fat_bike_nut

Car-Free Living Highlights for me in 2014:

-Only took the bus to work ONCE Otherwise, I rode my bikes to work the entire time (3 different bikes; one of them got sold off in April)

-Began to complete errands (grocery shopping, mail, picking up stuff, etc.) by bicycle more often than by bus

-Finally began to do some bike camping trips with my Surly Long Haul Trucker (that I bought specifically to go bike touring with way back in 2010). ALL of my tent camping trips have been car-free! ALL of 'em!

Actually, come to think of it, it's all bicycle-specific. What can I say? I find it intolerable to have to take MUNI to get anywhere that I can ride a bicycle to now.

wipekitty

A few changes this year:
- In March, I sold the family car (the family = 2 adults, 3 cats.)
- I bought a cargo trailer, and used it effectively to replace car trips. Milestones included 70 pounds of cat litter, 120 pounds of mulch, and the purchase and return of a room air conditioner.
- I rode my bike to the airport and parked it there while I traveled...three times.
- I figured out which items are cheaper at the store in walking distance vs. the store that I bike to, keeping car-free eating both convenient and affordable.
- I learned how to bake bread. Having a pantry full of flour and yeast also means that we will never be hungry, even if the weather is uncooperative.

Car talk:
- My town got car share in August. I've only used it once - I'm not sure if I'll re-up the membership.
- I learned that I get a discount on rental cars through work, which *includes* all insurance!!! I put this to good use when I needed to go to Michigan for a funeral.

Other cycling:
- I discovered a wonderful world of road routes within about 5 miles of my house - mostly low traffic with large hills and great views. During the summer, I got in much better shape, with a number of 100+ mile weeks and a few 150+ mile weeks.

Walter S

Way to go wipekitty! All great LCF stuff. I like the ac thing. I have a trailer too. It takes it all to a new level of function without cars IMO.

t x

A good year for me I think:

- I (today) passed 1500mi for the year which is the largest yearly distance I've recorded.
- I've managed to avoid car commuting for the 10th year in a row, and my 2nd year since moving back to the "car capitol" (Los Angeles).
- Rode my first fixed-gear metric.
- I lost around 20lbs by the scale, but have actually lost approximately 40+ lbs of fat and gained muscle mass.
- I became a father (has nothing to do with living car light, but still!)

Three years ago I was depressed and unhealthy: drinking too much, smoking too much and felt a decade older than my actual age. With the end of this year I really feel like I've turned that around and actually feel a good decade younger. Riding my bike regularly was the only thing that got me through my "30-day abs" and really fueled a massive improvement in my life. Here's to an even better 2015!

Dahon.Steve

I discovered the bus again.

For years, I was only using commuter rail, subway and lightrail. I purchased a monthly pass and now all the buses are free. I can get to the airport for nothing during the weekends without have to pay expensive rail. Malls that were miles away and required costly commuter rail with limited service are now GAME again!

If you don't have bike racks on your bus, get a folder (any folder) and you won't regret it.

bragi

I actually manged, I'm ashamed to say, to pay more for a new bike this year than I paid for my last car. (I only have one bike at a time.) Despite this ridiculous indulgence, though, I have more money in the bank than ever before , probably thanks to the total absence of car-related costs. I ride or walk virtually everywhere I go, though sometimes I take transit. I belong to a car-share program, and I think I used it two times this year.

My proudest car-free moment this year was to travel across much of the Rhineland exclusively while riding a very crappy, very poorly maintained hybrid. (It was the German equivalent of a Walmart bike.) Riding over some of those vineyards in that bike nearly killed me, but the scenery and the food/wine/beer made it seem somehow less hideous... It was a wonderfully low-impact, low-carbon trip, except for the high meat consumption and, of course, the plane flight to Europe...

About that plane flight: without that one trip, my carbon emissions last year would have been comparable to a citizen of Costa Rica. With the plane flight, I was closer to a citizen of Russia or the Czech Republic. I love to go places, but I'm not super happy about the impact a single flight seems to have...

dmcrun

Highlights huh? I moved to be closer to my four different work areas. One morning I left the house at 4:30 to ride into the rain for an hour.s I showed up there alive and ready to kick some ass! Just ride the first 5 blocks and you will be ok.

Roody

Yeah, when the weather is bad, I also find the hard part is just getting started. Pretty soon, rain, fog, wind, or snow seem perfectly normal...and then even enjoyable.

Welcome to thw forum!

t x

So much this. Every time I've started my commute in the rain the first couple minutes are about doubting if it was a good idea. Those thoughts magically disappear by the end of the first mile.

Walter S

In other words once you're cold and wet you quit worrying about getting cold and wet

Roody

Or you realize that you dressed properly and you aren't even cold and wet.

People are pretty paranoid about weather. They run out to their car in light clothing and loafers, then feel like they're freezing to death before the car heater finally warms up. But if you dress appropriately and keep moving, you should never really feel cold or wet past the first couple minutes.

IMO, it's about the right gear and the right psychology.

wolfchild

After not using a public transit bus for almost 20 years I decided to use one few days ago, it was also the first time ever that I put my bike on a bus rack, and did a multi-modal commute.

gerv 

First bus trip and you put your bike on the rack? I always wonder if I have the front wheel secured correctly. But first bus trip also means you aren't acclimatized to all the characters who inhabit the buses. After a while they start seeming like regular people... It's kind of like getting used to driving a car in traffic on the QEW.

wolfchild

I actually enjoyed the ride after not using a bus for such a long time, I now plan to start doing multi-modal commuting more often. Bike racks on buses is the best thing that ever happened, I can now bring my bike with me wherever I go. I remember many years ago none of the buses had bike racks and bikes were not allowed onboard. The next thing I want to try in the new year is one of our commuter trains, I haven't been on a train since I was about 7 years old.

Machka 

University students and business people?

gerv 

Business people? I don't think so. Get quite a few students, some downtown workers and quite a few people who are obviously poor. Also people with disabilities. I posted a while back about a gentleman on my route who apparently had Tourettes. First time I encountered him I was shocked to see how the regulars on the bus ignored his rant... later I realized what was going on. I see him pretty often now and he's actually a great person.

Machka 

My daily morning bus commute mainly consists of business people dressed in business attire (suits, dresses, etc.), a few university students, and the occasional small group of tourists.

Roody

I think it's a little different in some parts of North America. A lot of well off people look down on transit--especially the bus--and leave it to those who are less well off.

wolfchild

The same in my area. Majority of people who take a bus are just normal people who have full time jobs, students, seniors.

cooker

During rush hour the TTC (our public transit) is packed with 'suits' of all ages. However at other times it is mostly immigrants, minorities, young adults and a few seniors. That suggests that it is not so much stigmatized as it is simply viewed as inconvenient for anything other than straight-to-work commuting, at least by middle-aged professionals.

cyclokitty 

I realized that it was much more pleasant riding my bike to a mall that houses one of my favourite grocery stores than taking the bus. Now, that isn't terribly incredible, I know. It's just that even though the mall is only 5km away and the bus is a direct straight line path on the street immediately north of me, and the bus is frequent, but the mall has lousy bike lock ups that are inhabited by rusting hulks, and the people who visit the mall have a tendency to mess with shifters and brakes on locked bikes, and the bike route is longer over all with much more meandering route as I switch from avoiding construction and heading into every direction on a compass reading and horribly rutted side streets, and I kept picking days to ride when the sun was strong and the humidity high.

Much more pleasant!! And faster. Crazy. I've spent 45 minutes on the bus stuck in traffic and on a quiet day it is 35 minutes, but the bike ride is 20 minutes. Longer coming back home because the panniers are full of groceries or stuff. The bus is always full to the doorways with people on the ride back and the ugly looks I get when I clamber on with a couple of grocery bags would melt asphalt.

If I have to visit that mall (and I really dislike that ugly mall), I'd much rather cycle.

Dahon.Steve

I think my threads on public transit are starting to influence other forum members! LOL.

Once you start exploring multimode commuting with bus and rail, you don't go back. Having the bus and train do alot of the hard work while allowing you to explore and visit other cities was a huge discovery.

Roody

Um, the people who don't wear business attire or whatever are also "normal."

Roody

I think your threads are influential. they've gotten me to thinking about multimodal transit too. The usual places I go are best reached by either bike or bus, not a combination of the two. However, if I free my mind a bit more, I might think of new places to go by bus and bike--other than just the "usual places."

A few years ago, I bought a monthly bus pass because of an injury. I did go to a lot of new places during that time. A couple times I just got on a new bus route, then hopped off anyplace that looked interesting. It was a lot of fun--like exploring on my bike is fun.

Machka 

Anymore highlights?