No Shoveling Needed

The past month, we have seen MORE than our fair share of snow in the area here. Usually, we may get a big dump of snow every 10 years or so. But not this winter season...we've had at least 3 big snowfalls of 10-20 inches. As I write this, it's snowing and we are due to get 6-16 inches.... That's ON TOP of the over 20 inches we have on the ground....

One very good thing about not having a car in weather like this, is that I don't have to spend time worrying about getting my car DUG OUT (nor worry about being able to navigate the difficult roads). :) Although, I do admit that when I did have my car, I didn't shovel snow then either...I could walk to the Metro, and just let the sunshine do its work of melting the snow. It would take a week or so, but I didn't mind much. It's weather like this that makes me glad I can walk to stores that I need to get to. This afternoon, I strapped on my backpack and walked the 15 minutes to the strip mall nearby, and took care of several errands: the bank, post office, lunch, and getting groceries. Of course, carrying the heavy groceries in my backpack wasn't that fun, but it wasn't back-breaking either. On my way to the store, a lady on her bike passed me. :) I was thinking I could have probably ridden my mountain bike, because the main roads were down to pavement and easy to ride on. But, sometimes I like to just walk, I like the exercise of walking. It uses different muscles than biking. :)

Another Enterprise Weekend

I had a 3-day weekend over the Martin Luther King holiday - and I felt like getting out of town, so I rented a car from Enterprise. This time I rented from a location close to my house - just a little over a mile away. The bad thing is that the office didn't open til 9 a.m., but the good thing was that you could take their rental cars out of the D.C. area. The airport location (where I have rented before) states that their cars are required to stay in the DC/VA/MD area. Since I wanted to drive up to PA and NY, I didn't want to breach the contract terms, so I rented from this particular location.

The agent preparing the paperwork for the car in the office saw my folding bike propped against the office window and was curious about it. I told him it was a folding bike, and I'd be folding it to put it in the trunk. He thought a folding bike was pretty ingenious. It's fun to open people's eyes about folding bikes and even living car-free. It's a concept they don't think about. Of course, he asked the normal question of how do I get groceries. :) I showed him the panniers that were on my bike, and told him that I just fill those up - you can fit a lot in them. I told him I also have a trailer I can use to put groceries in, if need be. I told him I bike to work everyday, and he was asking where I rode. Perhaps he lives in DC or MD, and didn't know about the Mt. Vernon Trail or that you can ride on a sidewalk that crosses the various bridges into DC. It's almost as if these bike routes are "invisible" to people in their cars. :)

Anyway, I enjoyed getting out of town - stopping in MD at a friend's place, and to PA to visit my sister, and then up to NY to spend the weekend with a friend. A rental car comes in handy for trips like this, when I want to make multiple stops. The cost of the rental car, though, was about the same as a flight up to NY...so I didn't save money on the trip, but it was fun to see my family and friends. I realized I hadn't rented a car since mid-October (when I drove up to Philly for the weekend).

Christmas Concert

When I was in 3rd grade and lived in suburban Maryland, the teacher showed a slideshow of the new subway system that was to be built in Washington, D.C. The year was 1967. The picture, very similar to the one here, looked VERY futuristic to me. I was in awe of how cool it looked. The subway was finished in 1976, and I was a senior in high school. I remember the first day it opened, and how they offered free rides, so people could check it out. :) Little did I know then that I would come to use the Metro often in the future. Without a car, the Metro comes in handy in covering distances fairly quickly. Sometimes though, if there are delays in the system, and adding in transfer times at various stations, I can cover some of those distances on my bike just as fast.

This past weekend, I decided I'd like to go to a Christmas concert in a community theatre in Arlington. It was about 5:20 p.m., and the concert would start at 7:30. Could I make it in time? Well, long story short, it took me about 2 hrs. using both the Metro and biking. If I had ridden my bike only, it may have taken just a little less time.

But sometimes it's nice to make use of the Metro. If I've already done a bit of biking during the day (as I had that day - I had done 30-35 miles), it's nice to have the lift on Metro vs. riding (as much as I love to ride!!). I take a book along and get some reading in, which I rarely seem to have time for. I can chat with friends/family on my cell phone while waiting for the train to come.

When I arrived at the theatre for the concert, there was a bike rack outside. I was going to lock my bike up there, but after buying my concert ticket, I saw that the lobby atrium was large. I inquired if I could just bring my bike inside and put it over in a corner. They said that would be fine, so I brought it in and locked it to a long fold-up table. When I gave my ticket to the lady usher, she looked at me and said I was a "brave" person to be out there riding in the 30-degree temps. :) Really, if you're dressed right, you warm up in a few miles, and you are fine and toasty for riding...I hardly notice the cold (unless the wind chill is really low). :)

Year Two - Car-Free!

Well, here's to being car-free for Year Two! :) In looking back over the year, I was curious to see how often I had used Zipcar (and other rental cars). For Zipcar, I had used them 4 times, for a total of $281. I also had rented cars from Enterprise for two weekends away, for a total of about $400. I took my folding bike on Amtrak to Richmond and Baltimore, for a total of about $70. So that's not too bad. I did, however, have to spend a bit on bike repair through the year - a couple of my bikes are about 5 years old. I didn't keep a running log of those expenses, but they did include new tires, a brake shifter, new drivetrain, new bottom bracket bearings, to name a few. I hope to do a better job of keeping track of these expenses next year. But I'm sure the bike repair expenses were A LOT cheaper than CAR REPAIRS! :) :)

With my late summer move to a new residence, I have a new housemate. Although she has offered to help me whenever I need a ride somewhere, I do try to do my errands on my own. One question people have asked me in the past, is how do I handle getting my groceries. At my previous residence, my friend Melinda, did most of the grocery shopping for both of us, via her car, and I paid my half. I would sometimes, however, stop and get a few things at the store that I wanted or needed. Now, though, I do get groceries on my own. I have found that my two panniers hold A LOT (believe it or not!). With their various zippered compartments, I find room for everything. I make one big food shopping trip a week, and sometimes stop to pick up a few things during the week that I need. It has worked out just fine. I also have my Bike Friday travel suitcase to hook up, to use for larger items or amounts, if need be.

I now live within walking distance to the bike store I frequent. This is VERY handy... I can drop off my bike on the way home, and then walk the 15 minutes to home. The shopping center where the bike store is located, also has a grocery store and a few restaurants that I can pick up carry-out food for dinner or dine in, which is nice. My bank is on the walk home also. And lastly, the subway is only about a 2-mile walk. If ice or snow keeps me off my bike, I can still get to work. So I'm happy with that set-up - it's good to be able to walk to stores and the subway. I did purchase some YakTrax to slip onto my boots/shoes for dealing with icy sidewalks, if I need to walk somewhere.

So, onto Year 3 of being Car-Free! Stay tuned! :)

**** ADDENDUM *****

We received about 20 inches of snow the weekend of Dec. 19th. My thought that I could walk to the subway didn't pan out because the sidewalks were not cleared, and there's not much room on the roads to walk. So I ended up catching rides to the subway with my roommate and/or a nearby friend. I can also walk 15 min. from my house to the main road and catch a bus that takes me to the subway, so that's been helpful. :)

Got a Light?

I was just reading in the paper today about how there was a huge traffic problem caused yesterday when computers crashed that operate the traffic lights in a nearby Maryland county. They are programmed according to the morning and evening rush hours. But when the computers crashed, the timing of the lights were all off, and caused unbelievable headaches and back-ups for commuters. Evidently, the computers are from the Jimmy Carter era, and are slowly being replaced.

I'm glad that my bike commute isn't dictated by the lights. When a light turns red, I'm at the front of the line, waiting on the side - there's no back-up for me. I can't tell you how nice it is to not have stress from lights and traffic. As long as there is a slim area for me to get by, my bike and I roll on.

There was also another article in the paper about how controversial speed cameras are. How they generate a ton of money for states, but motorists are getting fed up with them - getting speeding tickets all the time. The speed cameras have multiplied, and it's like "Terminator" - humans against machines. When I had my car and drove, I can't tell you how many speeding tickets I have gotten in my life. I couldn't help it - I loved to drive fast - it was fun. I could have been another Danica Patrick. :)

But now I enjoy NOT getting speeding tickets, and when I'm on my bike, I'm always below the speed limit. :) Even if I'm zooming. :)

The Road Less Traveled

The traffic is often like this on my leftside when I bike to work....traffic backed up for a couple of miles, as people inch slowly along...... Meanwhile, I have this completely free bike path in front of me, with no stress whatsoever. :) I often wonder if people in their cars look over and wish they could be on a bike too.....and whether they think, "I should really try that sometime...." Especially when the weather gets nicer now, as we enter the early Autumn days.... I hope one day, one person will give it a try, and NEVER go back to driving again..... :)

An "Enterprising" Weekend :)

This past weekend, I was invited to spend time with friends at a house in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. Since I needed a car overnight, I chose to rent a car from Enterprise. You CAN get a Zipcar overnight, but I believe you have to return it in the morning of the following day. I needed to have the car til the late afternoon/evening.

So I rode my bike to the Enterprise location near the airport. I could have ridden to a location closer to home, but their office didn't open til 9 a.m., vs. the one by the airport which opened at 6 a.m. When I was giving the car rental agent my license, he saw my Zipcar in my wallet. He made a comment about Zipcar and thought it was a bit expensive to use, especially with the annual fee they charge. I told him I only have to pay the hourly fee because I had donated my vehicle and had been given a free, lifetime membership. So he thought that was pretty cool. :)

The cost of the two-day rental with Enterprise, gas, insurance and other fees, it was about the same cost if I had gotten a Zipcar for two days. It's just that with Enterprise, you have unlimited miles, vs. the Zipcar limit of 180 miles each day.

The Enterprise car had satellite radio, which was nice, although I had brought CDs along to listen to. It also had leather seats and a sunroof. Not that I really needed those, but it was a nice touch. :) My family and friends were impressed that it was a nice new car. It's not everyday you can ride in a new car. :)