Update on car-free commuting

I have been car-free for many years.

Doug Goncz
I love: Dona, Jeff, Kim, Mom, Neelix, Tasha, and Teri, alphabetically.
I drive: A double-step Thunderbolt with 657% range.
I fight terrorism by: Using less gasoline.

"Robert Haston" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

I donated my old car a month ago, bought a trailer, and have entered the
ranks of 100% cycle-commuting (my wife still has a car).

Aside from the expected thousand a year saved in insurance, repairs, and
eventual replacement with another old car (which still is a surprise when
you get it) I have noticed:

I eat more and weigh less - more than I expected an extra 6 round trips or
so would give me.

It was easier than I thought. Caring for both my bike and car and using
both less was a waste.

Just like the weight, I fell an increase in fitness I didn't expect.

I am really doing something for my country (even if I am surrounded by
people who think bumper stickers on your SUV is enough, and "activists" like
myself should be monitored by the Department of Homeland Security)

I am finishing up on my arrangements, which include:

Dual front and rear lights
Spare tire at work
Keeping my spare bike at home ready to go
Extra dry underwear at work, in case I get rained on going in
Overnight bag at work (I often get called for no-notice flights)

I am working on further improvements:

Fenders - my present tailbag caught most of it, but gets very soggy in the
process.
Waterproof tailbox storage.

***************************************

Good for you, Robert.

I went car-free in May of this year and also donated my car.

Life has never been better. :-)

Kind regards.

Lewis.

**********************************

I'm 31 now and have never owned a car or had my drivers license.
Humans were meant to walk, but in this fast paced society we live in
many cannot afford to walk. So I bike to work.

This topic has been on my mind a lot lately as I am considering getting
a power hub motor from Crystalyte. As lazy as it sounds, sometimes I
just want to get to work with out getting too sweaty or too wet or too
cold.

On that note I plan to have a second wheel for the power use and my
main wheel will be on there for the summer and spring months.

It sounds like a good idea to me.

Way too many people get all wrapped up in the human power versus oil powered
argument. The point is why use 200 horsepower when you could use a quarter
horsepower.

Whatever the power, using more than needed is waste, plain and simple.

"Slugger" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I'm 31 now and have never owned a car or had my drivers license.
Humans were meant to walk, but in this fast paced society we live in
many cannot afford to walk. So I bike to work.

This topic has been on my mind a lot lately as I am considering getting
a power hub motor from Crystalyte. As lazy as it sounds, sometimes I
just want to get to work with out getting too sweaty or too wet or too
cold.

On that note I plan to have a second wheel for the power use and my
main wheel will be on there for the summer and spring months.

The United States has had it too easy for too long, we have become far
too dependent on vehicles that require power sources other than human
power! And as a result 66% of the population here is overweight with
33% being in the obese range! Now I am not saying that we should
outlaw all private motor vehicles but If everyone that lived within 10
miles of thier place of employment rode a bicycle to work that would
certainly reduce the number of overweight people in this country. And
it would help to reduce our dependency on foreign oil.

Ken

live-free said:

The United States has had it too easy for too long, we have become far
too dependent on vehicles that require power sources other than human
power! And as a result 66% of the population here is overweight with
33% being in the obese range! Now I am not saying that we should
outlaw all private motor vehicles but If everyone that lived within 10
miles of thier place of employment rode a bicycle to work that would
certainly reduce the number of overweight people in this country. And
it would help to reduce our dependency on foreign oil.

10 miles is a bit far for an unfit person to start commuting by bike.
But 5 miles, or even 3, would probably still make quite a difference.

The main fly in the ointment in the UK, which also has a car culture
rather than a bike culture, is that a car is the hardwired default for
people as transport. They use a car without thinking about it, "I'm
going down to the shops, where's my car keys?". It isn't so much bikes
have been rejected, they're not even considered. I'm not sure how to
push bikes up in peoples' consciousness, in the UK they're considered
the domain of eccentrics and people that can't afford cars.

Another problem, related back to 10 miles being a fair distance for a
first time bike commute, is many people have decided to live at a car
commute distance from their work, which makes anything else
intrinsically harder.

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net [email hidden] http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

"live-free" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

The United States has had it too easy for too long, we have become far
too dependent on vehicles that require power sources other than human
power! And as a result 66% of the population here is overweight with
33% being in the obese range! Now I am not saying that we should
outlaw all private motor vehicles but If everyone that lived within 10
miles of thier place of employment rode a bicycle to work that would
certainly reduce the number of overweight people in this country. And
it would help to reduce our dependency on foreign oil.

Ken

I'm not sure you can link the two issues like that with reasonable accuracy,
while I'm sure many people drive when they could walk they've been doing
that for decades but you can also factor in a few other things that weren't
around a few years ago like video games or the internet etc. All I can say
is my weight problem a few years ago had EVERYTHING to do with computers,
video games and the internet, definately wasn't a car 🙂

Peter Clinch said:

live-free said:

The United States has had it too easy for too long, we have become far
too dependent on vehicles that require power sources other than human
power! And as a result 66% of the population here is overweight with
33% being in the obese range! Now I am not saying that we should
outlaw all private motor vehicles but If everyone that lived within 10
miles of thier place of employment rode a bicycle to work that would
certainly reduce the number of overweight people in this country. And
it would help to reduce our dependency on foreign oil.

10 miles is a bit far for an unfit person to start commuting by bike.
But 5 miles, or even 3, would probably still make quite a difference.

The main fly in the ointment in the UK, which also has a car culture
rather than a bike culture, is that a car is the hardwired default for
people as transport. They use a car without thinking about it, "I'm
going down to the shops, where's my car keys?". It isn't so much bikes
have been rejected, they're not even considered. I'm not sure how to
push bikes up in peoples' consciousness, in the UK they're considered
the domain of eccentrics and people that can't afford cars.

Another problem, related back to 10 miles being a fair distance for a
first time bike commute, is many people have decided to live at a car
commute distance from their work, which makes anything else
intrinsically harder.

Or you could live in a place where three of the five bridges are
Interstate Highways that prohibit non-motorized traffic, a fourth that
has the sidewalks blocked off during a long construction period (and
drivers than would likely run over a cyclist taking the single lane),
and the final option being a swing-span on a military base that opens
every time a barge goes through the locks.

--
Tom Sherman - Curmudgeon and Pedant

In article <[email hidden]>,

Robert Haston said:

It sounds like a good idea to me.

Way too many people get all wrapped up in the human power versus oil powered
argument. The point is why use 200 horsepower when you could use a quarter
horsepower.

Whatever the power, using more than needed is waste, plain and simple.

Also 1 ton vehicles aren't necessary to move one person.
I always liked this thing:
http://www.go-one.biz/ukindex.shtml

Slugger said:

I always liked this thing:
http://www.go-one.biz/ukindex.shtml

Hmm, yes, but I think the good people at Leitra might take issue with
it being a new type of vehicle :-)

Guy
--
May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after posting.
http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk

88% of helmet statistics are made up, 65% of them at Washington University

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I always liked this thing:
http://www.go-one.biz/ukindex.shtml

Hmm, yes, but I think the good people at Leitra might take issue with
it being a new type of vehicle :-)

Guy

I never said it was new type of vehicle.
I just rather like it.
It can be configured with a power assist due to the extra weight.

Just zis Guy said:

Slugger said:

I always liked this thing:
http://www.go-one.biz/ukindex.shtml

Hmm, yes, but I think the good people at Leitra might take issue with
it being a new type of vehicle :-)

Moreover, the claim that it's the "first carbon fiber Monocoque chassis
outside of Formula 1 racing!" is this: Clearly Bollocks.

--

Dave Larrington - http://www.legslarry.beerdrinkers.co.uk/
World Domination?
Just find a world that's into that kind of thing, then chain to the
floor and walk up and down on it in high heels. (Mr. Sunshine)