I like to think I do my bit for the environment - you know: recycling tins and milk bottles and considerable numbers of wine bottles – that kind of thing. Plus I help promote cycling, right? So I’m as right-on as the next chap. It’s not particularly earth-friendly, really, is it? I still fly around the world, drive a diesel van to bike events and consume a lot more stuff than is entirely needed for my survival.
My girlfriend, however, is a lot more eco than I am, and works for the organisation for shared car clubs, carplus. She suggested that for our summer holiday we take a mountain bike trip to the Lakes and hire a car club car once we got there. The Lakes National Park has worked out that the biggest carbon footprint in the Lakes is from the people driving there to see its unspoiled beauty, so it’s encouraging visitors to use car club cars when they get there (preferably by train). It’s not very adventurous, though, is it? I mean, an adventure usually implies a journey with an uncertain outcome. Getting the train to Penrith didn’t sound that risky, nor does driving 15 miles to so to Blencathra, so I decided to up the stakes. How about getting up to the Highlands of Scotland by train? And how about travelling about in a fully electric car club van when we got there?