The rollercoaster of cycling popularity

[Pat "5mph"]

So it’s a 20 mile drive to pick your own but that’s the price you pay for living rural.

Well, I did say upthread me not running a car (I do have a license) is a lifestyle choice.
I live central, don't apply for jobs that I can't cycle to or reach by public transport.
I live in the Glasgow suburbs: everything is central!
I think the radius of Glasgow is 10/15 miles if you include the suburbs: I'm not even in Glasgow City Council, but the town centre is only 4 miles away.
What I'm saying is, surely the long line of single occupancy cars I pass everyday on the commute is not all rural dwellers?
Should I cycle a couple of miles up the road it's already rural, fields, sheep the lot.
Worry not, though, exit the woods, there's a mega shopping centre right there!
The way it's laid out here, there's a handy Tesco (other supermarkets too!) basically round every corner.

 

[Andy in Germany]

So it’s a 20 mile drive to pick your own but that’s the price you pay for living rural.

Returning home from shopping in Rottenburg. Rural car-free living does require a bit of strategic thinking, and you have to plan ahead somewhat, but it's not automatically a case of "Rural = car".

And again, decent infrastructure makes a massive difference: this is another part of the Neckar Cycleway mentioned above. In the old city of Rottenburg almost all the streets I use are either traffic free, traffic-calmed, and/or built to encourage cycling. After leaving the "city" I don't touch a road until I get to my village.