ProsecutedBiker

Before I got into biking, my parents would drive me most places. My Jazz lessons, school (or the bus), friend's houses, school sporting events the list goes on and on. But once I got into biking I have been able to bike most everywhere i need to go.

time and time again, im surprized by how quick, easy and painless it is to bike. Ive biked places that only months ago i thought was beyond my reach if i didn't have a ride.

Ive learned to LOVE biking, because I don't have to rely on my parents, i get a lot of excercise, and biking is sure a lot more fun then sitting in a car

Even once I am able to drive (1 more year ) I still think I will bike most places i can, and will continue to the rest of my life

BengeBoy 

Great post...you live in a great place for biking!

Are you ready for the rainy season?

ProsecutedBiker

I have lights (is dark when i leave for school)

and a raincoat i can wear
My bike already has fenders, so i'm good there

the only thing keeping me out when it's raining is my laziness =P

banjo_mole 

I hope so.
I simply decided to forgo the temptation altogether: I don't have a driver's liscence, although I'm more than capable of driving a car. Its simply unneccessarry, expensive expenditure. I can get anywhere in town in less than an hour, and getting to other cities is easy with the bus system.
Bicycling is the freedom of a car without cost or obligation.

In short, its the best way around.

Props for the avatar.

banjo_mole 

My last post referred to your first, rather than the raincoat statement.

Fenders, 35mm, would be a very intelligent investment for rainy weather.

I'm not ready for the rainy season, which starts the day after tomorrow.

I don't know what to do.

I'm broke.

I'm kind of screwed.

ProsecutedBiker

go to REI during their "garage sale" thing. I found a bike rack (normally 40.00) for 8. It was in perfect condition, the only reason it was there was that it was used.

I've seen fenders there before. Or you could check craigslist or something

banjo_mole 

True. I'll check, although I expect nothing.
We'll see...

BengeBoy 

Good for you on the fenders and the lights. Remember that here in Seattle it will not only get rainy but also *cold* and rainy from December through February. Your raincoat is a great start, but you'll need to find a way to keep your head, hands, and feet warm and dry.

Best of luck - I rode to work all last winter and didn't miss very many days due to weather.

Artkansas 

That's great. My story was similar. I commuted to school, rode to my friends, football games, christmas shopping. Driving was good for girlfriends, but that was about all. When I moved out from my Dad's I still didn't have a car, but I found a good place and moved out on my own with only a bicycle for transportation.

In the years since, I have had several cars and a motorcycle. The ones that weren't stolen or wrecked all seemed to die from under-use. My current one sits in the parking lot. After 3 years it's still on the tank of gas I put in it while driving home.

Of all the things that I've done in my life, using the bike for transportation was the best decision I've made, bar none. It still pays big dividends. Don't let the bike get away.

dynodonn 

PB, I too at fourteen was riding my bike practically everywhere, and when my parents did drive me somewhere, it was usually to get to a family gathering.
I still can remember the confused look on my parents' faces when I was sixteen, and I showed little enthusiasm in getting my driver's license.

Elkhound

I've never been to Seattle, although I understand that there is a strong bicycling scene there. However, on Another Board, someone said that she lived there and wouldn't bike because (a) too many hills and (b) too many crazy drivers.

Could someone give an unbiased description of the terrain and traffic conditions there?

Ashen

I live in Seattle, and bike all over the place. I don't find the drivers to be bad at all, and the highest hill in town is 500 feet. I climb it almost every day. It's not that bad.

Doohickie

There's a whole generation of Baby Boomers that grew up the same way.

amirite?

toThinkistoBe

After a few years of riding pretty much everywhere (and over a year of car-freeness) I still have this feeling. It's very liberating. I love it and hope it never goes away.


You said it all right there. There are a few things I miss about having a car, but nothing even resembling importance. Probably the thing I miss most is the musical capability of a small enclosed space.

Elkhound

Unfortunately, here in Charleston, kids don't bike much. Parents are afraid that if they let their kids out of their sight for 5 minutes, they'll be kidnapped, sexually abused, or run over.

The schools don't have bike racks. I don't know if riding to school is forbidden (as it is in Charlotte, NC), but it is certainly not encouraged.

scattered73

Adulthood is all about independence and it sounds like you are already ahead of the game, good job. Throw a job or volunteer in the mix if you don't already have one and you will pretty much be there.

mattm

hilly? yes, but most of them are only 200-400 feet.. of course there are some steep streets around here (up to 22%), but mostly it's in the 5-10% range.

crazy drivers? those are everywhere, and seattle is no different. although in the city i think drivers do give you room and all that good stuff.

PB, good for you for starting the car free lifestyle early! like Benge said, you're in a great place for it.

Elkhound

At 14 he's a little young for a job, but I suppose he could run errands for people on his bike, especially if he got some good panniers and a trailer.

gwd

What? At 14 I had had a paper route for a couple years. Friends mowed lawns or worked at grocery stores bagging groceries, and girls baby sat at that age. A bike gives a non-driver more options for work.

Doohickie

One other thing: I really thing riding a bicycle is great training for driving a car. You develop a sense of traffic flow, what to watch out for, etc. Neither of my sons ride a bike and they're pretty scary to ride with when they drive.

dcrowell

I tried to get my 17 year-old daughter to ride her bike to school. It's only 1.5 miles. She takes the bus. She lives with her mother, so I can't force the issue.

Saving Hawaii

It's nice living in Seattle, but some of the suburbs can be absolute cycling nightmares; I grew up in the Renton highlands, a classic "great place to raise a family". Aside from a little trip around the subdivision, riding anywhere meant negotiating shoulder-less 35 mph arterials with traffic weaving at 45 and 50. It's just not safe, and there's nothing in the way of cycling infrastructure aside from a couple worthless recreational paths. Ehh, I'm glad I got out of dodge.

degnaw

A suburb with shoulderless 35mph arterials? That sounds like a perfect description of where I ride, in an exurb of Cincinnati.

Anyways, I'm 17, have my license, and drive maybe once a month. I have never seen a single cyclist within three miles of my house, but i do recall thinking someone was "crazy" for riding a bike to soccer practice just a few years ago (When I lived in upstate NY).

ProsecutedBiker

Well i don't actually live in seattle, i live a little ways north of it in a suburb. In seattle itself, the biking is pretty good, but in the suburbs it varies a LOT. For example Kirkland is a great place to bike, but Shoreline is pretty bad. It depends on the suburb


And as for the job/community service, next year I will have to do community service and so i'll probably choose something i can bike to. I don't have a "job" per say, but i do go work at my dad's office sometimes and do odd jobs like taking care of houses when people are gone.

Lamplight

I biked all the time when I was your age but all but stopped when I got my driver's license. Don't do what I did! The difference between us is, you already seem to view the bicycle as a tool, whereas I viewed it as a means of recreation. Yes, I rode it to get places, but that was because I had no choice. Then I got my license, got "into" cars, became poor, fat, out of shape, and miserable because of it, and finally rediscovered cycling. Currently I'm 29 and just now getting to the point in my thinking that you are already at. You are ahead of the game, believe me!