Living Car Free - You might be living a car-free/lite lifestyle if....

Okay... a fun thread... I'll go first:

You might be living a car-free/lite lifestyle if.... you religiously check the weather every night before bed to see how much of a head-wind there will be on the way to work in the morning!!

Keep 'em rolling folks!!

You don't use your car ,if you have one, but instead use your bike to do you daily travels around town. IMO, you are the more practical "car-lite"

You don't have a car payment, but your LBS has offered to run you a tab.

You occasionally drop a roadie poseur, while bringing home a load of groceries.

Your blood pressure lies in the sector of the chart labelled; "Athletes and Children".

You pass a roadie out 'training' on his carbon fiber bike, in full kit, while riding your touring bike with fenders, panniers, lights, and wearing a suit and tie. :D

... your bicycle cost more than your last car.

You pass a roadie out 'training' on his carbon fiber bike, in full kit, while riding your touring bike with fenders, panniers, lights, and wearing a suit and tie. :D
My, aren't we smug. He could have been doing intervals and that was just his recovery stretch until he spins it up to 30+mph.

You ride 20-30 miles while running errands then ride your bike to the gym.

You skip breakfast so you can ride to work/school instead of drive.

...on the times that you do drive your car you find yourself trying to drive your bike route through your shortcuts down the alleys.

When you by more gas for your lawn and garden equipment than your car.

You bring rain/cold weather gear with you wherever you go without even thinking about it.

You make purchasing decisions at the grocery store based on volume.

You are nonplussed when you meet someone who doesn't know what a pedal wrench looks like.

You don't notice the Lamborghini on the street but you do notice the Arkel panniers and Rohloff hub on a commuter bicycle rolling past.

You give someone directions to somewhere and it does not include any expressways or freeways and chances are they can't get there with a car, due to cycle only short cuts.

Aaron :)

You have discovered that people do not melt in the rain.

Your husband walks in and hands you the keys to a convertible Mercedes and you say "No, thank you." [This actually happened to me.]

Every time there's a heavy snowfall, you say to your co-workers, "You don't actually drive to work in weather like this, do you?"

My, aren't we smug. He could have been doing intervals and that was just his recovery stretch until he spins it up to 30+mph.
Then after you pass the roadie, you stop at a u-pick orchard, climb on your saddle to pick a bushel of apples, eat a couple, then get back on your bike and pass him again. You offer him an apple, but he says, "no thanks, I'm trying to cut weight for my next race."

I guess he was still on his recovery interval? :D

Every time there's a heavy snowfall, you say to your co-workers, "You don't actually drive to work in weather like this, do you?"

Every time there's a heavy snowfall, you are able to GET to work.

You make purchasing decisions at the grocery store based on volume.

:) That's why I try to avoid fluffy bread.

If you spend all day riding from here to there and spend all evening watching YouTubes of cyclists in Amsterdam and Copenhagen.

...you have a complete set of bike maintenance/repair tools in your pannier at all times.

In order to get to your bike you have to make your way past a group of people crowded at the door waiting for the rain to stop.

-Someone asks you how long it takes to get from point A to point B and you tell them ?? minutes by bike.
-If and when you drive a car, you get as much done so that you don't have to grab the keys for a month or two.
-You always think about how much money you have saved in gas by riding your bike.

Heh... thought of this after I started this thread...

You change the batteries on your headlamp and wonder how you got anywhere before with the old half-dead batteries.

You step outside and it's 30 below zero and you think that once you get 5km down the road you are gonna have to shed some layers... and when you get to work you see that many folks are absent because their cars did not start.

if you justify bike accessory purchases by comparing them with the cost of what one car payment, insurance, maintenance or gas fill up would be. And its good for you health too!!!

You know you are really car free if you have stopped comparing how much bike stuff compares to car stuff... :)

You don't pick stores and malls based on parking availability (well, folks outside of large cities may not get this one, I only drive to stores and shopping malls that have plentiful parking space, I hate looking for street parking, I actually try not to even drive any more and buy local and on the internet instead)

People at work talk about horrible traffic and you just shrug, "what traffic"?

You judge the quality of roads and streets based on their shoulder width and quality.... and grade.

People ask your advice for a good car insurance company and they just get a blank stare from you.

When people ask you "how was your commute", your answer is always "great!"

Hmmm.... maybe more later :D

Adam

You know you're living a car-free lifestyle when you have 6 new jerseys and 6 new cycling shorts (padded/unpadded) but one thrift store dress with a cigarette hole in it.

You buy the economy size 50 spf sunscreen and run out before the season ends.

-bike shops know u by the sound of your bike
-helmet co's ask YOU for the next best helmet design
-your bike ride is "cooler" then a cars AC
-"bad weather....whats that?"

-Someone asks you how long it takes to get from point A to point B and you tell them ?? minutes by bike.
-If and when you drive a car, you get as much done so that you don't have to grab the keys for a month or two.
-You always think about how much money you have saved in gas by riding your bike.

Personally, I think "by minutes" if a car thing to do. "my drive is just 20 minutes." I think of "how long it takes" in terms of miles. Also, when a person asks how long until I get somewhere I usually respond with, "Its x miles away so x minutes, more or less.

You plan new trips in your city using a topographic map.

you plan new trips in your city using a topographic map.

lol!

You have to remember to pack your passport the day before visiting a high-security building because you don't have a driver's license to use for ID.

When walking down the street on a bright sunny day, sporting your other sunglasses, you're constantly checking the upper left quadrant where your take-a-look or other similar facsimile would normally be. And you have to continually remind yourself that you're not on your bike.

...on the times that you do drive your car you find yourself trying to drive your bike route through your shortcuts down the alleys.

I've done this one at the local university; most of their parking lots aren't connected inside the campus except by sidewalks. It's easy to forget that when you ride or walk it more often than you drive it.

My, aren't we smug. He could have been doing intervals and that was just his recovery stretch until he spins it up to 30+mph.

He drafted me for a mile or so... dropped him on the first hill. It was amusing listening to him pant and gasp back there trying to keep up.

He drafted me for a mile or so... dropped him on the first hill. It was amusing listening to him pant and gasp back there trying to keep up.

It's always kind of fun to drop a roadie, but let's be honest: if s/he is a real roadie, it just doesn't happen very often, if ever. Even if you're a good rider, it's pretty hard to pass a physically fit person riding a skinny-tire 17 lb road bike when you've got two panniers full of eggs and beer on your 30 lb fat-tire touring bike....

It's always kind of fun to drop a roadie, but let's be honest: if s/he is a real roadie, it just doesn't happen very often, if ever. Even if you're a good rider, it's pretty hard to pass a physically fit person riding a skinny-tire 17 lb road bike when you've got two panniers full of eggs and beer on your 30 lb fat-tire touring bike....

30 lbs? You've got one light touring bike!

You have to admit, it's lot of fun making jokes at the expense of the poseurs.

30 lbs? You've got one light touring bike!

You have to admit, it's lot of fun making jokes at the expense of the poseurs.

OK, you're right, my touring bike is heavier than 30 lbs; it's 39.5 lbs, if my bathroom scale is to be believed. And you're also right about it being fun dropping poseurs. But I'm friends with enough roadies, and have been decisively dropped by roadies often enough, to be able to tell the difference between a roadie and and a fat middle aged guy on a $5000 bike.
(Disclosure: I'm a middle aged guy, but I'm not fat, nor have I ever been a roadie. I respect roadies for who they are, i.e., mostly athletic fellow cyclists, but I have a serious aversion to lycra, and also to any bike frame made of plastic....)

You know your car-free when your co-workers are chatting about the recession and you have no idea what they are talking about.

When walking down the street on a bright sunny day, sporting your other sunglasses, you're constantly checking the upper left quadrant where your take-a-look or other similar facsimile would normally be. And you have to continually remind yourself that you're not on your bike.

You do "lifesaver" over-the-shoulder glances before 'changing lanes' with the supermarket trolley ...

It takes 10 minutes to decide which 'vehicle' your going to go to the store with. "Do I need food for a week (cargo bike), or do I want a fun ride (fixie) and get food for 2 days? Screw it I'll take 5 fun trips, and have plenty of food!"

Car-lite...
if you are not sure if the gas in the gas tank of your car is still good.

You have to unhook the battery every time you park at your house, because by the next time you get to drive it, the battery will be dead.
Well that's more of an OLD car problem, but still, it gets used less then once a month.

You have a Class 'A' CDL with Hazmat, Double/Triple, an Organ Donor and drive up to 100 in one day, legally, but have no car insurance of your own. Wait, that's a personal problem. I am not qualified to do anything else. :(

You question everyone's sanity when you see what society has become.

You eat more then everyone around you and still are in great shape.

You put on an innocent smile and say, "Oh, have gas prices gone up again? I hadn't noticed...."

If you do have to drive, you freak out your passengers by squeezing the steering wheel and shouting, "Help! Where are the brake levers on this thing?"

(I do have an evil streak. ;))

These are great!! Keep 'em coming!!

When you do rarely drive or ride in a car, you can't believe how frustrating it is to be stuck behind other vehicles, going at their speed.

When you do drive, you drive under the speed LIMIT!

You don't know what agency in your state issues drivers licenses.

Your financial software shows a $4.38 purchase for "gas", and it takes a few minutes before you realize the place you occasionally stop for a few groceries is actually a gas station.

You can give directions to far away places by bus, but not by car.

You have to unhook the battery every time you park at your house, because by the next time you get to drive it, the battery will be dead.
Well that's more of an OLD car problem, but still, it gets used less then once a month.

Those "marine disconnect" knobs are really handy for this. I've also known a few people who used an old set of jumper cables and some 180A Anderson PowerPole connectors to make the whole battery easily removable. Add another connector to your battery charger for even more convenience.

You're tremendously pleased with yourself when you get pulled over for speeding.

You wear shorts until it starts to snow.