Yune_Garage 

This man has literally been “FREE from OWNING a car” aka CAR FREE” personally as an individual despite his wife owning a car, yet some of these muppets in the ‘car free cult’ are desperately trying to scrutinize and disprove his claim in order to somehow establish that he’s being disingenuous or have some ulterior motive. Is that it? Friggin weirdos lol.

M Rose

exactly… why should it matter if my wife owns a car and I occasionally ride in it? What’s the difference between me catching a ride with her opposed to
catching a ride via bus, taxi, or a friend? I don’t pay insurance on her car, I don’t pay for repairs, and unless it’s a long journey, I don’t even put gas in it. She pays 100% of the cars expenses… I don’t… likewise, I pay 100% for all of the bicycle maintenance, to include tires, chains, cassettes, and other normal wear items. I also pay for all of the food eaten in the house and 50% of the meals eaten outside the home. The other 50% of meals eaten out of the home are by her on her lunch break, or by myself when I’m out for a day ride.

year to date I have ridden 10,000 miles and she has driven 2,000 miles.

JoeyBike

Cars cost a lot of money to maintain. I don't like to spend my money that way. Since I'm getting "older" having a car at hand allows me some nice rest days if needed. Getting to doctor appointments is easier. Cycling in my area has become even crazier than when I was young and carefree thanks to cell phone use and giant vehicles like pickup trucks that have become fashionable along with SUV "station wagons" that moms use for hauling around a couple kids.

Basically, after 30 years I just "gave up" the fight. Not worth it anymore.

Only because the name of this message board is "Living Car Free". So to hang out with like-minded souls I refer to not owning or having 24-7 access to a car to be Car Free. I'm not offended by what other people call it or think about it. We all have our OPINIONS, and mine is worth exactly what I'm charging you for it.

Even though I have joined the ranks of "cagers" once again I feel I still have much to add to this place for those interested in ditching the car, or thinking about getting one.

Cheers!

mschwett 

shades of grey here.

we are “car-light.” have a car (two actually), don’t use it regularly. four people, approx 4,000 miles a year for the last 10 years, virtually all of which is long trips and monthly outdoor adventures.

cost before gas is $250/mo parking, $125/mo insurance, and over the life of the car approx $15k of depreciation, or another $125/mo. maintenance is a rounding error on a modern car which is rarely driven and well kept, they’re incredibly reliable.

so, $500/mo or $6k/year for the freedom to go anywhere when desired. if you bury the cost of the parking in your residence (of course land and buildings aren’t free, but in most of america you don’t really have the choice to buy one without parking) it’s half that. a bargain, really, assuming you’re not a day slave to it and traffic and the whims of oil prices.

holytrousers

Thanks for the clarifications, but does it mean that your financial situation was the only reason that made you "fight" for those last 30 years ?

JoeyBike

My financial situation never stopped me from having a car. I just didn't want to spend my money THAT way. I enjoyed working a year, taking a year off. I managed that lifestyle for about 30 years. That was great when i was "young". Now I'm 63yo and working a job that requires me to be there all year (for free health insurance) until I reach Medicare age. So long as I'm TRAPPED in the "American Dream" for now, I might as well go all-in and live for the weekends like most Americans.

Also, due to safety concerns, I don't do any more road riding. Indoor trainer or a nearby Rail-Trail about 35 minute DRIVE away from home. 24 miles of that drive are on a bridge that does not allow bikes, not that I would bike it anyway.

Gear_Admiral 

> Also, due to safety concerns, I don't do any more road riding. Indoor trainer or a nearby Rail-Trail about 35 minute DRIVE away from home. 24 miles of that drive are on a bridge that does not allow bikes, not that I would bike it anyway.

This is a legitimate concern!

You should lament how hard it is to live car-light and how unsafe it is to simply ride on roads. You're in the USA where car ownership and/or regular access is a de facto tax on most residents for just living daily life in the country anywhere outside of NYC.

However, the thread title is not quite accurate.

Here is what others and I am reading from your previous posts in this thread: "I'm a vegetarian, except for the steak meals my spouse makes for me every week and the bacon I have every morning, but I don't have a pig farm and I have to go to a grocery store only when they allow me (i.e., during business hours). Because I don't have free and unlimited access to meat 24/7, I am no different from any other vegetarian. I can therefore comment on the vegan lifestyle: on what it is like having to find restaurants that don't have meat, on what I do to get enough proteins, iron, and vitamin B12."

If you had just said, "I'm a fit bike commuter who just hit his 60s, but the American infrastructural landscape and the American health care system pretty much have forced me to go from being car-light to commuting daily in an automobile. :-(" then the reactions would have been far different.

Some people are acting like gatekeepers because your posts came off as if you were someone who minimizes exposure to food additives loaded with high fructose corn syrup who then lumps himself with people who must avoid the substance entirely due to an allergy and acts like an expert on living in America with a corn allergy. (This is very hard because American foodstuffs in grocery stores and many dishes in restaurants in America sneak at least a little high fructose corn syrup into many things.)

Just as those you have set to ignore may judged you hastily, you may be judging hastily, too. They may see someone with de facto regular access (though not constant or on-demand access) to a car, space to store said car, the income to afford said car, and a spouse who can use said car to run errands as someone unable to truly understand what it is like to live 100% car-free in America. I would place people like myself in the car-free category: only driving very occasionally in a rental once every four months or not at all. People in this position by choice, money, location, or some combination have legitimate reasons for disputing your self-description of having been car-free for thirty years.

JoeyBike

Correction..."I'm a vegetarian but my wife is not. Every morning I smell her bacon cooking, and every evening I smell her grilling chicken, steaks, or hamburger, but I do not eat it because she paid for it (I'm too cheap to buy meat) and only buys enough for her."

Does SMELLING the meat cancel my vegetarianism? Or having it AVAILABLE in the house but it does not belong to me?

Just to set the record straight: I still commute by bike (walk or skate) to work. The car is like a motor home - weekend recreational use. I might drive to the doctor if I'm sick also.

I was car-free AND wife free for the first 10 years after ditching my car and motorcycle at 30 years of age. Zero access to anything except taxi service and rental cars. So yes, I know what it means to be "car-free" to purists. The world isn't binary, thank God.

JoeyBike

First of all those ppl I blocked are jerks and trolls. Period.

You're new here. I've been here since 2007. Don't act like you know s**t about this place because you don't. Yet.

You'll learn. You sound like a reasonable person. The trolls will find you soon enough.

Cheers!

EBikeFanatic

I barely drive but I do like cars. Too many be miserable people who just treat driving like a chore when in reality it’s quite fun when you don’t do it everyday for hours

JoeyBike

I love owning a car and driving it occasionally. My 2003 Camry is basically an RV. I only drive it for fun outings and occasionally out of necessity if I'm too sick to bike or the weather is terrible. As I said earlier, I went car-free for 30 years just because I didn't want to spend my money that way. I am def not an anit-car guy.

harrier6

A car breaking down was the reason I went car-free not too long ago, and the experience with maintaining and repairing a bike since then would definitely inform my decision to get a car or other motorized transport in the future. It might be harder to find these days, but having some thing simple, cheap, and easy to work on is important I think.

SB1501

This post inspired me to make mine about my personal costs last year / this year / next year for running my car. Where I live, replacing a car with a bike is a pipe dream and something people widen their eyes at you for seriously suggesting!

When I look at the cost of some high end commuting electric bikes at £5k, the lack of maintenance and worry compared to a car (I also drive a Toyota saloon) is night and day. Even with a Toyota which are arguably the lest worrying / most reliable and down to earth vehicles on the road...