"Why do you cycle?" - or Why do you DRIVE?

[Wocce Racer]

I've never had a driving licence for a car. Living in South London and having always worked in London there is absolutely no need for me to ever have one. I do however have a motorbike.

Two wheels is enough for me!

 

[Jezston]

On the day of my 17th birthday, I went out and got a form for a provisional license.

14 years later I still haven't got round to filling it in

 

[Armegatron]

I started cycling to build up some fitness as I have a bad back and struggled with other forms of exercise. The car still gets used on days where my back has gone but generally I try to get on the bike as much as possible as I reckon if I loose some weight then Ill be putting less stress on my back and its win win all round

Your right about "why drive" - I had to fill the tank up the other day 280 miles @ £40 - nearly had a heart attack at the pumps!

 

[Sheffield_Tiger]

Go and find out how much car hire would cost, then do a realistic calculation on how much the car is costing you. If its only used every few weeks its very, very easy for it to be cheaper to hire when you need one. And if you don't have a car, you'll find that you 'need' it less than you anticipated. Get a bike trailer, shop more locally, you manage.

Not realistic as sometimes I do need it at a moments notice (it would cost me significantly NOT to have one at times, plus I am considering restarting a small business that I ran in my spare time which would definitely need use of a car)

I do have a bike trailer and do all my shopping by bike or on foot with rucksack, but can't really take a laden trailer on a 140 mile round trip to cut grass in a house I inherited etc.

I do think I'm more "unusual" though with my car needs than just "go to work, go to gym, go to shops" (gyms are another thing, I run past one with a full car park, but it doesn't cost me £40 a month to do so!)

 

[WimbledonCyclist]

I'm still pondering why car-sharing doesn't take off more. For instance, I'm completely car free but (very) occasionally need a car (moving large things; doing a tour of various out of the way places for sightseeing). I think I've hired a car 3x in 3 years now. If there are cars which are not used often, like Sheffield's and Debian's, it's not good for the car either and the standing costs (MOT, insurance) are very high for the mileage.

I've lived in London since 2001, haven't had a car since 2002. I have not hired a car (in the UK) since. When I sold my car, I expected I'd be hiring one occasionally, but in practice car hire, or joining a scheme like Streetcar, just proved unnecessary, or more expensive & more hassle than getting a cab to wheel me around.

By way of example: I hosted some relatives in London last October and thought of joining Streetcar so we could visit some interesting places, taking the car when needed. Until I discovered that getting minicabs would be cheaper, and naturally they came with a driver & hassle-free door-to-door trips, avoiding all the hassle of having the car yourself (risk of causing damage, parking trouble & fines, speeding tickets and so on).

The idea of car sharing schemes does have some appeal, but has stiff competition from other flexible options, including taxi services, other car & van rental companies, public transport, and car-owning friends who may be perfectly willing to offer you a lift if you "invite" them along to the same destination/event.

 

[Amanda P]

My work takes me all over the place, so I drive for that, hauling round piles of dirty gear in a pickup.

We run our own pickup because it carries a dismountable camper. This has taken us all over Europe on holiday. It's only little and takes us to places you couldn't get with a bigger motorcaravan or tow caravan. When it's not a camper, it's a general run-around taking me to gigs and rehearsals mostly.

I cycle to work nearly all office days, and the saving on fuel is very noticeable.

 

[Rhythm Thief]

Yes, it is frightening. Last time my car had an MOT it needed a new centre exhaust section and a few other minor sounding bits doing. The final bill came to well over £500

It'll need new tyres soon and they're over £100 each

Exhaust bits are pretty easy to fit, if you have a socket set and spanners and don't mind grovelling around under the car for a few hours. Last time my car had an MOT it needed a new silencer ... £30 or so for the part and an hour or so of my time and it was done.
I bought my car just over a year ago for £300. Aside from the exhaust part, I've spent nothing whatever on it, apart from an MOT fee and petrol. Oh, and £40 for a new tyre. When it fails an MOT, I'll spend £300 on something else. That's the cheapest way to run cars these days, sadly.

 

[joebingo]

It's hard to not have a car when in a band, isn't it UP

Carrying a bass on my back while cycling is NOT ideal. It's like having a bloody sail. unfortunately, my car became too expensive to keep, so I'm relying on public transport to ferry me around when gigging or rehearsing

 

[Rhythm Thief]

It's hard to not have a car when in a band, isn't it UP
Carrying a bass on my back while cycling is NOT ideal. It's like having a bloody sail. unfortunately, my car became too expensive to keep, so I'm relying on public transport to ferry me around

That's the main reason I have one. I can't carry my guitar amp on a bike!

 

[joebingo]

I'm going to have to majorly rethink my amp for gigs. Carrying one of these has become an impossible undertaking :

(not my amp, but I have an identical cab)

 

[Amanda P]

I have a friend who gigs around York. He carries his bass on his back and his amp (a pretty chunky 1x16" Trace Elliot combo) in a trailer. For out of town gigs, he gets a lift, though!

 

[Amanda P]

I have been known to carry an entire pit band in the back of my van.

(That's musical theatre pit orchestra, not a colliery brass band...)

 

[Rhythm Thief]

I used to have a Marshall 100 watt head and a 4x12 cab. I had to buy a Volvo estate just to carry it around. Even my current 15 watt Blackstar is too large for a bike or a bus.

 

[Rhythm Thief]

I have a friend who gigs around York. He carries his bass on his back and his amp (a pretty chunky 1x16" Trace Elliot combo) in a trailer. For out of town gigs, he gets a lift, though!

If all our gigs were in Ross on Wye, where I live, that'd be fine. Most of them are in the middle of nowhere. I did once wheel my speaker cab and amp half a mile down the road to a gig, with all my guitars on my back.

 

[joebingo]

I have been known to carry an entire pit band in the back of my van.

(That's musical theatre pit orchestra, not a colliery brass band...)

Was that with instruments?

If all our gigs were in Ross on Wye, where I live, that'd be fine. Most of them are in the middle of nowhere. I did once wheel my speaker cab and amp half a mile down the road to a gig, with all my guitars on my back.

I've got the same problem here, one of my bands splits time between gigging in Cambridge and gigging in London and the other I can't even keep track of where our gigs occur!

I really really want to book a Tour of France and cycle to every gig