My other modes of transportation are my scooter, my feet, the occasional cab, and I’m checking out the car share systems like gocar and connect by hertz (See my previous post about the best car share).  And of course the real question about how my car optional lifestyle he was asking was if I had stuck with it.  After all, it’s not like I sold the car.   Someone who cares about me has it and I could go back to driving it if I gave up this goal.  But I haven’t given up.  In fact quite the opposite, I find that the more I live without my car and change my habits the easier it gets.  I have borrowed it on a couple specific occasions so It’s not like I refuse to drive.  The first was a situation I always planned on… the vet trip.  With a 100 lb older pup his comfort comes first.  He had a trip to the vet last week and I borrowed my old wheels for the trip.  The other instance was when I found a bookshelf on Craigslist that was in Boulder with a “first one who gets here can have it” offer that got me in my car again.  At least I had to bike to get over to where the car was so a little exercise was involved.

My answer was “so far so good”.  The real test will be when the weather changes and I’m not riding a bike or a scooter with the sun keeping me nice and warm.  I do remember riding with freezing rain/snow pelting my face.  I remember arriving at my destination cold and soaking wet.  Brrrrrrr.  But I also remember how nice it was to warm up with a cup of coffee or a glass of wine and feeling the comfortable ache of a well maintained body and soul.  I’ll take exposure to the environment any day.  It gives me an excuse to buy cool winter duds and toys.

I’ll keep you posted on how I do on my car optional journey.  I’ll share the good and the bad.  The wins and the losses.  It’s not all about forcing yourself to bike across the city.  Some of it is about shopping more locally, eating within your own neighborhood, and the occasional cab ride that you probably should do after that second glass of wine anyway.

Cheers all.

Oh, and the second part of my post is from an article in the New York Times this past week announcing that Google is finally getting their bike map application off the ground.  Other sites have tried but I think that only the mighty google will have the user base to get this tool to the level it needs to be.  Soon my journey across Denver to a new destination could be made easier with the right path.  Even better, visiting other cities could become easier with this handy tool.  So give it a try and come back here and let me know how good or bad the Denver bike guide is… and then submit some help to their site to make it better.

Google Bike Maps

Woke up extra early this morning…

Thought this might be a good follow up to my previous post about the Denver car optional lifestyle.

So my new lifestyle is feeling good. I’m speaking of the fact that I gave up my car, rented out both of my two parking spaces, and have decided to get around via foot, pedal, public transportation and scooter (hey, it’s only $1 in gas roughly once a week…. that’s still green to me). I’m also looking into the various car share programs for those emergency situations where a car is needed. I already new about the connect by Hertz program that is being started from the base of SPIRE at 14th and Champa and a friend turned me on to e-Go Carshare. She and her husband share one car which he primarily uses since he doesn’t work downtown like she does. She is a kindred spirit in that we both love traveling in any way except by car. However she sometimes has client trips that require a car so she has the system scoped out. Here is the scoop on rates.

e-Go Carshare

Economy cars are generally older model cars, some of which are manual transmission.  Most of these cars have lock boxes rather than keyfob technology.

Standard cars are newer model cars, such as a Toyota Prius, Honda Fit, or Ford pick-up truck.  All standard cars are automatics and are equipped with keyfob technology.

• Free Wheelin Plan
  • Economy Cars
    • $10 / month
    • $2.50 / hour + 0.30/mile
    • $49 / day
  • Standard Cars
    • $10 / month
    • $4.00 / hour + $0.30/mile
    • $65 / day

• Peace of Mind Plan
  • Economy Cars
    • $0 / month
    • $4.50/hr + $0.30/mile
    • $59 / day
  • Standard Cars
    • $0 / month
    • $6.50 / hr + $0.30 / mile
    • $75 / day

They also have something called a Go Trip if you need a car for a full day or more and includes the first 100 miles for free.  Just check with them for rates.  Also they advertise that Night Owls can rejoice because they don’t charge hourly from 11 PM to 6 AM.  Hmmmmm… does that mean I can  take it from 10 PM until 6 AM and only pay for an hour?  Sounds like a good time to do errands.. that can’t be right can it?  They also have quite a few locations close to me (16th downtown or one in th highlands) so I’m going to have to check them out.

Connect by Hertz

• Connect Plan
  • $50 annual membership
  • $25 application fee
  • 180 free miles per day
  • From $8.00 per hour with free gas
• Connect 50
  • $50 per month, no annual fee
  • $25 application fee
  • 180 free miles per day
  • From $7.65 per hour with free gas
  • $50 driving credit per month
• Connect 125
  • $125 per month, no annual fee
  • $25 application fee
  • 180 free miles per day
  • From $6.80 per hour with free gas

But the magic part of Hertz is that right now you can sign up and have your $75 waived ($50 membership + $25 application).  Since their are just getting ready to open their very first Denver location they are doing this promotion to get new folks signed up.  The code you need to enter is 1886465 and I believe they have it on the big signs right in front of SPIRE.  Of course all new SPIRE residents get this deal to.

So my friend and I were discussing this and it’s kind of nice that you could take advantage of the promotion at Connect by Hertz AND the Peace of Mind plan at e-Go Carshare and have no monthly fee but have options for cars in case an emergency trip comes up.  Since it takes about a week or so to process either application it makes sense to get set up before you need a car, not when you need a car.

So this is the final piece of my car optional lifestyle.  I hardly used my car at all for the past year, renting out both parking spaces just made it official that I didn’t have a car.  I’ve got a new lightweight get around town bike, sold the funky Electra cruiser, and keep my scooter tuned up.  Jenny turned in the lease on her car and is now keeping my truck for her occasional photo shoots out of town and she helps me take my 100+ lb pup Bear to the VRCC Doctor appointments (dog medical appointments are emergencies to me).  So I recycled my car to someone who now doesn’t have a lease payment.  Hmmmmm… what next?  Ah the next post will be about groceries I think.

If you are out there trying to live car optional I hope these tips help.  I’ll keep you posted on what my first car optional year is like.  It’s easy to scoot and bike in the summer months but this winter I think you will find me exploring some new winter bike gear.  Brrrrr… I think I’ll just enjoy the summer. I had some easy rain scoots the last couple days that reminded me that the weather will not always be so perfect.  It’s okay, I’ve braved worse storms.

If you are thinking about making the switch I will share one more observation.  I see the world so much more clearly from two wheels.  When I am biking around town (my favorite choice) it’s much slower, much more tactile.  The scooter feels the same way and their is no chatting on the phone, sending texts, or other distractions.  I might catch myself observing the scenery but that’s about as distracting as it gets.  What you also notice is how many folks are drifting in their lanes or driving dangerously while they chat on their phones and text or worse.  I did it.  I remember trying to discipline myself to stop.  But when that phone rings everyone answers it.  For most people its all about business.  I’ll have to do a post about this thought later as well but it’s funny to think about how technology changes us.  I saw a history excerpt from the 70s or 80s discussing how technology was going to make our lives easier and give us more leisure time with family and friends.  Nope.  It just brought out the competition in everyone to get more work done every second of every day.   Pbbbbbbbbtttttt.  It took me getting out of my car to see how dangerous that can be on the road.  And if you are missing the scenery when you drive what are you missing in your life by being constantly distracted?

Enjoy your weekend Denver.  Just some thoughts.