Another Monday: Uphill And Into The Wind

Hot Under The Collar About Things Teyla Branton’s The Cure Continues Th...

Another Monday: Uphill And Into The Wind

This morning I had an objective – or more like a challenge, the personal sort. I rode my bike nine miles just to see if I could do it. Obviously I succeeded, since I’m writing this. I guess you just have to take my word for it that I actually did it. This who know me well know I usually don’t lie but I am prone to exaggerating a bit every now and then. Hey, I’m a writer. It’s what we do.

Anyway, the reason or the personal challenge is two fold. I ride a bike to and from work, so being in shape is important. And since i nixed my car as transportation about four years ago it has been my primary means of transportation – other than hoofing it everywhere. I’ve done a considerable amount of that as well.

Now, you may be asking how I ended up not having a car? Well, it’s one of those long stories but I’ll tell you anyway. In 2008, while I was commenting from Satellite Beach to Kissimmee on a regular basis my 2002 Chevy S10 died. Fortunately, I was close to home when it happened. I drove a rental car for a couple of days – a Chrysler Sebring convertible that got terrible gas mileage in my estimation, though it ws fun riding around wight he top down and the wind in my hair even if it was late March and a little on the chilly side. I recall driving my youngest, Sarah, down to Melbourne Beach with the top down one of those nights, satellite radio blaring, just to get some ice cream. I remember telling her I could get used to driving a convertible.

Having been in car sales a short six months before I looked up a guy I used to work with and we worked up a deal for a silver 2006 Chevy HHR. Sarah and my other daughter Amanda christened it ‘The Rhino’. And for over two year that was my car. Sarah finished high school that year so the reason for staying in Satellite Beach was gone. Amanda was starting her junior year at The University of South Florida. I had just helped my son move to Claremont to attend a branch campus of the University of Central Florida. My ex and I were on the verge of getting a divorce and bankruptcy. So Sarah and I moved to an apartment in Kissimmee which was about a half mile from whee I worked. Shortly thereafter I started having a problem with the HHR.

You see, in the corporate wisdom of General Motors, they cut corners on some things like batteries in newer cars. I’m sure its not just a GM thing. Everyone does it. But here’s what happens when you drive a car like the 2006 Chevy HHR a half mile each way everyday. The battery dies. Why? You need to drive it at least ten miles a day for the undersized battery to fully recharge. Otherwise you must deep charge the battery for fifteen to twenty hours at least once a month. I learned this after researching the issue on The Internet upon the second instance of my battery dying and being told the battery was fine. Because of the antitheft system not he car, the key had to be reprogrammed each time plus the towing charge – so it cost me $170 each time. I was not happy.

I called The dealership. I called Chevrolet. Both told me not to believe everything I read only The Internet. Well, is that why there were over 5000 reported instances of the same thing happening to people? What Einstein automotive engineer determined that on the average people will drive a car at least ten miles a day? Seriously, they designed a car to need to be driven instead of conserving energy, etc.

Anyway, since the bankruptcy was final by then and as long as I kept up with the payments I could continue to drive my car, I had a decision to make. Did I really need the car? Sarah had driven it to work in Orlando until the car’s dead battery feature caused her to lose her job. Yes because she didn’t drive it everyday even driving it 12 miles to Orlando every couple of days wasn’t good enough to charge the battery. So i called the Bank and told them they needed to intervene with GM about the car;s electrical problem or I wasn’t going to continue making payments. They told me it wasn’t their responsibility to fight with the manufacturer over car defects. And if I stopped making car payments they would repo the car.

“Fine, repo it.”

“Well sir, it will ruin your credit.”

“Look, my credit is so bad at this point if you make any entry at all it will probably improve my report.” Yeah, I was being facetious but my credit really was bad.

And so, I bought a bike and began riding to work.

Sarah and Amanda moved to Illinois. I remained living and working in Kissimmee, riding a bike and waiting for the car to be repossessed..and waited….and waited.

I wasn’t able to drive it. The battery was dead. So I cancelled my insurance. The State of Florida threatened to fine me if I didn’t maintain insurance on a registered vehicle. So I turned in my license plate. Not that I really ‘saved’ the money but I had a whole lot more disposable income after not making payments on a car, paying insurance or being gasoline. Such a radical! Why it’s almost un-American not to have a car.

While Sarah still lived with me we rode the bus a lot of places. The service wasn’t great but it got us where we needed to go even if it took all day to get across town and back. Other times my son who had moved closer to the main campus at UCF and started graduate school was able to drive me some places in a pinch.

So that’s how I ended up not having a car, racing a bike or walking everywhere.

Granted, my current situation has only been since May, working where I work and communing smile and a half each way by bike. But since starting I have lost a lot of weight between riding the bike and working a job that requires a lot of physical effort. It’s a good change up fem sitting and writing or editing. I’ve lost some weight – about 60 pounds in the past year, half of it since May.

And today I rode nine miles. And toward the end it felt like it was all uphill and against the wind. Still, I did it.