YES!!11!! I gave up my car today. Committed to riding a bicycle full time.

[Mika]

I gave my car to my S.O. today (a new Altima). She needs a car. I don't. We are a one car family now.

I made the move to 100% cycling. I have 2 bikes - a high end 20 spd road racer and an ATB type to use for commuting/shopping. I went to the grocery today with a large backpack and it felt great.

Admittedly, its easier for me to get to work on a bike because I own my own business and I have a shower there.

I've ridden over 8,000 miles over the last year and seek to ride more for the next.

I am now free of the personal gasoline addiction, PLUS I'll lose more weight and gain some cardio.


:party:

[electron_blue]

1. Congratulations!!

You got a helmet, right?

[lvx35]

2. hooray! awesome!

That's probably one of the most positive revolutionary things a person can do. I lived like that for awhile, and I am going back to it very soon. Its a great lifestyle, especially if you have busses in your area that you can mount bikes one. I am still wanting to invent the secure locking "bike trunk" though, because I really want to leave things with my bike like you can do with a car. Backpacks get annoying, not riding with them, but carrying them around when you get where you're going.

[stop the bleeding]

3. sweet

I rode to and from work for about 4 years it was a great way to get 2 hours of exercise a day, and the added plus of not using a car with Global Warming and all.

Kudos on the new lifestyle.

[SammyWinstonJack]

4. Why do you hate America?

:sarcasm: Seriously, congrats!

[mortlefaucheur]

32. Bwaahaha!

:rofl:

[KyndCulture]

5. Welcome to the club!!

I've been car free since December.

It feels so GOOD.

[Gato Moteado]

6. you rock!

i've been carless for over a year now......i walk, taxi, and bus it everywhere. i wouldn't get on a bike or motorcycle in any city in latinamerica....but walking and buses gets me to about 90% of the places i need to go right now.

anyway, great job! with the money you save in gas, take a kick ass vacation this year.

[keith the dem]

7. Congratulations!

I'm far from car free (family to drive around) but I do use the Bike to commute to work.
I suggest a good quality messenger bag ( with the extra strap to keep it in place) rather than a backpack. The weight is in a much more comfortable, secure and safer location for riding the bike.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

8. Congratulations!

It's been 4 years since I kicked the car habit - and I've saved tons of money just in gas; let alone insurance, repairs and upkeep.

:bounce:

[TomInTib]

9. I quit driving years ago. A 'quality of life' choice.

I still have a car, but no driver's license.

I only drive to the gocery store at the bottom of the hill.

[mike_c]

10. one word....

Panniers. Ditch the backpack, dude. Backpacks are HATEFUL. I can do major shopping on my commuter bike with the rear panniers fully expanded. And BTW: congratulations!

[canetoad]

37. Definitely panniers

but dont buy those black fabric type ones with lots of pockets, trip wires and glittery strips.

Until a year or so ago when creaky knees cried 'No More' I did all travel and shopping by bike and train. I reckon I went through a set of those so called bags a year, at about $120 a pop. Eventually invested in a pair of Ortleibs. Pretty spendy, but they paid for themselves in 2 years.

If your going to carry any serious weight, like a load of groceries get good bags, because the others begin to give way along the seams after a few months of heavy use.

[smiley]

11. me too...

then my tire went flat at the bus stop today. I wasn't even on the bike!

[Demobrat]

12. Hey! Congrats!

I got rid of mine seven years ago . BEST thing I ever did for myself. Going car-free means MORE freedom, not less. Freedom from parking, freedom from gas stations, freedom from repair bills - it's like cutting a ball and chain off your leg. I live in downtown San Francisco, so I don't bike for transportation. New Balance and Muni do me just fine!

[rodeodance]

13. may the wind be at your back and stay healthy

[Redstone]

14. Good deal. For you and for the planet.

But if the weather's cold and rainy and crappy and you're not feeling all that great that day, please do not feel guilty about using the car.

You're doing more than most people (including me), so don't beat yourself up if you can't do it every single day.

I'll still appreciate your commitment. So will everyone else.

Redstone

[jdeetz1019]

15. Congratulations!!

I just started riding to work everyday this week and feel like a kid again, llok forward to the ride home after work, great way to unwind.

[HysteryDiagnosis]

16. Nooooooo..... I bought a humvee today..... I should simply

be committed. Not really.... good for you, more people should take your example to heart.

[schrodingers_cat]

21. Last time my quantum dot emitted entangled photons, I had to

call for nuclear medicine!!!

[HysteryDiagnosis]

39. Ahhhhh....... I can see by your name that you are hip with

the intangibles of entanglement... goody for you!!

[Cha]

17. Party time indeed!

:party: Congratulations! When it's possible to do things like give up a gas "addiction".. it feels so good.

I gave up my car about a month ago and walk everywhere. Lucky me.. I live 2 blocks from my beautiful job.

[Left Is Write]

18. I would love to be a one-car family.

My husband is making noises about moving closer to downtown - he hates the commute anyway. If we did that, we could be a one-car family.

However...it isn't quite that simple. He's gone back to school and will be finished with his degree next winter, and he's planning to look around in the Midwest. It's probably better for us to stay put and keep paying on the current mortgage with an eye towards possibly moving out of state later.

At any rate, congratulations!

[Judi Lynn]

19. Every day you'll be healthier. What's not to love? Congratulations.

Just be sure to keep an eye out for lunatics like the driving-impaired Republican Congressman Bill Janklow. You really don't need that kind of trouble!

[Leopolds Ghost]

35. Yikes! Don't DO that to me!

He looks like the guy on TV in Dallas who used to say "And if yew don' come on down to CRAZY AL'S and buy a car today, I'll club this BABY SEAL! That's right..."

[JeffR]

20. Congrats! Ride safe!

:toast: :patriot:

[schrodingers_cat]

22. Jeebus, JeffR, must you post such nauseating images?

Please, you're making my eyes bleed.....

[JeffR]

26. Sorry, sorry

I've promised people repeatedly that I'm going to replace this crap as soon as I Photoshop something else. I'm getting there.
:blush:

[upi402]

29. Wow! Sell that thing on Freep-Rethuglic!

Bleachhh!:puke:
Remember the movement to put Raygun on there?

[tabasco]

23. Excellent! Please be careful.

I don't know what it is like where you live but it is very unfriendly for bikers and pedestrians where I live.

[Mika]

24. Thanks to all for the positivity!

:hi:


Thanks to all.

Yes, I do use a helmet. I live in Miami, so the weather is OK. I've got rain gear for the wet season and blinking lights for daylight savings time.

Its not really that big of a jump. I simply love cycling. I ride over 150 miles a week already. Adding a few more isn't that big of a deal. Grocery shopping is the main problem because I won't be able to do huge load at one time like one can with a car. So, I'll just do several smaller trips per week on the way home.



Thanks again for all of the positive energy. :thumbsup:

[ekelly]

27. My hubby started riding

his bike to and from work every day about a month ago. 7 miles each way. He loves it! Good for his heart and he's trying to lose some weight also.

Congrats on making the switch :)

[hopeisaplace]

25. Someone needs to invent "family bikes" - we all peddle like the Flintstones

Hey I've discovered the next big thing! "The Family Bike"!
(load up 4 kids, hockey bags, and the only way the TV works is
if everyone pedals). :bounce:

[sandnsea]

36. I've seen that

People power radios and such like that in third world countries. Whenever I see that I get freaky visions of huge sweatshops full of people peddling like mad so that some fat bastard can have air conditioning and scotch on ice. :scared:

[upi402]

28. Good news!

I have made similar moves but must keep a vehicle (living indoors, eating food) due to my work.
It feels great to live with less doesn't it?

[Swamp Rat]

30. Great!!!

I've been riding a lot too. :applause:

I can't give up the car completely or else I may end up like some of my friends last August - stuck facing a Cat 5 hurricane and militarised police in the aftermath.

[Conan_The_Barbarian]

31. Suck my smog hippy!

Biking is great, you build crazy powerful legs plus with the money you save you can treat yourself to something nice weekly. (so either way the money ends up in the pockets of the people you loath)

[EFerrari]

33. Congratulations! We're three years car-free and lovin' it.

:toast:

[MazeRat7]

34. Be sure to check back when its wet and cold out....

We would like to know how that biking thing is working for you. ;) I suspect you may be car-pooling with your SO. :rofl:

MZr7

[Mika]

40. I've been riding to work since last August. Its working great.

Since I live in Miami Fl. there aren't that many cold days. Maybe a few days in the 30's & 40's in the winter months. That didn't stop me from riding - I just rode a little faster ;) . I've ridden many times in the rain and its no big deal. FYI, I'm a serious road cyclist so I'm used to grueling rides. I've ridden many centuries, plus a 154 mile ride in seven hours a few months ago.

The point of my OP was that I gave my car to my SO, so we only have one car now. I ride and she drives to work. As a couple, we still have a car for emergencies, socializing, and such.


Thanks for your concern though. :hi:

[depakid]

38. Sounds like a win/win to me!

[MountainLaurel]

41. Yea Mika!

I started riding to work last week because I couldn't justify driving one mile each way on normal days. (Sometimes I have to carry fairly heavy loads of books and such).

[WinkyDink]

42. Here's to good weather and no heavy packages. Heh.

And light traffic, of course.

No, seriously; good on ya. Too bad our public transit is virtually non-existent.

[bunkerbuster1]

43. I'm so jealous.

I'd love to bike to work. The office is only a tad over ten miles, and it'd be a great workout.

But it'd be suicidal--no shoulders for much of the way.

The first thing I'd do if I were america's benevolent dictator would be to declare a moratorium on all residential and commercial development that didn't provide road access to human-propelled endeavors. Until then, I can only dream of living in a place that provides such access.