Those of you that don't have cars....

[ColinJ]

I'm going to ask another question here, for the regular walkers.
How many give a distance, point A to point B, in the time it'd take you to walk it?

I state distance AND time, but I always qualify it because most people don't walk those kind of distances/over hills/at my pace.

I would say something like: "It is 3 miles with 500 ft of ascent. It would take me 45 minutes at a brisk walk, or 60-75 minutes if I were meandering along enjoying the scenery. It would probably take you an hour and a half"!

I used to walk 4.5 miles from where I lived in Hebden Bridge to the centre of Todmorden along the Rochdale canal towpath in about 55 minutes. When my mum and older sister used to visit, they would take over 2 hours.

 

[hennbell]

It is possible to live without a car but it can be hard.

I a commute 5 miles to work and back and the city i live in is about 10 miles from one end to the other. Cycling in the summer is the best way to get around. In the winter we get lots of snow and it is very cold, so cycling while possible does take some work.

My family has a single car and in the winter there is no way my wife could ride a bicycle. In the summer she goes lots of places by bicycle, we have a chariot and she hauls the child and gets things like shopping done. I also have a utility trailer that connects to the bicycle that can be used as a golf trolley. So we do our best to use bicycles when possible.

But we live in Canada and we routinely have to complete long trips and public transportation is not a viable option or not an option at all.
I am currently not able to cycle due to rehab after a knee operation. Having to rely upon others to pick me up and drop me off sucks! I have an excellent group of friends and family to assist me but it would be much more convenient too have a second car.

 

[Effyb4]

It takes me between 15 and 20 minutes to walk, depending on how I am feeling. It is very flat around here though. I am happy to walk up to 2 miles each way, but would jump on the bike for any longer journeys.

 

[Lonestar]

I haven't got a car and refuse to use buses or the tube.It's been nearly two years since I last traveled on the tube or bus...

 

[mustang1]

Mrs Mustang once pondered the idea of getting rid of one of our cars and I gave her the most oddest look.

So we never talked about it again.

Then I told her I will get a motorbike and she gave me an odd look. Needless to say, it was never mentioned.

 

[_aD]

I'm 35, never driven a car and have run a computer repair business for 12 years. Fit, strong, healthy and hale. With a cycle trailer there's very little you can't do. Learn to read the weather and the forecast, plan appropriately, save up and buy some expensive waterproofs and look after them. Get some cycle shorts for the longer rides - lycra if you wish, covered up or not, and a pannier rack. You'll wonder why so many people are dependent on a motorised box just to move around.

I live in a small village in East Hants, close to a railway station which is probably important if you choose to live a car-free life.

 

[migrantwing]

I moved from a busy town (midpoint between Walsall and Wolverhampton, West Midlands) about three years ago, to a rural/semi rural little village/town 30 miles North in Staffordshire. I have never owned a driving licence and, as of late, have picked up quite a bit of work about 15 miles East of where I live. There are a lot of niggly hills and climbs on my bike ride to work and it takes me anything between an hour and an hour and 15 mins to get to where I need to be for work. The train journey to the same place would be a 15-20 minute walk to town, then a train 10 miles North, which takes 12 minutes, a 30+ minute wait at the station, then another 15-20 minute train journey to the town of my employment. Then there is a 10-15 minute walk from the town to the area where I have the work. All this costs close on £10 one way. I have no idea how much a return ticket costs. Plus the fact that there is one train every hour, outbound and inbound. The missus has taken me to work in her car a few times in the mornings when the weather has been particularly bad and/or I'm too tired to want to cycle. This journey takes 45 mins or so on a good day. This is all at around 7am. I choose to ride my bike to work, put my 8-10 hours in and ride back home.

 

[mjr]

All this costs close on £10 one way. I have no idea how much a return ticket costs.

£10.10 usually, with our bizarre rail fare system!

 

[screenman]

Using the car I was away from the house for work and leisure for 13 hours yesterday, using public transport would not have been possible, using a bike would have added about 6 hours to my journey times.

Of course it is possible to go car free, but it would not be easy to take the caravan 150 miles away today.

 

[migrantwing]

£10.10 usually, with our bizarre rail fare system!

Haha! Indeed, indeed

 

[donnydave]

Car lite for me. Public transport is effin useless around here. Bicycle for commuting, car reserved for utility and pleasure. Longer trips often we get the train depending on the destination and what we are doing when we get there. Currently I drive to work one day a week because I have a guitar lesson straight after work. I suppose if I really wanted to I could cycle home (12.5 miles each way) attach a trailer, put guitar case in trailer, cycle to guitar lesson (8 miles - move the guitar lesson to a later slot) then cycle home. Or I could pay more to have the guitar teacher come to me but all I've done there is move my reliance on the car over to someone else so the net benefit to the world is zero.

Cars are a big part of my life, going to shows, building my kit car, and now track days and euro road trips with friends etc so I wouldn't want to live without my cars however I'm not a slave to the car, instead they are my hobby.

 

[mjr]

Car lite for me. Public transport is effin useless around here. Bicycle for commuting, car reserved for utility and pleasure.

Pleasure? I didn't have you figured for a masochist!

I suppose if I really wanted to I could cycle home (12.5 miles each way) attach a trailer, put guitar case in trailer, cycle to guitar lesson (8 miles - move the guitar lesson to a later slot) then cycle home. Or I could pay more to have the guitar teacher come to me but all I've done there is move my reliance on the car over to someone else so the net benefit to the world is zero.

Not exactly - the guitar teacher might be doing 16 car miles whereas presumably your triangular home-work-guitar-home loop is longer... and their previous lesson might be closer or they might be able to travel some other way.

I'm surprised that a guitar needs a trailer but I don't play one and I don't remember how people used to transport them. Most modern cyclists seem to ride with the case diagonal across the back, but I did find some strap a padded hardshell case to a butcher's rack or build a custom rack for behind the rear wheel. I don't know if there's something like http://www.zmotorcase.com/ for bicycles. Oooh https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/best-way-to-take-an-acoustic-guitar-on-a-tour.85887/ but drat no solution there.

 

[classic33]

I state distance AND time, but I always qualify it because most people don't walk those kind of distances/over hills/at my pace.

I would say something like: "It is 3 miles with 500 ft of ascent. It would take me 45 minutes at a brisk walk, or 60-75 minutes if I were meandering along enjoying the scenery. It would probably take you an hour and a half"!

I used to walk 4.5 miles from where I lived in Hebden Bridge to the centre of Todmorden along the Rochdale canal towpath in about 55 minutes. When my mum and older sister used to visit, they would take over 2 hours.

On mi tod, Hebden Bridge to Heptonstall is approx half an hour.

 

[ColinJ]

On mi tod, Hebden Bridge to Heptonstall is approx half an hour.

I was using that walk to get my legs, heart and lungs working again after my illness in 2012/2013. At first, I couldn't manage it. Eventually, I could cope, but with multiple stops on the way and taking about 40 minutes. Eventually, I got it down to sub-20 but I was usually meeting a friend at a cafe in Heptonstall and I was arriving dripping sweat so I slowed down to about 30 minutes pace in order to arrive in a less sweaty condition!

 

[classic33]

I was using that walk to get my legs, heart and lungs working again after my illness in 2012/2013. At first, I couldn't manage it. Eventually, I could cope, but with multiple stops on the way and taking about 40 minutes. Eventually, I got it down to sub-20 but I was usually meeting a friend at a cafe in Heptonstall and I was arriving dripping sweat so I slowed down to about 30 minutes pace in order to arrive in a less sweaty condition!

Fair play to you