[Author’s note: This blog has multiple authors. Please note that Shaun is not Erin.] Like many before us we are going to take the plunge and attempt to live without a car. Currently we live in the city of Denver (well, Englewood if you must know). For those of you that have never been: the greater Denver area loves cars and hates pedestrians…
  • Roads (not the highways) are huge, generally 4 to 6 lanes with high (40+) speed limits.
  • We don’t have enough sidewalk. There are many places where they just kinda peter out, are weirdly narrow, or just plain don’t exist.
  • The city is very spread out. Land is cheap here, and that means we really don’t need to crowd together much.
On the other hand we do, at least, have some bike trails.

We’ve wanted to go carless for a while. There are a bunch of obvious reasons to go this route: health, wealth, general stress reduction (road rage, accidents, fighting with insurance companies, etc, etc), and the simple joy of trying something new.

So here is the plan…
  1. Purchase an electric bicycle kit.
  2. Attach it to our existing bicycle.
  3. Attempt not to use the car for a few (2 or 3) months.
  4. If that goes well: sell the car and purchase a second electric bike for my wife.

There will be some interesting challenges. We run a laundromat for a living, and we absolutely must shop at Costco at least once a month for heavy and bulky supplies. I think we can manage something. Fortunately weather isn’t much of a concern here in Denver as it doesn’t rain here much and — barring the occasional storm that disrupts automotive travel just as badly — the snow isn’t that bad either. There is also the inescapable fact that bicycle helmets look really dorky, I mean, yeesh. Don’t even get me started about the pants.

We are thinking electric bike for a few reasons.
  • Its easier to stick with a new exercise regimen if you ease into it.
  • I am by no means an exercise nut.
  • I don’t want to arrive at work sweaty.
  • We have to haul stuff sometimes, some help would be nice.
  • Electric bike! Neat!
  • The engineer in me wants to convert it to a hydrogen fuel cell bike. Neat!
  • I’m thinking solar panel charger. Neat!
  • Um…. Neat!

I’ll let you know how things go…