Thinking of selling up??????

[rugbyluke]

Before I discovered my love for cycling, I was a massive petrol head with my life being motorcycles, but also anything with an engine. Now I have not touched a fuel machine for 8 months. And gone all green now, after cycling I got an intrest in sailing, hangliding, kayaking etc etc. I only have my motorbike left and still is my baby but thinking of selling, my question is does anyone just have a pushbike for everything with no vehicles. And do you cope with everyday life ok?

 

[mark barker]

I am (or should that be was) a petrol head, but haven't owned a car* for a couple of years now. No great problems, just need to be a little more organised so unneeded journeys with shopping etc is avoided.


* I purchase an auction special £200 car when I need to go long distance for more than a couple of days. I can the scrap the car on my return and recoup the purchase costs.

Its probably worth mentioning that I'm a single father of 3 (aged 10, 6 & 4), so having kids doesn't make the cycling thing impossible.

 

[TheDoctor]

Certainly a good few on here are pedal-power only.
Life certainly requires a little more thought, but not so much. You can't get a months shopping into two panniers, so you go more often. That means your food is fresher, and you throw less away.
You go long distances by train. I'm off to Champagne in September, for the weekend. Leave work at lunchtime, dinner in Epernay.
Bulky items can be delivered, or hire a van for the day, or get a dirty great trailer.
It's not as tricky as all that.

 

[rugbyluke]

True my girl friend drives ( I can't motorcycle only ) so shopping not a problem bin just so stuck on what to do. Good to see another barker on the site

 

[coffeejo]

There's another thread on the topic here which covers the pros and cons of life without a car. It's been an interesting read and has made me wonder what decisions I'd make if I had a different lifestyle or family commitments. Having said that, there'll be cloven feet skating to The Bolero before I get another car.

 

[Xiorell]

I'm sorta the same.

Used to have motorbikes, have not in several years (stacked the last one never got round to getting another). I do not have a driving license and recently concluded I have pretty much zero interest in obtaining a car anyway.


My town is 6miles end to end, why do I need a car for that? Anywhere outside of town I would consider as a serious place to take on a job, is either a quick hop on a regula train, or within a distance I'd be happy to cycle everyday anyway.



My misses has a car for her job which she does need so if anything big needed picking up or whatever I'd have that route to go down but, I managed the previous 25 years before she was on the scene without a car there.

 

[BrumJim]

Having no car is great for a petrol head. Every time you need one, you hire one, and get a different car every time.

And if you use Hertz, and book just before you need it, most of the time you get an upgrade for free. I was upgraded from a Fiesta to an Alfa Romeo GT once. Almost kept it!

 

[Baneli]

I would love to not have a car because the costs are getting stupid! Thing is a ****ing love driving xD I swear I should be a racing driver but just never been given the chance lmao!

I try to bike to work a couple times a week but have the problem of parents not letting me ride the main road I have to take so I have to resort to getting them to drop me in the next village along and bike the rest which knocks 3 miles of my already short 9 mile trip.

 

[sabian92]

I would keep the motorcycle just for the sake of if you need to get somewhere quick, you can. They're cheaper than cars to fuel/insure and they're still pretty quick if you have an emergency.

 

[Jezston]

How much does it cost to hire cars these days just out of interest? What kind of price difference do you get between hiring a little hatchback or smart car or whatever and something more high end like an Alfa or BMW?

I still feel like I should learn to drive one day and if it means just to hire a car every so often where it would be potentially the most cost effective and/or efficient method of getting somewhere with something it would be useful.

 

[recumbentpanda]

Large parts of our family life has been spent car-free. When the kids were small, the older one went on the crossbar, the smaller one on the seat in the back and the weeks shopping in the panniers. When I say my wife is a tower of strength I am not speaking metaphorically . . . and revealing how much of the grunt work I left to her <blush> And we live in a hilly area. A very strong non-sus mountain bike with gears suitable for caravan towing was the answer.

When the kids got bigger they seemed reluctant to use their bikes much, and we slid back into motoring habits. Should have kept the money back and spent it on a fleet of tandems/trailerbikes/cargobikes etc. Hadn't seen the light then. Ironically both are now happy adult cyclists with very nice bikes bought for a song - ironic.

Then I discovered the joy of folding. No more smelly car-commutes thank you very much. Out by train, back by cycle route.

Nowadays wife is still driving because her job involves multiple visits carrying equipment on tight schedules. (I still think a cargo bike would be better

). We also use it for ferrying our aged mums about (but wouldn't a bicycle-rickshaw be so much more stylish?

). I am pretty much car-free however. My bike is my car and it does the lot: shopping, business trips, commuting etc. Somebody once said 'Yes but you can't carry a length of four-by two on a bike'. As my (recumbent) bike basically IS a length of four by two, I don't see the problem . . .

Lately I am getting even more hardcore and organising my schedule so I can just walk instead of lugging a heavy folder on the train. Not always possible, but whatever transport you use, if you regard the traveling time as time you don't have to spend in the gym because its your exercise, then it doesn't seem like time wasted. This last point I think is the key to 'losing motor anxiety' once you have got over the status issue. Especially when you factor in the time wasted on many journeys wasted as you get diverted around one-way systems desperately looking for somewhere to park the thing.

Finally, consider the car-club route, if there's one in your area. More flexible than standard car rental.

Go for it.

 

[DrSquirrel]

One of the biggest hurdles is not being able to carry large items, or groups of people - it seems you are over this part.


It depends on the distance you cover on the motorbike now, and how you feel about riding around in crappy weather (or finding alternatives like Taxis etc).



What are your costs for the motorbike? Sounds like you might have something powerful, if not I would just keep it with the lowish tax/insurance - at least until it runs out.

 

[brockers]

I do around 4000 miles per year on my motorbike (CBR600). Running at around 50mpg costs around £500 in juice, with insurance, MOT, VED, clothing and consumables swallowing up another £500. I do all basic servicing myself, so total costs work out at £1000 pa or 25p per mile. As 'work' often requires me to get to a muddy field fifty miles away in the middle of nowhere at six in the morning, having a motor is virtually essential (although public transport is do-able it would take three times as long and the costs would be roughly the same). I won't be getting rid of my motorbike anytime soon.

 

[Flyingfox]

I live in London and after my Dad blew up my car last year in the Blackwall tunnel during rush hour (!!!!) I decided I wasn't going to get another car as it sat in the driveway during the week and often at the weekends, and instead join a car club.
This was fine until my mother's partner died and I found myself having to go down to Kent most weekends to sort out family issues etc. I now have a car and it has been a blessing as my mother has now fallen ill and my trips have become more frequent and often at very short notice. It's the convienience factor more than anything else.

 

[biking_fox]

my question is does anyone just have a pushbike for everything with no vehicles. And do you cope with everyday life ok?

Another car-free here and have been for years. It deos depend where you are though, I imagine it would be a substantially harder way fo life in a rural village compared to suburban manchester.

But otherwsie as above really - urban public trnasport is actually pretty good, once you've mastered a few skills, learnt where to go for timetables, and don't expect to be able to 'just go' as you could with a car. Bike works well for most stuff. the saving on your car costs mean you can afford a 2nd or third bike as 'emergancy' use for when you main one needs some love and attentions. You can also afford to take the odd taxi when you can't be bothered, and even train prices start to be reasonable (although if there is more than just you travelling hiring a car will be cheaper!)

The only two areas where I sometimes think a car would be handy is DIY - just rushing out to pick up another bag of cement, or 10m or skirting board, is pretty tricky without a car. Places to deliver such things, but then you really have to plan ahead etc. The other is outdoor sports. Walkign just about works, but anything that needs a lot of kit in a remote location is really driving only - fortunately I normally go with friends and just contribute to their petrol costs, but it is sometimes a bit of a pain.