Officially car and van free....a new life begins!

For my commute, when it rains I put on a raincoat and trousers and arrive home dry and exhilarated. Riding in the rain even for hours I enjoy enormously. It is a mindset I am trying to say. Hiking in the rain is special as well. Better than buses...
Yes I know that feeling well....drizzly stuff meh..not quite heavy enough to garb up but just enough after hour or so to be soaked bores me but the kinda rain that's torrential I just give in and enjoy it 😆
 
I treat my commute like a time trial so i'm usually caning it, i do it to maintain some fitness cos i don't like the thought of having to exercise, I've had loads of waterproof jackets over the years (mainly outdoor gear) i've been using a Gore Wear Shakedry for the last 4yrs, it's f'kin amazing, breathable too with next to no boil in the bag effect but it was horrendously expensive even in the sale, it's patched here and there with Tear-Aid from when i've come off on the ice, works well as a windblocker too.
I wear a jersey underneath, a pair of Showers Pass track pants (i don't do lycra, never have for erm.. style reasons 😁) and some Gore Converse.. these..
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They're absolute garbage at keeping your feet dry, they're fully gore lined.. apparently??
Ive got a little oil filled radiator from Argos at work which i use to get the pants and pumps dry before i ride home, Oh and a lip-lock bag with spare pants and socks
 
Bizarre timing! As of Monday I have also been car free.

Since ive retired ive been doing 7 or 800 miles a year, and having an X5 M50i sst there gathering dust represented a huge investment just doing nothing more than depreciating, so it went while it was still worth something. Little chqnge for me as I was cycling everywhere anyway.

Mrs Chopper is disabled, uses a stick to walk - and on bad days a wheelchair - so she's retained a car, but she's sold her Volvo and just bought a Mini Electric, a rare "collection" model in Cooper S trim.

I'm enjoying not having the hassle of paying car tax, MOT, servicing, and all the rest of it, and Mrs Chopper is enjoying not visiting petrol stations any more, particularly as our only local station in the next village is about to close.
 
I keep getting a shock when I open the gate out of my place and there's a car park space....wonder if I could rent it out?
Agreed so few miles....road tax,mot, ins,fuel, depreciation....add it up ....book a limo works out cheaper!
 
Id already started using the train earlier this year to go visit my Dad darn sarf. Not only did it cost no more than the fuel to drive, it was usually quicker and a lot less stressful.

And it also gave me a an excuse to buy another bike, this time a folder (a Carrera Intercity Disc 9, after reading every single Road.cc folding bike review and discovering the ID9 scored higher than any other - I can heartily recommend it)
 
Car stress....this also something that has rumbled through my mind. I think it's kinda latent...all the little things add up it's tolerated but but definitely there.
Fear it gets scratched,dented, stolen,runs out of fuel cant find a place to park,traffic jams making you late, where are my effing keys! or deep psyche stuff like my cars shit and I'm embarrassed about it in a keeping up with the Jones's style...

Anyone else got anything to add on car stresses?

Essentially the car industry keeps selling us an unreal dream....freedom ....find new undiscovered places etc...be this person if you drive this...it's definitely be pumped into our brains from a young age....
 
Car stress - even when it's going well, even when you are ablemtompark, when it passes its MOT first time, when the service doesn't find anything else needing attention, it's still and expensive stress.
 
Car stress:
'Dad! Can you give me a lift to...?'

'Dad! Can you bring me back at ... [some later hour]?'

And if the answer is, 'No', the follow up is some version of, 'But I'm a weak and delicate female who will be in danger if I have to make my own way back from this party/event/shop that I absolutely must go to.'

Or is that daughter stress?
 

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