This Christmas I had the special privilege of giving away my car. Not exactly as a gift, but a variety of circumstances has led me to be car free in SLC.
I have some advantages that make a car free life more carefree. My work commute is a punishing 9 second early morning stumble from the bedroom to the office at the other end of our tiny little hallway. I work from home three days and carpool with two other guys from the neighborhood once a week. No problems there. It seems like recreating will be the greatest challenge.
On day three of car-lessness, I decided to go backcountry skiing. It was a bright sunny day and the Wasatch had just received the best belated Christmas present I can think of: snow… and lots of it. So I strapped my skis to my backpack and hopped on my bike and started riding up toward the closest ski-able terrain near Mount Olympus. It took just over an hour to ride up to the trail head. After clamping into my boots I was ready to put on my skis when I realized I'd forgotten my poles. Now, if I had driven up there I would have thrown my gear back in the car, raced home, grabbed my poles and been back in less than 30 minutes. Without the car, I found myself coasting back down to my house feeling just a little dejected. I cracked open some milk and cookies and watched football for the rest of the afternoon instead.
I ride my bike to the grocery store and am granted a wooden nickel by loading up my panniers instead of using plastic bags. It’s amazing how darn close the grocery store actually is. I ride to the climbing gym and the 15 minute cruise becomes a perfect warm up. My room mates make fun of my fancy rigging of my x-country skis to the sides of my bike rack. Which by the way, is a much better way to go than having them act as sails on the backpack. I even have a new front and rear light for evening jaunts to dinner with friends.
So far everything about not owning a car has been great! I’ll keep you posted for when I need a ride to Indian Creek.
spent many years car/carefree. Try running the skis along the top tube, secured with bungees- i have done it that way. ALso carried a xmas tree, vacuum cleaner, and typewriter (what's a typewriter?) by bike. NOt at the same time, though. THat's a juggling act.
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