devianb

If I had a Corvette I would be driving every chance I got, but If I had something like a Toyota Corolla I wouldn't use it unless I needed it. I hate to be that person in the bike forum that is pro car, but I just don't like riding every single day. I like having some days off to build up some excitement to ride, makes the whole riding experience better for me.

CrossCountry50

I sold my truck (2008 Nissan 4x4) last Tuesday. I have been "car free" for 8 days now and love it! I have an 11 year old son who wasn't sure at first but now he loves the lifestyle too!

I am fortunate to work from home so I don't have a "commute" to speak of, but I now use my bike for EVERYTHING! It is amazing how much I used to drive when I didn't need to. A one mile trip to the bank or post office...crazy!!! There are of course going to be times when a car is necessary...a great neighbor and friend offered to let my son and I use their car when ever the need arises. She thinks this is an awesome lifestyle choice for my son and I.

My only regret about getting rid of my truck???? I wish I did it sooner

wildergeek

Especially since recent events in the Gulf of Mexico, I cringe every time I turn the ignition key. I minimize my driving and that helps but there is another problem...

I'm starting to neglect my car. It has been a good car for 10 years, a Subaru with 134,000 miles, but now it's starting to show its age a bit and needs some repairs. I just cannot pull the trigger to get it fixed. I drive like once a week. Faced with a $250-500 repair bill, all I can think about is bikes or bike gear I could be buying instead.

I don't hate my car. I just don't love her anymore.

baldsue

I keep drooling over pictures of the new beautiful blue Long Haul Trucker and think that my car can wait to get new brakes...I'd much rather have the LHT than have a car with working brakes since I ride my bike so much more than I'm ever in my car. I don't like my car. The only good thing about it is that it is paid for.

Doohickie

For me a car is a tremendous convenience. I don't need a shower when I get to work; I can run errands or go between work sites; and it takes less than half the time for me to get from home to work and vice-versa. And... my car is reasonably comfy and still kinda new. What's to hate?

Bander

Seriously, talk to your doctor. That happened to me and it was bronchitis.

modernjess

Hate the car now? Hell no. I've been hating on them for most of my adult life. Sadly though family situation is such that we find it necessary to own a couple of them. And I hate them.

hairnet

YES! hate hate hate it. I've been doing this for almost two years and i almost need the morning commute. Every so often I have to drive because I have too much to carry ( I need xtracycle) and it makes me sleepy, grumpy, and lazy.

Rob_E

I don't hate the car, but I have always hated needing the car. Mostly it's financial. I've owned a car since I was about 19, but they've always been older, with some being more reliable than others. I've been in situations a few times where the car was my only way to work, and it wears on my nerves knowing that something could go wrong, costing me hundreds of dollars, and I'd just have to roll over and pay it because I still had to get to work. I actually quit one job because my car broke down, I had no other way to get there, didn't want to fix the car, and had a 2nd job within easy biking distance. I also hated that job, so that was certainly a factor, but I remember the surprise in my bosses voice when I explained that I had to resign because my car broke. It's just difficult to pour money into something you really don't enjoy.

When I have had complete control over my living situation, my housing and job have always been planned to be close enough together to make the car optional. For about a year when I first moved in with my wife, we were out in the 'burbs, and I had to drive into town daily. Traffic and anxiety over car repairs drove me to find us a place to live closer to work.

I know where you're coming from. My car just limped back from a NC-to-OH-and-back trip. It did not perform well, and I really want to ditch it. My wife likes the security of having a back-up car, so we'll see, but the car is really in no shape to serve as a back-up right now.

My plan is to take it to the shop for an estimate. If the estimate is for more than it would cost to fly roundtrip to Ohio once and take the train roundtrip to Charlotte three times (those for trips accounting for 90% of my annual car use), then I'm going to argue for it being "put down." Humanely, of course. Or, more likely, Craigslisted for someone who doesn't mind putting the money into it.

It's been a good, little car. I don't hate it, but I don't like worrying about it. I don't like washing it (or driving it around filthy) because it sits under sap-filled trees in our parking lot for weeks at a time. I don't like tracking when I last drove it, so I remember to drive it often enough to keep the battery charged. I don't like the fact that it now smells musty and has become a home for ants. In many ways, having a car that I don't drive seems like more trouble than having a car that I drive daily. But both options are lately sounding like more trouble than not having a car at all. I'm getting there.

jrshanks

When I have to drive work it feels wired. I was driving the other day and thought man that right turn was rellay smooth. Also I went over a big pot hole with the car and thought I might have a pinch flat.

Rob_E

My wife is strictly a fair weather biker. I tried to get her to bike somewhere with me, but the weather wasn't favourable, so we drove. I got us lost giving her directions.
"I thought you said you knew where we going."
"I know exactly where we're going, I just don't know how to get there in this thing. Oh, wait, this is it. Turn left here."
"I cannot take my car on the greenway!"
"Well don't tell me I don't know where I'm going, when you just don't want to follow my directions."

So, yeah, there may be such a thing as too much time on the bike.

Eggywootah

I've never owned a car, and I'm committed to and contented with biking, but when I get a chance to go for a car ride, whether I get to drive or not, I take it because it's kind of a treat to watch it all go by in comfort, with music, and without any effort.

DiegoFrogs

I honestly don't drive very much. My 2006 Honda Civic, which I bought new, has about 15,000 miles on it, including the 1,400 mile drive from Pennsylvania to Arkansas, where I live now. I also live close enough to where I go every day that I don't ride my bike much, preferring to walk instead of getting my bike ripped off. Usually I just drive to go hiking or kayaking, or to the airport.

I'd prefer to ride my bike or walk, but I'm so frickin' mellow that I'm content to drive 10 miles an hour below the speed limit. There isn't much traffic here, and I'm very much a vehicular cyclist anyhow, so it's not really any strategic benefit to ride other than cross-campus voyages. I ride because I like to, but I think having a car available is good, too. It bothers me that it's expensive to own (insurance), but I like having the car, too. I bought it with cash, new, though. And it's the only real thing of value that I own, so maybe I'm attached to it.

dynodonn 

I find the car useful and I don't hate it, more like neglecting it, since that I like riding my bike much more.

colleen c

Exactly! My car for commuting need some work like a tune up, and a exhaust manifold leak, but why spend the 1k on fixing a car when I can get a backup bike. I bet there are many of us who's car needs more works needed than our bikes.

dynodonn 

My current vehicle is looking a little worse for wear and needs some TLC, but I'm not putting any more money towards major repairs for my vehicle since my bikes are simpler and less costly to fix, a major plus.

wolfchild

I don't hate the car, but I do hate the addiction that people have to their cars. I hate how cars are overused.I hate how much money it costs to buy and then maintain cars, ( gas, insurance, taxes,maintenance etc).To me a car is just a tool that needs to be used occassionally.

Kimmitt 

I went through a cycle of absolutely hating driving, but now I'm in an equilibrium of disliking city driving and enjoying country driving.

referee54

I do not hate my vehicle---which happens to be a Ford F-150 4X4. We heat our home with firewood, so I need it to not only haul firewood but also tow a 14-foot double-axle trailer. I commute to the school where I teach as often as I can on a bike, but the roads are horrible around in here in bad weather, so the truck, at times, is used to take me there. The $$ I spend on gas for the truck (when I drive it) is much, much less than the $$$ I have saved by not having my furnace go on in many, many, years.

I also officiate HS and college baseball. I need a vehicle to travel the hundreds of miles with my uniforms and gear---my bike cannot do that.

Tim C.

incitatus

My choice is the car or the subway; and on days when I have to take the subway (i.e. full-on blizzards), the part I absolutely hate is when the train stops without explanation and waits in a station or worse in the tunnel. What I hate is the having to wait without knowing why. On the bike, the ONLY thing I have to wait for ever is a traffic light. Being in motion for the whole commute is what I find so satisfying.

bmt074

I used the 'T' for years... The subway was unpredictable at best - especially the green line. My favorite thing is seeing 3 trains go in the opposite direction before one comes your way . I now bike every day (even on frigid and rainy days) and don't miss the T one bit.

Sangetsu

Hate the car? What car? I don't have one anymore. But when I did have a car, I certainly didn't hate it. 6 liters, 400 horsepower, smooth 6 speed trans, wonderful smelling black leather bucket seats, shiny red paint, awesome 10 speaker stereo, and the ability to hide the car in a cloud of tire smoke with just a step on the gas pedal, how could you hate that? But I only put 8000 miles on the car's odometer in 2 years, while putting more than 14000 miles on my bicycle. I love cars, but I also love riding my bike.

jsmonet

i hate my commute either way. downtown los angeles is a toilet. the car just lets me get in and out without having to smell it.

my opinion would change drastically if I commuted anywhere else.

x136 

I've been bicycle commuting for a few years now. These days, I find I like driving even more than I used to, because now I can do so for fun.

daxr

I haven't driven to work in two years, but I have no doubt that it would thoroughly ruin my day if I had to. Ironically, I work on cars for a living, so I spend a good part of the day test driving and so forth, but if I weren't getting paid for it they could all rot and rust.

Once a week I drive out to get groceries, and I spend much of that time wishing I had a good bike trailer. One of these days...