Anyone else here factored bicycling into preparedness plans? How so?

If I lived more than a few miles from work, I'd keep a bike at my office or transport one in or on the car (I have a very convenient hitch rack).

Doesn't have to be a fancy bike, any old bike with air in the tires is going to move you a lot faster than pedestrians and cars in traffic jams. And you can carry quite a lot -- via backpack, trunk bag, panniers, handlebar basket/bag and a trailer (cargo, dog or child trailer).

After many bikeless years, I got back into bikes after getting into bikejoring with my dog. And that got me into biking to work. Now I have a couple mountain bikes (both Rocky Mt Vertex 30 - one set up for bikejoring). If we ever evacuated the city, the bikes would go on the Element's hitch rack and the trailers would go on the roof basket.

I recently put on my bikejoring bike a Topeak trunk rack and MTX DXP trunk bag with expandable panniers. I've got in the main compartment (which is expandable) the usual PSK stuff, plus first aid, a Surefire flashlight, bike tool, leatherman, bike gloves (insulated and not), skull cap, my dog's drinking cup, dog treats and other items. Plus I always ride with a rucksack in the city (camera plus extra jacket or fleece) or a bigger backpack when further out.

So many people have, or know people who have, old bikes in the basement or garage. Those could be put to good use in home and work preparedness plans.

Here are my key bike items -- the Topeak trunk bag w/panniers, Burley Nomad cargo trailer and Croozer trailer for carrying dogs (can be used as a stroller and it hauls firewood and ice when we go camping).

There are many great trailer options. Any child trailer would haul nicely. These below are specifically for cargo. My Burley Nomad is rated to carry 100 pounds, not that I'd care to pull that much.

BTW, my pup tops out at 25 mph, trotting speed is 6-8. A typical run is 6 miles.

Her mother, who weighs less, is nationally ranked in competitive weight pull. She weighs 43 pounds and pulls 840. Male Samoyeds can pull around 2000 pounds -- for 20 feet or so.

Bikes definitely have a place in emergency preparedness, but they are most effective if they are of reasonable quality, and are powered by a well tuned, practiced cyclist.

I have commuted primarily by bike since 1970, at distances ranging from 22 miles to ten miles round trip, and lately I have done several solo self supported tours, the longest of which was 450 miles.

I wouldn't try to carry too much on the bike in an emergency situation. Excess weight and baggage negates one of the bike's principal advantages - its ability to be carried over non automotive patches and to worm through slender spots.
You can carry a bit more on the bike, using panniers and bags, than you can comfortably backpack. About forty pounds will travel easily and should enable self sufficiency. The more you use your bike before an emergency, the more useful it will when it hits the fan. Seventy miles a day should be easy for a cyclist in decent shape.

When the Big One arrives in my locality, I would much rather try to get home by bike than by car, as I anticipate that the streets will be damaged or jammed with automobile traffic. I prefer wide (37mm) tires for stability, comfort, and relative freedom from flats, but I always carry spare tubes, a patch kit, pump,and basic maintenance tools.

Oh yes - I wouldn't ride my bike five feet without a helmet, gloves, and a rear mirror.

I've mentioned it before, but...

I've seen a man twice bicycling at a good clip down the highway with a common $40 hand truck attached to the seat support. At an angle, you can carry a lot of stuff on that hand truck. The guy I saw had about four banana-box sized boxes filled with stuff and firmly covered with a blue tarp. He was moving with traffic (where the speed limit is 30 mph) quite easily.

Does anyone use those solid foam tires that can't be punctured? Bumpy ride?

Sue

Solid foam tires are pretty useless. I would even prefer putting a tubular tire instead of a conventional inner tube inside a clincher over a solid foam tire (a little Winter training tip from Robert Millar ). If I was wanting to get from A to B I would still use conventional pneumatic tyres and I would still get from A to B much more quickly even if I had a half a dozen punctures, which is unlikely since I mostly use Specialized Armadillo Tyres and Slime inner tubes for general road and touring cycling.

It's a bit of a solution in search of a problem; but pushing a laden bicycle 'ho chi min trail' style one can go practically anywhere a man can go.
With a rope to pull it up after the climb one could get over a cliff or wall.
But I'm not sure why you would need to bug out with 400 pounds of equipment unless you are somewhere you won't be rescued for months and i can't think of an example.
The Sock

I am a cyclist, so I read this thread with interest. However I don't consider bikes a reasonable means of bugging out for me. This is because I live in hurricane country so a great amount of distance is needed to properly bug out, and I don't think I would be able to do that with my family. I might be able to ride far enough, if given enough time, but my wife and son could not.

However, after thinking about it I can still see how bikes would be useful in a SHTF scenario. Let's say a person decided to bug in during an event. During whatever event took place (I'm keeping this broad so that it may apply to anybody) lets say that the roads were destroyed or that gas was in low supply or supplies have run out. A bicycle could be used to get around town (to check on friends/family, get supplies, etc.) and get through roads that a car could not get through. This would also save a person's fuel supply for more important things like a generator.

Anyway this is just food for thought for anybody, like me, that didn't consider a bicycle a valuable addition to their preparedness plans.

My initial emphasis in this thread was on a bike's utility in getting home from work if something happened that would cause massive gridlock or make roads impassable (such as an earthquake that damaged bridges and overpasses). Riding a bike in that scenario would beat walking, by a long shot. And my bike is light enough that I can lift it and walk with it for a bit if need be.

For getting around town in the aftermath of an event in which gas may be in short supply or streets may be blocked by fallen trees, yes, a bike would be terrific for that, too. Bikes are popular in my neighborhood every day of the week for running errands, because car parking is in perpetual short supply.

Like my camping gear (and teardrop trailer), I bought bikes for recreation. Like camping gear, bikes have a lot of utility for preparedness.

For anyone concerned about bug out scenarios, bikes are the alternative to gas-powered vehicles and hoofing it. And they can easily be carried on a vehicle.

BTW, I have bear spray from Cabela's that comes in a neoprene holder that fits snugly on a handlebar grip.

+1 on your "Bugging In" comments and bikes being useful for local travel.

Bicycles are important as "Second Stage Vehicles", to take with you when "Bugging Out" in case of a mechanical failure with your BOV. Bicycles would then be able to get you and your family to some kind of shelter in the event of an oncoming storm.