Instead of buying the '04 pinarello pista that i've been drooling over for 9 months...I'm caving in and finally buying a car. three years commuting by bike has been excellent, but a 20 mile ride each way to work and back isn't feasible in rain and snow.


go on, tease me all you want, and yeah i have a brake (edited b/c i can't spell) on my fixie too...i deserve it, ridicule me, make me cry like a little schoolboy who got pegged in the face by a dodgeball at recess.

Ok you f'ing moron. Its BRAKE not BREAK... unless you were stumbling around the words for saying you cracked your frame.

whoops my fault
i guess that's what a virginia public school education gets me

It's OK, internal combustion certainly has its place. I'm a "recovering gearhead". I now try to avoid driving as much as necessary, but for example, as a musician, I can't carry my 65 lb bass amp, 2 basses, and other equipment to a gig on my bike. And as much as I love to ride, 20 miles each way in snow would be... rough.

That's OK my child.... I drive a car too.

snow pffffffffffff, 20 miles pffffffffffffff. You sissy, weakling, loser, I know you will burn in hell! Hope your car has a break! (was that the response you were looking for?)

I just got a BMW, need to fix, first impulse was to restore and sell to by a fs downhill bike.
I might keep it, since my last bike crash came close to breaking my neck and then I would have REALLY needed the car....to be driven around to the doctors.
Well, at least it's European and not a SUV.

I'm not mockin' nobody- I ride a 14 year old chromo mtb down mountains,
I have 2 brakes, a reflector and an ugly 40-band wavelenght yellow helmet-
Good for spotting my body in the bush from the search 'copters.

So @ least buy a sportscar, just tell your cyclist friends it's for picking up chicks-
pop a rack on the back- say it's a bike transport system- (you have to drive those 45lbs dh bikes TO the mountain first.)

Is your car a stick shift? If so, you should shift it into third, then take off the shifter and leave it off. That way you can at least still be rockin' a singlespeed.

Cars are coffins.

Chris Tucker: ...And you know this, man!

you are my hero

After 2 years of procrastination I finally cleaned the gum out of the carbs on my motorcycle. Now I'm going to let it sit all winter so i can procrastinate another 2 years.

Boy, all of these RVA people are making me nostalgic. I may have to go visit my parents who still live in the West End more often. Or not....

Snow in Richmond? Yeah, right. Maybe once every three winters. C'mon.

Yea and flatter than a pancake too what do you need that 'brake' for

Hey can you just get a real cheap used car and get the fixie too?

YES!!!! hahaha amazing responses...especially the one about converting my car to a fixed gear hahaha

yes richmond is pretty flat, and it doesn't snow often, but riding from the fan to the richmond airport every day by bike is just really not appealing in cold weather, snow (when it might happen) and especially rain.

but enough justification and self rationalization, i'm goin for a ride!

tell em to move outta the west end...the only good thing in that area is the taco bell...nachos bel grande, no meat, add beans and hot sauce please.

Why are you a sellout? Cuz you bought a car? Did you sign a contract saying you would be car-free forever? 20 miles in and back out over three years can take it's toll on most people. I can understand being car-free if you lived in a large metropolitan area like NYC or SF or Philly, but it sounds like you live in the burbs. I have a car, actually, I've got 2. And one's even a minivan. I've got 4 kids that I have to haul around everywhere and where I live, travelling by bike would be impossible, especially with my boys tagging along on their own bikes! When we lived in Ottawa, we had one car and I tried to bike everywhere. My wife used the van to go to work and drive the kids around to their various activites. Having a car is nothing to be ashamed about. As long as it's not a Hummer or that new beast of an SUV being produced now!

nah i'm only joking progre-ss, i just found it funny that after so long without a car i'm actually going back to it...
definitely didn't sign a contract, if i did my kneecaps would get me out of it anyway, i'm only 23 (24 on sunday!!!!) and they're already beginning to give...
no way am i getting an SUV..i'm trying to get the most efficient loyal car with the best gas mileage I can find...I'm quite partial to the honda civic, the saturn sl1, and the volkswagen golf and jetta...then again i'm even more partial to the pinarello pista....mmm its so dreamy, i wanna sleep next to it in bed.

Hey Eric, same birthday as my dad (he'll be 60) and my sister's boyfriend (he'll be uh, don't know). I'm looking for a diesel golf or something like that. Great gas mileage I've been told! I wish I could commute to work. The Pinarello track bikes look nice! Hmmm...car or Pinarello...tough decision.

I would say Volkswagens are really the way to go. If you just want something cheap, go Saturn. Hondas are nice and common, therefore cheap parts. Actually, these are all really good cars. I used to be into A2 chassis (late 80s, early 90's) VW's, its an EXTREMELY DIY community - like the fixed gears of the auto world. Hmm, interesting. I used to be more into horsepower, so a VW with a chipped 1.8T motor would be cool, but now I'm really seeing the advantages of getting a TDI... whoah, what the hell was I talking about? Oh yeah VW w/ TDI is cool.

This is old school West End, which I guess most people would consider downtown at this point. I swear Charlottesville is now the freakin' West End.

Oh and disable the brakes too, use reverse + the clutch to slow down and/or stop. You get bonus points for brakeless.

charlottesville will always remain the west end...shoot, it will always be that way, i can't ever see that place changing.

As far as things go now...west end sort of informally starts a bit before Willow Lawn and extends westward...downtown is anything from 2nd street down to 20th, and any further east and you're in church hill...the fan is anything from monroe park up to boulevard

Not so fast. Ever hear of bicycle the band?

...posted at 4:36am...Eric...put the computer down and go to sleep.

A couple of options to buying

https://www.erideshare.com/carpool.php?city=Richmond (scroll to the bottom for the Virginia listings).

https://www.ridefinders.com/FrontEnd/...tml/About.html
There's some carpool information here as well.

My car is probably the biggest financial liability I have. When I was looking to replace my car, I was looking at a Hyundai Elantra wagon or Suzuki Esteem wagon, both highly rated in the Lemon Aid guide. I ended up repairing it instead (Stay away from Ford Escort's if you can or Focuses for sure. Ford rear springs have this lovely habit of breaking prematurely.) Grab a Lemon Aid used car guide from your local library. It's really helpful. The Automobile Protection Association https://www.apa.ca/template.asp?lang=english
has some free information on line, but the best stuff is for members.