I was thinking of just riding a bicycle and not owning a car, is anyone doing this already? Any pointers?

When I was living in southern Ontario (Canada), and in the city I rode everywhere on either my road bike (summers) or mountain bike (winters) ... or XC skiied, when the snow got REALLY deep! However, when I moved outside the city about 25 km the winter going got significantly rougher. Eventually I got a car ... but really only ran it from mid-December to mid-March except for longer (200 km plus) trips.

Now I'm in Texas, which hasn't got the snow factor ... but DOES have the traffic factor. I still have the car for those extended trips, but I've only put about 1600 km on it over three years. The rest of the time, I travel by bike (road or mountain), or simply run/walk.

And yes, my neighborhood thinks I'm a little strange ... but they tend to write that off as my being from "away"!

Pointers:

- - If you're riding back and forth to work - keep work clothes at work (maybe drop them off at a local dry cleaners once a week, somewhere near your place of employment) and have riding clothes for riding.

- - Make sure you have a working headlight/taillight ... reflectors are okay for sunny days, but the lights are necessary for poorer weather conditions of dawn/dusk riding.

- - Always wear a helmet.

- - Always obey the rules of the road ... even when the vehicle drivers don't seem to. Making yourself a problem isn't going to make things easier for you (or other riders) later.

- - Find a group that takes the same route as you if you can ... motorists respect groups more than individuals, and a group is more visible.

- - Keep your bike tuned up and looked after ... it will then look after you for a long while.

When I was 18 I let my drivers license expire. I did not get it until I turned 21. This was in Iowa and winters were cold but doable. I lived with only one car which my wife drove while I rode my bike everywhere for several years. It helps to have several bikes and I would recommend at least one singlespeed bike their reliability and convenience. When you need to go somewhere, you will sometimes not have a choice but to go out in conditions that will be hard on a bike. A singlespeed has such little maintenance that it is good to have for bad weather moments. Otherwise you end up working on your bike whenever is gets muddied up in the rain.

i did that for almost 2 years its really hard when its cold and rainy,2&1/2 miles is like 10 at that point i was to proud to ask for a ride to the grocery store and i always over bought with a 3 year old kid with me it sure was not a picnic

good thing had a good tan going on and i was in good shape my friend taught me some self defense moves at 5am its pretty dark i lived in country trailor park no side walks small lanes glad i have a car

It depends. If you're in a busy city, then probably would be better to combine bike riding with public transportation. If you're in the country, and you're healthy, a bike would be a good alternative.

I had a co-worker who tried this for a while... 'til she got run over by a car while riding home one night & broke her leg.

If it's safe for you to do so in your area & you can do it all the time - go for it.

Watch out for cars - they just don't see y'all on the road with them.

Go to : http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CarFree/

You can get an answer to any of your questions about being car free

Be sure to move to a warm year-round climate if you don't already.

invest in good rain gear