Car-centric friends

[rs_woods]

I've got a buddy that likes to go to the pub every night. The friendship is good, but he insists on driving me there when I live maybe five blocks away. Sometimes he can't make it and I get to ride there, but then at the end of the night he wants to put my bike in the back of his truck and drive it to my apartment! What kind of sense does that make? Sure, my bike might be slower (over five blocks of downtown traffic parallel to a bike path? NOT), but the ride just seems longer when I'm not in control of it.

It absolutely can't stand going anywhere in someone elses vehicle. Cars are supposed to offer freedom and independence, but when the passenger is at the whim of the driver they don't see any of that. And being at the whim of the driver on the way home from the pub is never a good idea. Anyone else have friends who mean well but just don't get it?

[hotwheels]

I hear you. My very car-centric buddy used to try and pick me up from work time to time. The one time I caved in I had to take the front wheel off my bike and I left it on the grass berm in the parking lot (I know I'm an idiot). It was gone.

[Roody]

I would have to say that none of my friends get it. They have come to accept it, but not to understand it. I always try to put it in terms they can understand. Like in your situation at the bar, I might say, "I just hate to be without my vehicle, so I'll meet you there." I always call my bike my vehicle, hoping they will catch on a little better.

[davidmcowan]

I've always explained it to my friends like this: (to a friend who loves to play the guitar) Suppose you need to be somewhere. Imagine being able to pick up your guitar and play your favorite song. When you are done with the song you feel enriched by your music and by some piece of magic are exactly where you needed to be. Which way would you prefer to get where you want to go?

[becnal]

Dude, say "no thanks".

[oilfreeandhappy]

All the time! I always tell them, "Not tonight, I'll take you up on the offer sometime when there's 8 inches of snow".

[Hobartlemagne]

Tell him that biking as transportation keeps you from having to plan seperate time for excercise in your schedule

[tfahrner]

get an xtracycle and turn the tables: "no, no, hop on back; let's go!" or "if you're ever not fit to drive, or gas prices are getting to you or whatever, i'm here to give you a lift buddy"

i try extra-hard to assure that i reach our destination first whenever drivers and i set off for the same destination in town at the same time.

[CommuterRun]

I have one client that insists on picking me up when I do work for him at his coastal vacation cottage, and drops me off in the afternoon on his way home. I don't know why he doesn't stay down there when we're going to be working mutiple days. He drives a 3/4 ton Chevy, extended cab, longbed, 4x4, on an at least 50 mile one-way trip when we do this, but my house is right on his way. He also insists on breaking for lunch and going to a resturaunt to eat. The nearest resturaunt is about 8 miles, the nearest town with resturaunts is about 15 miles away. I'd hate to have his gas bill, but I'm not going to complain, since he always over pays me and picks up my lunch tab.:D

And yes, before it starts, he uses all the capabilities of this truck. Some of the things this truck does couldn't safely be done with anything smaller or lighter duty.

[Artkansas]

I hear you. My very car-centric buddy used to try and pick me up from work time to time. The one time I caved in I had to take the front wheel off my bike and I left it on the grass berm in the parking lot (I know I'm an idiot). It was gone.

I hate when that happens. On 9/11 a friend with a pickup offered me a ride home and I took it. When I got home, I realized that I had left my backpack in the parking lot at work. Fortunately it was still there(no one was in the industrial areas anymore that day.) So no harm, but it still took me almost 3 times as long to get home that day. I guess a lot of people were a little goofy then.

[chennai]

I would have to say that none of my friends get it. They have come to accept it, but not to understand it.

This is so true. lol.

I had to take a kid to the airport yesterday - it took me longer to persuade a well-intentioned friend not to drop off their extra car in front of our house than it took us to make the trip to the bus stop. I'm not kidding.

[!!Comatoa$ted]

My family always feels like they have to offer me rides or lend me the car to do things. If I visit them at their place they insist on driving me home. They seem to think that I simply being polite in refusing, when in actual fact I would rather walk to where I am going.

I love walking and do it any chance I have the time to do it. Although, sometimes cars are handy I find that they always seem to bring down the mood. When I walk and take my time I feel so much more relaxed. To me life seems better the less time I spend in a car.

[KnhoJ]

In December, my wife and I moved across the street from my job. I'm still turning down offers for rides home from work.

[Roody]

....
I love walking and do it any chance I have the time to do it....
I like walking too :eek: but one nice thing about riding is that it's 3 to 6 times faster than walking. 10 miles is a quick and easy trip on a bike or a half-day chore when walking.

[Satyr]

It amuses me sometimes, but I have a good friend who not only refuses to take motorized transport but also bicycle. He walks everywhere.

I love riding my bicycle, but because of my friendship I have walked a lot more this past year than normal, and now a stroll for an hour to get somewhere seems like nothing. I can only imagine that ancient humans, who walked for extended periods, really did not see their form of transportation as slow, and thus gained some amount of joy from it.

Not really on topic with the OP, but I recommend everyone go for a slow ride (or walk) somewhere. I know for me, I tend to ride hard, and there is a little bit of mental stress in this (especially if you have to dodge pedestrians and worry about cars. This is why I love absurdly steep hills. No worries, just working the body.)

[Runaway Cyclist]

It amuses me sometimes, but I have a good friend who not only refuses to take motorized transport but also bicycle.
I like to walk, but I prefer to ride a bike. What is the matter with your friend? Why does he refuse to ride bikes?

I can only imagine that ancient humans, who walked for extended periods, really did not see their form of transportation as slow, and thus gained some amount of joy from it.
And then they realized that horses were more then food... :)

[DataJunkie]

Do what I do, too busy no friends. :p

Anyhow, my wife's family suffers from this.
My idiot sister in-law used to live with us for 6 months (long story). She would always insist on picking me up at the local safeway. It was actually at the point that I would laugh in her face when she kept asking.
Safeway is a 1/2 mile away! It would take longer to load my bike in her itty bitty car.
Not once did I ever take her up on this. You think she would have figured it out.
Some drug users have such limited intelligence.

[timmhaan]

this is why i love living in NYC. people look at you strange IF you bring a car with you. although riding a bike isn't quite the norm here, it's definitely more accepted.

[Dahon.Steve]

Not really on topic with the OP, but I recommend everyone go for a slow ride (or walk) somewhere. I know for me, I tend to ride hard, and there is a little bit of mental stress in this (especially if you have to dodge pedestrians and worry about cars. This is why I love absurdly steep hills. No worries, just working the body.)

I love walking when I'm downtown and actually find the bicycle a hamper when getting to all the small shops and stores. It's incredible how many cars are on the street looking for parking and moving at 3 miles per hour. I'll walk on the sidewalk or ride (slowly) on the sidewalk practically at walking speed.

[super-douper]

I have only accepted the rides when i'm caught unprepared for rain. It's happened twice, and I would have ridden except that I didn't really want to explain to my boss what was leaking out of my laptop. My usual response to "Do you want a ride?" is "Why yes, I do want TO ride".

I imagine this is attitude is caused by the car is king mentality. Every other mode of transport is inferior to a car and if you're not taking a car you must not be happy about it.

[jamesdenver]

I agree - walking places takes longer, but it's a great change of pace. I prefer to walk if it's a place where I leave my bike outside unattended for a while, like a movie.


It amuses me sometimes, but I have a good friend who not only refuses to take motorized transport but also bicycle. He walks everywhere.

I love riding my bicycle, but because of my friendship I have walked a lot more this past year than normal, and now a stroll for an hour to get somewhere seems like nothing. I can only imagine that ancient humans, who walked for extended periods, really did not see their form of transportation as slow, and thus gained some amount of joy from it.

Not really on topic with the OP, but I recommend everyone go for a slow ride (or walk) somewhere. I know for me, I tend to ride hard, and there is a little bit of mental stress in this (especially if you have to dodge pedestrians and worry about cars. This is why I love absurdly steep hills. No worries, just working the body.)

[fuerein]

I just love all the people who hear I don't own a car and either ride, walk, or take the Metro rail suddenly start saying things about "I wish I could could do that!" or "Yeah, I know several young adults like that, but I could never do that." (I am 22 by the way) As if it is really all that hard. If you put a little effort into it living without a car isn't all that much more difficult than with one, you just have to plan things more sometimes.