Whether you live in a small town or one of the world’s largest cities, getting around can be difficult if you use a car. Most, if not all cities, tend to have limited parking, and when you consider the time and effort it takes to run your errands by car, it becomes, well, not that good of an idea. You know what is a good idea, though? A foldable bike.
Foldable bikes have come a long way. At one point they used to be difficult to use, impractical, and would break down rather easily, so people avoided them whenever possible. But nowadays, they’re the exact opposite. They’re compact, they’re very easy to ride and pack/unpack, and they are made of durable, high-quality materials and components.
All of this, and the fact that you can make them even more practical with accessories, make foldable bikes the perfect daily driver for many. And, for me, they’ve come in handy more than once.
Preparing for work
We currently have two foldable bikes in our household, the REACH, which is my favorite, and the BIRDY, that’s versatility is a massive plus for my wife. In the morning, they’re one of the first things that get our attention when we’re preparing for work. While we’re sipping our morning coffee, I tend to check my emails and talk to my wife to see what my daily errands entail. In most cases, I run around town while she heads to her office.
One of the main accessories that makes my life easier is the extended rear carrier that I have on my REACH. Yes, a backpack is sometimes enough for me to take all the things I could need throughout the day, but a carrier at the rear makes things a lot easier by literally taking a load off my back. I can now put my backpack on the carrier and move freely, which is a seriously underestimated thing – you should try it. And my wife also has a rear carrier for her BIRDY which she uses to carry her bag that usually has quite a lot of paperwork in it. Office jobs, eh?
Coffee run on the way
Yes, I know, we had coffee at home. But why not have one more before my wife goes to her office and I run around town? There’s a beautiful coffee shop just a couple of blocks away from where we live, and with both our bikes being quick and comfortable, it’s a breeze to get there.
One of the things we love about that one specific coffee shop is that they allow people to put their bikes inside while they’re drinking coffee, an opportunity we aren’t missing out on. But with so many people frequenting the place, there’s not a lot of room for bikes. Fortunately, ours are foldable, and we can keep them right next to our chairs while we’re enjoying our coffee – you don’t get that with a regular bike.
Getting things done
Once we’ve had our coffee, my wife heads to her office. With bike parking sometimes being a problem, she loves that her bike is foldable – she just takes it up to her office if there’s not a safe spot for it in front of the office building. And if there is a spot, she’s got a handy bike lock I got her for her birthday stored inside the BIRDY Hand Bag.
Me, on the other hand, I’ve got a lot of things to do. The REACH makes quick work of city streets and, thanks to the foldable kickstand, I can leave it wherever I need to without worrying about parking. Whether it’s an office where I need to pick something up or drop something off, or one of the company clients I visit to see how they’re doing, I don’t need to worry about my bike at all.
Time to head back home
I usually get back home before my wife does. And even though I tease her about that quite a bit, it’s not because my bike is faster – it’s because I tend to work a bit at home, too. But she usually comes back about an hour after I do, and you know what we both have in common? We’re both relaxed and rested because our bikes are incredibly comfortable, let us do our daily tasks with ease, and don’t burden us with the headache of parking. The perfect daily driver indeed.