Could you manage one week in Vilnius without using car? One family living in Vilnius is brave enough to answer that question by their own experience. They give a promise to use only bicycles for going anywhere they need to during one week.
In the Nordic countries bicycle is the main means of transport for a lot of people. They use bicycle for going to work, reaching different places in the city and for weekend tours. But having in mind Lithuanian habits and traditions of bicycling and the infrastructure for bicyclers, we call it an experiment “A Week on a Bicycle”.
Before the experiment starts the family will choose their bicycles and all needed equipment at the shop HAWAII EXPRESS.
Follow the experiment
The volunteers’ family will daily write their impressions on a blog, which you will be able to read in this site.
We will get to know how bicycles will change their planning of the daily agenda, what difficulties they will face and how father Zilvinas will manage carrying his wife Asta over the White Bridge at the Wife carrying competition, which is one of the Heja Norden! events.
The challenges of the Akeliai family will also be recorded with a camera and brought to you, who are interested in following this experiment on the Internet.
Time and venue
The experiment will take place on May 7 -14, 2008 in the city of Vilnius.
Hypotheses
Like every experiment “A Week on a Bicycle” raises several hypotheses:
1. Is true that people using bicycles feel more active and energetic?
2. Is it true, that they plan their time more precisely and therefore are almost never late?
3. Is it true, that Vilnius is becoming more attractive for bicyclers?
4. Or maybe the truth is that living in Vilnius is impossible without a car?
Volunteers
Let’s get acquainted with the participants of the experiment, the Akeliai family:
Father Zilvinas is a management consultant, 30 years of age
Mother Asta is a financial analyst, 30 years of age
Onyte is a serious kindergarten girl, 4 years of age
Julyte is an observant watcher of life processes, 1,5 year of age
The family lives in the district of Uzupis in Vilnius. Every day dad Zilvinas goes to work, which is on Gedimino in the city centre. During working day he usually has to visits business clients in different places of the city. Mamma Asta works at the business centre EUROPA, situated on Konstitucijos. Onyte spends her days at a kindergarten close to home, while her sister Julyte stays at home with a nanny and waits for everybody to comeback.
The family has got a car, which will not be started during the whole week of the experiment. And no exceptions will be allowed.
Won’t you fear using a bicycle? “When I was six years of age I had the first and the last bicycle accident in my life, when a car hit me on a street. Luckily everything went fine and I was not injured seriously”, - Zilvinas says. This old accident didn’t choke him off the bicycles. He could tell a couple of funny stories, how he used to go to the dates by bicycle. It’s interesting though, how about seeing off the girls then?
“And I will be frank telling that I’m afraid of all the cars passing by in the city”, - Asta says. She is the one in the family who worries about the experiment most. And her elder daughter Onyte on the contrary likes, when the daddy drives her by his bicycle. So far it has not been the most comfortable ride since Zilvinas doesn’t have the special children seat. Onyte used to sit on the bicycle frame in front of the daddy. The little Julyte hasn’t tried going on the bicycle at all and it’s one more worry for her mama.
