What's your story?

It's official. Having thought about it and spoken about it for years, I've finally sold my car. We're a car free household!

It's been an interesting journey. In the last few years it has been very rare indeed that I ever drove alone, and on those occasions that I did use my car it was for trips into the country for mountain biking, bushwalking, rogaining and the odd interstate trip, and usually with others in the car too. Trips around town were essentially by bike, even the grocery shopping at the central markets, and the times that it was inconvenient to pedal I car pooled.

JP and I have set ourselves up marvelously for a car free lifestyle. We live at Linden Park, across the road from the shops, library and cinema. It's an easy bike ride to work, even easier to town. The swimming pool is up the road, and the Adelaide hills easily accessible for walks and runs in Chambers and Waterfall Gully. We don't even have a tv, but there is never a boring moment. Life is too busy to watch telly anyway!

And so I would pay registration and comprehensive insurance for my 1991 VN Lexcen to basically take up space in our garage. 15 years old, and less than 140000km on the clock. I'd done less than 10000km over the last two years, and that included a trip to Melbourne via Sydney and Canberra, and numerous highway jaunts for my recreational pursuits. There are a lot of fond memories in that car, and so I was a little emotional to let it go. Funny, coming from someone who lives and breathes bicycles and so openly encourages others to ditch the car and bike instead.

I'm not sure how many times I exclaimed "I've sold my car. I've sold my car" during those first two days after letting it go. I took my driving test in that car 10 years ago, almost to the date. Living in western Sydney back then you 'needed' a car. I would commute 3 hours each day, a trip that included the train and a bus, but to get to the train I had to drive. With those long days as a science undergrad at UNSW it was impossible catch the bus between home and the train station, especially since they stopped running at 6pm and were notorious for not turning up at all. It was almost worth moving out of home, except I would have to spend all those saved hours working to pay for exorbitant Sydney rent.

And so I was presented with a panacea on arriving in Adelaide. Cheap rent. Great food. A compact, flat city and relatively uncongested roads. Wow. It was actually conceivable to ride my bike to uni. How novel. And I fell in love with it. I've gotten to the point that I start to feel sick sitting in a car around town. And I feel like a wreck if I don't get that daily pedal, even though it's only 15 minutes each way. And so it was a surprise when I found myself confused, uncertain, and very insecure when I watched the new owners drive away in MY car.

I've settled down now. And am starting to like the idea of all that extra space in the garage. My lifestyle hasn't actually changed all that much since I was so unreliant on the car in the first place. No doubt I will start to appreciate not having to fork out for insurance and rego soon too. I must confess that I do have a backup. My partner has a car and it seems that most places I ever go that I couldn't really pedal, she's going there too, so it is a bit easier for me than it should be. Nonetheless, it was a big step, and one which I will not regret - even though that Lexcen has been very good to me over the years.

What's your story?

It's very refreshing and encouraging to hear what people are doing to reduce their reliance on cars. As the BUG co-ordinator I get to hear a lot of these stories. It's a real boost, highly motivating and I think we should be sharing them. Just yesterday morning a BUG member told me that not only did he ride to work, but his wife and three kids rode too! And a new cyclist from our first car-free breakfast is turning into a repeat offender - fantastic news!

Please email the BUG or me directly with your story, and I will post it. Or else click on 'comment' below, use the anonymous option and type to your heart's content.

Cheers
Ryan