Riding Bikes
For a variety of reasons that I don't care to go into detail about lest I get bombarded with spam and unsolicited advice, Gretch and I no longer have a car. We have known this was coming for a while and have been planning for what we would do when we were car-less.
We are fortunate to live in a community with excellent public transit, most of the places we need to go to regularly are within walking or biking distance, and we have friends and family who are close by and willing to provide rides from time to time.
Of these options, riding bikes has become our preferred means of transportation. We bought our bikes before we moved to our current place, but put them in storage at Gretch's parents' house when we moved out and spent six weeks officially homeless. After moving in, we didn't quite have the room for our bikes and so they stayed on her parents' back porch. Over a year later, we finally got around to bringing our bikes home. Mine was in decent condition, partly because my brother-in-law took it out for a spin every now and then. (This was without my knowledge but I wouldn't have minded anyway, since he took care of it.) I did need to inflate my tires and tighten my brakes, but that was all.
Gretch's bike was in need of more repair. The inner-tubes both had slow leaks along the seams, so we replaced them with higher-quality ones. I also made sure her brakes were properly adjusted and the seat where it needed to be.
I started using my bike last week to go down to my school, about five and a half miles down the road, each morning. It takes me about 35 minutes or so, riding at a leisurely pace. The first few days resulted in my legs being extremely sore, since I had not ridden a bike in over a year, but I have since gotten accustomed to the activity. The biggest concern I have is not about the actual riding of the bike, though; it is what wearing a helmet will do to my hair. I think I will just keep some hair care products and a spritz bottle in my classroom so that I can fix my hair as needed when I arrive in the mornings.
Gretch used her bike for the first time in over a year yesterday when we rode across town to help a friend move into a new apartment. The ride took longer than planned, mostly because Gretch was not at all accustomed to riding a bike! She ended up calling her dad and asking him if he could pick her up to bring her back home. Fortunately, he was both willing and able to do so!
Our plan is to continue to ride our bikes whenever it is feasible. We would like to get accessories that will allow us to carry items like groceries, and a friend and colleague of mine has directed us to a company that offers high-quality accessories for a reasonable price. When riding a bike isn't the best option, such as going to church when Gretch is wearing a skirt, we will just walk, since the church is only about two miles away. If biking or walking doesn't work, we are going to be getting annual bus passes so that we can take advantage of our community's excellent public transit system. And if none of those options work, we will ask friends or family members if they can give us a ride. And I guess if that doesn't work, either, we will probably just not do whatever it was we had planned. After all, if it is necessary, we will find a way to do it; if it isn't necessary, we will do without.
I don't know how long we will be without a car, but we do plan on getting another car eventually. But for the time being, we will follow the old American pioneer adage: Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without!
We are fortunate to live in a community with excellent public transit, most of the places we need to go to regularly are within walking or biking distance, and we have friends and family who are close by and willing to provide rides from time to time.
Of these options, riding bikes has become our preferred means of transportation. We bought our bikes before we moved to our current place, but put them in storage at Gretch's parents' house when we moved out and spent six weeks officially homeless. After moving in, we didn't quite have the room for our bikes and so they stayed on her parents' back porch. Over a year later, we finally got around to bringing our bikes home. Mine was in decent condition, partly because my brother-in-law took it out for a spin every now and then. (This was without my knowledge but I wouldn't have minded anyway, since he took care of it.) I did need to inflate my tires and tighten my brakes, but that was all.
Gretch's bike was in need of more repair. The inner-tubes both had slow leaks along the seams, so we replaced them with higher-quality ones. I also made sure her brakes were properly adjusted and the seat where it needed to be.
I started using my bike last week to go down to my school, about five and a half miles down the road, each morning. It takes me about 35 minutes or so, riding at a leisurely pace. The first few days resulted in my legs being extremely sore, since I had not ridden a bike in over a year, but I have since gotten accustomed to the activity. The biggest concern I have is not about the actual riding of the bike, though; it is what wearing a helmet will do to my hair. I think I will just keep some hair care products and a spritz bottle in my classroom so that I can fix my hair as needed when I arrive in the mornings.
Gretch used her bike for the first time in over a year yesterday when we rode across town to help a friend move into a new apartment. The ride took longer than planned, mostly because Gretch was not at all accustomed to riding a bike! She ended up calling her dad and asking him if he could pick her up to bring her back home. Fortunately, he was both willing and able to do so!
Our plan is to continue to ride our bikes whenever it is feasible. We would like to get accessories that will allow us to carry items like groceries, and a friend and colleague of mine has directed us to a company that offers high-quality accessories for a reasonable price. When riding a bike isn't the best option, such as going to church when Gretch is wearing a skirt, we will just walk, since the church is only about two miles away. If biking or walking doesn't work, we are going to be getting annual bus passes so that we can take advantage of our community's excellent public transit system. And if none of those options work, we will ask friends or family members if they can give us a ride. And I guess if that doesn't work, either, we will probably just not do whatever it was we had planned. After all, if it is necessary, we will find a way to do it; if it isn't necessary, we will do without.
I don't know how long we will be without a car, but we do plan on getting another car eventually. But for the time being, we will follow the old American pioneer adage: Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without!
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