Fuel Saving

motorguy

Deleted_User said:

Ibrahim5 said:

10 miles on a bike is nothing. Just fly past all the traffic. Frozen food no problem. More of a problem when you are in a car stuck in traffic.

I'm with you on this one, I know you get a bashing across these forums sometimes but I totally agree with the bike.

For financial reasons that are well behind me now, I spent about 18 months with no car. My workplace was 20 miles away and I had 4 kids to provide shopping for but I survived and came through the experience as a better person.

A bike was a lifesaver, I had the paniers and did all my shopping on the bike from the "big Tesco" without any issues. I commuted using a mix of bike and trains, when the weather was good the 20 mile commute on the bike was no issue, but I even cycled home in the snow because the trains were cancelled.

I got so fit that it got me into cycling as a leisure activity as well and could enjoy 50 mile cycle rides.

I'm not anti-car, but it is surprising how cheap and easy a non-car life can be when forced into it.

Fair play for stepping up when forced to.  Good that you are through that now and out the other side of it.

I think when not in a position of being forced in to dramatic action, people are looking for ways to cut down on fuel costs.

I'm more than happy pay Tescos £2 a week to deliver rather than have the endurance of going there myself, either by car (£8 and 2 hours return trip) or cycle (5 hours return trip).  That £2 is a no brainer as it affords me more time to do the things I want to.

Over and above that we make a point of not making single purpose journeys.  For example today I am out at the dentists.  I will refill on petrol on the way back (checked the cheapest on the way here), and get fresh fruit and bread in too.

oldagetraveller1

motorguy said:

oldagetraveller1 said:

"We get our groceries delivered by Tesco for £2 a week now,"

Far too much, I pay £36/annum (midweek plan, Tues., Wed., Thurs.) which relates to about 69p/week, providing the order is over £40.

Whos that with?  

Not Tescos, i dont think.

Oh ye of little faith.

Not "Tescos", no, Tesco.

Flight3287462

Ibrahim5 said:

10 miles on a bike is nothing. Just fly past all the traffic. Frozen food no problem. More of a problem when you are in a car stuck in traffic.

Can tell you live in some urban jungle..........fly past the traffic...really!! 

Grumpy_chap

Flight3287462 said:

Ibrahim5 said:

10 miles on a bike is nothing. Just fly past all the traffic. Frozen food no problem. More of a problem when you are in a car stuck in traffic.

Can tell you live in some urban jungle..........fly past the traffic...really!! 

Why would you travel 10 miles to the Supermarket in an urban area?  Most urban places, there will be at least two large Supermarkets in walking distance, plus the countless local / metro stores

motorguy

oldagetraveller1 said:

motorguy said:

oldagetraveller1 said:

"We get our groceries delivered by Tesco for £2 a week now,"

Far too much, I pay £36/annum (midweek plan, Tues., Wed., Thurs.) which relates to about 69p/week, providing the order is over £40.

Whos that with?  

Not Tescos, i dont think.

Oh ye of little faith.

Not "Tescos", no, Tesco.

Its not appearing as an option now so must have been a historic offer.

This is all thats coming up.


I see from the last paragraph there they'll honour your current delivery plan going forward too.

I'm still well pleased with what we got though.  £2 is for nothing given it would cost us £6 or so in fuel and 2 hours out of our free time.

motorguy

Grumpy_chap said:

Flight3287462 said:

Ibrahim5 said:

10 miles on a bike is nothing. Just fly past all the traffic. Frozen food no problem. More of a problem when you are in a car stuck in traffic.

Can tell you live in some urban jungle..........fly past the traffic...really!! 

Why would you travel 10 miles to the Supermarket in an urban area?  Most urban places, there will be at least two large Supermarkets in walking distance, plus the countless local / metro stores

It was the reference to cycling to "fly past all the traffic" and to not then be "stuck in traffic" with frozen food, not to the distance.

Doesnt sound in that instance to be a nice place to live, though i'm sure many urban locations are.

oldagetraveller1

"Its not appearing as an option now so must have been a historic offer."

Yes, it's a "legacy" plan. Can't remember when I first took it out. Probably 4-5 years ago?

I think they removed it and only started offering 6 monthly and monthly 2+ years ago, when everyone started online orders, and the lurgi took hold.

Also they stopped offering one time delivery charges depending on time and day of week. Now all £4.50.

Don't know whether it applies to current plans, but the £36/year is for orders over £40 to avoid extra cost.

Sorry, gone way off topic. However, my post was and is correct.

motorguy

oldagetraveller1 said:

"Its not appearing as an option now so must have been a historic offer."

Yes, it's a "legacy" plan. Can't remember when I first took it out. Probably 4-5 years ago?

I think they removed it and only started offering 6 monthly and monthly 2+ years ago, when everyone started online orders, and the lurgi took hold.

Also they stopped offering one time delivery charges depending on time and day of week. Now all £4.50.

Don't know whether it applies to current plans, but the £36/year is for orders over £40 to avoid extra cost.

Sorry, gone way off topic. However, my post was and is correct.

Yes, we only restarted using Tesco consistently for delivery in the last few months and thats £7.99 one has been the only plan showing (prior to the end of lockdown it was nigh on impossible to get slots for us).

And yes, even the now standard £7.99 a month plan requires you to spend £40 a shop or incur an extra charge.  Thats not really an issue for us as we're happy enough with once a week and our weekly shop exceeds that anyway.

That plan you have is definitely an offer you'd want to keep renewing. 

Herzlos

Ibrahim5 said:

10 miles on a bike is nothing. Just fly past all the traffic. Frozen food no problem. More of a problem when you are in a car stuck in traffic.

I'm a fairly keen albeit new cyclist, and sure, to a cyclist in good fitness 10 miles is nothing. Pretty much anyone could handle 10 miles on a canal path on a quiet Sunday afternoon. 

But that's still most of an hours cycling (since the average speed is about 13mph and enthusiasts must skew that up), which is a big ask at the end of a busy day. That's before you factor in traffic (10 miles across gridlocked traffic sounds like hell), hills, rain, dropping kids at activities and so on.

I probably wouldn't do a 10 mile shopping trip unless I really had to. Even with the bike trailer I'd struggle to get a decent shopping in, and then cycling with a laden trailer is it's own issue. 

When lockdowns started I'd do the 2 mile round trip on the bike, but I was still capped to about a baskets worth of shopping rather than a car boots worth. It was fine because I could do the trip every other day. 

I fully advocate people cycling where possible but you need to be realistic as to what's actually possible. 

Ibrahim5

Flight3287462 said:

Ibrahim5 said:

10 miles on a bike is nothing. Just fly past all the traffic. Frozen food no problem. More of a problem when you are in a car stuck in traffic.

Can tell you live in some urban jungle..........fly past the traffic...really!! 

The traffic's bad all the way until I turn onto Kensington Palace Gardens and then it's always clear up to my home.