BlogHer - bicycling - Comments

biking is awesome

mirapark — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 21:26:29 -0500

Thank you for that link to trails. My daughter is still young so we need to stay on paved areas. I am planning an article on my blog about how to fit your car w/hitch and bike rack to easily travel anywhere w/your bikes.

Mira Park

www.mirabest.com

Our decision to go car-free

greenyourdecor — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 22:50:55 -0500

Our decision to go car-free wasn't our own. Long story short, the economy got us. When we were living in a place with easy access to bus stops (albeit with an outdated bus system that stopped at 8 p.m.), losing the car was tough, but not impossible to overcome. We did a lot of walking (which led to a 40-pound weight loss for me...yippee!) and we bought bus passes.

Where we live now, however, the nearest public transportation is easily 10 miles away. The nearest grocery store is easily 15 miles away. No kidding. This has made our lives a lot more challenging. Thankfully, we have the ability to share a car with family, so we're able to get where we need to go. But if nothing else, not having a car has made us become a lot more savvy at planning trips so we can do everything at once. And it has also made realize that a car is a convenience -- not an absolute necessity, although it can feel that way when you live in a rural area.

I wish I'd written a post in time to enter the carnival, but I am certainly inspired to write one now :)

Thanks ladies!

Jennae Petersen

GreenYourDecor.com - Your guide to stylish, eco-friendly home decorating!

I think part of the issue is

greenlagirl — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 17:56:14 -0500

I think part of the issue is that motorists just aren't educated about watching out for cyclists in drivers' ed. Yes, they def. should always watch out, but if drilling the need for that -- and some tips on how to share the road with cyclists -- were part of our general drivers' education requirement for getting a license, the road would be safer :)

I think often drivers are "accidentally" inconsiderate -- Meaning that they sometimes do rude, inconvenient things, like cutting bicyclists off, but that their actions were just due to not knowing how to share the road / watch out for cyclists than like a deliberate attempt to make life harder for cyclists (though there are certainly deliberately mean drivers out there too). I try to cut drivers some slack because of this -- though I'm better at it some days than others :)

green LA girl

Thank You!

laurelleaf — Sat, 30 May 2009 17:37:15 -0500

Awesome tips, I bike to and from work everyday as you said a lot of the tips should be obvious but unfortunately a lot of people are still not aware of basic bike saftey. Here in NB Canada helmets, lights and bells are all mandatory however you still see a lot of folks without these things. Riding out further in the lane does seem a bit scary but does make sense, also I feel a bit stupid but I've never gone around to the left of a vehicle to pass it, that definitely seems daring but does make sense when a vehicle could turn right at anytime without warning. The biggest issue is motorists who have little regard for those of us who have chosen an alternative mode of transportation, but awareness is growing and with the cost of insurance and gas as well as more folks caring about the enviroment I've definitely seen the number of bikers grow in the past few years around here. Its a rewarding past time and in a city you'll find you get to your destination almost as fast (if not faster in certain cases) than in a car.

No driving, a success!

Aidan Weisz — Fri, 29 May 2009 22:41:18 -0500

After reading this post last week, I went for it and succeeded. I took the bus and train for the entire week. I left my baby at a car detailing in Vancouver so I don't get the urge to pull her out of the driveway. I succeeded!

Day Five

How Green Is My Valley — Fri, 29 May 2009 22:32:51 -0500

So I'm realizing that this is the end of my car-free week; we have some pre-arranged car-dependent activities on both Saturday and Sunday. I suppose they could be done without the car, but I'm not sure that my biking skills (or my confidence) are strong enough to fill in the transit gaps--particularly in a less-familiar part of town.

With that in mind, Day Five--my final post for this challenge--is up.

Day Four

How Green Is My Valley — Thu, 28 May 2009 20:39:03 -0500

My latest post is up: Day Four, in which the course of my day is not really affected at all by the challenge. Sounds fascinating, doesn't it?

Very cool!

KYouell — Thu, 28 May 2009 15:10:46 -0500

I'm so glad that you linked to CafeMama's post too. I highly recommend watching the video of her Ignite presentation -- I mean meditation -- because it is wonderful. I think it really helps people to hear her voice and see that she's not some wacky person, just a mom who is living her convictions.

This morning on our way to our library walk I got to the top of a hill where I can see quite a ways out to distant mountains. As I descended the hill I realized I was looking through a layer of smog. My small little hill went above, through, and below that smog layer. Never would have seen that from a car, and I had the pleasure of knowing I wasn't contributing to the smog.

It's easy to go through the rush of your day and not notice those kind of things. To me car-free is very much like slow food. Your whole way of looking at your world changes if your eyes are open to it.

Thanks for giving me more to write about on my blog, too!

The Car-Free Carnival is now up!

Beth Terry — Thu, 28 May 2009 13:59:43 -0500

Check it out here: http://www.blogher.com/car-free-carnival

Thanks to everyone who participated. Let's keep the conversation going over there!

Beth Terry
www.fakeplasticfish.com
@fakeplasticfish
FaceBook

So far, so good

How Green Is My Valley — Thu, 28 May 2009 11:18:37 -0500

I'm still looking forward to ice cream, too! I didn't eat any last night, though, so I probably won't make a trip to the store until tomorrow.

A lot of what I'm doing isn't all that different from my daily routine. Most of my days are car-free or car-limited already. Most of the time I use the car for errands and to meet up with friends, but the majority of my commute is by bus. And I have ridden to the bus stop in the past; I just had fallen out of the habit. Today's visit to the farm market, which itself is new, will be a bigger test. I still haven't decided if I'm going to bike there and back, or take public transit in one or both directions. It'll depend on how I feel at the end of the day. And it'll depend on whether my panniers are still chained to the bike rack.

Still looking forward to ice cream!

Beth Terry — Thu, 28 May 2009 10:59:21 -0500

@How Green Is My Valley So far, are you enjoying the car-free life?

Beth Terry
www.fakeplasticfish.com
@fakeplasticfish
FaceBook

Day Three

How Green Is My Valley — Wed, 27 May 2009 22:02:45 -0500

It's been great to read about other people's experiences, and to have concrete examples about how a change of perspective can make a huge difference. Beth, thanks for setting up this carnival!

My Day Three post is up now, with more to come.

I'm doing it and trying to get others to do it too!

Andrea Tyler — Wed, 27 May 2009 19:39:31 -0500

I have lived a car-free life for just over 5 years now. Gave up my car while attending university in a very rural Northern CA town. Now in the Bay Area and advocating for more folks to have the option to go Car-Free or at least cut back on driving. The non-profit transit advocacy organization I work with has even developed an official challenge that you can check out here: www.TransFormCA.org (lots of love and sweat have gone into making this happen!).

Through the organization I work for, I am trying to get 540 individuals taking the Car-Free Challenge in June to raise awareness and funds. We are trying to send an important message that more folks want to drive less and live more but they're going to need a bit of support and the resources to make it happen.

Glad to see that this important conversation has started in many places at once!

Yours in driving less and living more.

Day Two

How Green Is My Valley — Tue, 26 May 2009 22:33:06 -0500

Day Two

My post is finally up

KYouell — Tue, 26 May 2009 03:42:03 -0500

I just put up my post at http://kyouell.blogspot.com/2009/05/going-car-free-in-burbs.html; hope you like it.