For environmental reasons I try hard to avoid flying. However: from reading EC I am getting the impression that this is an extremely odd thing to do. Jumping on a plane for a fun competition or other recreational cycling seems to be the norm nowadays. EC sometimes brings up ecological concerns about sustainability of components and gadgets. But I can’t remember having seen editors/journalists voicing concerns about the environmental footprint of the travel-cycling lifestyle.
It’s not my intention to blame others for their lifestyle with this question/forum-post. The point is rather: I am often feeling a bit stupid and lonely in my attitude. I thought maybe some people are in the same boat as me, would be glad to read this and feel encouraged. That’s the point. Cheers!
I’m in the same boat as you. I’ve never flown with my bike, or to anywhere to (borrow or hire etc one to) ride. I find enjoy joy and satisfaction in riding my local trails (or roads / gravel roads when on a gravel bikes). Maybe there’s a world where I can ride more than I can now (twice a week) and want ‘more’, but right now (and for the last several decades) I can scratch the itch quite happily in my own backyard. But to each their own, and maybe I would think differently after a trip to Tasmania and/or NZ with my mtb…
I fly more than I want to (especially since 100% of my and my wife’s families live on another continent), usually two-or-three-ish trips a year. I have friends who sometimes do 2-3 trips a month. I definitely feel some FOMO but I’m with you - I finally live in a place I actually like and enjoy exploring around here. Unfortunately MTB is severely limited but c’est la vie.
You’re not alone but I think there are too few of us to make a meaningful difference to the environmental outcome
I also dislike flying for environmental reasons, but Shengen in Europe doesn’t help as it limits trip length; if you want to do things you have to make more trips. If I lived in Europe, or perhaps the Americas, I’d most likely never fly anywhere, but here in Australia we don’t have big mountains.
Yep. Haven’t been on a plane in over a decade. Definitely a great thing to do if you don’t want to contribute unnecessarily to climate change. Doesn’t stop 90% of people in wealthy countries from doing it though. The strangest bit for me is that even people who know it’s a huge contributor to climate change still do it, and just try and justify it afterwards, often with the awfully illogical argument “Oh well. I still fly much less than XXX”.
This is such a great issue/question. It’s an easy answer for me bc I don’t race and I’ve been blessed by a life of ridding right from where I live, so not even driving to rides. I wonder about “the industry” role - sending journalists to distant places, organizing remote gatherings, etc. interested to hear views on this.
I don’t fly mostly for cost reasons. Maybe once every two years to visit family. Used to fly to ski but with kids now we just drive. Hard to complain about the cost of living if you’re flying multiple times a year..
Flying places, and talking about flying places, has become completely normalised. However, it’s only in a few areas of the world where there is a viable alternative. Even in Europe, where train travel does often present an alternative flying can often be so much cheaper, or perceived to be much quicker (people forget how long it takes to get to, through and from airports).
We have tried to avoid flying for some years now, using ferries and trains instead, and turning the journey into part of the whole experience.
It’s that mindset change in others that I’d like to see, and more appropriate taxes on jet fuel to help balance pricing and/or equally subsidised land based public transport. Flying is a thing people want and should be able to do, but much less often please.
I haven’t flown in quite a while, but typically when I do fly, there’s no other option but to fly because of time constraints or something like an ocean being in the way. I grew up in a family that drove everywhere, so I’m fine with roadtripping. My daughter grew up wth the same, so she’s groovy with roadtripping. I’m not sure what percentage of any population in any country does roadtripping though.
With all that said, for a few years, I held job that required to fly 10-20 times a day. The aircraft involved weren’t necessarily fuel efficient and didn’t have low carbon footprints.
My approach is different as an airline employee, mainly because I’m hunting empty seats. The environmentalist in me justifies this by knowing the plane is going whether I’m on it or not. Travel literally broadens my horizons and allows me to enjoy new places on my bike, but also gives me a deeper appreciation of the riding at home. Seeing new places, cultures, tasting new dishes, and meeting people is something I can’t and won’t give up, and sharing it with my family makes it that much better.
I also subscribe to Warren Miller’s philosophy on travel: If you don’t go this year, you’ll be one year older when you do.
Jup, totally get it. I also extend this to buying excessive amounts of apparel made with no regard to the environment and basically single-use electronic waste such as most electric pumps
My wife and I also are very concerned about flying. I miss working in China, where despite the size of the country we never got on an airplane, because the high-speed rail was so efficient. I do expect that within a few years we will see electric air travel on the smaller regional routes, and I am encouraged by the research that says that modifying long-haul routes to avoid creating contrails can cut overall climate effect from flying. But we still only get on an airplane one or two times a year at most, and then only when it’s really important, even though we would love to travel more.
Myself and my wife have decided not to fly anymore. This is mainly because we both suffer tremendous pressure in our ears . I go about 95% death as a plane descends and it’s getting worse. My wife has prolonged pain in her ears. Also really dislike airports. So we are training it to Holland, France and Spain over the next twelve months. It’s also more environmentally friendly of course which is a plus but, if I’m honest, not the main reason to stop flying.
I live in a state of perpetual guilt about environmental impact, and a strong belief that travel really does broader people’s horizons.
Over many years I’ve tended to ride on the road as that is from the door, no driving involved, but I have got back into mountain biking since moving to Yorkshire, and I’m trying not to feel too guilty about driving to a trail every few weeks.
My wife and I have travelled around Europe quite a bit by car, many of our trips are focused on my wife’s triathlon events. After a trip to Girona we actually calculated the carbon footprint of driving Vs flying and for that distance there wasn’t much in it, but we did make it nearly 3 weeks away and had great experiences there and back.
As a general rule we don’t fly more than two years in three and we don’t fly if there is a practicable alternative, and we make that work by taking more trips in the UK, and making our trips to Europe long enough that we get value out of the travel time. But it’s a big old world, and we do want to get out to South America, Asia and I really want to ride coast to coast across the USA, so we will continue to fly, and feel bad about it…
You can come to Tasmania on the ferry! In fact, I’m writing this post from the ferry. You don’t even need to bring a car. Just get yourself to Geelong.
Do I fly from mainland UK to Spain once or twice a year over winter to ride? Yes. Getting away for riding in warmer weather is a sanity saver for me over winter.
Train? Eurostar doesn’t take bikes without packing them down like for a flight anyway. Admittedly I usually hire a bike, but I wanted to get in how shitty that is anyway . I’m (much) closer to an international airport than the London Eurostar terminal. I’d still have to take other trains after that to get there regardless. Ferry isn’t for me, don’t like being on water if I can help it, plus trains after that anyway of course. I have only so much holiday to take a year and I’d rather get there in one day than two or maybe three.
And of course the big one, it is measurably cheaper to get that flight then several trains, as well as considerably faster.
Ok I did waffle a bit
Don’t feel silly about doing what you do. I do genuinely feel it’s rather admirable. But don’t beat yourself up about it if you want to take a trip somewhere. Being happy is important.
but I think there are too few of us to make a meaningful difference to the environmental outcome 
. I’m (much) closer to an international airport than the London Eurostar terminal. I’d still have to take other trains after that to get there regardless. Ferry isn’t for me, don’t like being on water if I can help it, plus trains after that anyway of course. I have only so much holiday to take a year and I’d rather get there in one day than two or maybe three.