Hey there! I recently got back in to my old accounts (both SBcycling and this one!). Here's the answer after a very long time... (are any of you still here?!)

I didn't really stick with cycling. I persevered with my old Fiat Panda during university then when I graduated and had a better job, I bought a nicer car.. then a nicer car... then a more reliable car... then a more reliable and nicer car... many finance agreements later (finally now PAID OFF!!!) on the final year of my 20s I am once again considering cycle commuting and a life of cycling.

Things are now just in place...
- No more paying monthly for a car and feeling guilty if I pay for it but don't use it... I can simply get rid of it any time now or leave it sitting. I'll still need to pay insurance but £30-£40 a week saved on fuel if I don't use it.
- I now partly live with my girlfriend in the city, so that 1.5 mile stretch that was always a barrier, is no longer a barrier. I don't need to go on a road whatsoever thanks to our decent in-city cycle lanes and greenways.
- I have the money to invest in quite a nice e-bike now, particularly if I were to get rid of my car long term but as it stands, I've bought a very inexpensive single speed folder (to fit in the back of the car when needed) to hopefully ease me into cycling.

The plan is... should I stick it now in the summer, and as the light / temperature drops back into Autumn and Winter... I'd love to be waking up on Christmas morning to one hell of a Tern or something similar. But no big decisions like parting with the car until the notion is proven to be practical and enjoyable. Just in case.. you know.

I have had the following realisations too in recent years, because the notion of cycling never fully left me. Particularly in times of trouble with cars (repairs, warranty debates, even one insurance claim last year) the absolute headache and uncertainty over many factors spoils my otherwise love of car ownership, driving and maintenance (which I 90% do myself and enjoy)

For one, there's an Enterprise car club or just flat out rentals. I'm over 25 now and driving over a decade so I can hire a car - maybe a fun luxury or fast car - for a day or two. Carrying big things - well I've owned some big but still not practical cars, you still can't fit many big items in them due to openings, support beams... and when I HAVE fitted things in, like a bookshelf, I found permanent damage on the door cards or head liner sadly. Turns out... Enterprise can rent me a VAN ... of many sizes. So even those one offs like moving a lot of rubbish or furniture, are STILL better served without 'a car' as it were.

Many around me don't drive themselves so they can't really point the finger at me if I no longer someday have use of the car... after all they could equally go get a license and a car, right?

My career is quite good now I've done what I should have done a decade ago, programming. But this extra time at the desk, the mental frustration at times... has caused me to be quite irritable and driving doesn't blend well with that. I am very much looking forward to the health (posture, mental health, fresh air, daylight) benefits as well as any bonus financial benefits of cycling. As well as a hobby hopefully more fun to get into like maintaining and seeing where I can go with my bike . As I turn 30 I also, whilst thankfully having no real medical things to complain about so far, do feel differences now in how much I can throw myself 110% into something mentally before getting tired... or physically now, unlimited energy has turned into a 'fair usage limit' of energy, quite a high one mind you still, but I can see that as life goes on, if everyone older than me is to be believed, this sort of levelling off and eventual decline of physicality will happen...but I look at active people who are even older, and they somehow escaped it - by USING their bodies and minds. This whole combination of benefits, addressing factors of getting busier, and older, sounds so much better than the gym.

I bought an expensive Concept2 rowing machine a few years ago to address a bit of strength and cardio - at home - all seasons to take care of fitness for a sedentry lifestyle. Only to find it didn't quite stretch and workout as many muscles as I hoped, nor was getting sweaty in my small room or having to come home to do that for a while, much fun. Contrast this with new cycle / greenlanes being built to connect my city ... walks in the park from time to time on days off. I have this overwhelming 'gosh I'd like to spend more time here'. Cycling through them to get to work is the perfect, regular, excuse, right?

This was a bit long, but to anyone still reading, hope it's been good to hear an update. I'll be sure to stay active on here to let you all know how it goes