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Old 10-18-07 | 03:22 PM
  #43  
JSteiner
Jack of all (bike) trades
 
Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 40
Likes: 0
From: San Jose, CA

Bikes: Surly Long Haul Trucker for Touring, Motobecane Immortal Force for road racing, Old Trek 2300 for time trials, Specialized Hardrock for getting over rocks and through mud and snow

Trying to keep this short and useful:

Living car-free in a city is much different than the suburbs. Without public transport, it's either riding your bike, bumming a ride, or borrowing a car (parents'?). It can be tough, but not impossible. Living in a city, I don't see any reason one can't easily live without a car, providing a moderate amount of planning in advance (home location with respect to work/school)

Here are my thoughts:
1) when in social situations, you can generally ride with a friend. I used to be the one with a car, and I often drove around friends of mine without cars. And these were kids without bikes.
2) - depending on the situation, borrowing the parents' car is probably useful for those "special circumstances" (dates, going to the hardware store, traveling distances)
3) - Tandems. Dates. I think they were made for each other, provided the weather is pleasant. If not, see #2, or get a girl who bikes. I don't think I could see myself with someone who refuses to bike, but that's just me. Spending $500 on a used tandem bike is like two months of car insurance. But you can keep it forever.
4) - When you head to school, it should be simple to live on-campus without a car. A lot of schools don't let you have one. If school is a long way from home and you want to visit for the holiday or a weekend, see if there's anyone else who's going the same way at that time. At my school, we had a "ride board" where people posted if they were driving somewhere or looking for a ride. It works out for everyone, because gas money can be split.
5) - Consider "carsharing" services. I'm not sure what cities they're in. I've only lived in two cities myself: Boston, MA and Sydney, Australia. Both had car-sharing companies that basically let you borrow a car/van for a couple of hours for an hourly rate. It fits perfectly with a cycling lifestyle. (Google "GoGet carshare" or "zipcar")

If i could redo my younger years, I would not have bought a car at 16. I would have borrowed dad's minivan (like I did when my car inevitably broke down) when I needed it, and biked. I would have stayed healthier, and had a lot more money to spend on things more fun than gas and insurance and repair parts....


Okay, I'm done.
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