wahoonc

Yup... I wouldn't date a woman that was more than 2 years on either side of my age and at my current age...

Aaron

wolfchild

Way back when I used to be 22 years old, I dated with a lady who was 9 years older then me... Never again.

kmv2

I biked to my first date with my current long term GF. In the middle of winter (February -20C) *smug*

Don't think we'd be together if she hated bikes or vice versa..

Rowan

The age differnence between Machka and me is 12 years. The saying is: You're only as old as the woman you feel. I think I have it right...

Being free of car ownership for 11 years didn't necessarily stymie my dating opportunities. I just wasn't particularly interested in relationships in that period, when there were so many other cycling things to do. And I was lucky enough to end up with someone who had the same cycling interests.

I know of several others on both sides of the gender fence who have done the same. Coluber is one, likewise friends in Paris, and my former LD riding partner. The opportunities are there if you mix in the "right" circles.

agent pombero

I agree. Most men want skinny women. But not me! I'm only attracted to BBWs.

Ekdog

That certainly puts the odds in your favor, living stateside.

agent pombero

haha yes it does indeed put the odds greatly in my favor. Nothing gets me happier than a woman with some meat on her bones, and with a lot of junk in the trunk! Maybe the next best thing is for her to be riding her bicycle in front of me :-)

SPECELIZEDRIDER

Those are all Vegas, usually can be found in the buffet lines.

ukoro

I don't think it has killed all dating opportunities, it only filtered out shallow closed minded people who are more than likely not suitable for me anyways.

To me it doesn't matter too much with dating or ending up alone forever. I've had my fair share of experience with it and have grown pretty comfortable with being by myself.

If it's meant to happen, it will.

Ridefreemc

Sounds like you are living my dream. Cool.

SPECELIZEDRIDER

well I met a real woman that dosen't care that I dont have a car, yeah that really happened.

JoeyBike

First, let me say that my bicycle lifestyle acts as a filter to remove shallow, gold-digging women from the dating pool pretty quickly. I would think location would be key as well. NYC - probably no problem getting dates sans car while Los Angeles would present a larger challenge.

Second, some women are attracted to the guy who is not like all the rest in the room. So I have met women - and had the ice broken very nicely - because of my car-free lifestyle. Yes, some women got filtered of course (see the "First" comment above).

Third, and lastly - my wife and I met when we were in our mid 40s. Neither of us had been married before. She dated lots of guys with cars over her lifetime and didn't "buy" any of them for one reason or another. The lack of a car really never was an issue between us except for the fact that she worries for my safety, especially after dark or during bad weather.

So I would have to say that in the long run, my bike saved me from insincere women which left me available for the right one when she FINALLY came along. We are together 18 years now.

gerv 

Great post! I have to say, though, that my lady and I have been together > 30 years. We started off without either bike or car so not sure how that all fits in the mix.

SPECELIZEDRIDER

I started this post thinking about the down side of being car free, well my bike is a gold digger filter, and the current woman I am with wants to get a bike and ride with me, as she has the same core values as me, this is a rare find especially in Las Vegas the Gold digging capital of the world, where most women have the depth of a puddle or are definitely not into riding or in shape at all.I am very lucky to find the woman I found.

Commodus

I don't really think it's reasonable to dismiss women who would not date a car-free guy as "shallow, gold-digging". Many people have a negative image of the car-free. I even have friends who assumed for a long time that I had been charged with a DUI or something.

My fiance confided in me last year that she would probably not have gone out with me originally if I didn't have a car. She isn't shallow, and obviously not a gold-digger since she's with me! Nevertheless, if I was car-free at that time, it would have prevented me from meeting the girl I want to spend the rest of my life with.

When you first meet a girl, she's going to try and figure you out based on a very imperfect data set. If you expect every girl to sit down with you and spend two weeks deciding whether she's going to go out with you, well I can see why dating would be difficult for you. She's going to look at you, find out a few things, and make a very fast decision. Pretty, successful women get lots of attention. They all use methods, consciously or not, to quickly sort through potentials.

I'm not directing this towards you Joey, but some folks in this forum act as though everyone who doesn't think like us is wrong. The fact is, we're the weird ones. We may be right, hey you can make lots of arguments for being car-free - but no one owes us any special consideration. Dating for us is just like dating for everyone else, and being described as 'weird' is very rarely going to be in your favour when meeting a new girl. That is not reasonable grounds for criticism on them, it's just a challenge that we face in this society that equates car-ownership with success and normality. Though that is changing.

SPECELIZEDRIDER

I started this thread thinking that living in sin city that I would have no chance offinding somene that embraces my car free lifestyle,well I found a rare gem that wishes she could do what I do and thinks it's amazing I brave the elements and ride.It is amazing what you can find when you are not looking.

Artkansas 

So, how did you meet her?

SPECELIZEDRIDER

would you believe Craig s list under platonic, the last place yo uwould think, she wishes she could do what I do as far as a 15 mile commute to work every day, she thinks im awesome for doing what I do so this is a keeper, as most would consider me a loser without a car, funny the correlation between winning and losing whether you have a car, I have a nice bike and nice gear, but would I be awinner if the car is a POS, It is weird the way people think.

zoltani

There are elements in vegas? Haha, i have family there and the only element i've ever witnessed was the sun. Maybe some wind....

TwoFourOne

My girlfriend doesn't mind that I'm car-free, for the most part. I ride my bikes to her house (or wherever we're going on a date to), and it works out just fine. If she insists (or for logistical reasons) we can put my bike in her car.

I don't think I could date someone who didn't approve of my lifestyle, or at least didn't try to understand it.

humblebee02

I asked my friend this too, and we both ended up having a good chat about this. I guess it depends on where you live too, but yes the majority will think we would be a loser =(

gerv 

Yes, but the majority believes an oversized 2-ton hunk of metal is a great way to get to work. Who cares what the majority thinks? Most of the great inventions and world-changing ideas have never emerged from the majority.

I bet Plato, if he were alive today, would be tooling around Athens on a mountain bike. (Probably with some pretty low gear inches too.)

Artkansas 

Gold, Silver and Chromium are elements.

SPECELIZEDRIDER

Considering the culture of Las Vegas, it is absolutely amazing I found the woman I did.It was freezing cold so she dropped me and my bike off at work after our date, awesome!

wbuttry

a man brother