Living Car Free - My bicycle prevents me from becoming car free

Over the last year or so, I have been using my car less and less. I started commuting to work. Occasionally to the grocery store, gym, local trips. Then, I realized that with all the cycling, I didn't need to go to the gym... Get the picture?

However, I still enjoy weekend cycling trips. Generally, I prefer to leave from the house and cycle 4-5 hours. But lately, I've been noticing there's a lot of county roads in my area... little traffic, great scenery, great weather... but I need to drive 20 miles by car to get to them.

I guess this is some classic dichotomy between cycling the sport and cycling as a mode of transportation.

20 miles?? Is that all? RIDE IT! :p

(Yes, real helpful, I know)

How's the bus system there? Maybe you could take a bus to get close enough to those roads that you'd feel good about riding the rest of the way? I could take the bus out to within a few miles of the foothills here, and ride up into the mountains. Meh.... I think I'm just going to start cycling it. :)

Depending on how often you want to do an out of town ride you could rent a car. Or you could plan an occasional overnight credit card trip on your bike instead of these less efficient day trips. Ride out in the afternoon maybe 50 or 80 miles miles, treat yourself to a hotel, settle in with some wine and a good book or movie, and ride home in the cool of dawn. Treating yourself to a night in a hotel once in a while is a lot cheaper than retaining the car purely as a weekend bike ferry.

Take the bus out 50 miles and
ride home. That's what I do with
the Light Rail in Southern California.

It makes for a nice half to 3/4 day trip.

20 miles on a bike is, I don't know, about 1.25 hours, if you're riding with a purpose, but not killing yourself (assuming a lack of traffic). And that's on a big, clunky mountain bike or hybrid; on a good road bike, it's more like 45 minutes, maybe less. No big deal, if you're on a day trip. I'm not hard-core at all, and 70 miles on a bike over the course of 10 hours or so isn't that bad at all, as long as you pace yourself and stop for lunch someplace. And I totally agree with Cooker: go out, ride around, go to a hotel, have a nice dinner, go to bed, wake up, ride some more. It sounds like a very nice weekend.

I do the occasional out and back...but I will drag them into a couple of days:D Another option is to find someone going your way and have them drop you off, then ride back in. I have taken a lightly loaded touring bike, ridden 60 miles out, stealth camped then ridden back in. Other times to a B&B or campground. I agree lightly traveled roads are the best place to ride and see things.

Aaron:)

bragi's math is slightly off... mentions 20 miles in 45 minutes or less as being 'no big deal' and then wraps up saying 70 miles over 10 hours or so isn't that bad... doesn't compute-- but the idea is good-- ride out, do your ride, and ride back. Just start a little earlier... :)

16 mph (20 miles in 1.25 hours) on any bike is a decent pace especially if you have hills involved. On my commuter bike, I average 15mph most of the time although that number is slightly lower than it would be if I was doing a continuous 20 miles instead of many shorter trips. 26.6 mph (20 miles in 45 minutes) is a pace I wish I could keep on my road bike for more than a minute on a flat road (and I'm lucky if I get that far). For an all day tour, I'd assume a 13-14mph pace which means 20 miles is an extra ~1.5 hours. I can understand the desire to skip out on 3 hours of less peaceful cycling if it's possible. Everyone has offered very good suggestions on how to achieve that without owning a personal car.

If you're not making car and insurance payments, you might be able to afford to work a couple fewer days every month. Then you do have more time for those road trips. This is what I do.

I might get a car next year to get to races 50-100 miles away.

I rent when needed. A non-airport location is usually around $30 a day, and many have weekend rates.

Also, I just found out United Airlines has some miles bonuses with certain car rental places, so next time I do a weekend rental for a mountain trip I'll gain 1,000 miles too!!

I rent when needed. A non-airport location is usually around $30 a day, and many have weekend rates.

Also, I just found out United Airlines has some miles bonuses with certain car rental places, so next time I do a weekend rental for a mountain trip I'll gain 1,000 miles too!!

I haven't found any that low, and I usually need to pick a car up before any of them are open, like 5am, meaning I need a 2 day rate.

When you do this every weekend, it probably makes sense to just break down and get the car.

Another possibility for those of you lucky enough to live in some areas could be Zipcar (http://www.zipcar.com) My son is a student at UNC-CH and uses them when he needs a car. Keeps poor old dad from having to buy one...NOT! I think it is a great solution for him. It doesn't work for DD because she goes to a small school way out in the boonies.

Aaron:)

I am using Community Car (http://www.communitycar.com/), and it is very convenient for short trips in the city, but for going to other cities for races, I end up paying almost $100 or more for a weekend of racing.

Depending on how often you want to do an out of town ride you could rent a car. Or you could plan an occasional overnight credit card trip on your bike instead of these less efficient day trips. Ride out in the afternoon maybe 50 or 80 miles miles, treat yourself to a hotel, settle in with some wine and a good book or movie, and ride home in the cool of dawn. Treating yourself to a night in a hotel once in a while is a lot cheaper than retaining the car purely as a weekend bike ferry.

Ride out of town and come back next day. That seems to be a reasonable approach given that I wouldn't be heading out of town every weekend.

Another approach would be to team up with a small group of tourers and combine resources. No need to take a car with one bike. That would also help solve any problems with break-downs or minor crises.

bragi's math is slightly off... mentions 20 miles in 45 minutes or less as being 'no big deal' and then wraps up saying 70 miles over 10 hours or so isn't that bad... doesn't compute-- but the idea is good-- ride out, do your ride, and ride back. Just start a little earlier... :)

Hey! Okay, maybe 20 miles in 45 minutes is totally unreasonable when you're carrying a picnic basket out into the country. I have to admit, my hybrid is NEVER going 20 miles in 45 minutes, ever. Upon more careful reflection, I even have to admit that it takes me roughly 1.5 hours to go 20 miles without a tail wind, assuming the absence of big hills. But 70 miles in one day is pretty leisurely, if you ask me. I stand by that one, dammit. (However, I'll make more of an effort to do my math before I post...)

Here is an idea, why don't you invest in a little four stroke motor for your bike, use it to get through the city. Some of these motors weigh about 5-6 pounds, make it so you can de couple it from the wheel and you would have a very simple power assist that would let you travel further without relying on your car. I am thinking of using one of these to go on a short vacation this summer to an area that is inaccesable by transit and would leave me totally knackered if using only human power. If it makes you feel better the amount of fuel consumed by the motor is probably not that different from the fuel required to grow and transport your extra fuel(food).