Adam Pieniazek - Latest Comments in Car-free for nearly a year!

Re: Car-free for nearly a year!

Marina Ricci — Tue, 12 May 2009 19:38:24 -0000

First : congratulations!
You are doing a great favor to our ecological system and the quality of air we breath.
You should try a cruzbike, it is pretty fast, eco-friendly and rather fun to ride.
Thumbs up! More people should follow your example!

Re: Car-free for nearly a year!

AdamPieniazek — Thu, 07 May 2009 11:38:00 -0000

Ditch the car for the T & save $12, 632 http://bit.ly/jN4Bm | Save even more by ditching both and riding a bike! http://bit.ly/3K32U

This comment was originally posted on Twitter

Re: Car-free for nearly a year!

Adam Pieniazek — Mon, 04 May 2009 00:06:18 -0000

Honestly, ditching the car and buying a bicycle had little to do with being environmentally friendly. It is a nice side benefit but really I was after an economical and efficient mode of transportation. When I first took that bike out for a test ride I immediately fell in love with the feeling of fresh air hitting my face, the feeling of speed and control over the vehicle. As I kept riding the independence the bicycle granted me kept me going.

Another big persuasion point was that I became very sick of feeling constrained inside a car and being stuck on a path with the countless other "trapped" souls in their boxes on wheels. I really think of more people gave bicycles an honest chance they'd fall in love with them too.

Re: Car-free for nearly a year!

Sun, 03 May 2009 13:34:23 -0000

That's cool and all, but what I see in this story is that most people don't even consider biking as their main method of transport. You just realized that you could do it all by bike, now was it because of all the "eco" screaming nowadays... I don't know. You just got around opening your mind... nice cars and quick means of transport have been injected into our brains since childhood. Sadly you're only one in a million.

Re: Car-free for nearly a year!

Mark — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 03:47:24 -0000

Sadly you will discover more bike than car theives as it is easier to do as they are frequently left unlocked and to resell the stolen bikes

Re: Car-free for nearly a year!

Cirquelar — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 12:28:58 -0000

I grew up in Quincy and traveled in and out of Boston via the T numerous times. It wasn't until I was 26 that I bought a car; after I moved out of Mass to Ohio. Unfortunately, most cities (Boston, SF, NY excepted) are now poorly connected for public transportation. Here in Albany, NY, there are the remnants of old trolley lines here and there and they used to connect the whole tri-city (Albany, Schenectady, and Troy) region, but now are a morass of cloverleafs and multilanes that are anathema to human pedestrian/cycle traffic. For Boston, carless only makes sense.

Re: Car-free for nearly a year!

Chunky — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 19:20:54 -0000

Thanks man! Honestly,it’s actually easier to get by without a car! if you live in the right city (Boston, New York, San Francisco etc.) ..gr8 effort you had put in this blog..

Re: Car-free for nearly a year!

Adam Pieniazek — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 15:07:47 -0000

True Kristina, a lot of the public transportation in the USA is not very good. But consider that when you're on the train or bus you can read a book or catch up on other work, whereas when you're driving you can't do other things (though I've seen my fair share of people shaving, eating, even reading a newspaper while driving).

Still, if you get a bicycle you can then cut out a lot of those short little car trips, like going to the market that's less than a mile away for a bottle of milk could be instead done via bike.

Thanks Brandon, it's 7 to 8 years, not 78! That would be quite impressive if I was 94, eh? Yeah, I find cars very claustrophobia inducing now and I don't have claustrophobia!

Re: Car-free for nearly a year!

Brandon — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 14:48:26 -0000

That was prolly the most interesting thing i have read in quite some time. I completely understand where you are coming from. When i think about getting in a car it makes me upset to my stomach. I was confused howerver on your 78 year career in driving, that means your 94 lol. im popsitive im missing out on something : )

Re: Car-free for nearly a year!

Kristina — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 14:18:53 -0000

Adam,
I admire and envy you for going car free. I long so much to be able to do that, hence all of the law schools I am applying to are located in areas (with the exception of Vermont Law) with excellent public transportation. I considered doing that here, but in San Diego our public transportation is not so good. A 10 minute drive would take me almost an hour by bus, and the pass per month was more than my gas. It just doesn't make sense. Hooray for you for doing this. The environment thanks you.

Re: Car-free for nearly a year!

AdamPieniazek — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 13:38:35 -0000

If you have a second, please stumble my post about living car-free for a year! http://bit.ly/3K32U Please RT! :-)

This comment was originally posted on Twitter

Re: Car-free for nearly a year!

Berg — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 06:32:13 -0000

I am agree with you! I can say that I sell my car almost 2 months ago and I use a bike to going to work and it is very healthy way.

<abbr>work at home´s last blog post..Ways to Earn Money Online Fast?</abbr>

Re: Car-free for nearly a year!

Adam Pieniazek — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 12:21:44 -0000

Thanks DP! Even if you only sometimes ride your bicycle it's still great exercise and will save you money each time. Keep at it and let me know if you need any tips on how to live carlessly.

Re: Car-free for nearly a year!

DP — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 17:55:08 -0000

Great work done. I really admire your dedication.
I have tried avoiding vehicles for about a month, and just used to run on bicycles. It was really hard. I can feel the troubles you might have faced the whole year. Keep it up. you rock.

Re: Car-free for nearly a year!

Adam Pieniazek — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 11:11:04 -0000

We (all of us) certainly do need to take a close look at our lives and how sustainable they are. For too long many of us have been just living however we wish or can, without thinking about how we should live. I hope you too will spread the message shubhranshu!

Re: Car-free for nearly a year!

Harveen — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 15:48:52 -0000

O my god !! Car free for a year....it will be very difficult for me if this happens here. :(

<abbr>Management Education´s last blog post..sucools Intro</abbr>

Re: Car-free for nearly a year!

John Mc — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 12:54:06 -0000

Welcome to the club!!! I've never owned a car, and enjoy living that way. There are cabs, friends, deliveries and Zipcar when a vehicle is really needed. Of course, if the Boston subway were a little more reliable.....

Re: Car-free for nearly a year!

Adam Pieniazek — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 10:55:26 -0000

Thanks Domy! Honestly, if you live in the right city (Boston, New York, San Francisco etc.) it's actually easier to get by without a car!

Re: Car-free for nearly a year!

Domy Gryfino — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 10:19:12 -0000

Congratulations on sticking to your beliefes. I don't think I'd be able to live completely car-free.

<abbr>Domy Gryfino´s last blog post..Dzia?ki budowlane - B?dgoszcz</abbr>

Re: Car-free for nearly a year!

Adam Pieniazek — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 15:24:30 -0000

Congrats on your upgrade anon!

Right on munca, biking is quite addictive.

Well Jeff, Boston might be a good city to live carelessly in too? We've got a pretty good public hospital (relatively), relatively good public education (especially the exams schools and Umass Boston is a ridiculously good value), and it's small enough that getting around by solely by foot or bike is extremely doable.

I'm with you on the train being better than driving. You can read a book or take care of some work or even take a nap on the train, tasks I would not advise doing while driving, though I've seen it done.

Re: Car-free for nearly a year!

Jeff Egnaczyk — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 13:01:27 -0000

"My transportation related stress decreased significantly, my health improved quite a bit, my wallet is fuller than it would have been and my general happiness has skyrocketed."

Same here. It's funny, when I my eyes cross "carlessly" in your post I keep reading it as "carelessly". I take the commuter rail so that's not exactly the case all the time. I'll take a slow ride on the train over a 30 minute drive on Route 9 any day.

Living without a car in the Boston area is a great lifestyle choice. Nice work.

<abbr>Jeff Egnaczyk´s last blog post..Today's Supposed to be the Day</abbr>

Re: Car-free for nearly a year!

munca — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 09:25:55 -0000

Yes you're right! Walking and riding with bike are good habbits

Re: Car-free for nearly a year!

Anonymous — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 09:24:22 -0000

I am agree with you! I can say that I sell my car almost 2 months ago and I use a bike to going to work and it is very healthy way

Re: Car-free for nearly a year!

Adam Pieniazek — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 10:36:24 -0000

Hmm...the angle and geometry on that silvio model does actually look like it would be a beast going uphill!

I'm actually very intrigued by that silvio model, I'll have to check out where they have it in stock when their site is back up online (see all that traffic I drove them crashed their servers! hehe!). I'm honestly a little skeptical still about the visibility issue, not so much from my end but from the perspective of a person in a car. On a traditional bike, I can stand up on my pedals and extend myself to make sure that drivers in big trucks and buses can see me. Plus, that way it seems I can see further down the road too if need be, whereas my vision might get blocked by an SUV or truck being that low to the ground.

Still, I'm all for new experiences so I'm going to check out that silvio when I get a chance. I'll be sure to let you know how it goes.

P.S. As an amateur economics geek, I'm a big fan of mises.org!

Re: Car-free for nearly a year!

Joseph Huang — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 09:38:20 -0000

a recumbent is faster going downhill, on flat ground, and has higher top speed, but is slightly slower going uphill. if you really care a lot about uphills i recommend the silvio model. unfortuantely their website is down right now... http://web.archive.org/web/... and for images see http://images.google.com/im...

the model i have, the sofrider, puts you about eye level with a regular small car. i have not had any problem with car drivers not seeing me. rear visibility is achieved by using a handelbar, helmet, or eyeglass mounted mirror.

EDIT by Adam: Here's the link to the store for when it does come back online: http://www.cruzbike.com/sil...