Car Free - A Journal
We’re going two weeks without the car. Here’s the journal/diary/cliff notes.
Day 1 (July 4) Weigh your groceries
Rode to Crossfit and back with a preliminary stop at Aldi to buy a fan.
We biked to Aldi with Buster to begin to refill our pantries. You’re much more aware if what you’re buying if you have to bike it home. One watermelon is okay, two starts to get overwhelming. Wondering if we’re going to adapt to a more European style of smaller, more frequent food trips.
Day 2 (July 5) Pedestrian Friendly
To Crossfit and back. We split up on the way back with Ginnie heading to the vet for Mocha meds, and Buds swinging by to grab some java. The vet is close to downtown, so a little bit of a stressful drive in the car; the bike was a morning delight. Traffic is still light from yesterdays holiday. Ginnie got a high five from the vet tech when she realized she’d biked there.
Buds had a run-in with a driver who wasn’t looking left. It might be time to start wearing the idiot-prevention vest (with mistakes being the human condition, it’s better to be safe than stylish). Another reminder that the driver who hits us would be very sorry. But their sorrow is irrelevant in the aftermath.
The great asset of biking in the city is that drivers are mostly moving slowly, are more relaxed (in a good way), and are aware that they’re in a busy environment with shared spaces.
The city has been building pedestrian friendly improvements into the roads as they resurface. One I noticed this day was bumpouts on East Ave. These traffic calming devices narrow the space between sidewalks so that pedestrians have less far to go when crossing the street. Ty Rochester.
Day 3 (July 6) Take the Lane!
Ginnie drove the car to get Moxie’s wisdom teeth removed. The errands are starting to pile up. Milk is low, books must be fetched from the MCC bookstore 30 mins away and post wisdom teeth meds are required.
We biked to Aldi again. We’re occasionally supporting another young family with some grocery help. This meant filling in a few of the chinks in our pantry and grabbing some bulk supplies for them.
On the way back, Gin suggested we “take the lane” for the final trip over the highway to our neighborhood. This means riding in the car lanes. It may seem dangerous but drivers are polite and offers real advantages in making sure you are seen.
The longer we bike, the more able we are to recognize intersections that are more hazardous than others. In some cases, we avoid them altogether. When we can’t; taking the lane instead of the sidewalk is often the safest approach.
Day 4 (July 7) Rain
We rode to Crossfit again today. We had a thunderous great rain today but no attempts to bike in it. What will we do when the rain comes?
Day 5 (July 8) Running Errands
A busy day of errands. Public market, compost, weed wacking at the cottage.
There were feels today; good and bad. On the way to the market, we’d go through these patches of incredible floral fragrance. The city is a’bloomin. Later in the day I waved “slow down” at a Jeep that was gunning it from stop sign to stop sign. This caused her to roll down the window and scream her way down the street past Ginnie. “Just ride your forkin’ bike!”
You bet.
At the market we gathered materials for a dozen righteous gazpachos.
Twas only $53.
Finally there was a quick trip to the cottage to weed whap.
Five days in, we’re liking our experience.
