Giving up motorised transport in favour of biking it everywhere

[ColinJ]

I did ride motorbikes briefly as youngster but displayed negative talent so gave it up

I toyed with the idea of getting a motorbike when I was a teenager but then I got a lift home on the back of one and that put me off. We averaged over 100 km/h, which was very exciting, but I realised that I probably wouldn't live long if I bought myself one - I would not trust myself to ride sensibly. (Same with driving really... I have had near misses on a bicycle descending at nearly 90 km/h; with an engine to power me I would have probably embedded myself in a wall or a tree at high speed!)

 

[All uphill]

I gave up having a car four years ago.

It has been hugely positive for me. Initially I'd budgeted for three or four car hires a year, but have only hired once to help my son move.

We live in a compact town with a mainline station, neither of us like shopping or following the crowds to National Trust properties and the like, so it's easy for us.

What I want to know is what has happened to all the money I should have saved?

Now, got to get ready for the Tesco delivery.

 

[dicko]

Great idea something I have been considering as I approach my eightieth year.

 

[numbnuts]

I tried it for two years after my car was written off, at first I didn't mind, shopping was done my trike and trailer, but after 18 month I realised I have not been outside my village and it is only small.
Winter time shopping was a real pain as I get cold hands (Raynaud’s) and by the time I got home my fingers would be while, later I bought another car.
Fast forwards, the start of March I developed double vision and been told not to drive I have a prisam lens fitted to my glasses so I can see all right, but still not driving untill I see my doctor at the end of the month.
So things may be repeating themselves back to carless.
I think being carless depends on what transport you have in youe area and what your hobbys and interests you have.

 

[ColinJ]

I actually really like travelling by train

I travel down to Devon to visit my sister 4 or 5 times a year. When the trains are not overcrowded they are fine.

The problem for me is that the trains I catch from Leeds to Exeter are only 4 carriages long. They come down from Scotland and continue through to Cornwall so they can pick up an awful lot of passengers on the way.

I have had half empty carriages for some trips. At other times I have had to stand for hours crammed in with other poor sardines passengers.

I now carry a fold-up travel stool with me. If I can't get a seat then I get the stool out and sit on that.

 

[raleighnut]

I toyed with the idea of getting a motorbike when I was a teenager but then I got a lift home on the back of one and that put me off. We averaged over 100 km/h, which was very exciting, but I realised that I probably wouldn't live long if I bought myself one - I would not trust myself to ride sensibly. (Same with driving really... I have had near misses on a bicycle descending at nearly 90 km/h; with an engine to power me I would have probably embedded myself in a wall or a tree at high speed!)

Nicest motorbike I had was a Honda CB125s, you could ride it 'flat out' everywhere but it had one problem too undergeared in that it would 'redline' in top at about 65mph but a trip to the local Honda dealer sorted that..........1 tooth bigger gearbox sprocket so it would now hit over 70 just on the redline. Light 'flickable' handling and adequate brakes plus decent grip once I'd thrown away the OEM tyres (designed to last a million miles) and fitted decent rubber it could embarress bikes more than twice its size...............whilst they were braking and thinking about a corner I could stuff it up the inside, throw it 'on its ears' and be off up the road.
Bigger bikes are nice but none was as much fun as that little 125 single.

 

[SpokeyDokey]

Great work

To be fair much of that is unnecessary - if I really wanted / needed to boil it right down to essentials it would be a lot less; but I find once on the bike there's usually an excuse to stay out

One salutory tale:

We are low mileage drivers like yourself but during the past year I was in hospital for 14 weeks (Mrs SD visited every day) and have spent a further 83 days as day visitors (together) a total of 181 days of travel that would be impossible on a bike (or two) and utterly ludicrous via 2 taxis and 3 trains. Let alone the sheer expense and time it would take on public transport it would be totally impractical.

We would have had a real problem without a car and as we are both getting older, who knows what the future holds...

We have done our bit by downsizing of late. We can easily afford a big 4x4 SUV but choose to have small cars (hi-spec Polo this time) that suit our needs rather than any wants - not that hefty cars are on our wants list, tbh. I think more people could/should do the same where possible. We have many friends who have utterly absurd large and/or powerful vehicles that they don't need and are real planet-busters. Some think we are the mad ones!

 

[All uphill]

I travel down to Devon to visit my sister 4 or 5 times a year. When the trains are not overcrowded they are fine.

The problem for me is that the trains I catch from Leeds to Exeter are only 4 carriages long. They come down from Scotland and continue through to Cornwall so they can pick up an awful lot of passengers on the way.

I have had half empty carriages for some trips. At other times I have had to stand for hours crammed in with other poor sardines passengers.

I now carry a fold-up travel stool with me. If I can't get a seat then I get the stool out and sit on that.

I used to enjoy going to Edinburgh on that train when it had 9 coaches; I wouldn't consider it now for the reason you say.

 

[Webbo2]

The trick with long distance train travel is senior rail card and book your seats in first class. Nice seats and you get wined and dined as part of the deal.

 

[briantrumpet]

I wouldn't want to be without the car as it's relatively rural round here and I'd find it a huge hit to my autonomy.

That said I typically only do one regular out & back journey in the car every week; covering maybe 3-4k miles per year tops, while I'm averaging nearly 6k miles per year on the bike for commuting / shopping / leisure / everything else in and around the city, which seems like progress

Yep, rural living almost dictates having a car, or access to one. One of the cycling advocacy groups here was suggesting that everywhere within a 10-mile radius of Exeter was commutable by bike, to which my response was "Dunsford in the winter". It's only six miles out, but an almost impossible winter commute by bike, unless you want to die quickly.

 

[briantrumpet]

I used to enjoy going to Edinburgh on that train when it had 9 coaches; I wouldn't consider it now for the reason you say.

Did it once from Leeds to Exeter, and I've never seen such chaos on a train.

 

[Reynard]

I live out in the sticks, and being car-free isn't really an option. Not so much for local stuff (it's five miles into town), but I judge and steward at cat shows, and there's diddly squat in terms of public transport / trains out here at cat show o'clock of a morning. Plus with longer trips, it's so nice to have your own transport and not have to clock watch to make connections etc.

I lived / studied / worked in London for many years and didn't bother with a car then, even though I had a licence. Public transport was excellent, and a lot of stuff was in walking distance. Often it was quicker to walk than to take the bus etc.

 

[raleighnut]

Not really been on a Train much since they banned smoking, pretty sure the London-Sheffield express (stopping at Leicester/Loughborough/Derby/Chesterfield en route) was the last train with a smoking carriage (free Tea/Coffee too although I generally had a jar of coffee in my bag/rucksack cos the coffee was weak as ditchwater) I used this to get to the Derbyshire Dales* changing at Derby for the Matlock Train or Sheffield for the 'Trans-pennine' (the stopping version not the express) or up to my Parents in Knutsford changing again in Manchester for Knutsford.
This was back in the 'Midland Mainline' days though and Rail travel was pretty cheap (open return was the same price as a single)

* This was when I took the dog away as you can't really take a GSD on a bike and he wouldn't get into the trailer

 

[wafter]

Yep, rural living almost dictates having a car, or access to one. One of the cycling advocacy groups here was suggesting that everywhere within a 10-mile radius of Exeter was commutable by bike, to which my response was "Dunsford in the winter". It's only six miles out, but an almost impossible winter commute by bike, unless you want to die quickly.

Indeed; while winter commuting is rarely fun, dark, potholed, icy, national-speed-limit country lanes are a whole new ballgame.

By Britain's crap standards I'm pretty spoilt in Oxford when it comes to utility cycling

 

[ColinJ]

That's exactly the type of thing that puts me off train travel, overcrowding is my pet hate and I try to book in advance with set seats for long journeys.

I tried getting on a stupidly overcrowded train at Coventry once along with a group of Chinese students. We had seat reservations but couldn't even get onto the train!!

I have seen arguments when people refused to get out of seats reserved by other passengers.

I don't book seats because I don't like to restrict myself to specific travel times.