The End of an Era

On Friday my 1990 Volvo 240 wagon, the only car I’ve ever had and the one I drove across the country in when I moved from Ohio to Oregon in 2004, rolled away on the back of a flatbed tow truck, never to return.

We’ve been through a lot together, my car and I. We traveled about 70,000 miles together in 16 states, DC, and Canada. We had many adventures and perhaps just as many misadventures.

But the epoch of the American road trip as we know it is coming to a close. As the ecological consequences of driving become more apparent, gas prices continue to rise, and city traffic worsens, it’s in the back of all drivers’ minds that this can’t go on forever.

For years I’ve known that my transportation habits would eventually need to change, but as long as I had a functioning car, it was easy to put off.

Now a variety of circumstances have joined forces to create a situation in which my continuing to drive is no longer the path of least resistance:

1. A couple years ago my car (while parked outside my home) was hit by a (presumably drunk) driver, leaving it totaled. The culprit fled the scene and my insurance company told me that I could keep the car (which is still totally drivable) and get a little over $100 or I could relinquish it and get $300. I struggled with making a decision and managed to put off doing so until....

2. My registration recently expired and when I went to the DMV I was informed that in order to re-register my car I would first need to obtain a new title that says that my car is totaled. Doing all of this would be costly and involves more bureaucracy than I care to stomach.

3.Last month I graduated from UO and moved back to Portland, where my husband, Robert, remained for the two years I lived in Eugene. This means I no longer have to make the trip between the two cities, which I was doing about twice a month; I now live in a city with good public transit that runs late enough to be useful to me; and on the occasion that I need to go someplace that's not accessible by public transit or I need to move heavy furniture, I can potentially use Robert's car--there's really no reason why we need to have two cars now.

Shortly after getting settled in my new home I enlisted the help of my friend Cora, one of the more serious cyclists I know, in shopping for a decent used bike for no more than $300 (the amount I will get for relinquishing my car).

We started at the Bike Exchange, where I immediately found a red Raleigh hybrid in my size for $175. I rode it around the parking lot and found that it felt just like the Trek mountain bike that I got when I was 14 and rode until it was stolen about 4 years ago. I liked the bike, but simply don't know enough about bikes to be sure whether it was worth the money or if there was anything wrong with it.

The bike passed Cora's test, but I thought we should look at a few more stores before I made a final decision, and the salesman (I think he was the owner, but am not certain) encouraged us to do so, which I appreciated.

Next we went to the Recyclery. We walked in and the man who was working there walked right past us without acknowledging us. We wandered around for a few minutes unsure of how things were organized. I was looking at a Trek when the man snapped at me "that's not for sale!" I backed away from it, kind of shocked.

A moment later Cora called over to him "is this one for sale?" as she pulled a bike off a stand. "

"No," he replied with a hint of irritation in his voice. "If it has a tag, it's not for sale."

"Well, which ones are for sale?" Cora asked.

"Those ones," he answered, gesturing vaguely in the direction of an area of the shop where a cluster of only three bikes stood.

"That man really did not want to sell us a bike," I said to Cora as we left.

We poked our heads into Clever Cycles, but everything there was new and way out of my price range, so we decided to head over to Citybikes, which we had both heard good things about. I became aware almost immediately that nothing there was in my price range either, and none of it looked used (Robert later explained to me that their bikes are "rebuilt", not "used"). We planned to check out one more shop on Belmont, but couldn't remember exactly where it was, and at that point we were getting sick of shopping.

Cora assured me that I would not be making too hasty a decision if I went ahead and bought the Raleigh, so we went back to the Bike Exchange. When we walked into the shop I noticed a sign that said "Cash Only." It was fortuitous that my Eugene sub-letter had only days before paid his rent to me in cash, and I had not gotten around to depositing it in the bank yet. The man gave me a handwritten receipt so that I could bring the bike back for repairs if I had any trouble (they will fix it for free if anything is needed within two weeks of purchase, but do not accept returns). Cora found a bike seat that she wanted, but didn't have any cash. The man was nice enough to let her take it home and come back to pay for it later. He helped us load the bike onto the rack on the back of Cora's car before we headed next door to Taqueria Los Gorditos. Yum.

A bike mechanic who works out of the garage next to one Robert was moving out of was nice enough to take a look at my new purchase for me. He said that it was in good shape and he probably would have sold it for the same price or maybe a little more. He did mention that it looked like the shop hadn't done anything to it and he offered to oil it up for me.

I've been riding it a few days a week for the last two weeks and so far it is serving me well, though I am still getting my bike muscles back. I was also able to buy lights, a new helmet, and a lock without spending more than I'll get for my car (as soon as the paperwork comes in the mail).

In addition to riding my new bike and walking (which I've always enjoyed doing in this city, especially in the summer) I've also been taking Trimet quite a bit. I can easily get downtown on the 12, the 19, or the 20, which only takes about 10 minutes. It's much less stressful than driving and having to look for a parking space. It's also a huge relief to have multiple bus lines in close walking distance from our NE home, so that if I miss one I can just walk a few blocks and hop on another.

Yesterday afternoon I took the 12 the other direction and went to Trader Joe's (my first sans-car grocery shopping trip since I've gotten to Portland).The online schedule said that it would arrive about 4 minutes earlier than the recording on the Trimet info line did. The latter turned out to be correct.

I decided to get a day pass, as I planned to go out again later, and wanted to continue to familiarize myself with the Trimet system.

Once I reached the store, which was surprisingly crowded for 3pm on a weekday, I quickly realized that I would not be able to carry my groceries if I got everything on my list, but I did manage to get most of it and it all fit into the three bags I had brought with me. They were heavy, but I managed to get them home without dropping anything or injuring myself, though I do have a hickey-like mark on my shoulder from one of the straps. I think I will opt not to wear flip flops next time, and maybe try to find a bag with padded straps.

After cooling off and putting my groceries away, I hopped back on the west-bound 12 and got off at 12th and Couch where I transferred to the 70, which I took to 11th and Belmont. I walked a couple blocks west to the Green Dragon for Beer and Blog.

Afterwards I took the 70 north to Multnomah and walked up to the Rose and Thistle to meet my friend Bonnie for a drink. I was feeling pretty dehydrated at that point and immediately ordered a glass of water before deciding on a cocktail. I've got to remember to carry a water bottle with me, especially during a heat wave like this.

Later Robert met us at Thatch, which was fun, but extremely warm and humid. By the time we left, it had cooled down quite a bit outside and Robert and I had a pleasant walk home.

I really enjoyed my first official car-free day, but I know that once I find full time employment and the warm, sunny weather fades getting around will be neither this leisurely nor this comfortable. But I hope that by that time I will be familiar and comfortable enough doing it that I won't be too miserable. I just have to form new habits and right now I truly have the perfect opportunity to do so.