Quote Originally Posted by redrhodie View Post
I was car free for 12 years when I lived in NY. The ironic thing is I didn't ride a bike once in the city.
There are many (thousands) people living in big cities who live in car free households but they are not cyclists at all. It becomes pretty obvious when there is a city-wide subway/bus transit strike. It's happened several times in Toronto and at least once in last few years in Vancouver.

I lived 1 block from a subway station in suburbs of Toronto for 14 yrs. During cycling seasons, I was regularily bike commuting 30 kms. round trip into downtown where I worked.

About 80% of my bike grocery trips was also that same cycling distance since the food stores of choice were downtown. To cycle this distance for groceries was just easier and more pleasant to get there through an interconnected bike route of ravine parks and waterfront routes to avoid 50+ (yes, that many) 4-way traffic road intersections.


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On the rare occasion, I am in a car due to taxi or generosity of a driver, it's nearly unavoidable, to automatically gauge the road in its design and distance as something whether or not I could cycle it. No doubt, there are many TE members, that think this reflexively too while in a car.

So far in 2009, have been in a car 3 times :

2 wks. ago on a Sat. -2 cycling friends visiting briefly from 400 kms. away, offered me a short car ride with my bike (and their bikes), so we could get out quickly to meet friends for bike ride. They had multiple things to do on visit..family wedding, etc.

early Jan. 2009- we rented a car for 2 days in Maui, Hawaii. For us to whip quickly for north end of island. Rest of time, we biked.