tsl

I'm 59 and got rid of my car 17 years ago. Adventure wasn't on my mind then, but yeah, I have adventures daily now. Yes, I can afford a car, especially now with the new job. In fact the first question people ask me is "Are you gonna buy a car now?"

The answer remains "No".

First, I like having the extra money. Second is the too easy and lazy that you mention.

I know myself too well. If I had a car, in no time I'd be just another old fat slob with health troubles. Old I can't do anything about. The others? Cycling fixes that.

For the record, I'm not anti-car, which is why I no longer hang in LCF. It's just not the right choice for me. See old fat slob with health troubles, above.

fietsbob

I live in a Small town , and dont go far, anymore.

ThermionicScott 

Nicely done, Patrick! I don't have good records on my whole driving career, but I know that in the few years of owning my Outback before picking up bike-commuting, I was putting over 12,000 miles on it each year. Now that I've been bike-commuting and trying to be more strategic with driving in general, I've put less than 5k on the car each of the last 3 years and my goal is to get the bike miles to exceed the car miles very soon.

Bikeforumuser0019

I have a question if you don't mind. How does an e-assist bike work? Does it make the bicycle actually go faster? Or does it only help with stamina over long distances.

I'm not willing to move closer to my job (long story, I'd probably get a different job closer to home before I'd contemplate moving ever again). But if I could shave even 15 or 10 minutes off my commute on either side of work, that would make biking a whole lot more attractive. I don't know much about e-bikes, but someone suggested it when I mentioned on the forum that I was thinking about a moped. And I like the idea of it, but have no clue where to start or what an e-bike even does.

Thanks a lot!

Bikeforumuser0019

It's you! I like this dude!

Thanks for sharing your experience. I've always been on the side of "fat with blossoming health troubles" which could easily be headed off with healthier lifestyle. I'm not anti-car either.... in fact I love cars! I love big cars and tiny cars, I love fast cars and slow cars.... I love taking a nap in my car on my lunch hour too! (not something I can do with a bike, but my joy of naps is another conversation for another day)

Do you ever think about going back to the library? I kind of miss it. But it'd need to be full time, I can't work two jobs anymore (getting older?).

PatrickGSR94

Most of the factory-sold e-bikes are pedal assist, where you pedal and it gives you a boost in power of some level. I rode one a few weeks ago, and took it over an interstate overpass in an otherwise flat area. The assistance made it feel like the hill wasn't even there. I was able to easily cross the overpass at 16-17 mph, whereas on my normal bikes I probably would have been slogging up the uphill side at 7-8 mph.

And so because of that boost in power and speed, any particular trip would take less time. A grocery trip by bike for me takes around 2 hours now, with a solid hour of that spent pedaling. And that's for 8 miles total riding. Pulling 60+ lbs. of groceries in a trailer gets pretty tiring on hills, especially in the summer or if there's a bad headwind.

noglider 

I love cars. I think they're cool. It's driving I can't stand. It's so irritating unless I'm driving quiet country roads.

I'm lucky I grew up here in New York City. Not owning a car is normal. More than half of the households here do not have cars. We didn't when I grew up. When I went to college and told people that I still didn't have a license and that my family didn't have a car, they looked at me as if I had grown up on another planet. We rented cars as needed, which wasn't often. Public transportation is quite extensive, and lots of places are walkable.

I lived in New Jersey for 26 years and had to drive nearly everywhere. My wife and I moved back into the city three years ago. She kept her car and has to drive it almost every day. I sold mine and am very happy. I have two commuting modes. I take the subway about three days a week and ride my bike about two days a week. I would like to ride more often, but it's hard, as it's a 14 mile trip each way, so I get tired. I'm planning to try to increase that to three days a week. The nice thing about my two modes is that they take about the same amount of time, so time is not a consideration for deciding how to go each day.

There is such sanctimony in the living-car-free section, I can't tolerate much of it. I'm glad you brought this discussion here.

Using a bike exclusively can be a challenge, depending on your climate and distances. You can probably do it with sufficient determination, but ask yourself if it is really right for you. It takes a little extra planning if grocery shopping takes longer by bike, but it's a habit you can build. What are you going to do in the worst of the winter? Don't discount the ideas of occasional car renting and also bumming rides from people you know. If you don't do these too often, they can be small parts of a good overall plan.

I do most of my grocery shopping by foot. The stores are close. Traffic and parking in Manhattan are horrible, so no one does it by car. Some people use wheeled carts, but most people just buy quantities they can carry. Of course, this means shopping more frequently. I tend to go to the store nearest me, which is only about three blocks away. It's a small store, and the prices are high, but that's life. The store has two floors and an elevator, but I don't use the elevator. I carry a basket, and even when it's heavy, I walk up the stairs two at a time for a little extra exercise. I like the challenge.

This morning, a cow-orker told me how she thinks it's remarkable how I cycle such a great distance to work. In a way it is, but some of that is only because bike commuting is fairly unusual. If I said I just spent an hour and ten minutes on the basketball court, you wouldn't think I'm a super athlete, but some think that just because I pedal for that long to get to work.

Bike commuting is seeing a sharp rise in popularity in many American cities, and NYC is probably one of the biggest of them. I see new kinds of commuters: old people, very overweight people, and people who dress so fashionably that it's a bit of a surprise to see them on bikes. I see a lot of fashion models and famous actors on bikes here. Riding a bike makes a lot of sense, and people who aren't bike nuts are waking up to the idea. Some of the overweight people might not even have goals of losing weight. They're just going to where they're going, and it warms my heart.

noglider 

Oh, and two years ago, when I started this job, I decided I was 10 pounds overweight. I started riding a lot, and I modified my diet to be slightly more healthful. Now I've lost 25 pounds. I didn't even know I had 25 pounds to lose. I'm 55 years old, and this is the first time I made an effort to lose weight, because I never really struggled with my weight, but it was finally time to do something about it. I don't think I looked fat. A few people have said I look too thin, but I think I'm fine. I'll be honest, though: I don't think my energy level has increased, and climbing hills has not become easier for me, but I was starting from having sufficient energy and was already pretty good at climbing hills.

RubeRad

Haha, I'm in on that joke

noglider 

I learned that spelling in 1992 from Dilbert and have used it since then.

PatrickGSR94

That was worth a chuckle...

*edit* oh dang that was intentional! That makes it even more funny!

RubeRad

Me too. I've never had anybody call me out on it though

Still waiting for the day when I can tell somebody "yeah, back in the old days I had to ork my own cows. I'm glad I have people to do that for me now, they're my cow-orkers"

This is a similar joke I also use all the time.

tsl

Well of course it's me. You were expecting maybe Mary, Queen of Scots?

Yes and no.

I need full time and like most libraries, in ours, only management is full time. It's sort of like fast food in that regard. Only without the silly hats.

I miss pulling the Books by Bike trailer and doing outreaches. I miss free holds and getting new releases early (Waiting for the new Preston & Child book, and have my calendar marked for the next several Tuesdays to try to beat the great unwashed to my favorite authors.)

I don't miss being called ******* (<--See: Polly want a) or racist, nor do I miss cleaning up the blood from knife fights or ducking behind the circ desk due to gunfire. And I don't miss giving up lunch because we're shorthanded. I certainly did not miss Summer Reading, where we became the de facto daycare for up to 500 neighborhood kids.

Meanwhile, at the new job (still with the city though) after six weeks I was moved to full-time. I'm getting benefits! I work in a quiet office with 100 feet of floor-to-ceiling windows facing south. I actually get to take my full hour for lunch, and get outside for a half-hour walk around the river and the falls every day. I get to work on bike advocacy both within my department (Parking Bureau) and together with other departments.

I'm home just before five, so I can do evening group rides again. I've gone out with the club and with other city employees.

Even though I deal with some people who are really angry, nobody has ever raised their voice to me or been rude. I still get my usual level of positive customer emails to my boss and the associated attaboys. (Which is sort of new for my current department. That never happened before.)

It's not without excitement though. Last week we had a jumper up on the top deck. Trapped in the office in case he chose that very second to fall on our heads. Thankfully they talked him down and I didn't have to don haz-mat gear to clean up blood again.

After I retire (and bike tour Japan) I may take a job as a page or something, but not in da 'hood, and certainly not in the 'burbs either. Something in between.

Bikeforumuser0019

You were saying earlier that you wanted to convert a bike...... how would you suggest going about this? Will any old bike shop be able to install something like that, or is it more of a "buy the kit online and install at home" kind of thing?

Thanks! I love the idea of this...

PatrickGSR94

I'll be doing it myself for sure. I wrench on all my bikes (and cars, and house) myself. At first I wanted to go with the BionX rear wheel setup, but the steep pricing is pushing me away from that. Now I'm leaning towards a mid-drive crank motor setup, most likely the Bafang BBS02 750-watt 48-volt motor with a battery that attaches to the downtube water bottle attachment. There are several different websites that sell them as entire kits including battery, or without battery, or just the various components that you can piece together. Pricing should be right around $1,000 for the whole setup. Somewhat expensive, but still cheaper than the $2K-$4K and up for most factory-built e-bikes. The bike I'm converting I built up custom from a bare frame that I picked up for $60. It's a really nice bike but I only have less than $300 in it now since I built it up with mostly parts from another bike.

mr geeker

Here's my two cents:

A) Give it 90 days. All weather. After 90 days, are you willing to give it another 90?

B) Honestly, do you look "longingly and lovingly" at the poor SAP on a bicycle riding in heavy rain? And yes, I'm one of those poor saps. Rode through a blizzard last winter, and let me tell you, boy did that suck.

In some ways I'm on the opposite side of this coin. I've never had a licence and have only recently went out to get my permit. At the tender age of 33. With as many years as I've rode a bicycle, I'm leaning heavily towards getting either a scooter/moped or a small engine motorcycle. I find steering wheel hand positioning awkward and uncomfortable.

79pmooney

If you go car free, you will adopt. You will evolve to a lifestyle that doesn't require a car. Yes, some things are harder or even cannot be done. Some things will cost a lot more $$ to do. But - you will be saving, what? several thousand dollars/years on insurance, car payments, repairs and maintenance, gas and parking. (I got my first car at 30+. Saved a lot of money working not very high paying jobs in my 20s living car free.

For all you cannot do, there are plenty of offsetting benefits. Early season conditioning! Seeing the seasons, feeling the weather, being aware of life around you.

Ben

Bikeforumuser0019

Sorry for dropping off the face of the earth for the weekend. Bike touring Japan and getting a retirement job as a page both sound like great ideas. I think my library was something in between the 'hood and the 'burbs..... there was definitely never any gunfire or knife fights while I was there.

You're right of course, I need full time and benefits, and that would be hard to come by through the library. And I do like working normal business hours. I'm just finding myself chained to a desk more these days and missing more physically active work.

RubeRad

Yikes! College 3.0 are you ready to have kids in the house?

Bikeforumuser0019

Hey everyone.

So I've been doing some research and I'm getting very excited about an eBike as a solution to my needs. I think it's got all the best parts of a moped, without all the inconveniences (they're heavy, noisy, and smelly). I'm going to the LBS to test ride one tomorrow.

Everyone has great input and advice here! If I end up going for the eBike, it will make my commute roughly the same length of time as if I drove my car, and that's got me very excited. I'll report back on my findings after I give the test model a ride (the test model is a 2017 Raleigh Misceo iE, but if I buy one I'll probably order one a little cheaper without so many bells and whistles).

Bikeforumuser0019

Well, that'd upgrade me to College 4.0 for sure.

RubeRad

Cool! For a little more research, you might be interested in Mr Money Mustache's experiences with eBikes:

Search: ebike

There's a lot of options out there, you can buy purpose-built ebikes or there are lots of conversion kits; ones where you replace the front or rear wheel, or I've seen one also that you replace your bottom bracket with a motor-assisted one.

baron von trail 

Sounds like a good plan, especially at 33.

Myself? I'm 53. And, this is the first year in about 20 tries that I keep the car in the garage most of the time. You're right in that just having the damned thing makes it far too easy to use it. I'm not sure what it was that made me begin leaving my car parked more often than my bike...maybe the fear of getting old, sick and out of shape finally kicked in.

Bikeforumuser0019

Great idea, I love Mr. Money Mustache! Thanks for reminding me about that great resource for wisdom and information!

I love the idea of making my own converted eBike and/or something DIY like Mr. MM did..... however
a) I'm going through a season of life where I've forbidden myself to take on any DIY projects, because they're just not getting done. and...
b) My current bike doesn't have disc brakes, and if I'm going to be going at speeds over 20mph, and travelling in wet conditions, I'd like to upgrade anyway.

Plus... I have a friend who's husband has been trying to convince her to get a new bike for years. I think I'll give my current bike to her, if she wants it. Then maybe we can all go for bikerides together. And I like the idea of my getting a new eBike blessing my friend too. That's also factoring into my decision to get a factory build eBike.

noglider 

The decision to bike commute is a different one from going car free. You can commute by bike and keep a car. You can make these decisions at separate times. If you commute by bike, you don't have to do it every working day if you have an alternate mode. I commute by bike about twice a week and commute by subway the rest of the days. I drive my wife's car to work because we use the mechanic that is near my workplace; that's the only reason I ever drive to work. My wife has a car, and I don't.