Living Car Free - I'm making the plunge - sort of

Bikeforums.net is a forum about nothing but bikes. Our community can help you find information about hard-to-find and localized information like bicycle tours, specialties like where in your area to have your recumbent bike serviced, or what are the best bicycle tires and seats for the activities you use your bike for.




View Full Version : I'm making the plunge - sort of


yes
08-25-06, 02:07 PM
A little over a year ago, I had a truck and zero bikes. Now, I have a truck and 3 bikes. Next week or sooner, I'll just have 3 bikes - maybe 4 :). The girlfriend will have a car, so it's maybe car lite.

In October, I started commuting 15 miles a day on the bike. Three weeks ago, we moved and opted for a longer commute (22 miles a day). It's a bit hilly, and I ride it on a single speed, so the legs are still getting used to it. By my calculations, it will save about 1,400 a year. At first, I figured that the cost was pretty small, so the old beater is worth keeping. Over time, I started resenting it, b/c it was money down the drain. I never needed it or really wanted to drive it.

Thanks for the inspiration and wish me luck.


Old Dirt Hill
08-25-06, 03:46 PM
Good luck. I hope to join you in car-lite-ness soon.

Platy
08-25-06, 09:58 PM
Good luck to both of you, yes & Old Dirt Hill!


bragi
08-25-06, 10:20 PM
Not to be critical, but why don't you just use a bike with gears? Anyway. Congratulations on going car-free. :)

Roody
08-26-06, 01:32 PM
Good luck!

yes
08-27-06, 02:49 PM
I'm keeping my eyes open for a modern road bike, but I'm not sure exactly what I want at the moment. My legs may get used to the current set up. Plus, I gave my last geared commuter bike to my girlfriend to use, but she probably won't use it all the time, so I can probably use that a bunch.

I put an add in for the car on thurs. night, and sold it on frid. night. It feels good. We ran out of beer at my g/f pool party on sat, so I hopped on the bike, was at the store in about 45 seconds (we live right next to two of them), and happily squeezed a case of beer into one of my panniers. This just might be easy.