<sigh>.....

Honda:

Driver Window is f***ed: New Door is needed -estimate- $200

Transmission is f***ed: $3000

Engine is f***ed: $3000

My car on auto trader: $2500-$3000

I am f***ed royally up the arse

Cost of bike commuting: $0.00

I just wish I could get up everyday at 6am and be awake. I have such trouble sleeping at night that I don't fall asleep till 2-3am, so I barely get any sleep and by the time I do get up, I have to drive, there is just no time to bike in. Unlike some of you, biking into work is about 30 minutes. Driving to work is about 10 minutes.

Perhaps it's a sign.
Try addressing the issue of lack of sleep, and see where that takes you.
Also, do you have other alternatives such as taking the bus or carpooling?
Good luck to you.

I'll bet if you start commuting everday. In a few weeks you will not have a problem sleeping at night. ;-)

Do the math( on a Mac) ditch the car.

Get up at 5:00 am a few mornings after not going to bed until 3:00 am and you'll find getting to bed early a little easier.

My commute is 25 to 30 minutes whether I ride or drive. In the winter though the bike commute could be anywhere from 35 to 50 minutes. I'm a night owl too but part of that is by choice and habit.

Sorry about your car.

Those are pretty close to my numbers. It's about a 10 minute drive in, or a 25 minute bike ride to get to work. I make it up on the way home, though, when traffic becomes a huge problem, and swells the drive to about 45 mins.

Sorry to hear about your car. They all end this way, if it's any consolation. I donated my last car to public radio.

If your trouble is falling asleep, I wonder if that will take care of itself after a few days? As you get more and more tired, your body is going to need sleep, and if you hit the hay early, I bet it'll oblige you. If that doesn't work, try doing some hill repeats on the bike two to three hours before bed, which does the same thing, wear you out. At least this stuff usually works for me. Good luck!

I have ADD so falling alseep isn't always easy. Its been so much better the last few years using various stratagies to help me be able to get sleep. Sometimes its doesn't work and I don't get the sleep I need. Last night was one of those nights. In addition to that sometimes like today I also loose track of time and end up driving to work because I didn't plan enough time to ride. Its stupid I hate it when I do that. Anyway, 20 extra minutes of sleep isn't going to matter much. The excercise will invigorate you more than the sleep trust me. If all you need your car for is getting to work ditch it for whatever you can get for it and start riding to work. Worst case scenario is to start walking seriously. I have done it a few times and my guess is our commute is pretty simular in distance. Your car problems are probably not helping with the sleep problem thats for sure. =(

I've just donated my old sporty car to the animal shelter

I'm not the type to wake up before 4am but that's the time I do have to wakeup if I am commuting by bike. If I drive, I can sleep an extra 45 minutes which is good since I go to bed sometimes late. I do find it easier to fall asleep easier later in the week than it is on Monday or Tuesday. Sometime drinking a cup of hot chocolate makes me drowsy.

I do try to catch up on my sleep on the train or during my lunch break. That lunch break power nap is very refreshing and rejuvinating for the rest of the day.

You may want to see a doctor or a sleep clinic. 3-4 hours of sleep a night is going to do bad things to your health.

+1 needing more sleep. I get by on about 6hrs per night and have done so for years - anything much less than that could spell trouble.

30 min x twice daily isn't that big a time commitment and who knows - maybe the exercise will help you sleep better.

Ditch the car though - no point in sinking $6,000 into a car that's worth $3,000 (I think that's what my investment fools did with the money in my RRSPs - I can now afford to retire about 12 years after I die). Cars can become a financial black hole & bleed you dry.

I find I have very little trouble falling asleep when I bike commute. If I go a few days without exercising, though, my insomnia comes back. I'd ditch the car in the your case. 30 minutes each way on a bike really isn't that long.

Easy for us to say, what's ours, an hour and a half or so??

As of the end of this month, we will be a one car family. My daughter is moving out and I am giving her my car. Giving up my car for good forces me to commit that much more.

And because I'm up at 4 to be at work by 6:15, I'm a little sleep-deprived, too. I have a hard time forcing myself to get eight hours of sleep, but if I don't I feel the effects all day long. Even right now I'm yawning like mad and my work day is only half over. It's rough, but I enjoy commuting by bike way too much. I'm hoping in time, the sleep thing just settles in on its own.

First try to figure out why you are not falling asleep. I used to work overnights and slept during the day. I averaged about 5-6 hours a day and felt fine. Unfortunately I wasn't. The problem was exacerbated when I moved to a new apartment and changed beds. I slept even less which eventually led to more problems.

Lack of sleep can do more than affect your health. It affects how you think, process information, and behave. Because changes happen subtly you may not be aware they are taking place.

A common misperception.

Yeah, and sometimes I still take the long way home. If I had just a 30 minute commute, I'd ride home for lunch.

+1

It almost sounds like an opportunity to make a lifstyle change and go car-free.

Definitely time to go car free and carpool!

^

Try it...

Step AWAY, from the coffee pot... well, after 1pm or there abouts.

Going car free is an interesting thing, in and of itself. Really gives you a different point of view on so many things.

I do understand the getting up thing, I usually go to bed at about 11, but getting up is rarely easy. Once moving however, it's all good.

Option one: Spend the $6,200 on a new bike.

Option two: Ride to work for the next year to save for the car repairs. Get friendly with your local wrecker.

Option three: Sell your car and buy one without $6,000 in repairs.

Option four: Buy an IPOD and a bus pass.

I hope suburbia ontario is in the south but I doubt it. Having two more months of winter left in Feb is a bit of a drag.

Depending on your location, a car co-op might be an option to wean yourself off the car without the sticker shock of buying a replacement for your poor dead Honda.

I guess it depends on the route the half hour bike commute takes you thru, but 30 minutes twice a day is generally doable. It could help you fall asleep a night if the ride helps get rid of excess energy from work day stress. My old commute was about 45 to an hour by bike and it helped me be a nicer person to my family. My previous crummy job was not only more bearable between bike rides but also gave me the emotional strength to quit it a year after I started bike commuting. Gawd that crappy job was pure, unadultered misery on it's on but bracketed by 40 minutes trapped in the TTC, it was a daily horror.

Hi All,

I live in Southern Ontario...so winter lasts from Dec-March. Although snow can fall in Nov. and April. Anyhow I have a winter beater.

As appealing as 'car free' is..the fact is...its not do-able for me, living in the suburbs. The entire appeal of suburbia was that one could have the joys of living in the country with all the amenities of an urban life. Obviously the dream has not panned out. Every 'amenity' is thousands of several miles apart and moving is not an option.

As for a car co-op...yeah, its not happening.

I have decided to get the transmission re-built $1500. This way, the car can still stay on the road when needed. I just have to monitor the oil levels in the engine. And my driver side window has to remain permanently up. I have no desire to drop more money than the car is worth to keep it 100% functional. If the engine goes, im just going to scrap it.

Also..about bike commuting costing $0.00. I meant to imply that it is negligible when compared to car costs.

I appreciate all the support though, and I tip my heart to all of you folks who live in areas urban enough that going car free is a real tangible option.

$1500 is cheaper than a new car anyway. I hear people talk about how expensive it is to get an engine rebuilt (or any other big-ticket repair item), and that they think of just getting a whole new or used car instead. You can keep a car until the floor falls out, the strut towers split apart, or other major very-difficult-to-repair damage like that (and even those things can be fixed if you really want to do it).

How old is your car anyway? Either you had bad luck with it or it got neglected...