I am officially a bike commuter
As I was biking home from work down Main Street in Richmond, Indiana, a car passed by, and the passenger yelled “Sidewalk” at me. I have angered the car commuters with my presents on the road, thereby, making me an official bike commuter.
To be honest, I am a part-time bike commuter, only biking to work two or three times a week, but I have really enjoyed it more than I thought possible. This is actually my second attempt at bike commuting and has been more successful by far. Two summers ago, I borrowed Hopi Stosberg’s recumbent bike and fell in love; however, I was never able to motivate myself to bike to work on a regular basis. If it was hot, cold, wet, windy, too sunny, too cloudy, or a heavy traffic day, I wouldn’t bike.
However, this April Matt found a fabulous purple commuter style bike at a yard sale, and $30 later it was mine. The bike came with a three-speed internal hub, rusty nearly unusable brakes, a very cute but very uncomfortable seat, a great purple paint job, fenders, dry-rotted skinny tires, wheels that were wildly out of true, and a chain guard.
With the help of Matt, a friend who moonlights as a bike mechanic, the local bike shop, and one guilty trip to walmart at 9:30pm my bike is in usable condition. To make it more fun and functional, I bought a cute wicker basket that attaches to my handle bars with a quick release. I love this basket, and it allows me to carry everything from my knitting to my lunch with me easily.
Another important purchase was my new seat. While the seat that came with the bike was purple and very classically styled, it was quite uncomfortable. With the help of the guys at Cycling & Fitness warehouse, I picked out a comfy women’s specific seat. It took some getting used to, but now it is very comfortable.
All-in-all this has turned out to be a great bike, and it has inspired me to bike more and more often. While I sitll think having a recumbent bike someday would be great, this yard sale gem came along at just the right time.
July 28th, 2009 at 8:27 pm
Congratulations on finding the right tools and the right discipline to do this, Becky. Keep it up!
(And I will look for your presents on the road – I hope they are wrapped!)
Chris
August 29th, 2009 at 7:48 pm
Congratulations, Becky!
Recumbents are very comfy for long trips, but they can have their downsides, too. The long exposed changes require more maintenance, and can increase the chance of getting grease on your pant leg. Also, the big comfy seats aren’t ideal for leaving a bike chained up outside all day when it could rain. They can be like a big sponge, and take days to dry out.