Giving up motorised transport in favour of biking it everywhere

[wiggydiggy]

I have been car-free for many years but not car-less. When I need transport I take a vehicle from the car club, something of the right size and shape for the task.
If you are aiming for a car-free and car-light lifestyle, you need a bike trailer. I have a 2 wheel flatbed with plastic bin. It is good for large shops and a lot of DIY materials.

My bike trailer experiment didn't go as well as I hoped. The trailer is just too wide to be wheeled up the side of my house and needs to be carried, there also wasn't enough room to store it with my bikes so it ended up being a bit of a faff for frequent use. For shopping now I either walk or just use the panniers.

I have used it for a couple big jobs, the most taxing was carrying several loads of bricks someone was disposing of from an old chimney, they've been recycled into my garden.

 

[raleighnut]

Some years ago I had a CB500 and when it was in for a service I was disappointed that the loan bike I was promised turned out to be a CB125. On the way home from Ilford to Hornchurch I fell in love with it, beautifully light and flickable and enough grunt not to be embarrassing on the short section of NSL dual carriageway on the A12. It would never have been suitable for the type of biking I did then, but all of a sudden I could see the point of them.

Unfortunately since those days, bikes have put on weight and bulk just like cars and going by the Lexmoto125 I briefly owned a few years ago they are slower and less manouverable than theit older counterparts.

Yep, cracking little bikes. Same engine in the TL, XL and SL.

 

[Alex321]

I have four main hobbies - Woodturning, Cycling, Morris Dancing, and Sealed Knot (English Civil War re-enactments).

Without a motor vehicle, I would have to give up two of those. Neither Morris dancing or Sealed knot are practical without own transport, and distances involved and quantities of stuff to be carried are far too much for a bike - and I'm not too sure the police would be happy about me carrying a working black powder musket on a bike even if it were practical.

My wife also has mobility issues and is never going to ride a bike again, and public transport where we live is just not practical.

So I can't see us ever going motor vehicle free unless and until we get to the point of needing to be in a care home.

 

[Andy in Germany]

As the title really. I wondered how many of you have currently, or in the past, or even considering it for the future - retirement maybe - giving up your cars and purely using your bikes as your main transport?

If you have, how has that affected how you live your life; what changes did you have to make, how difficult was it? For those of you considering it for the future, same question really: what life adaptations will you need to make to make it work?

I've never owned a car, so for me the "comparison" would be the other way around. I'd have to make a lot of adjustments, primarily to having a much smaller bank account.

After that I'd have to learn how to buy and insure a car, legal requirements like testing them and organising myself around petrol stations and the need to fill up. I'd also have to organise where to park the thing when I'm not using it. Also, I'd need to learn to park in a parking space. Then I'd have to learn what all those lights on the dashboard mean and which ones I need to take notice of, and how much it would cost to fix them.

I'd have to re-learn my way around my local town and how to commute to work without all the useful shortcuts and lovely old backstreets and pedestrian areas: I'd have to factor in extra time to walk from wherever the local car park is to where I actually need to go, instead of locking my bike up practically in front of the door.

Finally, I'd need to find the local gym, and pay for membership to use their machines, and organise a couple of visits a week because otherwise I'd turn into a hobbit, so that's more time wasted and more expense...

And then I wouldn't be able to just stop when I see something interesting or want to take a picture...

That all sounds incredibly expensive and inconvenient, so I'll stay car free...

 

[All uphill]

I've never owned a car, so for me the "comparison" would be the other way around. I'd have to make a lot of adjustments, primarily to having a much smaller bank account.

After that I'd have to learn how to buy and insure a car, legal requirements like testing them and organising myself around petrol stations and the need to fill up. I'd also have to organise where to park the thing when I'm not using it. Also, I'd need to learn to park in a parking space. Then I'd have to learn what all those lights on the dashboard mean and which ones I need to take notice of, and how much it would cost to fix them.

I'd have to re-learn my way around my local town and how to commute to work without all the useful shortcuts and lovely old backstreets and pedestrian areas: I'd have to factor in extra time to walk from wherever the local car park is to where I actually need to go, instead of locking my bike up practically in front of the door.

Finally, I'd need to find the local gym, and pay for membership to use their machines, and organise a couple of visits a week because otherwise I'd turn into a hobbit, so that's more time wasted and more expense...

And then I wouldn't be able to just stop when I see something interesting or want to take a picture...

That all sounds incredibly expensive and inconvenient, so I'll stay car free...

Great post Andy.

Your words reminded me that changing our mode of transport is never as simple as just substituting one vehicle for another. It involves adaptations in most areas of our lives.

For me going from car to bike/bus/train involved:

Getting groceries delivered.
Accepting that trips to the coast would need to be planned.
Paying much more attention to the weather forecast.
Getting some really good clothes.

If I lived out in the country that list would be much longer.

In return I have saved a fortune, I'm healthier, a long list of headaches has disappeared and I'm much happier.

So I understand that changing is best done gradually, and in this car-obssessed country is not practical for everyone.

 

[Andy in Germany]

Great post Andy.

Your words reminded me that changing our mode of transport is never as simple as just substituting one vehicle for another. It involves adaptations in most areas of our lives.

For me going from car to bike/bus/train involved:

Getting groceries delivered.
Accepting that trips to the coast would need to be planned.
Paying much more attention to the weather forecast.
Getting some really good clothes.

If I lived out in the country that list would be much longer.

In return I have saved a fortune, I'm healthier, a long list of headaches has disappeared and I'm much happier.

So I understand that changing is best done gradually, and in this car-obssessed country is not practical for everyone.

Thanks. I find it interesting that people see it as "car=easy" vs. "Bike only=difficult. There are many inconveniences that come with car use, primarily financial, but people seem to ignore them as part of everyday life.

 

[All uphill]

Thanks. I find it interesting that people see it as "car=easy" vs. "Bike only=difficult. There are many inconveniences that come with car use, primarily financial, but people seem to ignore them as part of everyday life.

Absolutely.

I was in a conversation recently with a group of fellow volunteers.

The conversation was about the hell of traffic jams, lack of parking, horrible traffic wardens, cost of fuel, nightmare roadworks and so on.

When I suggested cycling instead the reaction was interesting - not safe, what if it rains, couldn't pick up a loaf of bread etc, etc.

I seriously think some people would rather moan than try something different.

 

[ColinJ]

I find it interesting that people see it as "car=easy"...

Some people take it to ridiculous extremes...

I was telling Littgull on today's ride about someone who lived at the end of a local terrace of about 10 houses. At the end of the street there was a corner shop. Every day, a man used to walk out of his front door, get into his car and drive to the shop. He'd get out of the car, buy his paper/cigarettes/crisps/whatever, then get back into his car and reverse back to his house!

 

[travellingwest]

Absolutely.

I was in a conversation recently with a group of fellow volunteers.

The conversation was about the hell of traffic jams, lack of parking, horrible traffic wardens, cost of fuel, nightmare roadworks and so on.

When I suggested cycling instead the reaction was interesting - not safe, what if it rains, couldn't pick up a loaf of bread etc, etc.

I seriously think some people would rather moan than try something different.

Interestingly, I get this from customers at work who are constantly surprised I now cycle to work everyday. In fact, I am asked almost daily by someone if I came on the bike, as if they are hoping that one day i'm going to give the bike up and revert back to car use! I haven't given up the car, I've just chosen a different method of transport to work.

However, on the flip side, I do seem to have encouraged my colleagues to either dig their bikes out or buy a bike. They've seen me cycle to work pretty much every shift since Xmas, through some horrid weather I might add and now the spring is springing, they are encouraged to get on two wheels themselves.

 

[ianrauk]

horrible traffic wardens

This moan from car drivers really boils my piss. I have a colleague at work who is always moaning about traffic wardens. I say to him everytime, it's simple. don't park where you shouldn't. He really did say "Then I'll have to park a 10 minute walk away" and he was serious.

 

[Andy in Germany]

This moan from car drivers really boils my piss. I have a colleague at work who is always moaning about traffic wardens. I say to him everytime, it's simple. don't park where you shouldn't. He really did say "Then I'll have to park a 10 minute walk away" and he was serious.

I hear this about speed cameras as well. Drivers are always complaining about them, despite the obvious solution.

 

[Windle]

This moan from car drivers really boils my piss. I have a colleague at work who is always moaning about traffic wardens. I say to him everytime, it's simple. don't park where you shouldn't. He really did say "Then I'll have to park a 10 minute walk away" and he was serious.

I've never understood this either, traffic wardens should be heroes ~ people moan about sh;t parking yet they treat traffic wardens as the enemy. They don't bother me, I don't park like a tw#t. Every town should have an army of them, just think of the revenue they'd rake in for the local authority and what they could do with that money, such as fix potholes.

 

[wiggydiggy]

I've never understood this either, traffic wardens should be heroes ~ people moan about sh;t parking yet they treat traffic wardens as the enemy. They don't bother me, I don't park like a tw#t. Every town should have an army of them, just think of the revenue they'd rake in for the local authority and what they could do with that money, such as fix potholes.

My town I've never see one in 13+ years. Illegal parking just gets posted on the local facebook group, occasionally the police will put a picture up of 1 car with a ticket showing how proud they are to enforce the parking laws.

 

[presta]

My cousin used to be a traffic warden, the local shopkeepers used to ply her with coffee so that she wasn't outside ticketing the customers' cars.

 

[Elybazza61]

We have been carless for nearly ten years now and only miss it very occasionally mostly not being able to get to some Plant Nurseries.
We are lucky that were we live has a station from which you can get to virtually anywhere in the country;we always walk to get shopping, again we are fortunate to have three major supermarkets (and a an Aldi!) and a lot of charity shops to get quality second hand stuff(mostly clothing).