How many of you choose to have a bike as your only transport?

I'm guessing that a lot of people in places like London do, possibly from necessity rather than choice – parking permits, parking spaces, congestion charging etc., so I'm wondering if there's also a lot of people in rural areas that have it as their only transport, so do you go shopping on it, visit friends, take the kids to school, commute all year round on a bike with no car or public transport … just curious

and, don't feel like doing any work!

😀

Haven't had a car for 4 years now, and it's quite liberating.

Got rid of my car about 3 months ago to save money.
My fiance's got a people carrier but she needs it all day (babies etc)
so I use my ratty old carrera kraken for the work run.
Weather's been ok so far, ask me in january or february and it might be a different matter!

I've never had a car, and my bike is for entertainment only – the rest of the time I walk or take a train/bus

Just a bike for me and always has been. At the moment I'm living in Birmingham though so it's easy to be car free.

i've been car free for about a year. got rid of it as up keep costs so much; tax, mot, insurance and then diesel on top of that.

i wouldn't say not having a car is liberating; it's still a pain in the arse sometimes getting to certain places. i've not got kids or live far out of town. i'm in germany and the trains are mostly ok and there are proper bike paths in every direction. as it is i live directly in town and get around everywhere with my fixie or on the train. sometimes find someone who is driving past or in the direction of where i want to go (mitfahrgelegenheit or car sharing) which can work out quicker and cheaper than on the train.

cold weather is ok, you can dress for it. it's when it's pissing or snowing riding about the place becomes unpleasent.

Car free for 2 years now, other half has a car but needs it for work all the time
I do drive it a weekend sometimes though

Live just outside southampton never use public transport, we don't even use the car for the shopping either, cycle Run or walk pretty much everywhere
I do my best to convince the other half to cycle or walk for local trips as much as possible too

first wet commute in this morning in quite a while, Jan/Feb can be pretty hard though

Anyone not living in a major city, (i.e. a town or village) who exclusively cycles/walks/public transports about?

Just out of interest like…

Never owned a car until very recently. Living in a city a few miles from my work place, this hasn't been too much of a problem – it sometimes causes logistical issues, you have to put up with a few days a year when the weather makes things properly miserable, and you do tend to end up blagging lifts or even sometimes hiring a vehicle to buy bulky things, visit people or go riding.

On the plus side you never have to worry about tax, insurance, MOT, petrol prices, repairs, parking, people denting your pride and joy when you're in the supermarket and a short journey taking three times as long as it should. My car has sat on the drive for nearly the entire month I've had it.

Me, but not quite how you meant it. this is my main mode of transport, well a promo pic of it anyway.

London fringes (11mile each way commute), no car. I have good train links if I'm not riding, but have a commuter bike, a folder and a cargo bike. Most bases covered, some lifts occasionally blagged. 🙂

Anyone not living in a major city, (i.e. a town or village) who exclusively cycles/walks/public transports about?

I grew up in Staines (population 24,000), sort of nearish to London (20 miles out), but not close enough in to have things like decent public transport (it was a Conservative borough anyway, they don't really go for that sort of thing). We never had cars, both my parents cycled everywhere. I guess I'm used to it. Now I live in Belper, Derbyshire. Population of 20,000. We have decentish rail and bus links, but loads of fantastic riding from the door, and 1/2 a mile walk in most directions to get to fields.

This is about 1 mile walk from my house.

Joe

City living without car here. Sometimes you need to think a little more about what you are doing and sometimes you have to pay for a hire vehicle to do what you want.

I've got friends without cars in london and leeds but none of them cycle anywhere, just use public transport or get lifts from friends.

Jo is that a pinhole camera photo ?

I have commuted by bike for 15 years now, however the wife has a car, and given we live in village it would be difficult to get the kids around without it. It would be possible with public transport (and we do use it regularly), but sole use would be very time consuming and somewhat limiting to some of the activities open to both the kids and us as parents. I live not far from Joe, but a few miles can make quite a big difference to your access to public transport. I believe 'we could live without the car', but it is not a compromise I would be willing to make.

I lived car free for years (in Ayr, Stirling, as well as small town US).
Wifey has a car but I rarely use it (think the last time I drove it was to pick up Thud from hospital after he was born?!)

I commute on a hack bike, use a trailer when I get sent to the shops, and own a range of waterproof jackets.

Jo is that a pinhole camera photo ?

No, it's a cheesy HDR made from multiple images. The funny colouring at one side is some bad weather coming in.

I live not far from Joe, but a few miles can make quite a big difference to your access to public transport. I believe 'we could live without the car', but it is not a compromise I would be willing to make.

Yeah, if you head up towards Matlock, transport isn't anywhere near as good, and then you go past it to Darley Dale etc. and it'd be a nightmare relying on just the buses. Belper is a great compromise from that side of things. Plus Belper is just close enough to Nottingham to be a reasonable bike commute.

Joe

No, it's a cheesy HDR made from multiple images

ah right, now I see the joins 🙂 I had thought it was just severe vignetting…

I've never had a car but do fancy getting one just for the convenience.

I get the train to work, and use the bike to cycle to friends / family / shops.

Speaking of which, it's pishing down and I need to bike it to the shops to get my weekly grub 🙂

Never even learned how to drive… 😳

It's given me a certain freedom, of sorts.

Thanks for the replies, I had to do some work so only just been able to catch up on this thread, interesting. I wish I could do without a car myself but I think a move to a better climate and slower lifestyle would be needed 😳

I now live 5k out of a small town in the blue mountains NSW,
have always commuted when poss,and dont have a car at the moment(got a motorbike instead )

my view

Me… But one of them's got an engine in.

Never owned a car but do have use of wifes for long trips. Living in Cheltenham is pretty good as its flat and quite compact so I can ride to work on one side of town in 15mins and back across to the bike shop on the far side in 20mins max.

SSP

Me! Car is in dry storage in another part of the country. I live in the city and don't need to go far. If I do then I take a train normally with my bike too.

I've never learnt to drive, never will. I live in a city though, so it's not too hard. I need to get a trailer for those times when I just need to carry a bit more stuff, like bags of compost for our new garden and things like that. But apart from that cargo aspect, I never have a problem living without a car.

Ironically, the only thing that makes me want a car is my bike

Always walk (3miles) or cycle (Er, considerably more than 3 miles)to work. Gave up my staff car park badge once they started charging us for the privelage of coming to work and bought my first bike. Mrs Soks has the car I have the, erm, 4 bikes. 🙂

Only got a car this year at 27, I live in South Manchester and work in Rochdale so getting there and back was a bit of a pain. I am lazy though and much prefer getting dropped off at the top of a nice big hill over struggling through Manchester in the morning to get a train to the worst place in the known universe. Getting a car made me even worse, and it was right about the time my bike finally packed in after years of service and became prohibitively expensive to be worth fixing up.
On the other hand the only barrier between me and getting a sweet new ride had for years been a lack of justification through the more pressing need for a car. Having cleared this barrier I was now in a position to scrounge up as much cash over as I could over a 6 month period and put it all down on a shiny new bike, which I have been riding with great satisfaction in places I'd have a right ballache getting to without a car.

Also I really hate trains.

be 28 in a few months, finally just starting to really learn to drive as my wife is pregnant. Usually bike, walk, bus or train, unless the wife/friends are driving.

Have to admit though, now living Down Under, it'll be good to have my license – everything is a long way away compared to London!