Mountain biking and being car free

[Nickel]

The only reason I own a car is for mountain biking. The majority of the trails are not within reasonable biking distance and I can't always car pool. I have looked into public transportation and the buses seem to follow a work schedule, leave the suburbs [where the trails are] in the morning for the city and then start the return schedule late afternoon. This means that I could get a bus after work (because people are going home) but then I have no way back home. There is generally no service on the weekends, when of course I have more time.

Has anyone else dealt with this problem?

[TimJ]

Yep. I drove my car twice in the last two weeks- once to get to a trail and once to pick up a trashed bike out of the lbs' dumpster (though someone took it already after they heard I was coming back for it).

[rockmom]

I'm lucky enough to live in a city with a car share that equips the cars with bike racks and state park passes.

[cooker]

If you are going to only own a car for that reason it seems like an awful lot of insurance and capital to be devoted to so few miles. Why not rent a car for that purpose when you need to?

Or alternatively, hang on to the car, use it infrequently, and call yourself "car-light" instead of car-free".

[rockmom]

I think it will depend on how often you need to use the car. Will you need to go every weekend? Several times a week? Rental cars are not very expensive if you would only be using one a couple times a month. Have you looked up local rental car prices? I've heard good things about Enterprise though I haven't used them myself.

[Az B]

I'm lucky enough to live in a city with a car share that equips the cars with bike racks and state park passes.

What city is that? I think moving there will be a future goal.

Az

[rockmom]

Madison, Wisconsin. Community Car tries to make useful partnerships to benefit their members. I haven't been to a park yet this year so I don't know for certain that it is still a perk. It was in the recent past. I do know that we currently get discounts at Budget Rental and can check out cars from City CarShare in San Francisco. The perks change according to what people are using.

Car lite is definitely growing here. I'm not sure that many have taken the car free plunge. I only know a couple others. But I don't exactly go around demanding to know if people own a car.

[kjohnnytarr]

Stop mountian biking and start urban-freeride :)

[Roody]

How far to the trailhead?

[Nickel]

The closest trail is 8 mi, which is no problem getting to. The next closest one requires a 20-min train ride + 40 min biking (17 mi if I biked it all). Everything else is 20+ miles.

I would go with the HourCar or similar service but they do not come with bike racks and I do not think mine would work on a hatchback. I am going to look into it however.

[Roody]

You can probably fit one bike in a hatchback if you remove one or both wheels. No rack required.

Personally, I would ride my mountain bike to the closest trail, train/ride to the second, and on occasion rent or borrow a motor vehicle to go to the farthest one as a special treat.

[bhtooefr]

I can fit my bike in the backseat of my hatchback if I remove the front wheel, and a mountain bike will likely be easier.