Living Car Free - New Forum- Living Car Free

Whatever bike you happen to own should be OK... You'll need a rear rack and some panniers. If you are starting, you should make very light purchases since you need to figure out exactly what you can carry.

I just started riding my old 18-speed Mongoose Switchback as my regular transportation. Actually, I ride the bus, and take my bike with me. I end up riding my bike around town many miles though. Sometimes, it's actually faster to ride my bike ....

I bought my mountain bike around 1990-91. Paid $250.00 for just the bike (no fenders or kickstand, or any other goodies). I had to get the front brakes fixed I there actually were no front brakes!! When we moved, they disappeared. Also had to replace the crank bearings. So now, my classic Mongoose is cursin' along almost like new!!

I've added a rack, another rear light (so now I have two), and a basket. I also replaced the original handlebars with the bars that are much higher. I have a bad back and must sit up straight.

I agree that you should spend light ..... I made a huge mistake, when I got my tax refund, I figured that it would be worth it to invest in an expensive bike, since I won't be driving much anymore, even when my van is fixed (will use only for commuting to work about three or four days a month, and for emergencies, or to stock up every couple months).

Anyways, I bought a really nice Electra Townie, spend $800.00 with all the extras. Rode the bike to downtown, put the bike on the bus rack. The drive drove a few feet, stopped, and told me that my bike doesn't fit. So, I had to take my bike off the bus. Called the bike shop right away, and they would't let me return the bike, and wouldn't even give me a trade in.

So, now I'm stuck with this beatiful bike, that will not fit on the bus .... I must have a bike that will fit on the bus (less than 69 inches). Fortunately my Mongoose is only 68 3/4 inches, just barely fits on the rack. I ride the bus as far as I can go, then ride my bike five, ten, or more miles to work.

I'm trying to sell my bike, but looks like I will probably end up having to trade it for another mountain bike that will fit on the bus. Still only has around 50-60 miles, and in mint condition.

I've lost 34 pounds .... many of those pounds from riding my bike!!! I feel so much better, sleep much better, eating a little less (still have hypoglycemia really bad). I enjoy getting around town slowly. I run into people I know, meet new people, enjoy the scenery .....

-- vja4Him * biking for life *
+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+

I've been commuting the 17 mile trek to work for a while now and stumbling upon this site, I'm really going to consider giving up my car. My only concern, is I live in rural Northeastern Ohio. What have some of you done in the past to deal with snow and ice? What about heavy slush?

I need to state I wouldn't be completely car free. My wife would keep her car. As she travels quite a bit further than I do and she doesn't whole heartedly love cycling like I do (I know its a sin), plus we have four children. But the savings alone with me dumping the 1994 Chevy Astro van would be great not to mention the environmental impact.

I surely can see me traveling everywhere by bicycle. It sounds like I'm riding the fence on this one. Help me out and convince me this is completely do-able.
Thanks.

My only concern, is I live in rural Northeastern Ohio. What have some of you done in the past to deal with snow and ice? What about heavy slush?Check out the Winter Cycling forum for ideas. I have a dedicated winter beater, with studded tyres permanently on for riding on snow and ice. It can be hard work, but it's great fun too.

--J

I lived without a car here in Athens for several months. It was actually more expensive for me than when I had the car. It was nice though and I'd stick with it if I had better income.

I lived without a car here in Athens for several months. It was actually more expensive for me than when I had the car. It was nice though and I'd stick with it if I had better income.

How did this hapen? Most of us save a lot of money because we don't have cars.

How did this hapen? Most of us save a lot of money because we don't have cars.
Well my cars have always been old Hondas... real cheap to fix on my own. Insurance runs me about $40/month. The biggest problem I had not having a car was that the only grocery store in a reasonable biking distance was an expensive organic-type grocery store. I love that place, really, but to buy everything there got steep fast. Then there was cab fare to get to places only accessible by highways... that wasn't too often, but one or two times/month and the cab fare was pretty much enough to pay for car insurance.

Well my cars have always been old Hondas... real cheap to fix on my own. Insurance runs me about $40/month. The biggest problem I had not having a car was that the only grocery store in a reasonable biking distance was an expensive organic-type grocery store. I love that place, really, but to buy everything there got steep fast. Then there was cab fare to get to places only accessible by highways... that wasn't too often, but one or two times/month and the cab fare was pretty much enough to pay for car insurance.

What do you consider "reasonable biking distance"? Have you ever wanted to learn how to ride your bike on highways? (not expressways or freeways)

I get the impression that you might live in the country?

What do you consider "reasonable biking distance"? Have you ever wanted to learn how to ride your bike on highways? (not expressways or freeways)

I get the impression that you might live in the country?

I live in a college town where I think the average age of drivers is about 19. I definitely don't want to bike down the highways here. Even sober, these kids are dangerous.

The organic grocery is somewhere between 1-2 miles. The next closest grocery store i don't know... several miles with a lot of steep hills.

I could get by with no car again if I needed to... dunno how high gas prices are going to go. But things run more smoothly and cheaper for now with the car.

Hi there,

My family (me, husband, and 3 year old) and I are newly car-free. We have been car lite for a long time, but just took the plunge and un-insured our cars. We will very likely sell them in the next couple of months. We intentionally moved to within 2 miles of both of our jobs and kid's pre-school so that we could live without our cars. We have a kid seat on the back of my bike (as I take him to school), and a Croozer cargo trailer for groceries, etc. It works really well, but we may come up against some challenges when the kid is too big for the seat, but too small to be trusted to pedal safely to some of the places we go. Luckily for us, it is fully legal to ride on sidewalks in our city and we have nice, reasonably safe access to almost everything. We have to invest in a kid trailer for our wet winters, but we'll cross that bridge when we get to it.
People think we are idiots, or at least really weird. Everybody always asks us what we would do in an emergency...as if a car is the only way to handle things. I am glad to have found this forum...it allows me to feel somewhat normal.
Anyway, you will hear more from me in the future. Cheers!

...Everybody always asks us what we would do in an emergency...
In many situations, the answer is, call a taxi -- or if it's serious, call for paramedics. If you want to return the volley, you can ask back what they intend to do if a child stops breathing or becomes unconscious while being driven to an emergency room.

Welcome to the forum!

I live in raleigh, NC. so the states greenway systems (which are mostly paved trails through the woods for bikers and pedestrians to get around) make it alot easier to get around town. but otherwise, most of the other big roads have no shoulder and crappy sidewalks. the US really needs to take after the europeans. When i was in germany 2 years ago, I notices how bike friendly everything was.

I have a sale pending on my VW Van so I will be car-free in the very near future. I live in Key West, FL the entire island is 1.5X4 Miles so it's no biggie. When I need to get off the "rock" I rent a car or take a bus.

I lived without a car here in Athens for several months. It was actually more expensive for me than when I had the car. It was nice though and I'd stick with it if I had better income.

How was it more expensive by not riding a car?

How did this hapen? Most of us save a lot of money because we don't have cars.

I just called my insurance company yesterday. I will be putting my insurance on parking status, and contacting DMV to get the non-operational registration. I will cut my travel expenses by around $400.00 each month or more (after figuring in the cost of my Electra Townie and electric motor, battery, controller, and any extra stuff I will need).

I figure the cost of riding an electric bicycle will run between $50.00-$100.00 each month (10 year average). Driving my van cost about $60,000.00 for 10 years ... !!!

Someone just told me this evening that the state will buy my van for $1,000.00 if it doesn't pass smog and is a gross polluter!! I'm sure that my van will not even come close to passing smog ... It needs new rings, valves, and maybe some other engine work ...

So, I'm going to definitely look into this, and if I can get a $1,000.00 rebate on my van, I'm jumping on that opportunity real quick!! That will help to pay for some of my investment for motorizing my bicycle (electric motor!).

I really didn't think that I'd get all teary-eyed when I watched my 1982 Volkswagen Westfalia roll down the street for the last time... There were a lot of really good times in that van.... Mmmmm Yeah I remember Burning Man 2007..... Yeah that one night... Her name was... Oppps sorry. It was a hard decision to make but I just couldn't justify having a vehicle on an island that's only 1.5X4 miles. I was able to keep up insurance on myself so that I can rent or borrow vehicles when needed. That's going to drop my insurance by about half. That'll free up more cash for my bikes and that's always a good thing. It also means there are credit cards that can now be paid up and that is always a VERY good thing!

gggggg

(I'm just posting so the horrible user name of the previous poster won't show on the thread index.)

Shoot. I don't drive. How can I expect some man to drive if I don't either? That would be bogus.

I don't own a car either, the lessons are too expensive which would 'drive' up the costs.

I am 19, and have decided that I am not ever going to buy a car. Seeing the costs of car ownership makes me cringe, like insurance, maintenance, and fuel, not to mention hard-to-find parking and already overcrowded roads. Thank goodness my mom paid for my drivers' ed, otherwise I would be bankrupt. The only reason why I have a driver's licence though is for future career opportunities and not car ownership.

I have been commuting on my bikes very extensively lately, including going quite long distances. Before, I used public transit heavily and rode my bike only in the warm months, but now, I have truly seen the light and my bikes are my primary mode of transportation, alongside with walking.

I used to dread the thought of sitting down in a cold car but now I get a smile when I get up and see fresh snow! I am 44 years old and 6 years totaly car free. I used to hate the winters in Detroit but now I don't mind and people think your nuts (ha ha, fun). If you live in a city you have it made and the trafic is super slow and watching for people walking to work. The av speed in a city is prob 8mph and you can just fly through it all if you need. After a time, think back ot all the people you have met do to riding your bike. People you work with may want to meet you to ask what it is like to not need a car. All & all you will see your community in a new way.

I month car free yea!

I used to dread the thought of sitting down in a cold car but now I get a smile when I get up and see fresh snow! I am 44 years old and 6 years totaly car free. I used to hate the winters in Detroit but now I don't mind and people think your nuts (ha ha, fun). If you live in a city you have it made and the trafic is super slow and watching for people walking to work. The av speed in a city is prob 8mph and you can just fly through it all if you need. After a time, think back ot all the people you have met do to riding your bike. People you work with may want to meet you to ask what it is like to not need a car. All & all you will see your community in a new way.

Yeah .... I can sure relate! Although we don't get any snow that sticks around here. I really miss the snow. Born and raisied in Portland, Oregon, and always looked forward to the snow.

I've been car free for about 5-6 months now! I finally realized that while driving around town, I only averaged about 18-20mph, and that includes driving short spurts where the speed limit is 45mph, and a few short sections at 50mph!!!

I can now ride through downtown on my Townie at 25mph. Can't maintain that speed for very long, but sometimes maybe two or even three blocks!! I can ride all the way across town, and still beat the bus, sometimes by 30 minutes or more. I can take care of all my errands, business, shopping, commuting to work easily.

I'm hoping that I'll be able to increase my average speed when I get my LHT home. It should be arriving in the shop today or tomorrow.

I am 19, and have decided that I am not ever going to buy a car. Seeing the costs of car ownership makes me cringe, like insurance, maintenance, and fuel, not to mention hard-to-find parking and already overcrowded roads. Thank goodness my mom paid for my drivers' ed, otherwise I would be bankrupt. The only reason why I have a driver's licence though is for future career opportunities and not car ownership.

I have been commuting on my bikes very extensively lately, including going quite long distances. Before, I used public transit heavily and rode my bike only in the warm months, but now, I have truly seen the light and my bikes are my primary mode of transportation, alongside with walking.

Way to go! I figured that I would need to spend at least $70,000.00 for the next ten years of driving. I'd rather take that money and do something else .... If you share living costs, and make good money, you can put away a nice chunk of cash ....

Finally don't under-estimate what you can carry home on a bike. 20lbs of cat litter in a backpack or pannier is not that hard (consider using Swheat Scoop- works better, environmentally friendly, and much lighter too).

I tried to get my cat onto Swheat Scoop, but Sir will walk past a litterbox with Swheat Scoop exactly where his old one was to find the backup box I made with his old Fresh Step Clumping. I'm not willing to try forcing the issue. ;)


Not to be glib but the easest way to live car free is to move to New York.

In general, I think it is a shame America doesn't have more urban cities like New York which can offer an alternative to the suburban car based lifestyle.

I would honestly rather die than live in that city, or the other megacities. Not everyone likes the idea of being surrounded by millions of people cramped into a tiny space with neighbors above, below, and on all sides, in a cacophony of noise, and so much light the stars are all but gone, and paying through the nose for the privilege.

I'd imagine its in one of these threads under the car free but for those of you who have kids, how do you get them to school? I've really thought about being car free or really close to it. Only use the car for when its really needed plus I have a Vespa so thats much better. I really enjoy being on the bike more than anything. I just got a new one 2 weeks ago and I'm doing a test ride to work tomorrow to see how long it takes. Also when your ready to visit your family, if they live a good distance away, do you just set out for along ride or what?

I'd imagine its in one of these threads under the car free but for those of you who have kids, how do you get them to school? I've really thought about being car free or really close to it. Only use the car for when its really needed plus I have a Vespa so thats much better. I really enjoy being on the bike more than anything. I just got a new one 2 weeks ago and I'm doing a test ride to work tomorrow to see how long it takes. Also when your ready to visit your family, if they live a good distance away, do you just set out for along ride or what?

Living completely car free doesn't work for everyone. My family lives far away, so I would most likely take the bus or train anyway. I gave up my last car, and we (myself and my two boys) are doing just fine! We ride bikes everywhere we need to go. I even rode my bike to Emergency when I thought I had gangerine on my big toe! Rode back home late that night with my foot all wrapped up.

As far as getting kids to school, I don't have to worry about that. My youngest boy walks four blocks to his school, and my oldest rides the school bus. Some people take their kids to school in a trailer, or the kids ride bikes to school! I read a news article recently about a community that has a program going where they escort kids riding their bicycles to school.

I can also take my bike on the bus, but I've gotten into good enough shape that I don't need to very often now.

Thats awesome, I knew there where different ways around, just did'nt know how. I would love to do it but I stay so far away from everything. We've thought about moving to another state in the future and closer to the city, if thats so my bike would ne all I rode.

The people have spoken.
Unstuck.