DO YOU USE A CAR AS WELL AS A BIKE ??

[shunter]

Wife uses car to get to work. I have a motorcycle/s to commute on - will be back to two soon. The wife and I got new mountainbikes during the summer and after a few uses I contemplated commuting to work on one so I could get some exercise. The only possible solution was to get a lift half way and cycle 11 miles in and then 22 miles back home at night. I got a hybrid sport to make it easier. Have done this a few times in the last month or so and was enjoying it until the ice struck.
Down side is that I spent all Sunday cleaning my motorcycle and bicycle

 

[domd1979]

Got rid of my car at the end of July when the lease expired. But, am already bored of the p*ssing about that hiring motors entails (as well as not being able to jump in the motor and go somewhere at short notice), so ordered a new motor which is being delivered at the end of Jan. Also have a 1976 VW bay camper, but its not for every day driving (especially at 20-25 mpg). Generally cycle to work, though have been using the bus as well this past few weeks.

 

[HelenD123]

I toy with the idea of getting rid of my car now and again but can't quite bring myself to. It's getting used less and less now I'm cycling more but it's often useful to have it at a weekend.

 

[palinurus]

I haven't got a car. I use trains and bikes, sometimes both.

Only trouble is now I've started getting into cycling for reasons other than transport I could do with a car to get me and my bike to events.

 

[palinurus]

I'm not getting one tho'.

 

[Chrisz]

Love cars as much as I love bikes. Used to be into the Jap turbo scene but the arrival of our little girl meant I had to get all grown up and sensible so now I have a 4 door jobbie - still good fun when I'm on my own and the traction control's turned off!

Love cycling for the fun of it - I would commute more but when it's cold, wet and dark I simply don't enjoy it so it doesn't happen!

 

[janm399]

I have a car and I do about 1000 miles a year. I was thinking about getting rid of it, but it is an old car and I would not be able to sell it for much money and it's not costing me much in maintenance yet.
I drive it a lot less in the winter -- to work only when the weather is really nasty. It gets a bit more use taking me to the races during the summer.

 

[gavintc]

Just replaced our 5 yr old Avensis yesterday with a brand new version of the same car. we got a good deal, but we do drive a fair amount; 13-14k per year. We have looked at the car club concept and renting for the summer holiday, but I think our use demands having a car available.

 

[Rhythm Thief]

... but we do drive a fair amount; 13-14k per year.

13-14 kilometres per year? That's hardly anything.

 

[ColinJ]

I don't drive, I never have done, and I don't intend to start. It isn't necessary where I live and I wouldn't live somewhere where it was. I accept the limitations that my decision has placed on me. 90% (total guess!) of all humans who ever lived have never driven, and I'm happy to be one of them.

I'm not totally anti-car and will accept lifts from time to time. I wouldn't ask someone to make a journey that they weren't going to make anyway. I tell a lie - a few times a year, I'll travel by taxi.

 

[andrew-the-tortoise]

just the bicycle ... but I also walk a lot.

 

[Deleted member 1258]

Haven't owned a car since late seventies, It was half a car, a reliant three wheeler. Brought up two lads without having a car. Drive a van as part of my job, drive about fifteen thousand miles a year. Been riding to and from work since i came back to cycling about nineteen eighty and been a club cyclist since about nineteen eighty five.

 

[Baggy]

I lived in London without a car for about 6 years, though was part of a Car Club which worked very well for me. When I moved to Devon my first job was job was very difficult to get to by public transport, so bought a car.
Changed job and have kept the car, which gets filled up with diesel about every 8 weeks and last year travelled about 4000 miles.
It would be difficult to do without completely, my family live long distances away, the cat needs to go to the vet, and sometimes I just want an extra half hour in bed in the morning (although if I leave the house before 9am it's about 10 minutes quicker to ride).
I'm pro-bike rather than anti-car, but agree people are far, far too dependent on them.

 

[Downward]

We are a 2 car family - I do 4000 miles a year and the wifes car does 10000 a year.

She works different hours from me and i take the kids to my parents before heading off to work - the wife leaves for work 1 1/2 hours before i do but we are thinking of using 1 car and I will bike it back from work. That sounds like the only way I can get my hours in at work.

Even on weekends though there is so much traffic on the roads a trip to the shops is a chore.

Commuting wise unless you leave before 7.20am your stuck in traffic.

 

[ed_o_brain]

Don't own a car, but hire one for a weekend every couple of weeks so that I can collect my boys from their mum and drop them back again.

It is a bind having to reserve, collect and return hire cars but the annual cost of doing so is marginally less than owning outright. If I owned a car where I live, I know full well something would happen to it.

I was quite a petrol head for some years and I do miss having a car of my own. But I know it would make me lazy when we can manage perfectly well without one.