Bikeforumuser0019

Hello Forum peeps.

I'm on the cusp of a new work situation that would allow me to bike 10 miles to work (one way) OR bike 2 miles to the train station, and take the train any amount of the way I wish.

If the job pans out (and I hope to know within a week if it will) I would like to sell my car ASAP.

My reasons for wanting to sell the car are several. First, it is too much of a financial burden for me at this time in my life to own a car. Second, I want to simplify my life in general. (hahahaha, my friends don't see me getting rid of a car as a "simplification" of life, but I digress!)

Thirdly, I've always been slightly to grossly overweight. AND I love being outside and I love exercise. I just came to believe that I was the "fat kid" who couldn't really play sports in school and never got away from that mindset. Right now I am 160lbs at 5'4". I've fluctuated between the 220s at my heaviest (in my teenage years) to 135-ish at my lowest (I was rather ill at that time).

But now I'm ready to say "I can do this". I anticipate what will make this transition hard, and will make or break my success, is how well I deal with the emotional difficulty and challenge of daily bike riding. My initial thought was if I ditch the car cold turkey it will force me to bike whether I feel up or down.

SO here's my questions for y'all:

1) Should I just start biking the whole way to work, and ensure that I do by getting rid of the car ASAP?
OR
2) Should I start biking to the train station, and then hope that the train will not re-enforce my lazy tendency to sit and not bike or walk (which is no different than the luxury of having a car).
ALSO
3) I've never sold a car before unless I was trading it in for a new car. Will a car dealership buy back a car that is not a trade-in? I was thinking I might take it back to the dealership where I bought it in March 2014.... they're customer service is quite good and I think they might work with me.

Since this is largely an emotional struggle for me, I'm don't expect "counseling".... I'm mostly interested in how others (who may have been overweight or just out of shape) approached a bicycle commuting lifestyle from 100% car reliance. Were you ever tempted to give up before you really "got good" at commuting by bike? If so, please share how you overcame those temptations/challenges.

thanks,
Jess

Machka 

When I started, I had been walking (when my commute was only about 3.2 km round trip) and cycling (when my commute extended to 13.6 km round trip) for quite a few years.

Then the van was written off ... and I didn't replace it because I was already comfortable getting around without one.

Roody

IMO, you will be better off selling the car privately. I sold a car a couple years ago (my dad's car, after he died) on craigslist and was overall satisfied with the experience. It took about four hours to complete the sale and I got what I asked for, althoughpeople did try to haggle with me. And I only had to do one test drive, which was kind of a white-knuckled experience.

If you're interested, I'll be happy to post some of what I've learned about car salesmanship. It's actually a good skill set for a carfre person, if you stop and think about it.

lasauge 

I think it's great you have the option of taking the train partway. Ideally you would ride the whole distance everyday, but starting out you'll probably have days where the emergency bailout option comes in handy. There's nothing really unfeasible about commuting 10 miles by bike, but with any amount of distance there will be a learning curve since you're new to the process (learning to pick the right gear for the day, optimizing your bike, finding the best routes - all of these take some practice and experimentation to master).

Roody

I'm the type of person who will weasel out of a personal commitment if it's easy or convenient to do so. If I have a car in the driveway, sometimes I'll use it just out of laziness. For me, being carfree has always been a great way to maintain my commitment to exercise more. Of course, I do enjoy the exercise once I get started--I just need a little help getting started sometimes. I don't know if that's what you mean?

BTW, don't assume that selling the car is a lifelong commitment. I often suggest to people that they put the proceeds from the car sale in a bank account. They can use the money to buy another car if the carfree thing doesn't work out for them. If it does, that banked money can be a great reward to be spent on bike equipment, a train pass, or whatever you want to spend it on.

DiegoFrogs

When I moved from California to Sweden, I had a sale on my car worked out with an old colleague about a month in advance, knowing I'd be able to do everything the day before I flew out and it would be low stress.

I came out after visiting a childhood friend in San Francisco to find a stolen pickup truck stuck to the side of it. Needless to say, my friend understandably backed out of the deal. I washed it, polished it and managed to get all the paint off, and it wasn't so bad really.

I took it to the dealer (not where I had bought it 8 years earlier, on the other side of the country), who literally kicked the tire and wouldn't offer me any more than the KBB trade-in value. But, I was pressed for time, and they even offered a ride home and to let me keep it a couple more days. I had no choice but to accept it, really, and he knew it.

gregf83 

I would start biking and see how it goes. Maybe bike the whole way 2-3 times/wk to start and take the train partway the other days. No point in selling the car. If you don't like riding your bike to work with a car in your driveway you're probably unlikely to sustain it particularly when your financial situation improves.

Absolutely the car dealership will buy back your car, after all that's how they make money - buy low sell high. You'll be much better off selling it privately.

I would recommend starting by being car light and just driving less. I commute by bike and ride far more than I drive but we still have a couple of cars in the driveway. Not sure there's any particular advantage to being completely car free.

Walter S

It depends on your personality. I personally find value in being totally car free. I never use the car because it's the easy choice. I have no internal battle about it either. It takes no discipline to stay fit. It's part of living. It's clean living. I save more money. Ride the whole 10 miles on your bicycle. If it's hard at first then condition yourself for it. That commute can quickly get easy and you might find yourself extending the ride some. I feel like 10 miles is about where I get warmed up good. Anything you do nearly every day can become easy and fun.

Artkansas 

If you want, keep the car and hide the keys. Freeze them in a block of ice. Get a safety deposit box at your local bank. Make it hard, but not impossible to access your car.

If you sell your car, the dealership will probably give you the least money for your car.

For me, all my cars but one fell victim to me using my bicycle instead. It just feels more natural. But I will confess that as I got older, I found the bus with a bike rack to have an increasing appeal.

Artkansas 

Check out any episode of "Fast 'N Loud". Richard Rawlings is an experienced haggler. But if you watch a number of episodes, you'll see that things don't always go his way. It will prepare you for the moment you ask for price X and they say X/2. Then the dance begins. Don't get insulted if their first offer is not your hoped for price.

Fast N Loud Season 5 Episode 4
https://youtu.be/8OIXx0l9RUY

Ridefreemc

I posted this in another thread that was related to this subject, but meant for it here:

At one or more times in my life I would set myself up to only have the option that I thought I ought to have just so that I wouldn't stray from my goal (e.g., selling your car so that your only option would be to ride your bike or take the train). That doesn't work too well for my life in the long run (except for at the grocery store when I'm staring down a bag of chips that I want to take home with me!). Now, I like the options that I have, as I can ride the bike, take the auto, ride the bus (and bike on the bus), and even walk if I'm really ambitious.

If it were my dream I'd take it in steps and see how I felt when I got to each new level. If I rode 90% of the time and drove the other 10%, maybe that is where I'd stay and be comfortable. If that 10% still felt like too much I'd sell the car. This could be 50/50, but depends on the person.

Just to be clear, this does not involve financial considerations. On that subject, if I knew I wasn't setting myself up for too much mental punishment by selling the car I'd do it in a heartbeat. Take that $8,000 and open up some options in my life by saving and investing it (anyone for retiring early?).

Let us know how you do though. It would be interesting to see how you progress and what your thoughts are along the way.

gerv 

Recently I've become very gun-shy about what a person "should" do. And I hesitate to tell people what I would do... realizing it probably wouldn't work for others.

My recommendation would be to do nothing drastic. Just choose the mode of transportation that offers the best quality of lifestyle. When you've determined it, act accordingly.

B. Carfree

I'm kind of conservative, at least in my method of adopting radical changes. While I had been car-free for many years in the past, when my family transitioned from car-light to car-free, we simply stopped driving. The next time the registration came due, we put the (very old, no resale value) pick-up in the driveway and didn't register it since we were not required to do so if it wasn't on a public road. Then, when the insurance came due we went down to our agent and had a chat. At that point, we would have scrapped the thing, but our agent found a policy that cost us $15/yr plus about $2 for any day we choose to activate it to full coverage (when we rent a car) and gives us a $70 discount on our homeowner policy.

Although we technically still own a car, it won't run unless I invest several hours replacing the electrical system that the damned mice and squirrels have eaten. Still, for a couple of years there it was available to us if we needed it. We simply found that we didn't need it. Sure, we would have saved a bit more money if we would have gotten rid of it right away, but then we would have had the slight stress of wondering if we could really live how/where we want without it.

Artkansas 

The emotional issue is handled one minute at a time. It's not either/or, I love it more than anything or I'll quit. There are good days and bad days.

For my latest job, the transition was commuting after 4 years of staying at home. Because the job was very physical in itself, one early night I found myself so tired that I had to stop and rest while coasting down hill. The route is very hilly, so climbing all of the hills was and is a struggle. But I don't run bad thoughts on myself. I just stop and take a break. I let myself have 10 deep slow breaths and then start pedaling again. While I do, I look around and see what's around me.

What thoughts are you expecting that will be so strong as to make you quit? As Louise Hay says, that's just a thought and thoughts can be changed. In fact, a thought cannot stay the same. So if you wait a while, it will change itself. If you can keep pedaling, you may arrive home even before the thought changes. Bad weather may make one ride unpleasant, but it will educate you on what to do. Winter riding may take different clothing and tires. We don't have much snow here, so I just walk for a few days rather than invest in changing to studded tires. And there is nothing illegal about taking the bus or train.

It's been 25 years since I last thought I might have to quit. The neighborhood I commuted through was infested with one of the worst gangs in the world, MS13, and after getting attacked at random by a teen on a bike, I feared that the danger on the streets could be too much. But soon I got a new job and moved rather than quit. My next commute was through the center of a nature preserve.

What you want to do is find out what works best for you. I find that multi-modal transportation allows me to save time by using public transit, and have flexibility with the bike which allows me to get anywhere at any hour. You may also find that rather than being tempted to quit, you are tempted to stretch. Last summer, I rode my bike 30+ miles to a tech conference, gave a talk and then rode home. Some days I take the bus because then the trip is faster and the bus drops me off at the top of a steep winding hill where I can climb on my bike, take the lane and cars can't pass me because I'm too fast. It's a beautiful wooded area too. So I get more sleep and have more fun riding.

Roody

As usual, wise words from Artkansas!

ro-monster

You could start off by biking to the nearest train station, then, when that feels comfortable, bike to the next nearest one, and when that feels comfortable, go farther. Or you could ride the train to work and bike all the way home. There are lots of possibilities; you just have to experiment and find which one works best for you. And the beauty of having a train available is that you can use it on days when you might be feeling tired or a little ill, even if you normally bike both ways. This flexibility is a wonderful thing.

One thing I would recommend, if you don't already know how to do it, is learning some basic bike maintenance skills such as fixing a flat tire, adjusting brakes, and making sure your drive train is in good working order. You can take classes through REI (and probably other places as well) or practice on your own with books and videos. Feeling confident that you can fix simple problems makes it much less intimidating. Carry a small tool kit and spare tube whenever you're on the bike. And for me, making sure I always carry a bottle of water helps immensely. Sometimes I just really want to stop and take a drink.

I think the best insurance against giving up is to look at this not as a struggle, but as a source of joy. Riding a bike really is fun. Sure there are days when you won't be motivated, but you might find that if you just get out and ride anyway you'll still enjoy it.

As for selling the car, one option that may be available to you is to sell it and sign up for a car sharing service such as Zipcar. That way you can still have access to a car on those occasions when you really need one, but you don't have the burden of maintaining a car you seldom use.

tandempower

Yes, it's great to be able to push yourself with small increments like, "just one train-station further." If your goal is to bike the whole 10 miles every day, you can bait your inner child (who wants to give up when the going gets tough) with a train day if you can make it, say, two more days biking without taking the train. This is basically the weekend-motive for coming to work on friday (i.e. "if I make it to work on time friday morning, I get to sleep late saturday"). So, you could make wednesday a "train day" but make it conditional on biking monday and tuesday. If you give in and take the train part way either monday or tuesday, you forego the train ride and give it another go wednesday. I find this kind of bartering-with-oneself strategy useful but, of course, other strategies might be more effective for others.

Bikeforumuser0019

Hello everyone. Many thanks for your helpful tips and advice. I especially liked freezing the car keys in a block of ice. I think that could be a helpful idea for me later on.

To fully answer the question "What thoughts are you expecting that will be so strong as to make you quit?" would be outside the scope of this forum, I think. However I will provide a brief answer by saying that I'm just prone to periods of depression where I lose motivation for many things. This is an additional reason why I want to be exercising as much as possible.... everything I've read says that exercise is *at least* as effective in treating and managing depression as pharmaceutical treatments, and possibly more effective.

Regarding my car... I don't really need a car and the financial burden of student loans has forced me to get rid of any extraneous income suckers, and I've had to move a lot because of income flow problems. If I sell the car, I will probably break even, so unfortunately there won't be a cash surplus but at least all the costs associated with car ownership/licensing/maint. will be gone for some period of time.

Thanks again for all your helpful suggestions.... sorry for not responding more quickly.... I am waiting to hear about a job interview. I'm still working on the bike... a friend from church is going to teach me how to remove the chain and back wheel on Monday to fix and/or replace the tube; I think after that the bike will have everything it needs and I'll be able to start riding.

Jessica

Artkansas 

Just make sure your keys can take it. My cars were always older, so the keys were just metal, or metal and plastic. I'm not sure how newer keys react.

I understand about depression. That's a good thing about biking. If I can get my bike to the curb, it usually knows how to get to my destination. It's not the same as sitting in traffic. On rare occasion I find myself riding very slow, but usually its just a sedate pace that eats the miles while my mind does its thing. The best thing I've found for depression is meditation. It steals depressions thunder.

tandempower

Losing motivation is not a unique problem. We have an economic culture that pushes us to take the easy road in almost every way possible because someone else is making money by lightening our burdens. People need challenges to rise to. Depression is the body's answer to having everything done for it. Exercise burns the blood sugar that otherwise builds up and causes nervous energy. It also causes deeper and faster breathing, which reduces the adrenaline that builds up by not breathing enough. Think about how great it was to be a kid and feel happy without taking any anti-depressants just because your body was active. Exercise doesn't have to vigorous. Just keeping a spring in your step and getting over 30 minutes of moderate exercise per day should do it. The real benefit of bike commuting is that no matter how lazy you feel, you're always motivated to bike home from work because the alternative is not going home.

MZilliox 

one way to stay motivated on the bike is to buy a bike you can't stop thinking about. Don't buy the least bike you can afford, of course you don;t have to go nuts either. remember, you are replacing a car, buy something on a level capable of replacing the car. A nice commuting / touring style bike has very comfortable geometry, rides effortlessly, tracks well, and is durable. Look to the used market for value. while there are a lot of trashy bikes out there, you have us now to run your finds by. the collective knowledge here can prevent you form buying a lemon. i paid 500 bucks recently for the best bike i have ever ridden. i took another 200 to get it to a place where it fits me great, new saddle, different stem and bars. so 700 bucks and i have a machine that i want to ride constantly, even right now as i mend from 80 miles riding sunday and monday. I seriously can't wait for my ride later.

i am getting over my 3rd knee surgery and can not do much sports anymore. no running, no basketball, nothing. but i can ride, so to stay in shape i must ride. to motivate me to ride daily, i need a worthy machine.

the first 3 days of commuting are hard. once your butt gets used to it, you will never want to drive a car again, not even in the rain. its life changing.

I-Like-To-Bike

Any references for your claims about the causes of depression? Perhaps a visit or two to a witch doctor might be just as effective and "should do it" as well as your recommended cure for depression.

Roody

He might be wrong about causes of depression, but using exercise for therapy is widely supported by clinical and scientific evidence.

I-Like-To-Bike

"Might be wrong"? My, how harsh!
The poster claimed "30 minutes of moderate exercise per day should do it," as in cure/fix the problem of depression. Think he "might be wrong" there too.

Roody

As far as I know, you are not a mental health professional. I am. No cure for depression is known, but 30 minutes of exercise is effective for lessening symptoms in some people with mild to moderate depression. In fact, exercise is widely prescribed as part of a balanced treatment plan that can include other somatic (physical) interventions as well as psychological and interpersonal therapies. I do hope that anybody who is concerned about depression will seek out professional help from a qualified mental health professional.