Djudd

I've read quite a few so-called car-free pieces including the last two posted on Slate. Most are in the same vein "I rode my bike instead of driving for a few weeks and decided it's too damn hard...so I started driving again". I am a journalist at a major American newspaper and I ride my bike everyday to work. True i do own a car. I bought a car in 1996 that just hit 43,000 miles. Most of that is visiting family in upstate NY and Pittsburgh. From my vantage point I see most of the car-free pieces as self-fulfilling indulgences and not written by people serious about eliminating or at least limiting this addiction to cars thrust upon a naive public.
If the writers of these articles were serious in any sense they would first acknowledge that a bike is not a car. Sounds simple but it is not. Riding a bicycle instead of driving a car requires one to adopt a new approach to things and live within that new paradigm. Example: If one is going to commit to commuting by bicycle riding and it takes longer to get to work then you must make the adjustment i.e. get up earlier, go to bed earlier etc. You must also adjust to enjoy the advantages of the new situation. Using the same example: getting up earlier means you can eat a healthier breakfast, contemplate before leaving for work. Perhaps you can use your ride in to reflect on the coming day (instead sitting in rush hour traffic steaming). Sounds esoteric but it is not. It's part of incorporating change into a lifestyle. This is what is lacking in almost all car-free articles I've read. I think most are not honest attempts at change but dishonest puffery.
thanks and peace