Photo By: Pioneer Library System
For the past year, I have participated in a few 30 Days of Biking events. I truly love participating in these events and it reminds me of how much I love cycling. Lately, I have thought about my days in Chicago. My bicycle was my only means of transportation and it was incredibly liberating. I began to wonder how that experience would work in Oklahoma City, where car is king. I know car-free people who get around Oklahoma City just fine, but they have a 9 to 5, Monday through Friday schedules and are near bus routes. I neither work a 9 to 5 schedule nor have bus routes available. After I first returned to Oklahoma City after years in Chicago, I thought going car-free would be impossible. Now that I feel more comfortable cycling in Oklahoma City, I feel like it might just be possible and enjoyable to be car-free. So, I thought a fun experiment would be to attempt a month of car-free living right here in the Wild West.
During the month of August, I will put down my car keys and gear up my bicycle. I may use some public transportation to see how multi-modal trips work. But, if you know anything about Oklahoma City bus transportation, this could be a challenge. I do have to make two car-ride exceptions to this grand scheme in August. Both exceptions will require that I ride in a car to attend but I think the spirit of my experiment will remain intact. The first is that I need a car ride to participate in my first century ride in over a decade. The second is a concert in Tulsa (and my girlfriend would kill me if I missed it).
So, during the month of August, I will be blogging and tweeting about the experience and what I learn along the way. You can follow my tweets about my experiment @okcbicyclist under #carfreeokc. Please let me know if you have any tips or questions about this little endeavor. I hope to see you out on the road …
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Good luck, I know you can do it! I know what you mean about relying on our Metro Transit system, as I have attempted to use the bus system in the past. It is woefully inadequate. Fortunately, NW Oklahoma City is easy enough to navigate for basic needs with a bicycle. I have more trouble finding decent places to lock up my bike than anything else, as bike racks are few and far between.
Great post, and goal!
[...] was planning on writing a recap of my car free in Oklahoma City experiment every week, but last week was extremely busy so a two-week summary will have to do. To be [...]
[...] Bag Tweet Posted on August 3, 2011 in Area News, Miscellaneous, Product ReviewsSo far in my little experiment, I’ve really only been bicycling between home and work, which isn’t really a big change [...]