(More or less) car-free lifestyles--chat about (more or less) car-free lifestyles

I sometimes find it impossible to convince people that I would rather cycle.

Haha. Don't they even believe you when you actually do it?

Is this a thread where I can post lots of photos of tramways? I really like them.

Why not start a thread for trams if you want to post lots of photos? Or use a photo to illustrate your use of trams. Do you live within reach of the Croydon tram?

Trams are excellent people-movers but the rails can certainly cause problems for cyclists. There have been quite a few crashes in Croydon where the tramlines are poorly placed. I think there's even been a death, but I can't quite remember.

I've been car-less for several years now, since the last one simply stopped functioning and eventually got towed by the council (I didn't see the stickers). From then on I've either ridden or walked everywhere, although I do have a brother with a company car which I can steal for long journeys that aren't suited to public transport. Otherwise I'll use coach/train

I don't do pollls. They dont mean anything, even on here. I have a car but don't use it any more than I have to.

I live in a very small town (driving through you'd describe it as a village) in rural east anglia. Nearest other towns are about 10 or 12 miles away; nearest big city (where most of my friends live) is 22 miles away.

I ride pretty much everywhere, and ride ten miles and get a train to visit the city. Sometimes I go by bus. The bottom line is CAN I DO IT by bike and/or public transport? If I need to transport a wardrobe, or get one of my kids to his athletics club ten miles away on a dark and freezing night, I drive.

I don't know anyone round here who is other than a drive-everywhere, I-don't-think-about-it type. Well fuck 'em. They don't know what they are missing.

If you have a life (like friends) and or kids, you pretty much can't really do it without a motor if you live in the sticks. But if you have a bike (or several) and a few timetables you can really get around easily and have a lot of fun. And as for beer trips.....

Anyway, good thread Oliver. Thing that spooked me about the car thread was not car owners but jubilant petrolheads. Sure they are welcome, they are cyclists too.... but I still fucking hate 'em!

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I ride a lot & I drive a lot.

I use my van to transport bikes and equipment to venues set it all up and get people to ride them very fast for either 500m or 1000m, they don't go anywhere.

Oh the irony of it all!

I've come to join this thread, everybody was picking on me in the misc section.

I make every possible journey by bike, I will occasionally use public transport shudder when, for example, i'm expected to arrive somewhere looking presentable, and the bike isn't a viable option. When I get a car, I will still do the same journeys on my bike as I did before, the car will only be used for recreation (hoons [equivilant of bike meets, enthusiastic car owners get together, talk about their cars and drive for some distance at the quiet hours], track days and tinkering).

So in short, I use my bike for every possible journey, which is the vast, vast majority of them.

Have a look at:

http://pistonheads.com/gassing/forum.asp?h=0&f=174

Most people use many modes, and there is usually a lot of overlap.

That's a fantastic forum, the only other one I use, but even that is not as friendly as this one. (Try the Offical GP threads during an F1 race weekend, gets pretty heated)

god, not another car thread after the last one caused so much controversy. What are you trying to do here? create even more aggro?
Really poor judgement call.

Hello sol, I think you've misunderstood the purpose of the thread, which is precisely to talk about the extent to which people can live a car-free lifestyle. It's expressly not intended as a 'car thread'. I've edited the initial message to hopefully make that clearer.

I have a feeling that many have seen that, though, and have shared how they make their transport choices. If you think it needs any further clarification, let me know!

I've come to join this thread, everybody was picking on me in the misc section.

I hope you don't think I was picking on you, I stated my case for my disagreement with your posts. That has no reflection on my opinion of you however. Sorry if you felt like I was picking on you.

@ Scott...respect is due and all, but actually i think that this is a highly valid thread that should stand on it's own, the fact that it may have been born as a reaction to "the car thread" is probably a good thing......there are probably loads of people too scared to post what they really think about cars over there for fear of being labelled a "hater" when in reality theres quite a lot of sense in being a hater of "car culture" if not the actual cars themselves.

I agree, I'd certainly say that I have a very high degree of antipathy for 'car "culture"'. I wouldn't say I hate it, as again that's not very productive, but I think that reducing the amount of car use is easy wins all round and showing people where transportational utility really lies (e.g., quite often the transportational utility of walking or cycling is far higher than that of driving) is highly rewarding and positive.

Emotions understandably run high about it, which is why the word 'hatred' seems to come into it so much, but I think the more informed debate there is, the more people will see that it's not black-and-white, or either-or; viz. Rollapaluza, or indeed most people who do jobs and need to carry heavy equipment around. A friend of mine paints, decorates, repairs, refurbishes, etc. for a living. When he starts on a job, which can take him anything from a couple of days to a couple of weeks, he drives his van to the place with the bike in the back, leaves it there, and then cycles to work every day. It's sensible strategies like this that change things.

Personally this thread has already made me question the use of my car and whether I use it too much.....I like to kid myself that I've got loads of green "credits" stacked up as in the 22 years I've been eilgible to drive I've only owned a car for three and driven less than 30k ....previously having only used public transport and my bike...however don't think global warming works like that does it? it's what we're doing NOW that matters.

It is--and reducing car use is of course about so much more than climate chaos. Cycling is fun, rewarding, healthy, etc. and when I'm out doing an LCC stall or otherwise campaigning I find I hardly even get to mention the effect on the environment among all the other positives. I wish people were more interested in environmental sustainability, but it's the outcome that matters.

I occasionally have to drive in London for work....why anyone would choose to do this as a method of personal transport is totally beyond me, unbelievably slow and frustrating, no wonder there's road rage and anger against cyclists.....it's almost understandable!

Quite--many drivers are victims of motor dependence. They actually, deep down, don't like driving--who likes spending one and a half hours, three hours for the round trip, commuting between different towns, for instance? It leaves little time for the family and if anything goes wrong there's often no slack built in. But that's a reality for many people today, and there's a continuum of people who can make more sustainable transport choices now, and those who will probably only be able to do this once a greater consensus has been established and conditions are more in their favour.

I hope you don't think I was picking on you, I stated my case for my disagreement with your posts. That has no reflection on my opinion of you however. Sorry if you felt like I was picking on you.

It was a joke mmcarthy :)

It was a joke mmcarthy :)

Damn, the one time I pretend to be a nice person, and it's wasted. =P

I sometimes find it impossible to convince people that I would rather cycle.

yeah, this always cracks me up when i go out with my friends from school (aka non cyclist friends), even though every single time they see me i turn up on my bike it still seems to astound them. and then they always offer to get me a cab or something at the end of the night... "no i llliiiiikke riding my bike" .. "but i think you can fit it in those black cabs?" funny stuff...

i absolutely completely hate london public transport. it also doesn't help that i don't really live near any links. but when my bike (just got one..) has been out of commission a couple times this fall, or i've been going to the airport or something, i've taken the bus/tube and it really, really irks me. i have a tough time accepting that i really need to sit in this crowded space with these annoying people for an hour - or who knows, it might take longer, suck it up - when i could be outside on my bike and where i want to be in 25 minutes. it makes me nuts. woo, okay. i am getting worked up just thinking about it.

right now i am back at my parents place in the states, and they live in this strange suburban area where you are either on a back road with no shoulder (plus lots of ice this time of year), or a big highway... i'm sure it's not impossible but there's really nothing conducive to cycling here, i really never see anybody riding outside of the park. before i moved to london a few months ago i wasn't living in this town, i was living in a far more cycle friendly place, but i still split my cycling and driving about 50/50... if i was late for work, going shopping, going with other people, etc, i would drive, and then cycle the rest of the time. my attitude has really changed since getting used to riding just about literally everywhere in london..... driving really isn't any fun, and i used to love my car (tdi vw jetta)... but now i've come back and we seem to have lost that spark. sorry for writing a book, i really just can't wait to get back to london and back on my bike. it really is just the best way.

I love taking public transport, because I know I will be on my bike the next time, and all the grumpy people in the metal containers are probably going to spend about 20% of their waking life inside one metal moving box or another... (well 16%, assuming about 2 hours a day)

I pick the best mode of transport for the purpose.

For instance... at the moment I have a WHITE VAN parked outside. It's a hire one, and it's so we could move about 20 boxes of heavy books from one location to another.

Other times I take the train.

Other times the bus.

Sometimes hire a car or MPV.

And mostly walk or cycle (even split there... I don't ride in the house).

I'm not political about it, I pick whatever works for me.

Oliver the poll is a bit confusing to me. would it be better with percentages?

In terms of my lifestyle, almost all of my journeys are less than 10 miles, so it's usually only carrying a lot of weight that defeats me. I lived in west london for quite a while and moved east only a couple of years ago. Oddly, I'm probably fitter now than I was as I'm cycling for all of my journeys instead of just my commute.

yep i think that reducing overall mileage is key to moving to a car free lifestyle.

i started moving to a car free lifestyle about five years ago.

i am nearly car free.

my overall mileage has reduced.

i spend a lot less time travelling and more time having fun

i feel a lot happier.

bikes ftw.