Considering swapping car for bike.. anyone else done same?

[superflybaby]

I live in Surrey and have to travel about 5-7 miles to get anywhere of importance.
Work, Nursery, Family, shops.
So sick of driving a car. Considering getting a bike with a basket on front & toddler seat on back.
I'm pretty fit as I go to the gym so that side of things not an issue.
BUT my concerns are;

1. Safety. There are often fatal accidents on roads around me involving cyclists. It is dangerous. I would go on pavement, but 60% of my journey doesn't have pavement / cycle lanes.
2. Time. It'll take forever to get too & from work & nursery on bike.

I would save about £1,745 per year if I get rid of my car. I am convinced me & my partner could share a car & I could get by with a bike most days. But it is the safety side I am mainly worried about.

has anyone else made the switch? Or use a bike with small child regularly? How do you find it?

I used to cycle that sort of distance to work on fast traffice filled roads, but I couldn't do it with a baby on the back. Mine were in my workplace nursery and I used to drive them on the days I took them, and cycle on my own. It just didn't seem safe enough, I used to have visions of crushed baby.

And I used to feel terribly guilty about driving instead.

we did cycle lots with babies and toddlers but not on the sort of route which has lots of cycle accidents.

so actually if I were you I wouldn't, despite being a big fan of cycling with children.

Since then we have moved and one of our priorities was living somewhere where we could cycle more and drive less. but that's a bit of a drastic and expensive way of cutting down on car use.

yep, moving so you can cycle safely is a bit drastic! but I totally understand!

I don't get why the council has bothered to install cycle paths where they just run out at the busiest of roads, leaving the cyclist no option but to brave their life amongst the traffic. It's stupid. Seems to be all or nothing.

If things were safer for cyclists I start it tomorrow.

Perhaps I'll leave it until she is at school and I can walk her there, then I'll cycle to work on my own.

No, DH works too far from home to do without it.

I use a bike and seat nearly every day and it's fine BUT I live in a very cycle friendly city, a large part of my route with baby is off road/quiet streets and it's a short distance overall. I think you would find the sort of distances you are talking about to be very hard quick - especially on wet days! In your shoes I would get a bike and see how you find it - maybe you could use it for short trips or even put a rack on your car and park and ride?

If you are thinking about it, then maybe get a year's worth of back issues of A to B magazine? They deal with all the practicalities of living with just a bike all the time, and have some really good tips. Top one seems to be to get an electric bike!

If you can't work out a way that would make you feel (and be) safe on the roads round you though, you can't do it... We were in Surrey recently and I was horrified by how cars seemed to treat cyclists.

No way. What if you got run over and your child was killed? I can't cycle either because I live in Italy and drivers here have zero sense of civic responsibility. It's really annoying, but not that hard to choose whether I'd rather get the bus or maim the kids.

Can you get a bike and seat and use it at weekends to start with, and work towards cycling to work every day once you don't have a child to take with you?

On the time issue of cycling taking longer, it means you can cut out exercise classes, gym visits, all of that, if you're cycling a lot. Which actually saves a lot of time.

Though my cycle to work routes are as fast or quicker than going in rush hour traffic by car or public transport anyway.

The cycle rack on car sounds like a good idea. Then I could drive DD to Nursery then cycle to work. I will get a childs seat though for nice ride along safe routes. We have a canal nearby which I have cycled along when I worked in a different area -that was lovely.

AtoB magazine sounds good. Where can I get this?

I'll aim to ditch the car all together by Summer 2010 when DD at school, just behind our home (providing she gets in )