We've been car-free for almost two months now, and it has gone pretty well. The weather in Madison hasn't been as cold as it has been in Utah, but it hasn't been as warm as last years non-winter either. We've continued to add to our collection of snow gear to keep ourselves warm, but it is mostly stuff we would have had to buy anyway. We've been lucky that there hasn't been too many snowstorms, because those can be hard to ride in and can leave the roads tricky for days afterward, especially since they avoid using much salt on the roads here for fear that it will pollute the lakes.
We're still considering better options for hauling the kids, but our cheap trailer has done pretty well and the kids have gotten more used to it and wearing their helmets. Most of the time I (Tim) am hauling the trailer, but Cait has successfully pulled it too, on the new bike that she got (her "Call the Midwife" bike, she calls it). Drivers in Madison have been very courteous and we've avoided any close calls on the road so far. We're proud of sticking with it, and have only borrowed a ride twice (once before Cait had a bike and once when Cait went to Costco).
Not having a car has made doing errands a little bit harder, including necessitating more frequent trips for groceries and such, but more frequent trips have their upsides too. It's great to hop on my bike, cruise down to Whole Foods, sans bike trailer, pick up one or two things, and not having to scrape off the car window or feel like a chump for driving, polluting and wasting gas for sour cream and some salad greens.
This probably comes off as boasting, but that's okay. We're pretty proud of going car-free at the coldest time of year in one of the coldest parts of the country with two kids and making it just fine.
Here's some pictures of us going to church, on one of the coldest mornings so far.
We're still considering better options for hauling the kids, but our cheap trailer has done pretty well and the kids have gotten more used to it and wearing their helmets. Most of the time I (Tim) am hauling the trailer, but Cait has successfully pulled it too, on the new bike that she got (her "Call the Midwife" bike, she calls it). Drivers in Madison have been very courteous and we've avoided any close calls on the road so far. We're proud of sticking with it, and have only borrowed a ride twice (once before Cait had a bike and once when Cait went to Costco).
Not having a car has made doing errands a little bit harder, including necessitating more frequent trips for groceries and such, but more frequent trips have their upsides too. It's great to hop on my bike, cruise down to Whole Foods, sans bike trailer, pick up one or two things, and not having to scrape off the car window or feel like a chump for driving, polluting and wasting gas for sour cream and some salad greens.
This probably comes off as boasting, but that's okay. We're pretty proud of going car-free at the coldest time of year in one of the coldest parts of the country with two kids and making it just fine.
Here's some pictures of us going to church, on one of the coldest mornings so far.
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| The plastic cover goes down for wind blocking |
I am proud of y'all for wearing helmets :) And your kids in helmets is the cutest thing I have ever seen. Nathan says being car-free is liberating, but I am too afraid to ever try it! It's nice to read your perspective though and hear the reality of living a car-free life with kids.
ReplyDeleteSO LIBERATING. I need to post on this sometime too, because I love it. Between renting and being car-free and having excellent health insurance and having no debt, our money just pretty much accumulates and we won't have any unexpected expenses that could drain our savings (I guess unless one of us gets arrested, or we get sued?). It is SO liberating to not have to worry about getting in a wreck or getting the oil changed or needing repairs. Plus, you feel totally kickass when you are hauling your kids around town when it's 5 degrees outside and everyone is happy and cozy.
DeleteThat's my favorite blanket! I'm jealous you have it, but happy it's being put to good use... :)
ReplyDeleteOur bike trailer is red and our BOB is orange, so it matches both perfect! (and yes, we use it every day, we need to buy another but it's amazing how pricey wool blankets are)
DeleteI used to take that blanket to marching band competitions and may or may not have had some fun with boys under it... mwahahaha... :)
DeleteI can't wrap my head around this. You have two babies and no car. In Madison. You know...I'm just going to go back to 2008, start from there, and get entirely too intimate with the lives of (freakin' fascinating) perfect strangers in the way that only a blog will allow. I'm looking forward to it.
ReplyDeleteKudos to you guys. This is just great. We have gone car-free several times during our marriage, but it has always been when we were living overseas. We'd have to carefully choose a city if we wanted to do it in the U.S.
ReplyDeleteThis sure brings back some great memories, though. You've probably already considered it, but in Italy we had great bike seats for our kids. Our 1-year-old rode on one that attached to the front, and our 3-year-old was in a bigger one on the back. They were interchangeable between our bikes, so it gave us a lot of flexibility. My husband would even ride sometimes with both of them on his bike. He also sometimes put the baby in the didymos on his back while riding. We had a pretty awesome set of saddlebags and baskets too, so we could carry quite a few groceries. It was such a fun time. Here are some pictures where you can see the seats: http://familiafamily.com/80_family_photos_odds_ends_5.html.