After 5 Years With a Car, I’m Still a Bicyclist First

Five months into the COVID-19 pandemic, I got a call. The voice said, “We’re getting rid of this car. If you want it, it’s free, but you’ll have to come and get it now.” After 15 years without a car,  I was ready to be able to buy a watermelon, visit relatives out of town without “riding the pooch” (taking the Greyhound bus), and go places when it was rainy or cold or hot without suffering the consequences of biking in Mother Nature. I found a friend willing to wear a mask too, so we bit the bullet and drove a couple of hours to get the car. We didn’t die. So, five years ago, I returned home with a used but working vehicle. I could no longer call myself car-free.

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8/8/2025: Some Ghost Bikes in Austin, Texas

A lack of inspiration and bicycle newsworthy items has me a bit stymied. But except for last month’s post on 7/11 (the date, not the 7-Eleven convenience store in the southern US), I’ve been writing a post on the date where the month and the day match for a while. So, to keep that going here’s a pictorial of the number of recent ghost bikes with some thoughts that I have passed by on my daily rides around town.

(Come back later, I hope to have added some more photos and comments.)

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