What are you?
10-24-16, 02:17 PM
#26
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The French Foreign Legion still exists. They won't make you drive either. I think they pay better than the Peace Corps. I mean...if peace isn't your thing of course.
The answer to "What Are You" would take more than one sentence for me to answer properly. I can be a pretty nice guy at times.
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The answer to "What Are You" would take more than one sentence for me to answer properly. I can be a pretty nice guy at times.
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Last edited by JoeyBike; 10-24-16 at 02:22 PM.
10-24-16, 10:35 PM
#27
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I like getting around by bicycle, so when I can, I do. Living in a pretty isolated town of 13,000, I can get a fair amount done without needing a car. Work is only a mile from home, the grocery store not even 1/4 mile, and Wally World perhaps a mile away. But some purchases/transactions (including my LBS, sadly) require going 30 miles to the nearest city. There is no taxi/uber service out here, and public transit is very limited. Therefore, a car remains necessary. I'm OK with that because sometimes throwing a car at a problem makes the problem easier to manage. Generally, though, biking = happy.
10-27-16, 08:45 PM
#31
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I've been carfree for over 20 years and counting.
10-27-16, 10:35 PM
#32
C*pt*i* Obvious
10-28-16, 02:25 PM
#33
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I had no idea it takes some "special strength" to leave a car at home and use a bike instead. What other special unique characteristics or superpowers do LCF'ers possess which other people don't have ??
10-28-16, 03:01 PM
#34
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10-28-16, 03:57 PM
#35
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10-29-16, 01:52 AM
#36
Sophomoric Member
I know you meant this in a sarcastic, angry, demeaning way, but it's still an interesting question. I don't think we all have a lot in common, but maybe one common carfree characteristic is a capacity to be unconventional. At least, we have all made a rather unconventional choice about transportation, and maybe that carries over into other areas of our lives. (Or maybe not.)
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10-29-16, 11:28 AM
#37
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I know a couple carefree people IRL, but not many. I come here as an opportunity for fellowship and support from other carfree/carlight people.
I have to admit that I don't feel comfortable with even asking people on the forum what their carfree status is. To me, it makes no difference. I assume that everybody who posts here has some kind of interest in being carfree or less car-dependent. Everybody here is basically symapthetic about the idea, regardless of their carfree status at this point in time.
I have to admit that I don't feel comfortable with even asking people on the forum what their carfree status is. To me, it makes no difference. I assume that everybody who posts here has some kind of interest in being carfree or less car-dependent. Everybody here is basically symapthetic about the idea, regardless of their carfree status at this point in time.
I know you meant this in a sarcastic, angry, demeaning way, but it's still an interesting question. I don't think we all have a lot in common, but maybe one common carfree characteristic is a capacity to be unconventional. At least, we have all made a rather unconventional choice about transportation, and maybe that carries over into other areas of our lives. (Or maybe not.)
Something I find amazing is that there is so much negativity expressed regarding LCF historically or in areas of the world where driving has never penetrated as far as in most US areas. In so many ways, we've lost cultural practices, knowledge, skills, familiarities, etc. that make LCF second (if not first) nature throughout human history (and before). Yet modernism promotes this obsession with focusing on the negative aspects of the pre-modern and (sub?)modern world while dismissing and/or trivializing the positive.
So LCF, in one sense, is about pioneering into a new phase of modernity, but you can also look at it as rekindling timeless aspects of human life and culture. We all tread unique paths through unique situations, and experience personal challenges and milestones; but I think we all can probably agree that the experience of progressing in LCF is awe-inspiring in so many ways; often ways that are difficult or impossible to explain to others; but that LCF adds so much richness to life that we would miss out on if we had just accepted the 'drive-everywhere paradigm' that has been subtly and not-so-subtly pushed on us in so many ways.
Last edited by BillyD; 10-29-16 at 04:12 PM.
10-29-16, 04:13 PM
#38
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You guys want to stay on topic or do you want to continue these catty personal attacks?
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10-29-16, 05:58 PM
#39
Senior Member
10-30-16, 12:32 AM
#40
Sophomoric Member
10-30-16, 06:23 AM
#41
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I had no idea it takes some "special strength" to leave a car at home and use a bike instead. What other special unique characteristics or superpowers do LCF'ers possess which other people don't have ??
Self-discipline?
I know you meant this in a sarcastic, angry, demeaning way, but it's still an interesting question. I don't think we all have a lot in common, but maybe one common carfree characteristic is a capacity to be unconventional. At least,we have all made a rather unconventional choice about transportation, and maybe that carries over into other areas of our lives. (Or maybe not.)
…Bicycling keeps me immature......in a good way.
…My cycling lifestyle in many ways makes me feel somewhat “alienated” (“immature”) in a good way from the usual American car-focused lifestyle, and I’m grateful for that.
My cycling reputation, mundane as my cycling might be to the hard-core cyclists, is always a source of amusement and conversation with my friends and acquaintances; e.g.in bad weather, “You didn’t ride your bike today, did you?,” or at fancy social events, “Did you ride your bike here?.” Always asked with amusement and respect.…
My cycling reputation, mundane as my cycling might be to the hard-core cyclists, is always a source of amusement and conversation with my friends and acquaintances; e.g.in bad weather, “You didn’t ride your bike today, did you?,” or at fancy social events, “Did you ride your bike here?.” Always asked with amusement and respect.…
... I have been greatly influenced by a book, The Power of Full Engagement byJim Loehr and Tony Schwartz with thebasic concept that “Managing Energy,Not Time, Is the Key to High Performance and Personal Renewal.”
10-30-16, 07:27 PM
#43
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In so many ways, we've lost cultural practices, knowledge, skills, familiarities, etc. that make LCF second (if not first) nature throughout human history (and before). Yet modernism promotes this obsession with focusing on the negative aspects of the pre-modern and (sub?)modern world while dismissing and/or trivializing the positive.
10-31-16, 08:32 AM
#45
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Very well put. I was thinking earlier today that although driving doesn't make me unhappy, it also does nothing in itself to increase my happiness. Getting around by bike or by walking, however, has a way of creating happiness. I think this effect is relevant to what you've written in your post.
As for biking or walking creating happiness, I think this is more inherent because of the fact that you're getting exercise and releasing nervous energy as body motion, which has a calming effect on your nerves. Whereas operating a motorized vehicle or toy can have a certain power-pleasure effect, like Mickey Mouse using the sorcerer's hat in Fantasia, walking or riding a bike has a more direct active-body energy-release happiness that goes with it, so it's a deeper level of fulfillment, imo.
11-01-16, 07:25 AM
#47
Senior Member
Car Heavy. I use my cars to haul me and my bikes to the places I want to ride. 2 cars in our household and we average 20,000 miles per year on each car.
I recently reviewed my bike stats and I've done 2500 miles on bike this year...mix of mountain and road biking.
I recently reviewed my bike stats and I've done 2500 miles on bike this year...mix of mountain and road biking.
11-01-16, 12:17 PM
#49
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I'm a cyclist who just happens to be without a car right now. Being car free added 100 base miles per week when I was commuting daily, though these days its probably closer to 50 or so.
I do rent cars if/when I need to, and at my current frequency, it's cheaper than owning with little added inconvenience.
But I'm not ideological about LCF and will have no qualms about buying a car if/when it makes more sense to have one than not.
I do rent cars if/when I need to, and at my current frequency, it's cheaper than owning with little added inconvenience.
But I'm not ideological about LCF and will have no qualms about buying a car if/when it makes more sense to have one than not.
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“Never argue with an idiot. He will only bring you down to his level and beat you with experience.”, George Carlin
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WARNING, I'm from New York. Thin skinned people should maintain safe distance.
11-10-16, 03:49 PM
#50
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Almost car free. Although we have a car in the household, which my wife uses daily. I do accept to drive with her when it is clear that she will drive anyway. I have given up fighting about that, our couple is worth more than the purity of my carlessness. For my own transportation I take the car no more than 10 times a year, probably less.
We are members of a big car sharing organization so we can rent one "just in case", but that case tends to happen like once per year, and mostly to rent a van for occasional bulky items.
My daily commute (70 km round-trip) is a combination of train and Brompton. I could certainly carpool with a few colleagues, but I really dislike being a passenger in a car I don't drive, and I need my few minutes of fresh air.
We are members of a big car sharing organization so we can rent one "just in case", but that case tends to happen like once per year, and mostly to rent a van for occasional bulky items.
My daily commute (70 km round-trip) is a combination of train and Brompton. I could certainly carpool with a few colleagues, but I really dislike being a passenger in a car I don't drive, and I need my few minutes of fresh air.
