It's a great irony that I don't need a car for my daily life, but I need one for bicycle racing. All of the daily mundane tasks - commuting to work, food shopping at Trader Joe's, delivering packages, seeing friends, and trips to the city - are all perfectly doable with some combination of walking, public transit, and (mostly) cycling.
So, in the sixth month here in Rainy California, Jane and I finally broke down and bought a car. It's a 1999 Subaru Outback, red, with 108K miles - and a recently replaced head gasket, very important for this model! The sole purpose of the car is recreational travel. The current estimate is 5000 miles of use per year, which means that here in California, it could last forever. (It also means that I'll cycle about twice as much as I drive in a year.) At 26 MPG on the highway it's not particularly efficient, but fuel sippers are at least double the cost. The best ways to save fuel are to drive less and carpool more!
So, for the first time ever, I'm not completely dependent on other people or car rentals to get to races. This gives me much more flexibility in the races I can do. With Jane racing too, almost every trip is a carpool. We'll see how things go.
Now I just need to think of a really clever vanity plate for it...
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