duke_of_hazard

I tried to do the car-free thing last year, but this year I am less motivated. Here are my reasons against it:

1) Nobody really cares except me. So when I wake up tired, I really question my motivation to bike to work instead of driving

2) I was not saving all that much money since whatever I saved in gas I spent half that in food ( yes I know there are cheap sources of food but I am not a cow that can just munch on grass and be happy ). My car actually gets 40 mpg . Plus it has 140k miles so I have no depreciation to worry about. Not to mention gas prices come down a lot from $4/gallon

3) If my goal is to bike for fitness and health, then biking everyday is not helping that goal. You need alternate days of rest for the body to recover
and grow stronger

4) It was eating up too much of my time. My commute is around 1 hour each way and driving is 15-minutes. When I come from biking I found I had little energy left to do my other hobbies. So they were suffering

So given all that I am going to just stick to 2-3/days a week commuting with one weekend ride. I think that is the best strategy to reap the benefits of cycling without burning out...

Roody

Incorrect. This applies to strength training (weightlifting) only. The human body is designed to move around every day for up to several hours. Do you believe that your ancestors--whether farmers or hunters--took every other day off just to rest up? Do you think the people working hard on assembly lines to build your car take 3 or 4 days off every week to "recover"?

Now, please excuse me while I log on to my favorite car-lover forums and rant about how much I hate cars.

GodsBassist

One way 1 hour? I don't know if I could do that kind of commute every day. I mean I could but would be in the same boat you are, just tired all the time.

Regardless, glad you're finding a balance that suits you.

cooker

I'm not completely car free, as the rest of my household wouldn't accept it, but if I were, I would have to make sure I continued to live half an hour from work by bike. An hour is too far for me.

As for savings, you don't realize much financial benefit if you continue to own a car, especially one that's paid for. However, eventualy you will have to buy your next car, and that's when the relative cost compared to being car free will be most noticeable.

Artkansas 

I understand your concerns. I have a similar commute, no energy problems though, and while I find the time an irritation, its not enough to make an investment in a car.

duke_of_hazard

I actually enjoy the 1-hour commute since it give me plenty of time to digest lots of podcasts. My commute is mostly on low-traffic roads, so it is safe for me.

white_feather

What is a podcast?

hotwheels

It sounds like you've made a sensible choice.

poormanbiking

Just my opinion .

1. I would say most of us ride for self-satisfaction.
2. Cutting down on pollution and the dependance on dino fuel. Another is self-satisfaction.
3. Sounds like you may be going to fast and not enjoying the ride.
4. The food issue maybe due to a poor diet or not enough food.

Darth_Firebolt

you came to the living car free forum to tell them you're not going to be car free anymore?
we still love you in the commuting forum. : ]

Dahon.Steve

The OP was never car free to begin with since he always had a car! Once you sell the car, that's where the savings comes from. The OP will eventually have to buy another car since it seems like the current one is on its last legs. He didn't factor in replacement costs in the equation.

Still, if he lived closer to his job, he could become car free. Maybe moving to another town that has a bus that goes directly to his job could be another answer.

zeppinger

I am not sure how a one hour bike ride can be done in a car in 15 minutes. Maybe I am wrong but my commutes have typically taken me just a few more minutes to bike than t to drive and that does include a once hour bicycle ride that takes me 40 minutes by car, on the freeway even!

Darth_Firebolt

my commute is the same way. it takes me an hour and 15 minutes by bike or 20 minutes in a car. all 2 lane roads with no stop lights/ signs and very hilly, which makes the bike ride take longer.

chipcom 

Dude, it's your life. You don't need anyone's validation, agreement or permission to live your life your own way.

acorn54

the low cost car route is just drive the cars till they drop and when you need a new car just buy used pay in full in cash.
i use a car that i bought for 2000 some 10 years ago and it only costs an average of 1000 for all the expenses including gas, so yeah you really don't save any money riding the bike
personally i do it for convienance on short trips. to much of a hassel getting in the car and all
plus for short trips cars don't really make sense.
i like the fact that bikes are simple machines and i don't need to worry about them breaking down and paying a mechanic alot of money to fix.
i also like the fact that you get fresh air riding a bike instead of being in a cage.

Roody

What would you do if your commute by car was one hour? Switch to rocket pack? Or move closer to work?

cerewa

Car free is not the be-all and end-all. Two hours per day commuting by bike was certainly not my cup of tea back when I was doing it, and I don't think there are too many folks who are interested in bike commuting for two hours a day. Certainly a healthy diet, and making sure that you are consuming enough water (and possibly salt & potassium) makes it possible for some folks to ride that much day in day out. Plus making sure to ride no faster than the speed at which they'll enjoy riding.

If you plan to do errands by bike in addition to your work commute, and commute in difficult weather (temperature or precipitation) it can be really nice if you find a way to live and work within 15 minutes' bike ride. If you do that, you'll have the option of riding a zillion miles if you want to, or riding just a few miles if you prefer to spend your time off the bike.

mondaycurse

OP, at least you tried. There are millions that automatically assume it would be too hard/tedious. I agree that I wouldn't commute an hour each way per day; bike or car.

Jerseysbest

The OP is just posting about his experience and stirring conversation, I don't think he's trolling.

Yeah 1 hour each way, everyday, would be a pain and be tiring day in-out. It can be done, but living close to where you work is the ideal solution.

Yes, probably more money to live closer, and/or the inconvenience or being further from friends/family, but its all a balance, and you have to decide what works best for you.

Also where you work should be part of the equation too. Trying to replace a car with a bike and keep everything else the same will not work for most people. A bike is not a car. Living car free isn't just one little choice, its a life style, and you have to make everything work.

Nightshade

Very true. Many people do quite well going 'car-lite" by using their vehicles less.

cooker

Looking at your commute video, it's hard to see how your bike ride is 4 times longer than your car ride. It looks like you go across the bridge from East Peoria and up Grandview Drive to Peoria Heights, although obviously you don't show your precise starting point or destination, and I assume an hour ride is something like 10 - 12 miles. You'd need a direct freeway to do that in 15 minutes, but it looks like hwy 74 is way southwest of where you are heading.

Old Town

I don't work anymore but if I rode a bike to work I'd have to have a shower there waiting for me. Sitting in ones own sweat all day in no fun for me or anyone near me. That's the biggest drawback to cycle commuting as I see it. (assuming it's a reasonable distance to begin with)

Kevin666

I'd say most of the points more or less fall under what chipcom and mondaycurse said. Some in the pro-bike or anti-car camp can be pretty fanatical, but you gotta do what works for you.


However, there appear to be some logical and mathematical problems with #2:

Like Dahon.Steve said, you have to consider replacement cost, which includes the depreciation on your next car plus the time value of money and opportunity cost of putting capital into another car that much sooner.

Just because gas prices have come down, doesn't mean they won't go up again. As a practical matter, you can't buy or sell your car every time gas prices change.

As for the food thing, I'd like to see the numbers that say you're spending that much more on food, and the model of car you drive that's getting 40mpg. I'm not spending any more, and I'm riding 4-5 days a week, eating what I ate before. The only difference is that I weigh 10 or 20 lbs less, so I'm healthier, and burning fewer calories to carry around the ones I'm storing.

cerewa

From what I can tell, the human body is designed to move around every day for up to about 14 hours. Not hard-work kind of motion, but standing, walking, light household chores, that sort of effort. Humans (when we're in good health and well fed) are also adapted to be capable of running for several hours a day with no need for an every-other-day weight lifting type schedule. (since distance running, like cycling, is a matter of building cardiovascular strength rather than skeletal-muscle strength.)

mustang1

I think it's better if you just commute on the car every day and take the bike out for an hour, three times/week, for fitness.