in traffic. I'd be the first one to acknowledge that when I get in the car I am traffic, doing my part to make the problem worse. I couldn't have taken my bike to the lumber store, but I could have planned ahead better and ordered lumber for delivery. And I certainly could have ridden to the hardware store in town. I didn't because I was in a hurry, but as it happened cycling would have been quicker—even if I had taken the cargo bike, which I would have to carry the things I wanted to get. Lesson learned? I'm working on it!