I'm not car free...
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I'm not car free...
But I'm looking for some alternatives to my car. Currently I live in Minneapolis, MN but I'm planning to move back to my hometown in central WI of about 400 people. I commute on occaision right now, and I frequently ride my bike around town for general transportation. What I want to know is what is it like moving to a rural community and being the "crazy bike guy" that uses his bike to get groceries and ride to work. Do any of you have this experience?
BTW, grocery stores and other conveniences are around 10+ miles away. Any advice or tips are greatly appreciated.
BTW, grocery stores and other conveniences are around 10+ miles away. Any advice or tips are greatly appreciated.
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Well, what I did when I went are car free is get a good bike, something that can be upgraded. I got a trailer right off the bat. Then when I knew I was not going to go back to the car, I started upgrading the bike, painner, NiteRider lights, racks, better compounds, etc. The bike is worth a lot to me. I have put a lot of money into it. It can do almost anything. Day or night, light or heavy its made to work. Good luck, it can be done. I live in Madison, my school is 7 miles away. My friends and the fun side of town is about 15 to 20 miles away. Like shopping for tech stuff, good places to eat, the malls.
Good Luck,
Super Geek
Good Luck,
Super Geek
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At one point I was car free, but now I have children and they need to be delivered to dance lessons and then Boy Scouts on Monday, soccer on Tuesday and Thursday, swim lessons on Wednesday, and then by Friday I'm just too tired to ride eight miles to work.
The weekends are just as bad with extra-curricular activities dominating literally every Saturday morning or afternoon.
Thanks for any suggestions.
The weekends are just as bad with extra-curricular activities dominating literally every Saturday morning or afternoon.
Thanks for any suggestions.
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Originally Posted by gary-nichols
At one point I was car free, but now I have children and they need to be delivered to dance lessons and then Boy Scouts on Monday, soccer on Tuesday and Thursday, swim lessons on Wednesday, and then by Friday I'm just too tired to ride eight miles to work.
The weekends are just as bad with extra-curricular activities dominating literally every Saturday morning or afternoon.
Thanks for any suggestions.
The weekends are just as bad with extra-curricular activities dominating literally every Saturday morning or afternoon.
Thanks for any suggestions.
#5
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My first advice would be to start riding enough that you'll be in shape for longer rides when you make the move.
My second advice would be to ead through the archives here and on the Commuting subforum and the Bicycle Mechanics subforum.
If you're moving to a new small town, most of the people won't accept you for a while anyways. So you might as well let them get used to the "real you" right from the start. At first they'll write you off as crazy city folk, but they'll get used to you--and your bike--someday.
My second advice would be to ead through the archives here and on the Commuting subforum and the Bicycle Mechanics subforum.
If you're moving to a new small town, most of the people won't accept you for a while anyways. So you might as well let them get used to the "real you" right from the start. At first they'll write you off as crazy city folk, but they'll get used to you--and your bike--someday.
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Hello Ellen,
My 16-year-old daughter has her own pink Jamis, which she rides on the neighborhood nature path, but wouldn't be seen dead commuting around the city -- "That's for losers Dad."
My 10-year-old son (the Cub Scout) thinks cycling with me is really cool. We are working on our mileage and he is up to about 12-15 miles now on our weekend rides. The only problem is that for daily after-school activities, I barely have time to get them there with me driving, let alone cycling.
Whenever I can I run errands at night on my vintage Peugeot, but so far, they are solo rides -- too far, too late at night for the kids.
Does anyone else have the same problem with kids, trying to be as car-free as possible, but having to deal with children's after-school schedules? How do you deal with it?
Thanks for the help.
My 16-year-old daughter has her own pink Jamis, which she rides on the neighborhood nature path, but wouldn't be seen dead commuting around the city -- "That's for losers Dad."
My 10-year-old son (the Cub Scout) thinks cycling with me is really cool. We are working on our mileage and he is up to about 12-15 miles now on our weekend rides. The only problem is that for daily after-school activities, I barely have time to get them there with me driving, let alone cycling.
Whenever I can I run errands at night on my vintage Peugeot, but so far, they are solo rides -- too far, too late at night for the kids.
Does anyone else have the same problem with kids, trying to be as car-free as possible, but having to deal with children's after-school schedules? How do you deal with it?
Thanks for the help.
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Gary,
kids' afterschool schedules are a PITA. We finally came to the conclusion that we were the parents, not chaufeurs to the stars We made a couple of command decisions. They could chose (depending on the season and time involved) two activities. And at the time we made scouts, both BSA and GSA mandatory. Both chose soccer for the spring, in the fall DD went with soccer and DS went with school Chorale. It greatly simplified our lives and put us back in charge. I really feel people today over extend them selves for the sake of their children, and stress themselves as well as their children out. We saw way too many kids burned out on soccer by the time they were 12-13 years old. My son still plays pickup soccer and enjoys it, but it is not the be all end all of his life. My daughter stayed with soccer and plays for her college team as backup goalie, defense. And both still cycle and remember riding to grade school on bikes.
Aaron
kids' afterschool schedules are a PITA. We finally came to the conclusion that we were the parents, not chaufeurs to the stars We made a couple of command decisions. They could chose (depending on the season and time involved) two activities. And at the time we made scouts, both BSA and GSA mandatory. Both chose soccer for the spring, in the fall DD went with soccer and DS went with school Chorale. It greatly simplified our lives and put us back in charge. I really feel people today over extend them selves for the sake of their children, and stress themselves as well as their children out. We saw way too many kids burned out on soccer by the time they were 12-13 years old. My son still plays pickup soccer and enjoys it, but it is not the be all end all of his life. My daughter stayed with soccer and plays for her college team as backup goalie, defense. And both still cycle and remember riding to grade school on bikes.
Aaron
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Webshots is bailing out, if you find any of my posts with corrupt picture files and want to see them corrected please let me know. :(
ISO: A late 1980's Giant Iguana MTB frameset (or complete bike) 23" Red with yellow graphics.
"Cycling should be a way of life, not a hobby.
RIDE, YOU FOOL, RIDE!"_Nicodemus
"Steel: nearly a thousand years of metallurgical development
Aluminum: barely a hundred
Which one would you rather have under your butt at 30mph?"_krazygluon
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I wouldn't worry about being the "Crazy bike guy" in a smaller
town. You may find that bikes are a lot more welcome there
than in the cities. I live in a small town with more & more
folk's riding bikes (just like they used to) in town to save
fuel.
town. You may find that bikes are a lot more welcome there
than in the cities. I live in a small town with more & more
folk's riding bikes (just like they used to) in town to save
fuel.
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Originally Posted by gary-nichols
Hello Ellen,
My 16-year-old daughter has her own pink Jamis, which she rides on the neighborhood nature path, but wouldn't be seen dead commuting around the city -- "That's for losers Dad."
My 10-year-old son (the Cub Scout) thinks cycling with me is really cool. We are working on our mileage and he is up to about 12-15 miles now on our weekend rides. The only problem is that for daily after-school activities, I barely have time to get them there with me driving, let alone cycling.
Whenever I can I run errands at night on my vintage Peugeot, but so far, they are solo rides -- too far, too late at night for the kids.
Does anyone else have the same problem with kids, trying to be as car-free as possible, but having to deal with children's after-school schedules? How do you deal with it?
Thanks for the help.
My 16-year-old daughter has her own pink Jamis, which she rides on the neighborhood nature path, but wouldn't be seen dead commuting around the city -- "That's for losers Dad."
My 10-year-old son (the Cub Scout) thinks cycling with me is really cool. We are working on our mileage and he is up to about 12-15 miles now on our weekend rides. The only problem is that for daily after-school activities, I barely have time to get them there with me driving, let alone cycling.
Whenever I can I run errands at night on my vintage Peugeot, but so far, they are solo rides -- too far, too late at night for the kids.
Does anyone else have the same problem with kids, trying to be as car-free as possible, but having to deal with children's after-school schedules? How do you deal with it?
Thanks for the help.
I have a 10 year old son who thinks he's 16 - ha! He rides with me a lot around town, usually without complaint. But sometimes that adolescent image-conscious thing kicks in. That's when I entice him with the notion that a bike = freedom (at least it will for him when he is older). Freedom is a big selling point with teenagers. Fortunately, my kiddo wants to do what he can for the environment so the biking appeals to that aspect of his personality.
I know what you mean by the after-school stuff though. But like Wahoonc said, limiting the activities is a really good idea. You might find that you need to drive sometimes but you also might discover, as I did, that some trips are actually shorter via bike.
It's a challenge with kids for sure. Good luck facing yours
p.s. a guitar case that you can wear as a backpack is a real helpful accessory!
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My kids are are 17 and 19 now, but throughout their adolescence they found their own way for the 3 mile ride to school. Usually the rode their bikes, but they also had a choice of 2 buses - the school bus or the city bus system. At times they used both. On a rare occassion, my wife would drop them off at school in our single car. I use the car about once a month, when I have to carry a lot of heavy items home from work. There is no bus service to take the place of my 8-mile ride.
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Too many activities?
My wife and I try not to have too many activities for the girls, or for us. My wife has a car, and she takes our girls (2) to ballet once a week. Some activities for kids might seem "required" socially, but you might ask yourself how many are useful. I think the kids gain a lot by seeing their dad commuting to work on a bike. My girls are only 9 and 6, so maybe when they get older, I'll need to arrange my schedule differently. So far it's worked out great having one car. We live a mile from their school, so really we could walk there, and have, and I'm considering taking them on the bike some of the time. I know that as a child, I didn't wish for more stuff to do. Kids need down-time after school, not constant activity (in my opinion). So I think you would do them a favor by having them do less during the week. School is enough for the week. Do cool stuff on weekends!
#12
Two H's!!! TWO!!!!!
Can't the children pick some activities locally? When I was a kid almost all my extracurricular stuff took place within 2 km from home and I walked to it. Of course, I was lucky to live in a place where a very wide variety of such stuff was available within a walking distance.
I also wonder if those children aren't overloaded with activities? Don't they ever want to just play with their friends? Relax? Ride a bike?
I also wonder if those children aren't overloaded with activities? Don't they ever want to just play with their friends? Relax? Ride a bike?
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Thanks to all who have shared their experiences and contributed remarks.
I know in my day my parents never drove me to any activities. I either biked, walked or took a bus everywhere, no matter how far afield the activity was. Today it seems that there are just so many more expectations for our kids.
Starting this fall, my son and I will be riding to his soccer practice. That takes some of our car commuting load off each week. I still can't convince my 16-year-old daughter to try riding to her part-time job. She thinks the cuff straps to keep her pants from getting chain oil on them are "dorky," and she doesn't like the way she looks in shorts. Never mind that riding will eventually make her legs look more shapely. According to her teenage credo, "It's not how you feel, it's how you look," and she wants to look cool, right now -- just like everybody else. Sigh.
As far as dance lessons and Cub Scouts, we're rescheduling them so that they both fall on the same day, thereby keeping the car commuting down to just one day each week. Luckily we have a bit of flexibility in our schedule there. Weekends will still be busy, though, with far afield Scouting activities dominating most of that time. They're fun and worthwhile, so we just bite the bullet.
I know in my day my parents never drove me to any activities. I either biked, walked or took a bus everywhere, no matter how far afield the activity was. Today it seems that there are just so many more expectations for our kids.
Starting this fall, my son and I will be riding to his soccer practice. That takes some of our car commuting load off each week. I still can't convince my 16-year-old daughter to try riding to her part-time job. She thinks the cuff straps to keep her pants from getting chain oil on them are "dorky," and she doesn't like the way she looks in shorts. Never mind that riding will eventually make her legs look more shapely. According to her teenage credo, "It's not how you feel, it's how you look," and she wants to look cool, right now -- just like everybody else. Sigh.
As far as dance lessons and Cub Scouts, we're rescheduling them so that they both fall on the same day, thereby keeping the car commuting down to just one day each week. Luckily we have a bit of flexibility in our schedule there. Weekends will still be busy, though, with far afield Scouting activities dominating most of that time. They're fun and worthwhile, so we just bite the bullet.
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Gary-Nichols
The thing that comes straight to my mind...is to SLOW DOWN.
It seems your outstretching yourself way too much. It is really important that your kids are into ALL of those extra activities? Can you find some activities in your school, or nearby your home?
If not, maybe just pick half of those activities. Create your own actitivies for the kids...maybe get the neighborhood involved.
I just always hear the line from parents that they have to go here and here and here. Its almost like they feel like they're out of control? Whats that about.
Take back the control. You know what you need to do.
The thing that comes straight to my mind...is to SLOW DOWN.
It seems your outstretching yourself way too much. It is really important that your kids are into ALL of those extra activities? Can you find some activities in your school, or nearby your home?
If not, maybe just pick half of those activities. Create your own actitivies for the kids...maybe get the neighborhood involved.
I just always hear the line from parents that they have to go here and here and here. Its almost like they feel like they're out of control? Whats that about.
Take back the control. You know what you need to do.
#15
Sophomoric Member
One problem that I see is that they build new schools out in the country. Kids need to drive or be driven to these remote locations, and drive home. After-school activities and parental involvement require more long car trips. The rural placement of new schools also contributes greatly to sprawl and the paving over of farmland and wild land. The expense of building utility service to outlying schools is enormous.
This is the hidden agenda for placing schools in the exurbs: the community must pay for extending utilities (especially sewer and water)--then private developers hook into them and profit.
If your community is talking about placing a new school out in the boonies, do a little research and discover that community, kids and parents will suffer, while developers will get rich. You might decide to fight against these cynical boondoggles.
This is the hidden agenda for placing schools in the exurbs: the community must pay for extending utilities (especially sewer and water)--then private developers hook into them and profit.
If your community is talking about placing a new school out in the boonies, do a little research and discover that community, kids and parents will suffer, while developers will get rich. You might decide to fight against these cynical boondoggles.
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