> Keep only one car for longer trips and emergencies. It certainly makes thing > simpler and healthier.
Where available, Zip Car and competitors provide an alternative to havign a back up car. My understanding is they have been unable to do much more in LA than a couple of cars on the USC and UCLA campuses. There are many cities with no such service. I am worried somewhat that Zip Car which started during the boom years, may not have staying power. I use Zip Car much less than when I first went to the bike - maybe once in the last four months. The last few times I noticed the cars were dingier and older than in the past. Still not enough to drag me back to car ownership though. Not as long as I am in Chicago anyway. On Mar 11, 4:04 pm, Michael_S <[email protected]> wrote: > I agree, a very inspiring story. I'm sure it took a lot of courage to > pack up your family and move to another country as well. I can only > dream of doing something like that right now. > My goal is to take early retirement in about one year and relocate to > a community where I can do just that, work part time close to home and > use the bike for almost all needs. Keep only one car for longer trips > and emergencies. It certainly makes thing simpler and healthier. > It seems no matter how patient and courteous you try to drive ( my > commute is 25 miles OW in LA)) there are many others who cut you off, > rush past you to get ahead, and everthing else to create a more > stressful drive. > Thanks for keeping me focused on what I should do. > > ~Mike~ > > On Mar 11, 12:50 pm, JoelMatthews <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > Bravo! The bike only lifestyle really does make a difference > > physically and mentally. > > > I am six and one half years into it here in Chicago. I look at cars > > now and find myself wondering how I ever could stand using the > > things. The only continuing issue I have had is finding dates around > > my age - mid-40s - who don't mind biking it. According to the 20 > > somethings I have heard from, it is not too big a deal to find someone > > in that age group willing to ride with you to the movies or a club. > > There may well be people my age willing to ride with me to the opera > > or dinner. Not found them yet. So Zip Car or cabs still get my > > business from time to time. > > > As NEBike points out, lifestyle choices and cold hard economic reality > > in many cases prohibit people here in the U.S. from the bike only > > existance. Personal experience and accounts from others suggest it is > > possible in some of the west coast cities (even LA if you are willing > > to carve out a small area of the sprawl as your sleep, work, shop > > space), Boston, NYC, and Chicago, Minneapolis, and Milwaukee. > > > Our cities are getting more densely populated. Employers increasingly > > are consolidating in transit friendly locations. The day will come. > > Just slowly. > > > On Mar 11, 2:18 pm, Kip Otteson <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > Just wanted to post thoughts about being 7 months and car free. I'm > > > liking my past car use to addiction and it was truly that. I used to > > > commute for 75 miles on a round trip to work. The drive took between > > > 26 minutes and hours depending on the weather, accidents, road kill, > > > etc. The Colorado mountains are beautiful, but if you have a daily > > > job it's a killer. You need a reliable car that is warm which means > > > it's most likely expensive and requires payments. In the winter we > > > had to walk two miles to the road to get to our car towing our son in > > > a sled with the trash. Headlights at 5 am in blowing snow. All to > > > get to work in our car. Beautiful at times but not sustainable. > > > > Moving to Thailand was driven by our desire to reduce our commute time > > > with the ability to do it our bikes. We now ride five minutes to work > > > with the kids. I can take my kids on our Yuba Mundo and my wife rides > > > her Heron. We wake up at a reasonable hour, have our morning coffee/ > > > chat, get the kids up and roll. Easy. > > > > With our bikes we now can travel with the family anywhere within 15 km > > > with no problems. We feel better physically. We eat what we want > > > without guilt. I'm not consistently pissed/stressed like I was > > > before. No worries about mechanical difficulties because I can fix > > > most things on the fly. Not constantly looking out for cops because > > > I'm speeding because I'm late. Just much less stress. > > > > Traffic is heavy here and we often arrive just 5 minutes behind our > > > friends who drove, had to fight traffic, had to find a parking spot, > > > etc. > > > > I used to call myself a cyclist, but in America it was just > > > posturing. The most I could reasonably fit in was two rides a week > > > and many of those I drove to because of time restrictions. I had the > > > clothes and the gear but if I wanted a label I should have called > > > myself a "driver." > > > > I feel like a real cyclist now as I get places on my bike under my own > > > power. No car with a roof rack. No car. > > > > Kip Otteson > > > Chiang Mai, Thailand- Hide quoted text - > > > - Show quoted text -- Hide quoted text - > > - Show quoted text - -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en.
