I feel you guys here. My mom has been driving (no pun intended) me nuts about getting a car lately. She says she worries about me being out here with no transportation. I keep telling her that I've got a commuter bike with grocery panniers and a race bike that I can use for chores if the first one ever breaks. She keeps insisting that I have to have a car. I live downtown, where I can walk to almost everything I need, and we do have a bus system (not a good one, mind you) that gets me where I need to go. I just don't understand why some people are so insistent that you need a car. I'm in college... I'm happy with no insurance or car payment. Why complicate things even more than they already are? Plus, buying a car goes against everything I believe in.

Two words combined with a single finger hand signal .End of story !

Wrong. The right way to do things is to ask for the money for a car in cash + a years worth of insurance payments. Take that money and buy a super uber carbon bike and a fixie and a commuter bike.

Don't forget to deck out in polar hrm's, power meters, $300 waterproof/breatheable rain gear and any other accessories you want.

Then take the 10 grand or so left and spend it on drugs/beer/women.

Do to an unfortunate combinations of genetics, I have a difficult time being nice to a driver who is insulting, or harassing. But, on those days I am slightly less cranky than usual, I try to be nice to drivers. It might be better to just joke with them: "Well, I enjoy my bike, but if you are offering to GIVE me your Suburban, that would be a nice birthday present".

Many drivers have a very predictable schedule. The guy you irritate at 4 p.m. today had a good chance of being at the same intersection at 4 p.m. tomorrow. Having him like you may pay off tomorrow.

I have made a real effort (waay out of character) to be nicer to drivers, to go out of my way to NOT get in their way. I no longer insist on going first at a four way stop, just because I got there first. If a guy in a big truck thinks he ought to go first, I just try to smile and wave him through.

On the days I can fake being nice in a half-way convincing manner, it seems as if drivers are being nicer to me as well.

ditto about the investments...my portfolio is getting more of my income into it now as a result...this year will be a nice amount of extra, even after buying two rather pricey bikes, and two others

....so much for bad finance management....I spent money like it was water and still came out ahead.

"someone has to stay in shape for your wife... ******! By the way, you bought this bike!"

I can't tell you the number of time my truck broke down and I had to rely on my bicycle to get myself around town. My bicycle is the most reliable form of transportation I have ever owned.

I remember once the altenator broke on my truck. I too the altenator off, put it in my pannier, and rode to the alernato/starter shop to have it rebuilt, rode back home and put the part back on the truck.

I can REALLY visualize this as a reply, with a good Australian accent and inflection in just the right spots.

I've also found that being respectful towards drivers tends to make them more respectful towards you, at least in my area. There have actually been quite a few occasions when a driver has waved me through an intersection first or allowed me to cross/turn in front of him/her even though they technically had the right-of-way. I'm not sure if their mentality is that they're not sure how to act around cyclists so they just let me go on about my way and get out of their way so they don't have to worry about hitting me or what. I've also noticed that when they pass me on a 2-lane road, they tend to give me most of the entire right-hand lane as cushion. I'm not really complaining or anything; I just find it amusing since all I REALLY need is a couple of feet of space. It's not like I"m just going to randomly swerve out into the middle of the lane or anything.

Yeah, most drivers give me at least half a lane of width. There is one section of my commute home that I've walking because it's a blind spot around a curve and an intersection at the bottom of a hill that's percendicular to that curve. It's just safer to walk.

My commute to/from work is a joke, being only 2.3 miles of paved city streets with sidewalks, so I have nothing to worry about there. However, when I get out riding around in town actually going place that's when I have more interaction with drivers. I've luckily found that most don't have a problem with sharing the road with me. A few isolated incidents of honking and yelling, but I just roll my eyes and keep riding. Also, we do have public transportation and all of our buses have bike racks on the front that hold two bikes. On occasion, if I need to get somewhere quicker than I can with my bike, I'll ride down to the main transfer point and catch the bus going west to cut down on time/distance. It costs a buck and works out really well.

You are managing your money better by bicycling instead of driving.

According to a recent Atlanta news story that stated that the average total cost per mile of driving in this city is 65 cents, and also accounting for parking costs, my 30 mile round-trip bicycle commute saves about $22 each trip.

If I rode my bike to work only twice per week, I'd still save $2,288 per year, or $176 per month.

Supposedly, we Americans love our cars, but we trash them on all these little one mile trips that promote accelerated engine wear, drive them in corrosive salty slush, and stuff them into narrow parking spots where door dings are a near certainty. How much enjoyment can we get from them under these conditions?

Paul

Good point. If someone told me I had poor money management skills because I was on a bike, I'd want to point out that my $250-dollar vehicle (I rock the ghetto-fab fixed gear conversion) gets me to work faster than his >$3000 vehicle, and I get the added benefit of handsome, muscular legs.

I must suck at money management then ... I only have 5 bikes and 1 car ... all but one bike double the value of the car, most increase it by way more ...
As I say to the guys at work ... yeah, I could have a really nice car if I wanted to, but I don't see the need ... and yes I did spend $140 on those pedals, and in a month or so I'll still have them, but where is the same amount of money you have spent on cigarettes then?

Have heard thta if someone in a car is annoying , you open their back door at a stoplight, then bike away ... by the time they get out, walk around to shut it, then get back in the car, you are long gone ...

just a thought

Not all encounters with vehicles are unpleasant. Last week I had stopped at a busy intersection waiting to make a left at a very long light. A motorcyclist pulled up alongside and we chatted a bit. Coincidentally a group of leather-clad, black shiny helmeted motorcyclists appeared at the light to our left. I couldn't resist asking my newfound friend if he knew those 'girly-men'. He smiled and said that he didn't. A few seconds later he motioned to me to turn to my right. A driver had rolled down his window and was asking me if the motorcylist and I were racing. Just as the light changed I said, "Yeah, I can take him", and rode off. Of course, the motorcyclist was way ahead of me.

I guess what I left out is that I'm probably a main part of the show. No doubt I'm one of the older cyclist seen on these NJ roads. Not that I'm so ancient, mid-sixties, but a white beard and decked out in cycling gear garners quite a few opened mouth looks. I must say that being older I'm not getting the wisecracks that some of the you younger cyclists get. But I'm not crazy about the thumbs up sign and dropped jaws, either. Just want to get on down the road and not be bothered.

You are correct. Hold off on getting a car as long as possible. They are money pits.

Aim to live in urban areas where a car is truly a burden-- Manhattan, for example.

Unfortunately, from a financial point of view, in manhattan, EVERYTHING else is a burden.

Have you seen that Lance commercial where he pullup besidea Harley Hells Angel type and knods for a race? It was toward the end of the commercial.

I had a pleasant encounter with a motorcyclist once. I had just finished climbing a long, long hill and waiting to turn left at a light. The motorcyclist came up to the light, and while we waited for the green he commented that he should get on a bicycle and get more exercise. I immediately asked if he wanted to swap! He laughed, said no, and the light changed. We both had smiles on our faces as we departed!

[threadjack comment]
I PASSED a motorcycle last weekend, then pulled in front of him. He was I was still pulling away from him when I turned off. That was fun. [/end threadjack comment]

Back to the subject of the thread. This week, I came up on a guy commuting on an old mountain bike, no helmet--no lights, no clipless, just the basics. He commented on how much stuff I had on SUV-like commuter. I told him I sold my car before I bought the nice bike stuff. He just shook his head and said, "You're going the wrong way, man."

Hey! I drive a Hyundai. I consider myself smart, too. The dependability rating is equal to Honda, tied at number 2. That, and to get a Honda specced to what my Elantra is would have cost me 23000. I paid 13,000 (and whatever I was upside down on my other car.)

1 old truck, three bikes...

Road, Beach, Commuter/tour.

I'm doing fine, thanks.

The only reason I would buy a car would be so I can get my bike to the trails that are out of riding distance. Outside of that, I don't have much use for a car. A car can't get me anywhere that I can't get just as well on my bike. Plus I save money on gas, insurance, and maintenance. Not to mention, I'm healthier because of it

Hear! Hear!

Since I've gotten back on my bike, my blood pressure is back to almost normal, my mood has drastically improved, and I'm finding my waistline again!