Most Car-free articles are dishonest
12-12-05, 05:33 PM
#26
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"i pointed out in the slate thread the guy was complaining about the difficulty of bringing a big bag of dog food home."
Not a problem-- this is what bike trailers are for. I regularly haul 50+ pound bags of dog food. I also get an entire week's worth of groceries on Sundays. Bales of hay, a racoon trap, various large items. When I bought the darn trailer, I never realized the use it would get, but it's been one of my best purchases, and practically elimates the car in town for me.
I own a car, and it's not the long trips that get to me-- it's driving in the city that makes me grind down my molars. City driving is completely hideous IMO. I literally never use the car for any trip under ten miles, unless it's to haul a very large item, like a couple of bikes I buy at a thrift, or a bed, that kind of thing. Over ten miles, I can crank it out on the interstate, turn up the music, and just drive. I usually throw a bike in the back of the car for when I get to my destination.
Not a problem-- this is what bike trailers are for. I regularly haul 50+ pound bags of dog food. I also get an entire week's worth of groceries on Sundays. Bales of hay, a racoon trap, various large items. When I bought the darn trailer, I never realized the use it would get, but it's been one of my best purchases, and practically elimates the car in town for me.
I own a car, and it's not the long trips that get to me-- it's driving in the city that makes me grind down my molars. City driving is completely hideous IMO. I literally never use the car for any trip under ten miles, unless it's to haul a very large item, like a couple of bikes I buy at a thrift, or a bed, that kind of thing. Over ten miles, I can crank it out on the interstate, turn up the music, and just drive. I usually throw a bike in the back of the car for when I get to my destination.
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12-12-05, 06:08 PM
#27
Sophomoric Member
Originally Posted by Poguemahone
"i pointed out in the slate thread the guy was complaining about the difficulty of bringing a big bag of dog food home."
Not a problem-- this is what bike trailers are for. I regularly haul 50+ pound bags of dog food. I also get an entire week's worth of groceries on Sundays. Bales of hay, a racoon trap, various large items. When I bought the darn trailer, I never realized the use it would get, but it's been one of my best purchases, and practically elimates the car in town for me.
I own a car, and it's not the long trips that get to me-- it's driving in the city that makes me grind down my molars. City driving is completely hideous IMO. I literally never use the car for any trip under ten miles, unless it's to haul a very large item, like a couple of bikes I buy at a thrift, or a bed, that kind of thing. Over ten miles, I can crank it out on the interstate, turn up the music, and just drive. I usually throw a bike in the back of the car for when I get to my destination.
Not a problem-- this is what bike trailers are for. I regularly haul 50+ pound bags of dog food. I also get an entire week's worth of groceries on Sundays. Bales of hay, a racoon trap, various large items. When I bought the darn trailer, I never realized the use it would get, but it's been one of my best purchases, and practically elimates the car in town for me.
I own a car, and it's not the long trips that get to me-- it's driving in the city that makes me grind down my molars. City driving is completely hideous IMO. I literally never use the car for any trip under ten miles, unless it's to haul a very large item, like a couple of bikes I buy at a thrift, or a bed, that kind of thing. Over ten miles, I can crank it out on the interstate, turn up the music, and just drive. I usually throw a bike in the back of the car for when I get to my destination.
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12-12-05, 07:05 PM
#28
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An "article" isn't even necessary- why waste the time. Let's just get to the point. All that is needed is a billboard that says "NOT A LAZY A$$" with a picture of a person riding a bike in commuter-type regalia (or even better, hauling 2 bags of dog food, their dog, a load of groceries and their kid) with a counter that indicates "Dollars saved since going car free in January, 2006 (Blip, Blip, Blip.) This would be far more interesting than the Lottery billboards (or the fuel pump, for that matter.)
12-12-05, 08:23 PM
#29
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I wish I saved the article I read in the Cincinnati Enquirer back in the '70s. It was about people who didn't own or cars. It was pretty interesting. One guy said he lived and worked downtown so he didn't ever need a car. The writer didn't try to treat them like genetic freaks but a typical (i.e. clueless sheep) reader might think of them that way.
Returned the rental car today and got caught in a TRAFFIC JAM!!! What a horrible experience. No wonder people are so tense. Now I'm reminded of why I hate driving. Well, I tomorrow morning (17 deg. F) I will step on the nice warm bus to work and ride home in the afternoon (31 deg. F).
Returned the rental car today and got caught in a TRAFFIC JAM!!! What a horrible experience. No wonder people are so tense. Now I'm reminded of why I hate driving. Well, I tomorrow morning (17 deg. F) I will step on the nice warm bus to work and ride home in the afternoon (31 deg. F).
12-12-05, 11:51 PM
#30
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i really could go "car-less" if i didn't need to drive from work to school on a daily basis. I could ride my bike, but I'd have to take extra time from work that I really can't afford. Once I'm finished with school in the spring, I'm planning on driving much less. BTW, for anyone that knows Cincinnati, I live downtown and work out in Loveland. It's a 20 mile drive one-way. 40 miles per day on a bike is perfect for me, but a 2+ hour bike ride compared to the 20 minute car ride just does not work while I'm still in school. I really can't wait until I'm out of school so I can save some money by riding to work instead of driving all the time. I'll never be really car-free because my parents live in the middle of nowhere 120 miles north of Cincinnati where no taxis, busses or anything else goes. To visit them on a weekend with a bike would be a major adventure. In a car, it's nothing really.
I've ridden my bike to the grocery store with only a messenger bag to carry stuff home in. It's not that bad, you just need to go to the store every week for only one week's worth of stuff instead of loading up the SUV at costco once a month. (or every week for these modern families full of fat kids). A 40-lb bag of dog food? That's dumb. I didn't read the article, but with an extra large messenger bag, or some straps, you should be able to carry a 40-lb bag on your back. At the worst, buy 2 20-lb bags. The real car-free biker would use a trailer or like a paper-boy rack or something. (are those considered grocery baskets? I don't know)
Unless you really need distance and speed, a car isn't needed at all.
I've ridden my bike to the grocery store with only a messenger bag to carry stuff home in. It's not that bad, you just need to go to the store every week for only one week's worth of stuff instead of loading up the SUV at costco once a month. (or every week for these modern families full of fat kids). A 40-lb bag of dog food? That's dumb. I didn't read the article, but with an extra large messenger bag, or some straps, you should be able to carry a 40-lb bag on your back. At the worst, buy 2 20-lb bags. The real car-free biker would use a trailer or like a paper-boy rack or something. (are those considered grocery baskets? I don't know)
Unless you really need distance and speed, a car isn't needed at all.
12-13-05, 12:35 AM
#31
I bet
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The other day someone panhandled me for gas. I gave him 5 bucks and didn't even tell him that i haven't owned a car for 2 years since he seemed so panicky.
What would you do if your car ran out of gas or broke down? Remember that worry? Gone, all gone.
I own 6 bicycles, if one breaks down and i cant repair it-- taxi! If my tire is flat and i need to get to work-- grab the other bike.
Car free is worry free.
What would you do if your car ran out of gas or broke down? Remember that worry? Gone, all gone.
I own 6 bicycles, if one breaks down and i cant repair it-- taxi! If my tire is flat and i need to get to work-- grab the other bike.
Car free is worry free.
12-13-05, 09:22 AM
#32
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Originally Posted by smurfy
Returned the rental car today and got caught in a TRAFFIC JAM!!! What a horrible experience. No wonder people are so tense. Now I'm reminded of why I hate driving.
12-13-05, 05:16 PM
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Originally Posted by kurremkarm
What would you do if your car ran out of gas or broke down? Remember that worry? Gone, all gone.
I own 6 bicycles, if one breaks down and i cant repair it-- taxi! If my tire is flat and i need to get to work-- grab the other bike.
Car free is worry free.
I own 6 bicycles, if one breaks down and i cant repair it-- taxi! If my tire is flat and i need to get to work-- grab the other bike.
Car free is worry free.
Oh well. NOT MY PROBLEM!!!
12-13-05, 05:23 PM
#34
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Hey, manual overide!
I know Loveland, I was just there Sept. 2nd on the bike path (my friend and I rode there from Coryn, near Waynsville). Beautiful little town. I heard it used to be an economically depressed area but the bike path injected some new life and tourist dollars there. However I have seen some shuttered factories and businesses in the area.
I know Loveland, I was just there Sept. 2nd on the bike path (my friend and I rode there from Coryn, near Waynsville). Beautiful little town. I heard it used to be an economically depressed area but the bike path injected some new life and tourist dollars there. However I have seen some shuttered factories and businesses in the area.
12-14-05, 01:37 PM
#35
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Originally Posted by Djudd
I've read quite a few so-called car-free pieces including the last two posted on Slate. Most are in the same vein "I rode my bike instead of driving for a few weeks and decided it's too damn hard...so I started driving again". I am a journalist at a major American newspaper and I ride my bike everyday to work. True i do own a car. I bought a car in 1996 that just hit 43,000 miles. Most of that is visiting family in upstate NY and Pittsburgh. From my vantage point I see most of the car-free pieces as self-fulfilling indulgences and not written by people serious about eliminating or at least limiting this addiction to cars thrust upon a naive public.
If the writers of these articles were serious in any sense they would first acknowledge that a bike is not a car. Sounds simple but it is not. Riding a bicycle instead of driving a car requires one to adopt a new approach to things and live within that new paradigm. Example: If one is going to commit to commuting by bicycle riding and it takes longer to get to work then you must make the adjustment i.e. get up earlier, go to bed earlier etc. You must also adjust to enjoy the advantages of the new situation. Using the same example: getting up earlier means you can eat a healthier breakfast, contemplate before leaving for work. Perhaps you can use your ride in to reflect on the coming day (instead sitting in rush hour traffic steaming). Sounds esoteric but it is not. It's part of incorporating change into a lifestyle. This is what is lacking in almost all car-free articles I've read. I think most are not honest attempts at change but dishonest puffery.
thanks and peace
If the writers of these articles were serious in any sense they would first acknowledge that a bike is not a car. Sounds simple but it is not. Riding a bicycle instead of driving a car requires one to adopt a new approach to things and live within that new paradigm. Example: If one is going to commit to commuting by bicycle riding and it takes longer to get to work then you must make the adjustment i.e. get up earlier, go to bed earlier etc. You must also adjust to enjoy the advantages of the new situation. Using the same example: getting up earlier means you can eat a healthier breakfast, contemplate before leaving for work. Perhaps you can use your ride in to reflect on the coming day (instead sitting in rush hour traffic steaming). Sounds esoteric but it is not. It's part of incorporating change into a lifestyle. This is what is lacking in almost all car-free articles I've read. I think most are not honest attempts at change but dishonest puffery.
thanks and peace
