Living Car Free - Why does it seem farther in a car?

Seriously I don’t understand this phenomenon… when I’m on my bike everything is just around the corner, but in a car the same destination seems so much further despite getting there much quicker! It’s hard to convince people that 3 miles on a bike is nothing when the same trip in a car feels more like 13 miles, LOL. Time flies when you’re having fun I guess :)

I've found that a lot of trips seem longer in a car b/c of the agony of finding a parking space. I've raced my girlfriend before. Me on bike, her in a car and while I don't beat her to the destination I always beat her inside where we're going while she tries to find parking.

She doesn't like driving there anymore. She rides with me. :)

I think that when you traverse a distance with your own body power, and taking in all of the sensory inputs from you eyes, ears, nose, and skin, and the muscle resistance, you perceive that you are really moving... whereas cars and planes are sensory deprived environments, and they put you in an "indeterminate" time & space state.

Sort of like the difference between watching porno vs. really having sex!

I think for short distances it can definitely take longer in a car. My husband and I worked at the same place 2.5 miles from our home. A few times when he's biked and I've driven he has beaten me to work. For one thing, when there's backed up car traffic he can whiz by it all on the shoulder, for another, it takes me a couple of minutes to park and walk to the building, he bikes right up to the back door and takes his bike in.

I think for short distances it can definitely take longer in a car. My husband and I worked at the same place 2.5 miles from our home. A few times when he's biked and I've driven he has beaten me to work. For one thing, when there's backed up car traffic he can whiz by it all on the shoulder, for another, it takes me a couple of minutes to park and walk to the building, he bikes right up to the back door and takes his bike in.

I had this same issue with my ex (maybe that is why:p ) we both worked at a local hospital about 3 miles from the apartment. We both left at the same time, I grabbed the bike from under the stairs where it was locked, cut thru the complex to the road. She had to drive around the complex and make three turns around the block to get to the road I was already on. She would pass me about a 1/2-3/4 mile before the hospital, I would ride past her sitting in line to get in the parking lot. I would be sitting in my shop by the window with a cup of coffee and she would be walking past on the sidewalk headed for her section:D worked for me!

Aaron:)

My baseline is a little different, moving from feet or the bus to a bike, instead of from a car. Still, I experience the same phenomenon.

I used to live 3-5 minutes' walk from the grocery store. Used to be, I'd never go there more than two or three times a week. Now, I live 8-10 minutes' ride from the same store. I find myself going there sometimes twice in a day because it seems so easy to pop by and pick up a few things. This, despite the extra time it takes to lock up and futz with the grocery panniers. Very weird.

Because you're taking tons of steel with you. If your conveyance should break down or get two flat tires, you're in for a long walk or stuck waiting for a tow. So, for a driver, walking or biking a driven route can be compared to a loss of transportation, expensive repairs, and a big inconvenience. You can be stranded by a car, but not so much by a bike or on foot.

On a bike, however... Yesterday I rode a Varsity ten miles home from class; not a long distance. A driving friend asked how long it took, and honestly, it took almost four hours. (it's a fifteen minute drive) Granted... I stopped at the coffee shop for a bit. Then the bike co-op. Then visited a friend while he was at work. Then stopped by the farmer's market and bs'd with my brother at his employer's stand for a while. Then stopped by the "Drive Less, Save More" tent at the end of this market. Then stopped to try out a pizza joint I hadn't tried yet, but met friends from high school outside, who fed me free pizza. (the best kind!) Then stopped at a yard sale, to pick up one of those spinning-wing yard ornaments, but a parrot version. (we're parrot people) Then stopped at another garage sale to pick up a desktop drawer rack, about 8" deep, 20" high, and 40" long, and strapped it atop my foldout grocery rack. Then rode home slow, while drivers gave that thing a wide berth. -This trip makes a good alternative contrast. It wasn't a long ride, but just try to bum a ride in a car to do all of this! Your would-be chauffeur might be encouraged to swear about "all that driving".

Halfway through, I thought the rear tire was losing air. I'd left my flat kit at home. I was disappointed that I might have to take the bus the rest of the way home, then fix the leak in a few minutes. I must have been hallucinating, it was actually fine. But that's the difference between the bike and the car. If it had been a car that was breaking down on the way home, I really would have been worried! Hoping the car makes it home, hoping that it's something easy or cheap to fix, that the mechanic might have time on Monday to fix it if I can't, that I might be able to skip some work on Monday to take care of this if necessary... If the car had actually stranded me, then add towing or impound fees, then more of the same on Monday to get it to the shop. And the matter of finding a ride home, with all the junk a car can carry.