After all I come from a long line of bikers, both my grandparents where avid cyclists. My grandfather biked around Europe and my grandmother around Scotland. My incredible Uncle Ron biked from British Columbia to Ontario in 2005 and from Ontario to Newfoundland in 2008. We’d save a heap of money, significantly decrease our carbon footprint and get into wicked shape. So in May we sold the car and then Odum promptly left for a 4 day conference 6 hours away, leaving me with 2 kids under 3 without a car. Timing eh?!

I was of course scared shitless. We have two kids, two under 3. Was it going to be difficult doing everyday errands like grocery’s? What about getting to appointments? The nice thing about where we live right now is that we’re close to everything. The grocery store is a ten minute walk; I can see it from our bedroom window. The library which we go to once a week is about a 15 minute bike ride and actually it’s quicker to bike to than it is to drive to. (Waterloo has some great biking and walking trails.) Our favorite park, complete with splash pad, mini zoo, pond and two great playgrounds is a ten minute bike ride. The furthest we had to bike was to Tristan’s speech therapy appointments which is a 30 minute bike ride and to the doctors which is about forty minutes. The great thing about Odum being a Master’s student is how flexible his schedule is. Whenever we needed to go somewhere far we always went together until I felt comfortable on my own.

It’s now 7 months later and its one of the best decisions we’ve made.The secret to our success is our equipment. If you’re considering going carless and can afford to, spend the money and get a decent bike. Both Odum and I have hybrids, a cross between a mountain bike and road bike. They’re great for on the road and the few times we’ve off-roaded it on trails. Our bikes are comfortable and the gears work well which also makes biking enjoyable.

We did lots research on bike trailers for the kids and got a top of the line one. Obviously my biggest concern was their safety and I wasn’t willing to comprise on the trailer. We have a Chariot and I love it. Easily my favorite purchase ever! It’s roomy, has a storage area, and is easy to pull. Keep in mind I’m small, 4’11” and 100lbs on a good day. So me saying it’s easy to pull 2 kids weighing about 50lbs is saying something. The best thing about the Chariot is it can come with many attachments. It can easily change into a stroller, a jogging stroller, you can even get a harness for yourself and hike with it or cross country ski. I think one of the best things about using the chariot has been not having to wrestle the kids in and out of car seats and then into strollers. All I do is take the bike hitch off and put in the strolling which takes about 2 minutes for this unhandy mom. It’s great! Chariot carriers are also 100% free of harmful phthalates and are 99.7% PVC free and they’re made in Canada.

I’m really proud of our decision to go carless. We’ve saved so much money on insurance, maintenance, parking and gas. Best of all we’ve decreased our carbon footprint considerably. We only rented a car three times and that was to run errands we couldn’t have done on bikes or go on long trips. Both of us also got into great shape, I was either biking or jogging with the kids in the Chariot everyday.

We will get another car, hopefully in January, with all of Tristan’s therapy appointments we kind of have to. I can’t bike with the Chariot in the snow, and it’d be too cold. And there’s no way I’d take Tristan on the bus, that’s a whole other post! And I don’t think Tristan will cooperate in the Chariot next year, he’s just started to rebel against it now. But we’ve had such a great experience I think we’ve both become aware of how unnecessary having a car in the city is. And I think we’ll both be much more aware of not driving if it’s not a necessity or planning better if we do need to take a car out.

For me getting rid of the car felt like a big risk to take, but I’m glad I did. Whenever I get back from a ride I feel energized and like I’ve done something great for our planet by having one less car on the road. I’ve set an example for my children, and I hope one day they enjoy biking as much as I do.

We’re also not the only family to go carless, here is another family that took the Carless Challenge. So how about you? Are you up for the challenge?

1. Wear a helmet

I know, I know the hair. But how great will your hair look on a cracked head? The key is a hairstyle that works with the helmet. If I know I’m going riding I’ll wear my hair down, or just bangs back. A ponytail is not comfortable. And have fun with it, I have a pink helmet because it’s my favorite colour.

2. Keep your mouth closed (or open as little as possible)

Open mouth + big June bug = extreme grossness. Please trust me on this!

3. Wear sunglasses

First of all it will take some attention off the helmet if you’re wearing those big Jackie O style glasses. People will understand that not only are you smart for wearing a helmet but you have style. It will also protect your eyes from any stray pebbles and other various debris.

4. Ride on the road, not the sidewalk

Odum had a bit of trouble convincing me of this one, especially if I’m towing the kids. It just seems safer to be as far away from the cars as possible when I have the kids. But if you ride on the road cars treat you as a vehicle, if you’re on the sidewalk they may not see you until you’re eating bumper. Think about it, when you’re making a right turn in the car how often do you look to the right for pedestrians crossing the road? I can’t tell you how many times I’ve almost been smoked when I’ve been walking across the road. When you’re on the road you’re part of the traffic flow.

5. Get a pair of bike shorts

Now I really should follow my own advice on this one. I still have yet to get a pair of bike shorts. I’m just having a hard time with the thought of spending around $80 on spandex shorts. But after our first long ride (and now even after a quickie) my butt and my lower back were just killing me. Odum definitely got the last laugh on this one (I was quick to tease him on his tighty tights!).

So when I first suggest the idea of selling our car I was greeted with a quick and firm response of “never gonna happen”. Well, here we are, four months later, without a car and I can honestly say much happier because of it. At first even thinking about living without a car seemed practically impossible, especially with kids, but we found out quickly that it is quite the opposite.

Here are seven sure fire reasons to get you started thinking that you can live without your car.

1. Save a ridiculous amount of money

According to CAA’s 2009 Driving Costs Guide, the average annual cost of owning and operating a vehicle can range from just under $8000 to upwards of $14,000. Obviously these numbers will change based on factors like how much you drive, what kind of car you drive and if your vehicle is paid off. To determine how much your vehicle is costing you check out CAA’s guide and follow the formula given, you might be in for a real shocker.

2. Guaranteed to shed off unwanted fat and get you in better shape

After trading in that gas guzzler for some pedal power you can get used to the fact that you’ll be constantly burning up tons of calories. If you live a 15 minute bike ride from your work and you travel at a moderate pace of 20 km/h and weight in at a modest 160 pounds, you’ll be burning almost 1500 calories a week just from commuting to and from work. That’s shedding just under a pound a week! And you can be sure you’ll be doing much more cycling than just going to and from work. Check out this calorie counter to see how much you’d burn each week.

3. Learn to do things and plan much more efficiently

Unfortunately bicycles don’t have the capacity to transport large loads like trunks and back seats can. So often a little bit of thought needs to go into planning your weekend errand runs. Having to go from one part of town to another and then back again because you forgot that one thing you must have right now can be a real pain.

4. Often get to places just as fast as or even faster than you would by driving

Sure you might be laughing thinking this can’t be true, but just think about it for a minute. If you live in a major urban centre (like a large portion of today’s population does), how many times driving home from work do you get stuck in rush hour traffic, traffic jams, construction, or a string of never ending red lights? Nothing brings a smile to my face more than cruising past car after car as they are all stuck in traffic while I get home 10 minutes after I shut down my computer at the office…every day.

5. Significantly lower your carbon footprint

The average car will pump out around 11,000 pounds of CO2 a year, yikes! This number increases significantly if you are driving a huge gas burner like an SUV or pick-up truck. I won’t even get into all the other pollutants that cars spew out into our atmosphere.

6. Healthier grocery shopping

A nice habit that you just might find yourself picking up is limiting your groceries to only the essential (and healthy) foods. Because you are limited by the amount you can carry back with you, even with a nice pannier, often there is a choice to be made.  Do I buy my milk, eggs and bread or do I leave them behind to make room for the tub of ice cream, cookies and frozen pizza?

7. Actually enjoy getting around

Maybe one of the most underrated and least talked about point when it comes to getting a bike. Cycling is fun, really fun. And addictive. Once you get into it you’ll find yourself falling in love all over again. Say goodbye to traffic jams and parking frustrations and hello to fun, healthy commuting. Don’t be surprised if after a month of cycling you’ll be itching to get out there and challenge Lance for the title at the tour!

And remember, if you need to get to some place out of town or just want to go on a trip somewhere, renting a car is always a great option. Many rental places have low fixed rates for weekend car rentals and they’ll even pick you up and drop you off.

So what’s your excuse for keeping your car?