Living Car Free - Most Car-free articles are dishonest

I've read quite a few so-called car-free pieces including the last two posted on Slate. Most are in the same vein "I rode my bike instead of driving for a few weeks and decided it's too damn hard...so I started driving again". I am a journalist at a major American newspaper and I ride my bike everyday to work. True i do own a car. I bought a car in 1996 that just hit 43,000 miles. Most of that is visiting family in upstate NY and Pittsburgh. From my vantage point I see most of the car-free pieces as self-fulfilling indulgences and not written by people serious about eliminating or at least limiting this addiction to cars thrust upon a naive public.
If the writers of these articles were serious in any sense they would first acknowledge that a bike is not a car. Sounds simple but it is not. Riding a bicycle instead of driving a car requires one to adopt a new approach to things and live within that new paradigm. Example: If one is going to commit to commuting by bicycle riding and it takes longer to get to work then you must make the adjustment i.e. get up earlier, go to bed earlier etc. You must also adjust to enjoy the advantages of the new situation. Using the same example: getting up earlier means you can eat a healthier breakfast, contemplate before leaving for work. Perhaps you can use your ride in to reflect on the coming day (instead sitting in rush hour traffic steaming). Sounds esoteric but it is not. It's part of incorporating change into a lifestyle. This is what is lacking in almost all car-free articles I've read. I think most are not honest attempts at change but dishonest puffery.
thanks and peace

very true. i pointed out in the slate thread the guy was complaining about the difficulty of bringing a big bag of dog food home.

that would be tough even with great panniers. i'd buy two smaller bags, and when i shop i make more frequent trips to the store on the way home. i shop online. i'll never be able to fill up with a drum full of peanut butter at costco with a bike.

when you save money utilizing bike you also incur small expenses in other ways: better outdoor clothing, eating a bit more, buying at a small hardware store instead of home depot, but you shouldn't complain about those small inconveniences or expenses with the major financial and health benefits of bike. at the end of the day you're still way ahead.

The media writing dishonest puffery and creating controversy where none existed in order to sell their product? I don't believe it for one minute! :eek: ;)

i agree. most articles are trying to compare two vastly different things. the whole reason people choose to become car free is trivalized with a tongue-in-cheek lame story about the author's misadventures while cycling for a short time. of course it's going to be difficult to carry a giant bag of dog food, or a stack of wood. any fool can determine that.

A good journalist would email some of the folks on this forum for background information before writing his story. We know lots of smart tricks (like some mentioned by james) that make carfree living feasible.

I believe the editors are calling for that slant- 'I tried bike commuting but it's too hard', -I've been telling people it's currently a fashionable piece on many a magazine and newspaper editorial calendar.

Djudd, you eat the elephant one bite at a time. I am not care free (100%) We still
own and license a 1999 ford taurus. That being said. 99.9 % of the time we bike,walk,
or bus to where we are going. the taurus makes it easy for the sea kayaking trips.
We're working towards car free but I think people make it an all or nothing situation.
It's like going from cream to half and half to whole milk to skim milk to black with your coffee :)

So true. They just write for the impact, but they don't really want to try it. It's entertainment fluff and not true journalism. Plus, they're just a bunch of wusses and wimps. And it doesn't look like they did any true research or tried to prepare for the article. That would be like me saying I'm going to write about Mexico, but only going as far as Texarkansas, then saying "oh, I ran out of money, so I just stayed close to the border and then got a Western Union from my mom and decided to go home because it got too hard", and STILL writing about Mexico, but just from a Texarkansas angle.

Koffee

<b>Djudd</b>
I read the slate piece at work, and walking home I came to the same conclusion. Car free is really a committment and way of living, not something you can really take for a test spin to see how it goes.

They're not even taking it for a test spin. They walk in with the attitude like it's so hard, and it can't be done, and so they're already slanted to begin with. Where's the unbiased reporting in that? How can you truly explore something if your mind is closed to it to begin with? It makes no sense.

Koffee

I always tell people who are new to cycling not to ride more than 30 minutes a day for the first week. It takes a month or two to build up to using the bike to for transportation--- more to get used to hauling heavy loads after shopping.

The trouble is that most of us here live in the fast food nation-- we want things now! and we're not very good at any long term, slower paced lifestyle plan, like cycling.

I bet a could write a real neat article about flunking out of Med School in a week-- because becoming a doctor is really, really hard.

Cycling, like most things that are worth doing, takes commitment and time.

A more feasible piece would be on the committment it takes to break the addiction to cars that someday we all will have to through. By the way I'm so glad 'Koffee Brown" answered this thread ..any one that has Dorothy Dandridge as thier avatar I have to love...my parents grew up in the 30's and 40's which made them Dorothy Dandridge fans and by default my siblings and I.
peace

Glad Dorothy can stir up the good thoughts for you. ;)

It took me about a full winter to build up to riding outside. The first winter, I made the mistake of taking a break between early fall and early winter. The shock of early winter and getting back on the bike was too much to overcome. The second winter, I was smarter. I rode through the fall and into the winter- never stopped once, got my cold weather riding gear and layers down, and just really enjoyed it, though at times, it was a pain in the butt. I'm now in a new area of the country where it's more about cold rain than cold snow, and it's a new type of winter I'm finding I have to adapt to. It's not easy, but I am definitely doing it. I'm even smarter now than the previous winters, and I'm going a much longer distance, and I carry quite a bit more, since I need to be prepared for any emergency that may crop up. Plus, I mostly have to ride in the nighttime in at least one part of my commute. Now that's a story to write about. Not some sissy wuss who had no intention of committing to trying a commute by bike.

I seriously hope this girly girl is reading this forum and reconsidering his article. He should try again, and this time, be smart and be prepared.

Koffee

i doubt he's reading this forum. if he did, he might rethink trying if he's such a girly girl, or not be such a girly girl about it, realizing it's not easy at first.

and djudd, i don't know what your role is as a journalist, but is there anything stopping you from writing an article on living car-free? you may do a hell of a lot better job than any of these people being mentioned.

a last thought on what's in this thread: am i the only one to notice a pattern? the WSJ op-ed, the other letter posted in that thread from a local paper, the 4 pieces on living car-free--NONE of them supportive? this on the tail of a hurricane that damaged gulf oil refineries, rising gas prices in the face of a shortage, etc. i myself saw a bunch of co-workers give up driving, if only for a little. how much support are these media outlets getting from car manufacturers? call me cynical, but i'm thinking they're trying to keep dollars flowing in and so are the car companies giving them money. it's part of the capitalist system. it's a system of threats--if you don't do this, we'll withdraw this thing that you need. from grocery shopping to what stories get aired and in print, this is how things are run. as i asked djudd what's stopping him from writing stuch an article, i imagine that apart from his role at paper, i also expect this to be a problem, particularly at a major paper.

A good journalist would email some of the folks on this forum for background information before writing his story.

The trouble is, good journalists don't sell newspapers. This is why we always get the same old crappy "articles" in the tabloid press that we always have. They do, however, serve a purpose -- they provide information on how not to do it (oh yeah, and the paper might also be good for cleaning up after excreting).

It also shows that we should never underestimate the importance of cycling education. It's worth remembering that many of the people who end up reading these articles are just as clueless as those writing them.

But the only hard part of going carfree is the first part, getting started. After a while, it's easy and natural. So "journalists" who only try the beginning are justified in believing that it's hard to be carfree. That's honest and accurate, as far as it goes. Where they screw up is when they fail to interview or quote veterans.

I mean, if I wrote about my first day on the job, I would have written that it's too hard and I might not be able to do it. If I wrote now, years later, I would write that the biggest problem with my job is that it's not enough of a challenge.

i

and djudd, i don't know what your role is as a journalist, but is there anything stopping you from writing an article on living car-free? you may do a hell of a lot better job than any of these people being mentioned.


You are right I have dropped the ball on my end. Not without cause though. In 1992 I tried to get my paper to let me cover the 'Triple Crown Million Dollar Challenge" I was going to all of them anyway..besides ,I told one of the sports editors, there's this kid Lance Armstrong who is really something. Of course I was told no, bicycling is no big deal. ( I wrote a free-lance piece that ran in a local sports periodical). This summer that same editor assigned another writer to go to the TdF to cover LA...I'm not in Sports but in Metro and that was reason given me. Anyway... this getting to be inside baseball but you get the drift.
Now that it is brought up I think a free-lance piece for another mag would be a good idea...
thanks

Getting Started is definitely the hard part. I was just talking about this with my girlfriend the other day and she brought up a good point. I was talking about how frustrating it can be when people ask me about commuting everywhere by bike and I tell them anyone can do it. Their response is a resounding "wouldn't work for me". I think it is a shift in thinking.

Why did it work for me? My girlfriend and I had moved to Central America for about a year before returning to the US. While in Central America we became very accustom to getting around via foot, bike, or bus. When we returned to the US, even though we share a car, the first thing we think of when walking out the door ISN'T the car. Our car sits idle in the street. But this shift in thinking came over a year away from the hub bub of the automobile in the U.S.

So I think that besides the real troopers here who have gotten to car-free without the separation, it is difficult to get to the mindset of going somewhere without your car.

I think they need someone who can write from a balanced perspective - perhaps someone who used to drive regularly, but now bikes as a primary means of transit, or vice versa.

I haven't owned a car in about four years, but rent one on occasion for recreational activities (hiking, etc). I started biking regularly about 8 years ago, so it was a gradual transition. Now that I don't do it regularly, I absolutely hate driving, especially long distances. A few weeks ago, I rented a car to go hiking on a trail about a 90 minute drive away. On the drive to and from, it was so f-ing boring! I enjoyed hiking, but the tedium of driving almost tainted they experience.

Another perspective that needs to be discussed is missing it when one can't bike. In the last couple years or so, there were a couple times I couldn't ride because was on the shelf for maintenance (wheel being rebuilt, etc.). Even though it was for a short period of time, I really missed riding - missed the excercise, the thrill, the convenience, the efficiency. I don't see how anyone can go back to driving after getting used to the thrill of biking :)

You are right I have dropped the ball on my end. Not without cause though. In 1992 I tried to get my paper to let me cover the 'Triple Crown Million Dollar Challenge" I was going to all of them anyway..besides ,I told one of the sports editors, there's this kid Lance Armstrong who is really something. Of course I was told no, bicycling is no big deal. ( I wrote a free-lance piece that ran in a local sports periodical). This summer that same editor assigned another writer to go to the TdF to cover LA...I'm not in Sports but in Metro and that was reason given me. Anyway... this getting to be inside baseball but you get the drift.
Now that it is brought up I think a free-lance piece for another mag would be a good idea...
thanks

nah, not saying you dropped the ball, but like you say, you're in metro, and i don't know if that would really work with your editor and whatnot..i had no real idea what your situation is.

but yeah, if you think you can do a freelance piece, do it. i'd do it myself if i thought anyone would take it. it's sort of my d.i.y. thing--if what you're looking for isn't there, create it.

I think they need someone who can write from a balanced perspective - perhaps someone who used to drive regularly, but now bikes as a primary means of transit, or vice versa.

I haven't owned a car in about four years, but rent one on occasion for recreational activities (hiking, etc). I started biking regularly about 8 years ago, so it was a gradual transition. Now that I don't do it regularly, I absolutely hate driving, especially long distances. A few weeks ago, I rented a car to go hiking on a trail about a 90 minute drive away. On the drive to and from, it was so f-ing boring! I enjoyed hiking, but the tedium of driving almost tainted they experience.

Another perspective that needs to be discussed is missing it when one can't bike. In the last couple years or so, there were a couple times I couldn't ride because was on the shelf for maintenance (wheel being rebuilt, etc.). Even though it was for a short period of time, I really missed riding - missed the excercise, the thrill, the convenience, the efficiency. I don't see how anyone can go back to driving after getting used to the thrill of biking :)

amen. i was actually car-free without a bike, just public transit, for some time. after staring on a bike, i can't believe i ever did that, and until starting school again (you know, doing homework on the bus), i wouldn't even use public transit...cuz that's pretty boring, too! give me wind in my face and rolling wheels beneath me, that feeling of flying, the feeling of accomplishment..and then there's that sig (who had it again?) with the "HHCMF club" about the "tales of feats of derring-do amidst an army of impotent maniacal suv drivers".

Example: If one is going to commit to commuting by bicycle riding and it takes longer to get to work then you must make the adjustment i.e. get up earlier, go to bed earlier etc.

I guess I'm fortunate. It actually takes me less time to bike to work than to drive. By the time I warm up the car, fight traffic, park in the free lot 3 blocks away and walk the rest of the way, I've spent at least 5 minutes more time than if I pull my bike out, load it up, ride and park at the rack right at my building. Of course my commute is slightly under 2 miles.

I purposely moved close to where I work so I could bike (or walk) easily. If I want to ride more, I can do it at lunch or take a circuitous route home. In any case, I really enjoy living close to everything. That's a lifestyle choice people can make to allow for more possibilities for alternative transportation options.

The truly frightening aspect about the views held in these articles is that they equate difficulty with undesirability. While it is natural for human society to become more efficient, there is a limit to how much convienence is good. That which we do not work hard for is taken for granted. By so taking a thing for granted we also forget its joys. Instead, our thoughts turn toward more trivial things, and we ultimately forget what it means to be a lifeform.

The appeal to cycling, any any difficult activity, is that we accomplish something. Sense of accomplishment is a tremendously empowering feeling.

Some of us are not willing to ride on hilly, slippery, mega dark roads all year round.

It is not the cold that makes me chicken out, it is not the darkness, it is not the water, neither is the careless cagers riding vehicles too big (and too fast) for their skill.

Is the combination of all of the above. It only takes one cirscumstance to place one self in a bad situation for someone else to screw up your life.

Riding is about risks, a calculated one, and riding at night on lonely frozen roads is not pleasurable nor nearly as safe as riding in fair weather with daylight.

I made a concientious desicion on commuting by bike, and I make a concientious decision on doing it by car. It is not hard if you are willing and able to spend a substantial amount of time riding instead of whatever other activity that you might find pleasurable. Sometimes it is a matter of urgency were you might need a car (depending on what geographical area) but the "hard" part of the commuting I do not believe.
Gear down and slow down.
It gets easier that way.

The truly frightening aspect about the views held in these articles is that they equate difficulty with undesirability. While it is natural for human society to become more efficient, there is a limit to how much convienence is good. That which we do not work hard for is taken for granted. By so taking a thing for granted we also forget its joys. Instead, our thoughts turn toward more trivial things, and we ultimately forget what it means to be a lifeform.

The appeal to cycling, any any difficult activity, is that we accomplish something. Sense of accomplishment is a tremendously empowering feeling.
Excellent post, especially since I agree. :)

The sense of mastery and self-reliance I have attained from cycling (and walking, before that) have made my life 1000 times richer and more enjoyable. I feel sorry for people who always take the easy way out.

"i pointed out in the slate thread the guy was complaining about the difficulty of bringing a big bag of dog food home."

Not a problem-- this is what bike trailers are for. I regularly haul 50+ pound bags of dog food. I also get an entire week's worth of groceries on Sundays. Bales of hay, a racoon trap, various large items. When I bought the darn trailer, I never realized the use it would get, but it's been one of my best purchases, and practically elimates the car in town for me.

I own a car, and it's not the long trips that get to me-- it's driving in the city that makes me grind down my molars. City driving is completely hideous IMO. I literally never use the car for any trip under ten miles, unless it's to haul a very large item, like a couple of bikes I buy at a thrift, or a bed, that kind of thing. Over ten miles, I can crank it out on the interstate, turn up the music, and just drive. I usually throw a bike in the back of the car for when I get to my destination.

"i pointed out in the slate thread the guy was complaining about the difficulty of bringing a big bag of dog food home."

Not a problem-- this is what bike trailers are for. I regularly haul 50+ pound bags of dog food. I also get an entire week's worth of groceries on Sundays. Bales of hay, a racoon trap, various large items. When I bought the darn trailer, I never realized the use it would get, but it's been one of my best purchases, and practically elimates the car in town for me.

I own a car, and it's not the long trips that get to me-- it's driving in the city that makes me grind down my molars. City driving is completely hideous IMO. I literally never use the car for any trip under ten miles, unless it's to haul a very large item, like a couple of bikes I buy at a thrift, or a bed, that kind of thing. Over ten miles, I can crank it out on the interstate, turn up the music, and just drive. I usually throw a bike in the back of the car for when I get to my destination.
Personally I have no problem with car use in the country. But I think they should be outlawed in urban and suburban areas.

An "article" isn't even necessary- why waste the time. Let's just get to the point. All that is needed is a billboard that says "NOT A LAZY A$$" with a picture of a person riding a bike in commuter-type regalia (or even better, hauling 2 bags of dog food, their dog, a load of groceries and their kid) with a counter that indicates "Dollars saved since going car free in January, 2006 (Blip, Blip, Blip.) This would be far more interesting than the Lottery billboards (or the fuel pump, for that matter.)

I wish I saved the article I read in the Cincinnati Enquirer back in the '70s. It was about people who didn't own or cars. It was pretty interesting. One guy said he lived and worked downtown so he didn't ever need a car. The writer didn't try to treat them like genetic freaks but a typical (i.e. clueless sheep) reader might think of them that way.

Returned the rental car today and got caught in a TRAFFIC JAM!!! What a horrible experience. No wonder people are so tense. Now I'm reminded of why I hate driving. Well, I tomorrow morning (17 deg. F) I will step on the nice warm bus to work and ride home in the afternoon (31 deg. F).

i really could go "car-less" if i didn't need to drive from work to school on a daily basis. I could ride my bike, but I'd have to take extra time from work that I really can't afford. Once I'm finished with school in the spring, I'm planning on driving much less. BTW, for anyone that knows Cincinnati, I live downtown and work out in Loveland. It's a 20 mile drive one-way. 40 miles per day on a bike is perfect for me, but a 2+ hour bike ride compared to the 20 minute car ride just does not work while I'm still in school. I really can't wait until I'm out of school so I can save some money by riding to work instead of driving all the time. I'll never be really car-free because my parents live in the middle of nowhere 120 miles north of Cincinnati where no taxis, busses or anything else goes. To visit them on a weekend with a bike would be a major adventure. In a car, it's nothing really.

I've ridden my bike to the grocery store with only a messenger bag to carry stuff home in. It's not that bad, you just need to go to the store every week for only one week's worth of stuff instead of loading up the SUV at costco once a month. (or every week for these modern families full of fat kids). A 40-lb bag of dog food? That's dumb. I didn't read the article, but with an extra large messenger bag, or some straps, you should be able to carry a 40-lb bag on your back. At the worst, buy 2 20-lb bags. The real car-free biker would use a trailer or like a paper-boy rack or something. (are those considered grocery baskets? I don't know)

Unless you really need distance and speed, a car isn't needed at all.

The other day someone panhandled me for gas. I gave him 5 bucks and didn't even tell him that i haven't owned a car for 2 years since he seemed so panicky.

What would you do if your car ran out of gas or broke down? Remember that worry? Gone, all gone.

I own 6 bicycles, if one breaks down and i cant repair it-- taxi! If my tire is flat and i need to get to work-- grab the other bike.

Car free is worry free.

Returned the rental car today and got caught in a TRAFFIC JAM!!! What a horrible experience. No wonder people are so tense. Now I'm reminded of why I hate driving.

What great irony! Reminds me of a few weeks ago, when I drove downtown to attend an evening meeting, and ran into a parking shortage due to a big concert at the civic center. Happened to be the first time I had used the car to go downtown all fall, instead of the bike, as I usually do. (I forget why; some logistical reason.) Had to park in $2 event parking even though I wasn't going to the event! I was wishing I had ridden my bike then. :rolleyes:

What would you do if your car ran out of gas or broke down? Remember that worry? Gone, all gone.

I own 6 bicycles, if one breaks down and i cant repair it-- taxi! If my tire is flat and i need to get to work-- grab the other bike.

Car free is worry free.

I can relate to that. The rental car I returned was a '93 Dodge Dynasty (or is that DIE-NASTY!) w/155k miles from Rent-A-Heap. Actually it was in pretty good condition with a really nice interior but it obviously needed some front-end work (tie-rods, ball joints and an alignment).

Oh well. NOT MY PROBLEM!!! :p

Hey, manual overide!

I know Loveland, I was just there Sept. 2nd on the bike path (my friend and I rode there from Coryn, near Waynsville). Beautiful little town. I heard it used to be an economically depressed area but the bike path injected some new life and tourist dollars there. However I have seen some shuttered factories and businesses in the area.

I've read quite a few so-called car-free pieces including the last two posted on Slate. Most are in the same vein "I rode my bike instead of driving for a few weeks and decided it's too damn hard...so I started driving again". I am a journalist at a major American newspaper and I ride my bike everyday to work. True i do own a car. I bought a car in 1996 that just hit 43,000 miles. Most of that is visiting family in upstate NY and Pittsburgh. From my vantage point I see most of the car-free pieces as self-fulfilling indulgences and not written by people serious about eliminating or at least limiting this addiction to cars thrust upon a naive public.
If the writers of these articles were serious in any sense they would first acknowledge that a bike is not a car. Sounds simple but it is not. Riding a bicycle instead of driving a car requires one to adopt a new approach to things and live within that new paradigm. Example: If one is going to commit to commuting by bicycle riding and it takes longer to get to work then you must make the adjustment i.e. get up earlier, go to bed earlier etc. You must also adjust to enjoy the advantages of the new situation. Using the same example: getting up earlier means you can eat a healthier breakfast, contemplate before leaving for work. Perhaps you can use your ride in to reflect on the coming day (instead sitting in rush hour traffic steaming). Sounds esoteric but it is not. It's part of incorporating change into a lifestyle. This is what is lacking in almost all car-free articles I've read. I think most are not honest attempts at change but dishonest puffery.
thanks and peace
A writer who is outraged and has ideas. Well...