No Car, No Problem: Urban Family Transportation

Riding bikes is fun and healthy. Too bad too many people drive cars in our cities. Cars don’t belong in cities is a thought which we share in our family. Cars have their place, but for both humans and the environment, and also the aesthetics of our towns, it would be best if most of us would cycle to the grocery store, work and the cinema. That that is possible I want to show you in this article.

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The Problem

I admit that #FuckCarsRideBikes is probably the best Hashtag I have invented. I dislike cars as they illustrate what is wrong with our cities & towns: Everywhere we have multi-lane streets so that thousands of people who sit alone in their car can drive from A to B. What’s wrong about this is that the distances these people drive ALONE in their cars is statistically less than 5 km, or the distance which most of the readers of this blog hike in an hour in the hills or would be able to ride on a bike in 20 to 30 minutes. Add in that nowadays seemingly every other car driver is distracted while checking his or her phone, our ageing societies mean that there are more people who are physically less able to drive safely, and the emissions from cars which are bad for our health and you start to realize that we need to get rid of the majority of cars in cities and towns. That that is possible and that one can thrive without a car and get everything done is what I want to show today, and hopefully encourage you to ride more on your bike and drive less in your car.

How to get from A to B

The kids have hobbies, need to be brought to school and kindergarden, there’s the occasional thing to pick up at the post office and groceries for cooking at home also need to be bought and brought home. Add in a visit to the cinema, going for lunch with colleagues, playing games with friends, swimming at the beach and oh, yeah, showing up at the office for work is also smart. Can one REALLY do all that by bike? Well, yes 😊

Statistically most people use their cars for journeys of three to five kilometre in length, which if you think about it, is insane. I ride with my kids, with the trailer behind me and my son on his own bike, in 15 minutes to the centre of Vaasa, which is about three kilometre away from our house. Pretty much all of it is on cycling lanes, and in the centre there’s dozens of parking places for bikes so one never needs to ponder “Where do I park?”. It’s also free! If the weather is poor hardshells come on - living in a coastal town (= lots of wind, 🌬💨 all the time) means we are used to wearing a wind jacket when we go outside - and when you arrive at the Café, Restaurant or school you take it off. No problem!

This is not some kind of magic that only we can achieve. Most people have very short commutes and can do all of it by riding a bike, and did I mention that being on a bike is healthy and fun? I at least always feel very happy when I can ride my bike. I think the biggest hurdle to those who drive with a car everywhere is that they think that they can not cycle. The truth is - if you have learned to ride a bike, and own a bike, then you can bicycle. No one is expecting you to win the Transcontinental Race or going Downhill mountain biking but you likely just want go to the Café or to the beach. You also don’t need to sell your car and go all in, but gradually try what you all can do by bike. Cycle to work two days a week, instead of taking the car to the gym take the bike to go grocery shopping, and if you want to go out and meet friends why not go cycle to that lovely Café instead of taking the car? If you slowly phase out the use of a car you’ll see that going by bike everywhere is easy - and not just for adults, also kids love to ride their bike. The smile my 3 year old daughter gives me when we cycle together is amazing, and while this obviously only are short distances like going to the Kindergarden, the playground and the library bus, it still allows her to get used to cycling. For longer distances she sits in the Thule Chariot, which is also great to transport stuff. And if it doesn’t fit on the bike or in the trailer I take the bus or use a Taxi. By not owning a car we save a minimum of 400€ per month on car-related expenses, and that are even in Finland quite a few Taxi rides.

The Bikes

Now I have been talking so much about our bikes - time to take a look at them! I have written before about my Pelago Stavanger which I am now riding since five years. I bought for my wife some years ago a Pelago Airisto which she loves, and with both of these bikes we can pull the Thule Chariot 2 where our daughter sits and rides with us. The Airisto is a fantastic bike and I got my wife the front basket as it makes transporting things so much easier. The Airisto also performs well for bike tours - we cycled for a week on Åland with these bikes and had a lot of fun.

Our son is on his fourth bike, and since about a year he is riding the woom 4 children’s bike which has been his best bike to date. It’s not just light and grew with him, it also has 8 gears which made cycling up hills and in winter a lot easier. The bike handles very well (especially if compared to his older bikes) and it’s a pleasure to see him ride his bike proudly and having fun. A good bike which is the right size and easy to use makes all the difference in getting a child being willing to ride a bike year-around, from spring till winter, and the woom 4 certainly has made it easier for us parents to go cycling together - because the bike works flawlessly. We also have cycled some longer rides around Vaasa with him, and thanks to his woom bike he’s able to cycle up to 20 km without a problem.

Our son is wearing the woom Helmet which is good, though it’s not really made for the cold weather of Finland and the width adjustment knob broke in the middle of winter - we have been using the Helmet now in the max. size, which is either way what we needed. It’s a light and well-ventilated helmet and stands up to daily use. Similarly the woom bike lights had a battery which had problems coping with the Finnish winter, it only worked on a charge for a day or two max and then needed recharging, though I imagine this is not a problem in warmer climates. And we also got the easy to use woom chain lock. You can put in your own code (and can change it easily, too) so that way the bike can always be securely locked when at school or in town.

The Thule Chariot 2 is an amazing trailer and honestly the most important piece of cycling gear for a family with small kids which wants to rely less on the car. The Chariot 2 has allowed us to transport both kids at the same time when they were younger, we can use it to transport large packages and it makes grocery shopping a breeze as you can fit a child and the groceries for a week in it with room to spare. We also have travelled with the bikes and the trailer on Åland which was an amazing trip which combined the bikes, train and ferry for a lovely week of cycling in the Archipelago. The Thule Chariot also has flown with us when the kids were smaller, as it can be converted into a pram in one minute (or a sled if there’s enough snow!). This really is an amazing piece of equipment which is integral to our family not having a car, and I can foresee that even when our 3-year old daughter is old enough to cycle herself that we might keep the trailer for a while as it is so damn easy to transport large things with it.

Speaking of transporting, my Trek 920 Disc has been an amazing bike for both transporting, urban commutes, fun rides and adventures. I can transport an unreasonable amount of stuff on it thanks to the two racks, and especially the front rack is one of the best things on a bike, ever (Seriously, if there’s one thing you should get for your bike it is a front rack!). I love this bike and even more after I made it tubeless two years ago. If it would allow me to pull the Thule Chariot I probably would own only this one bike.

As we are a family and we have to transport kids, groceries and parcels every now and then, I think you understand why we are dreaming of a Cargobike. There’s just too many options and they’re also all a bit pricey, but maybe in the future we will change from the Thule Chariot to a Cargobike for transporting…

And then there’s the kick bike which our kids used when they were small. We had a Puky kick bike for both kids, and our daughter has been riding it since she was 1,5 years old. It’s something she really enjoys a lot and she is pretty good at it, and when we go to the playground, for a walk or to the library bus she takes the kick bike as that way the longer distances are no problem for her.

Come Rain, come Sunshine, we Ride

Riding our bikes in any weather - from damn slippery roads to the rain and hot 30°C days - needs a little planning garment-wise, though as you’re likely a backpacker or skier you have everything you need to ride in any climate. We just use our hiking garments for cycling, the most important thing is that they have a good freedom of movement. A wind or rain jacket and a rain pants are needed in foul weather, while in the summer we cycle in shorts and T-shirts. My wife and kids use a Helmet while I only use one on long bike rides - because it’s OK to not wear a helmet, as bicycle lanes make cycling safe and not a helmet. Windproof gloves make sure your hands don’t freeze solid (they’re also recommended in windy summers as warm hands make cycling a lot more fun).

That’s really it what ones need to transporting oneself from A to B by bicycle - yes there’s lots of fancy things one can add to the bike but a basic bike, some gloves, maybe a helmet and depending on the weather a wind or rain jacket are all that is needed. In the future I’ll write more about useful accessories for cycling, but that’s not the focus of this post!

Can’t do without car?

If you can not be without a car - because you actually life far away from civilization - I would encourage you to at least not drive alone. Share a car with a neighbour or two, drive together, make less trips and if your car is old get a car which is fuel-efficient or is an electric car. Generally, sharing the car and driving together makes the use of a motorized vehicle more acceptable. Alternatively you could try a e-Bike as these allow you to go a bit faster and further without too much of your own muscle power, or have a look at something like the Arcimoto if it needs to be a vehicle.

Go Ride Your Bike!

I hope you see it is easy, fun and healthy to not drive everywhere in a car and that using the bike for transportation in an urban environment makes a lot of sense. There’s no searching for a parking spot, you don’t need to go to the gym, you’re outside at the fresh air and are having fun. Having good bikes for the kids and getting them used from an early age to cycling helps to instil a happiness to bicycle everywhere in them, and also makes them more independent as you as a parent don’t need to drive them everywhere. So in conclusion I hope that you now, with the beginning of spring, try to cycle more! After all - it’s fun, healthy and allows you to be more outside, and isn’t that what we all enjoy the most?!

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Is Backpacking a Sustainable Hobby?

Being outdoors, sleeping in nature, hiking through the forest, paddling on rivers and cycling on beautiful single trails - being outdoors seems on a first look to be a very sustainable hobby. But is it really?

This article is part of the Bergfreunde Series of “Sustainable Outdoors” and several bloggers write about this topic - you can find a list with the other articles at the end. We are not paid to write these articles and have full editorial control.

Going outdoors feels like a sustainable hobby - especially if you compare it to sports and hobbies which need large buildings or areas to be played & practiced. But is it really sustainable to drive in a big car to a trail head, being dressed in garments made from oil-based materials and hiking in sensitive areas which contributes to land erosion and degradation? That is a question which I am pondering in this article, so read along to find out what in my opinion are our biggest “sins” as backpackers.

Getting there

Only very few of us life in nature and can start hiking or skiing from their doorstep - most of us life in towns and villages and need to travel to the start of a trail or to the hills. Those who read me since a while know that I neither have a driving license and our family also does not own a car. If I go backpacking somewhere it is always by public transportation, most usually a combination of train and bus when in Finland, or by ferry, plane and then bus or train when abroad. As I have been travelling like this since 20 years this is normal for me, but for those who have grown up with a car in front of their house this might seem strange. Yes, I am dependent on schedules and trains and busses to get somewhere, but I have learned to life with that and it usually works out nicely. My waiting time I use for reading and studying the map, or stocking up on calories!

Getting to a local trail here in Pohjanmaa means either jumping on a bike or taking a bus or train and possibly a Taxi. Sometimes I make the bike ride part of the journey and just call it a Bikepacking and Hiking Adventure as cool and catchy names are important =) I really love to ride my bike and it’s my favourite way to get around when in town or if I’m travelling, it just feels great. Going by train or bus is fine, though - I can charge my phone and listen to music or chat on Discord and the speed is good and if going by bus I usually also can get off quite close to a trailhead and just hike the last bit.

When going abroad flying is something I hate. I hate the noise, the people and the emissions I accumulate while travelling by plane, but for long distances in a short time there’s no alternative for me right now. I am cutting down on my flights and assignments abroad drastically, though, and each trip I can realize by taking the ferry, train, bus and Taxi are a win in my book. Plus going by plane also often means I have to add a night in an AirBnB or Hotel at the beginning or end, depending on the connections at the destination to get where I want to go which adds to the costs and length of a trip. But some trips are just too good to miss out on, like my Causeway Coast Way thru-hike or backpacking on the Via Dinarica in Bosnia Herzegovina. These were amazing hikes and totally worth getting into a plane for, and also the John Muir Trail is high on my list, as well as several other trails abroad.

My take-away for getting there is probably to try to enjoy your local outdoors as much as possible. I know I am guilty of dreaming and hiking on distant trails, while I have a UNESCO Natural World Heritage Site on my doorstep which would be great for packrafting, cycling and hiking. But the benefits of hiking locally are so many: You can hike more - have a free afternoon and day ahead? Just go to a local trail for a night out! Take the bike instead of the car if you feel like it, and for longer trips why not explore more of your own country?! If you fly somewhere for your yearly long backpacking trip - and you can! - offset your emissions by supporting reforestation measures or similar.

The Gear

Another topic which we have to ponder is how sustainable our outdoor gear is. Unless you use exclusively natural materials like cotton, hemp, flax, wood or Merino wool chances are you have something that’s made from oil => plastic in any form or shape (it can be called Dyneema, XPac, Cuben fibre, Polyester, Nylon, Cordura or or or). The good thing is that most of our outdoor gear is so well made that it can last us a life-time with some proper care, so the environmental footprint of a tent which gets used several times per year is relatively small after 15 years of use.

Also, most new outdoor equipment is made from recycled or recyclable materials which is an amazing step forward. I remember my first OutDoor where the sustainability topic was still in it’s baby shoes and I had more the feel of “Greenwashing” here and there. But now, five years later, it’s front and centre for many companies, and one of their most important messages. From Patagonia who doesn’t want you to buy their jackets to Houdini which lets you rent their garments instead of buying them, many companies wake up and realize we need to do something to keep our outdoors healthy.

But what’s even better is that many of our outdoor gear also can find it’s way into our everyday life. Don’t be dumb and only use your Hydroflask on the trail - take it with you when you go to work or walking the dog! Get a good mug for your coffee on the go, and also your lunch can be packed in a Light My Fire meal box. I also wear my outdoor clothes all the time - my hiking pants are my every day pants as well, when I pick up my kids I wear my Alpine Start Hoody or a shell jacket and I don’t really use any other shoes than my trailrunning and hiking shoes. If you’re working at a office where a suit is mandatory you might not get away with wearing your outdoor garments all the time, but if your employer is relaxed about the dress code there’s no good reason why you can’t wear your flannel shirt and hiking trousers to the office.

Finally, instead of buying a new piece of kit once an old one is broken might not be necessary - many pieces of equipment can be fixed, from stoves to garments. If a rain jacket doesn’t keep the rain out anymore it often just needs a wash with a good detergent to re-activate its waterproof properties, and if a tear is too big you can have it often much more cheaply fixed than buying a new one.

Land degradation

Land degradation and erosion is especially a problem at very popular trails and areas - from the Karhunkierros in Finland to certain trails in the Lake District and elsewhere, where a lot of people hike or ski the earth under our feet gets eroded and with rain and wind popular trails quickly can look like deep scars in the landscape. Well built and maintained trails minimize this problem, and also we can - by choosing to hike on “less popular” trails. Now less popular does not equal less beautiful, and as many of us go into nature to escape busy cities it’s a smart thing to search out these less popular trails and enjoy them on your own.

If a trail gets really popular then trail erosion is often the smallest problem - often rubbish which is left behind, from 💩 to plastic bottles and tissues - are a much bigger issue. What we as knowledgable outdoors men and women can do is to educate our fellow hikers when we catch them in the act, or collect the trash and carry it out. Carrying a small Ziplock bag for these situations is common for me, because I really hate it to see rubbish left in nature.

Bottomline & What you can do

My conclusion is that being outdoors, be it hiking, backpacking, biketouring, packrafting or ski-touring is inherently a sustainable activity. By spending time outdoors in nature we learn to care more about our planet, and in the long run we will adapt many of the things I have suggested throughout this article, though if you’re at the start of your hiking career and just started with backpacking you can now of course skip ahead and pick up these good behaviours and ideas!

To sum them up, these would be my three take-aways:

1. Adventure more locally and take the bike, train and bus to get to the trailhead!
2. Use your gear until the end! Resist the urge to buy new gear, repair what you have and consider renting or buying used gear.
3. Search out less popular trails, keep Leave No Trace principles in mind and pick up other people’s trash if you encounter it outdoors.

I also want to encourage you to not geo-tag your images online and generally share & spend less time on un-social networks like Instagram and Facebook which both promote Fear Of Missing Out and other negative feelings. Finally, #FridaysForFuture are not just for kids - also responsible Adults who are not happy about how those in our governments misuse their loaned power can take to the streets and demonstrate for politics which ensure our planet, including all these amazing National Parks, hiking trails and mountains remain for future generations. Take the ext Friday off and go demonstrate!

Further Reading

The Bergfreunde write about sustainable winter holidays, Stefanie ponders the topic of travelling and sustainability, Heiko shares 11 sustainable tips for home & outdoors, Björn reports about the DAV Day Sustainable on Ski Tour and the Climbing Plus guys show how climbing has changed over the years. I’ll add more articles when I find them =)

Enjoyed this article? Support me on Patreon and get some useful rewards (like hanging out on Discord with me, where you can pick my brains!) or buy me a coffee - I work Full-Time on Hiking in Finland to bring you inspiring trip reports, in-depth gear reviews and the latest news from the outdoors. You also could subscribe to the rarer-than-ever Newsletter and follow along on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and Youtube for more outdoorsy updates!

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Reflections on the IWA OutdoorClassics 2019

What does an ultralight backpacker, skier and climber do at the IWA OutdoorClassics fair? Blending in, obviously =)

Disclosure: I’m a co-founder of the Outdoor Blogger Network and we were a cooperation partner of the Nürnberg Messe for the 2019 IWA Outdoor Classics. However, I haven’t been paid to write this article, and I maintain full editorial control of the content published on this site. Read the Transparency Disclaimer for more information on transparency.

If you’re interested exclusively in outdoor gear and don’t carry a knife in the outdoors, better read this article. If knives, warm boots, and toned-down garments are something you are interested in - dive in!

This Opinel N°08 Black Oak was my favourite piece of hardware on the show. It’s lightweight (45 g) and simply beautiful. It felt great in my hand and I think I want to pick one up.

Also the other goods from Opinel were top notch and especially the two sets for kids were amazing, as a father of a seven year old boy I really loved the wood carving set which lets the child build a small sail boat. Similarly, the kitchen knife set allows the kids to help safely in the kitchen - and cooking together is a lot of fun!

Also this Marttiini Damast Steel puukko was a work of art, Made in Finland. The birch handle is waxed and felt really good in my hand, and damast steel with it’s intriguing patterns is always an eye-catcher.

Apparently All Black is a trend in the knife industry, also also the Swiss Brand Swiza had an All Black pocket knife. This one felt lightweight and could be a good knife for weight-conscious backpackers.

At Victorinox a person was showing some visitors how to carve with the knife in the middle, and it was interesting to watch. This Swiss Brand had a wide array of different knives, and it seems even some collectors editions.

And at Morakniv they were very proud of their new hook knife for carving, and it’s a great - and SHARP - knife for sure. This knife now finally comes with it’s own leather pouch which protects it during transport, which is a good thing. Also I learned that Mora produces some insane amount of knives each day - 20.000 to be exact!

As I have around my house a large pine hedge which I cut once a year, a good saw is mandatory in our house. I checked out the Silky Saws booth and these Japanese saws looked amazing, I feel when my Fiskars saw is at the end of it’s life cycle I might replace it with a Silky one.

Hultafors from Sweden makes Axes since a loooong time, and their Hultån, Åby and Ågelsjön hatchets felt amazing in hand. Sadly they didn’t have any wood for splitting along, but I am pretty sure these axes are up to the task! Oh, and that Damast Axe - it’s a unique piece which is unlikely to see mass production, and with a price tag of around 2.000€ it’s also more likely an Axe which you’ll hang on your wall than using it in the forest.

I met the guys from FixPlus which make lightweight straps with which you can connect your gear to all kinds of stuff - from closing your cook kit securely to attaching your skis to your bike, these are multiple use and lightweight - and unlike the classic Voilé straps more durable and UV resistant.

Fjällräven was with their sister companies at the fair and their new hunting trousers looked amazing - both very comfortable and made for a good time in the outdoors, in any weather. I liked the pattern, too, and imagine that we will see many people wear these for normal backpacking and hiking.

The Hawu Roll Chimney from Finnish brand Savotta was amazing if you’re into hot camping in winter, a really great chimney that’s easy to set up and pack down, and also works with UL wood stoves. At 1 kg it might be heavier than the Titanium foil UL options, but the Hawu was so easy to use that I wouldn’t bother with any other chimney.

And finally, as we’re still in the midst of winter here in Finland and Scandinavia, warm boots! Polyver Boots are Made in Sweden, not far away from Åre, and are fairly lightweight - around 700 g for a Size 42 Premium Low boot, but hold on before you start to write “That’s not….” - these are made for cold weather activities. Like, -25°C cold. Activities like ice fishing. And that’s where they will keep your toes toasty and dry, because waterproof they are too.

Take Aways

As I have said for years in my wrap-ups of the OutDoor Friedrichshafen and ISPO shows, these happenings are less about the gear for me and more about the people. And I met great people at the IWA, which care for nature and enjoy their time in the fjells and forests. I too really enjoyed my first IWA show and seeing all the new gear which I never see at one of the usual shows I attend, and best of all I had ZERO meetings which meant I was free to stroll around the fair and look at the stuff I am interested in. And so I came home with new impressions of a new fair and outdoor market, and got to know some interesting new equipment. Let me know in the comments on Facebook or via Twitter if you found this article interesting, and if you saw some interesting kit! I’ll leave you with some more impressions from the show and wish you a happy outdoor weekend!

Enjoyed this article? Support me on Patreon and get some useful rewards (like hanging out on Discord with me, where you can pick my brains!) or buy me a coffee - I work Full-Time on Hiking in Finland to bring you inspiring trip reports, in-depth gear reviews and the latest news from the outdoors. You also could subscribe to the rarer-than-ever Newsletter and follow along on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and Youtube for more outdoorsy updates!

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