Quote Originally Posted by JennK13 View Post
Is public transportation that inexpensive where you all live? I'm only 7miles from work, and commute by bike (weather permitting). The bus doesn't really stop near my office, so I would have to walk or ride a distance anyhow.
I fortunately live literally across the street from the grocery store, and unless I'm getting a whole load of stuff (including dog food, cat food/litter) I walk or ride - my panniers carry more than my arms
We also live within walking or riding distance of our favorite restaurants/coffee shops/train. But the train can cost more than driving. It's $14 round trip for DH and I to go downtown; its only 15 miles one way and doesn't cost that much in gas to drive that far. We usually use the train for convenience like when parking will be a hassle (sporting events, festivals, or concerts). And even at 15 miles one way, we'll take the bikes to an event depending on what it is - Coors Field has secured bike parking for Rockies Games, and B-cycle offers secured bike parking at festivals - so if the weather is nice, and it's okay for us to show up looking like we're riding bikes, we do that.
I've never taken the bus here, but the train is just too expensive to use on a routine basis for the trips we take.
A year's pass for our bus system is $60.

No kidding !

NOw, shampoo-banana is not that *big,* but it meant that I didn't even think of hopping on the bike today in teh snow. (I've got a studded-tyre bike, but cars slide, too.)

When I read on the Xtracycle site that it would "change your life," I figured "not me!" because i already rode a *lot.* However, within a month it was talking to me... that day after the tornado warnings when the winds were going at 35 mph still, and it said 'yes, so if there's stuff in the road you can get around it betteR!" was a bit of a benchmark. The question of the morning shifted from "ride or drive?" to "do I *have* to drive?" to "What do I wear for riding?" So... when my brother needed a newer car to do his taxi driving from, I sold it to him. That was May 2008 and I put the money in the bank and figured I could buy something come winter if I wanted... but there are only a couple times a year when I sort of wish I had a car and an awful lot of times (like, every time I see an "are you paying too much for car insurance?" ad) when I don't.
I rent a car to drive to my sister's -- the weekend usually ends up being about $150, including the extra for insurance; I would love to find a way to get good ol' State Farm or Geico to insure my rental driving.
I'm also signed up for ZipCar -- but have only used it once. It's, I think, $8/hour (gas and all expenses included). They don't have trucks but it came in handy for buying a 32 gallon trash can
My recommendation is to figure out the "drill" for riding the way you figured it out without knowing it for driving. YOu know, "Helmet, gloves, water bottle, wallet and keys, bike lock, lights, CHECK!" ... Then, when you've figured out how to streamline that (generator lights, lock on the bike all the time) ... you find yourself trying to remember how to do the car thing and it feels (if you're a helmet person) extremely odd to walk outside without a helmet on your head, as I did this morning for the bus.
Oh, okay, the other cognitive angle is whenever you're confronted with "I'd ride the bike BUT..." go on to think "and how could I *solve* that problem?" (Hence, my Xtracycle.)