Can You live live with only a bicycle

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I'm 62 and do a 15 mile round trip to work for the last 12 yrs or so. The Cherokee sets for as long as 3 weeks in the drive. My gas usage on that car is measured in MPT's (months per tank) now the wife has to go all over to different schools for her job. Like Skipton I ride all year long.
Push came to shove I think I could do it.
 
YES. If a person wants to make that change, they must change some things. Relocate closer to work. Pick up items as needed and have other stuff delivered.
I made the change for the most part. It is easier than most people think.
 
I typically commute to work by bike a couple times a week, but it's a 22.5 mile ride each way. In fact, that's why I just bought a Long Haul Trucker. But the weather here doesn't really lend itself to making that ride all the time. Cold is less of issue, you can dress for that. But cold & damp makes things miserable. I'm not sure that I'd want to sign up for that...
 
Well here's my land train. Hauled two loads to the scrapyard first load was 161 lbs of rather bulky metal off of the outside of a washer and dryer, the second load was 136 lbs so I would have gotten $20 but I saw a bike I had to rescue so I got $11 and a bike project.

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Nope, It take me about 20mins to drive to work. Way to far to bike on "not so bike friendly" roads.
Wish I could though. I could get a job closer to home, but I don't believe my family would appreciate the pay cut.

Roscoe Clyde
 
Roscoe Clyde said:
Nope, It take me about 20mins to drive to work. Way to far to bike on "not so bike friendly" roads.
Wish I could though. I could get a job closer to home, but I don't believe my family would appreciate the pay cut.

Roscoe Clyde
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I'm on the same boat here in California. To many crazy drivers and to many hills in my area.
 
37,795 work miles driven in 2011 .... I don't think so Tim. A lot of those miles were at speeds of 70mph ... I dont think I could hold 20mph long enough to get to my first stop :lol:
 
Outskirts that's awesome have you ever thought about building a custom trailer with a tandam axle
 
I live with my parents and commute 33 miles one way to school. I would love to get an apartment near school and bike though. It just would cost way more. that is, until gas prices meet rent cost :wink: :cry:
 
big kountry said:
Outskirts that's awesome have you ever thought about building a custom trailer with a tandam axle
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Actually yes, but with limited space and to keep it maneuverable I have found multiple single axle trailers work better. I am going to make a larger flatbed trailer with stakebed sides though.
 
I am starting the last leg of a bike tour this morning. Ive ridden through Maryland and PA. Awesome fall scenery, so yeah, I could live without a car. Im maybe 15 miles from work, but it really wouldnt be practical at this stage of my life. I think a better solution than cold turkey, would be to pick and choose when to pedal and when to drive. There are plenty of trips that are we suited to biking and you can still have your car to pull chickens, run deliveries, make calls,etc
 
Pull Chickens? :?

I am building (in my head) a daily rider bike, I may just leave it here at church and use it to commute home for lunch and make work related trips around town. I am saving my money for these bars:

http://www.amazon.com/Evo-Handlebar-Bas ... DVR1YVP1X1

I was going to build some, but I couldn't make them look that good.
 
I'm finishing up a bike now and will take the plunge. I get tired of gassing up my truck every other day and when I ride to work it takes the same amount of time to drive. I'm really excited to start riding.

Chris
 
dryheatpanzer said:
I'm finishing up a bike now and will take the plunge. I get tired of gassing up my truck every other day and when I ride to work it takes the same amount of time to drive. I'm really excited to start riding.

Chris
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I really need to just start doing this more, and doing it this time of year (cold and wet) will help break me in.
 
I've been going through the same thing here. As the weather turns cold and wet, I'm less prone to want to bike in. Frankly, I still don't think it's likely that I'd ever decide to ride to work in the rain, especially a cold autumn rain. Not only is the cold/damp miserable, but I just don't like exposing the bike all its fiddley bits to the wet.

But I'm working on doing so at least on days when the chance of rain is slight, then it's just cooler weather to deal with. Well, that plus the fact that it's increasingly still dark when I ride in. I've been buying into more riding gear that I didn't need before - base layer, arm & knee warmers, etc. As the season progresses, I'll probably buy what's appropriate as I need it.

Tied to that - and just as important for living with a bike year round - I think I'll eventually need to spring for a better headlight. I had a 1-watt Planet Bike LED headlight on my road bike, and second on my MTB. I put the one from the MTB on the Surly as soon as I brought it home. Shortly thereafter, I took the second one from the Raleigh and also put it on the Surly. That comes up to adequate lighting for the dark stretches of road and canal path, but only adequate. For reference, I've long spent money on playing at road rallying in the winter time, and have got very accustomed to having excellent headlights and auxillary lights on my cars. So, I suppose I'm a bit spoiled. But you can't have enough well aimed light out ahead of you. Now I'm looking into some of the higher end headlight systems, either rechargeable or powered by a dynamo hub. But I don't quite have the clams to drop on that set up yet.

Anyway, I almost feel that I can't wait till winter hits and its cold enough that it will no longer rain or thunderstorm. Sure, that means snow and more frigid air. But again, you can dress for that, and if I'm riding regularly, be in shape to deal with the cold, dry air will be a lesser issue. I've already built myself a winter commuter bike (back in February) with snow tires, so I can't claim that as an excuse...
 
It also motivates me to ride because I see some of the winters in the mid west and I feel lucky to be here in Tucson. I can usually ride year round.

Chris
 
I could possibly live without the vehicles, but I wouldn't be able to go to rides in other towns. I have only fueled up my car once since this April ("daily driver"), My pickup twice more than that only to haul bikes out of town. My daily rider is either a Flying "O" Monoco cruiser, or a Gambles middleweight. Occasionally I get out the hi-wheel or one of my rebuilds. The only time I don't ride is rain, or responding to a
page call at night. Oh yes, I have seven vehicles..... :D
 
I have not owned a vehicle in over 3 1/2 years. When the last car I had decide it didn't want to run anymore a friend and I moved closer to work and we walk or ride everywhere, unless we need something more than can be carried on the bikes or on my trailer, or we are going pretty far out of town. I am working on a new winter bike, but it might not be done before I really need it. I have have 5 bikes right now, after selling 2 and donating some frames and parts to a couple of friends. 3 of the bikes are rideable. I am also going to eventually redo my trailer.

Shaggy
 

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