Response to SDNN’s The Great Bike Experiment

We’ve responded to Chris Nixon’s summary of his first week living car-free in San Diego. Below is a copy of our response.

I applaud you and your wife’s attempt in going car-lite in September. As one of Bike San Diego’s authors, my husband and I are car free and live happily year round without an automobile. In fact throughout our 10 year relationship, we’ve never owned an automobile.

Both my husband and I shop at farmers markets and at the Ocean Beach Coop. Living in North Park, the ride to the coop is about one hour one way. But the ride is very pleasant and we stock up on a month’s worth of staples using panniers. Panniers are your friend if you plan on ditching the car. Additionally do not forget that there are also options like trailers made by Burley.

For example, this past weekend we hauled over 50 lbs of fruits and vegetables with no problem from the farmers market to our home. It is true that biking to purchase food requires planning, but it is no different than driving. Prior to driving you have to ensure that you have enough gas, that your tags haven’t expired that you have your car keys and that your feet are not numb.

I’m glad you and your wife have such short commutes. Since you don’t have access to a shower at work, you can try what I do: keep a nice supply of perfumed lotions at work along with wet wipes or wash clothes.

While public transportation is a nice fall back option, you may eventually find that biking is actually a quicker way to get to your destination. If SDSU’s policy doesn’t favor bicycles, perhaps Lisa could use this experiment as an opportunity to ask for better facilities to encourage bicycling on SDSU’s campus.

As for emergencies, I recently had to be admitted to an emergency room in a hospital. How did we deal with this from a car-free perspective? By utlilzing one of the many services available to urbanites: taxi services. My husband called one, and we had a taxi at our doorstep in less than 5 minutes. We were at the hospital and my husband didn’t have to worry about parking, but instead could focus on comforting me while I got treated. Also remember, ambulances are available for really drastic situations. Emotionally unstable people shouldn’t be on the roadways anyway.

Again, I applaud your attempt to go car free. Feel free to contact me or check in with Bikesd.org to see how others live, work and enjoy their lives on a bike in San Diego.

Readers, do you have suggestions or words of encouragement for Chris Nixon? If you do, please let Chris know.