Celebrating Five Years of Car Free in Vancouver

Well folks it has now been officially five years since I posted my first blog entry here. It was five years ago I took my tenuous first pedal strokes in to the world of the car-free lifestyle - looking back it all seems kinda fun - well for the most part!


When I first started commuting to work on my bike little did I know it would be the first steps in to a whole new phase of my life. Little did I know where the pedal strokes would take me - Powell River, Vancouver Island, my second marriage ?


To semi-celebrate my five years I took myself and my new g/f Andrea on a bike trek downtown to watch the Celebration of Light. We had a rooftop view of the whole event and took lots of pictures. Andrea is re-introducing herself to her Peugot bike after a layoff of a few years, this was our third ride together. One of our previous rides included a luvly kiss that knocked Andrea off her bike at the crosswalk at Rupert Skytrain. It was kinda funny to see, but poor Andrea's elbow and knee took the brunt of it. Next time she promises to take her foot out of her pedal cage first b 4 any bicycle oriented kissing.



There are certainly pros and cons of living a car free life. Is it any easier than it was five years ago ? Well no it isn't, are we still oriented to the automobile as our main method of transport ? - Well yes we are, even more so I think. Government still see freeway expansion and the subsidisation of the automobile as de facto policy - when we people start to realise the true cost of the automobile ?

Here are five pros of why I still ride:
1. Guilt free commuting - No claustrophobic commuting - seriously bad
2. No clue as to gas prices
3. Awesomely fit body - at least compared to the avg dude my age
4. Appreciation of everything outdoors - weather patterns particularly
5. Reduced my consumption level to bare minimum


Here are five barriers as to why people don't take up the life:
1. Usage of time - readjusting your life to accommodate
2. Safety concerns - even with the cellphone ban - much improved though in Vancouver, not so much in Burnaby
3. Weather - can't do much about this one
4. Social acceptance - still regarded as brave and yet odd
5. Not in good physical condition to begin with


Mid to late spring is the best time to give up your car, you at least have the summer months to get comfortable and buy some decent rain gear that might be on sale.


In a recent post I seemed to be rejecting the car free life and yet a few weeks later I feel more driven and with more purpose to continue it. Maybe something to do with having a hot new g/f who likes to ride :-) It's always fun to share your experiences with someone who appreciates them.


And just so we keep things less than serious here is my main reason for not owning a car - this will never happen to me....