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<\/p>\nfrom BikeSkirt by Elisa
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First, apologies (again) for my absence in posting. Things are so busy with work<\/a> and Bici<\/a> that when I get home I have nothing left in me to write. I do miss you all, and am hopeful that things slow down soon.<\/p>\n Last week, I celebrated 2 big days\u2026my 31st Birthday and my one year anniversary of being car free<\/a>! It was any other day\u2026riding around to meetings and friends houses. Nothing special about the day, in fact it practically came and went before I remembered.<\/p>\n What has being car free taught me?<\/p>\n That my friends rock. When it rains, when I need a ride home from the Greyhound station, when I need to borrow a car to head to a conference 2 hours away\u2026they always show up. It is amazing.<\/p>\n That Birmingham\u2019s public transport really does suck. In one year I have yet to take it. The reason? I can\u2019t figure the damn thing out! The maps are all separate and trying to get from one end of town to the next takes hours and multiple bus transfers (on a less than timely bus \u201cschedule\u201d). For those people who don\u2019t even have bikes, I am not sure how they do it.<\/p>\n That the hottest summer in history makes for a lot of sweaty meetings. Seriously, I spent most of the summer wiping sweat from my brow while talking to people about food security!<\/p>\n That I can eat as much food and drink as much beer as I want and not worry. Sure, I have gained some weight, but I still look the same (muscle weight, baby!) and feel great.<\/p>\n That your gas costs go down, but your food intake goes WAY up. I eat so much food.<\/p>\n That I am not sure I ever want a car!!<\/p>\n Thanks everyone for all of your support. This year has been great and terrible and I never regret selling my car. Freedom!!!<\/p>\n