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General Discussion => Share Your Badassity => Topic started by: aes421 on June 10, 2019, 07:05:30 AM

Title: Car free all weekend!
Post by: aes421 on June 10, 2019, 07:05:30 AM
Until finding MMM I didn't know anybody but elementary school kids and triathletes rode bikes.  In my town, I've never seen a single bicycle commuter.

Bought a bike a few months back, and have been slowly working up the courage to ride it for commuting.  I live in the South with high summer temps and 80%-100% right now.  It's been brutal to ride since my legs are not in shape and I didn't want to show up places drenched in sweat.

Well this weekend was that weekend!  We were car free the entire weekend.  Albeit, we didn't have much of anywhere to go but we rode around for leisure Friday night and Saturday morning as opposed to driving places for fun.  Then Sunday we rode to church and back (5 mi round trip) and we even got groceries using out $15 facebook marketplace bike trailer (2 mi round trip).

Now we are excited about riding bikes! Already planning a bike trip to the library later this week (10 mi round trip)
Title: Re: Car free all weekend!
Post by: save234 on June 17, 2019, 11:33:35 AM
Yay! I’ve been thinking about getting a bike. My only hesitation is that I live in an area with some rough traffic.
Title: Re: Car free all weekend!
Post by: GreenToTheCore on June 17, 2019, 10:24:15 PM
Nicely done! It's amazing what a difference it makes. Soon you'll be addicted and wondering why anyone would want to have to deal with driving when going the short distances around town :)

@save234, it is quite daunting at first and there are definite strategies to learning how to get around by bike. The one that comes up the most: the best/fastest/most comfortable bike route is not always the same route you'd take while driving a car. Some cities have Bike Buddy programs that connect you with experienced bicyclists. Let me know if you'd like to learn more, I've had some experience with route planning just by using Google Maps.
Title: Re: Car free all weekend!
Post by: HenryDavid on July 10, 2019, 12:53:22 AM
To find a less trafficky route that still gets you places, look at a local bus route map and find the ways they connect quiet side streets.
Where I live there’s an option to actually put your bike on the bus—they have a rack on the front—which may be a way to skip the worst parts of town, traffic-wise. Inalso see lots of pople drive to a convenient place then gt out their bikes to complete their commutes—this way they park for free on the edge of Downtown. Not the most exciting method sincce you still drive a bit.
Lots of options.
Way to go!