Posts Tagged ‘commuter’

I don’t think bike commuting helps make friends in every city or community but it sure helps here.  Using my bike almost exclusively for transportation in the city of Memphis makes me a bit of a novelty.  Given that midtown Memphis is a pretty diverse place and there are a lot of bike commuters, I’m also not hated for being one that impeeds traffic.

Almost everywhere I go, people talk to me about commuting on a bike.  I have people at intersections roll down their window, usually to ask me a question about why I’m out on a bike.  I just started at a new gym and while very few people want to talk at 6:30am, the fact that I walk in wearing a bike helmet seems to be a great conversation starter.  Sure, most conversations center around the weather for that day but at least people feel compelled to interact with me.  These situations just confirm my belief that bike commuting makes for stronger communities by stimulating people to interact with each other.

I’ve been using my Forte Single Speed Conversion Kit (www.performancebike.com) for about 9 months now. It is still in reasonably good shape and functions. I can’t say that I’m extremely satisfied with it though. Here are my reasons:

1. The tolerance between the bolt and and the tensioner arm is loose and doesn’t get better with use. Therefore the pulley sits on the chain at an odd angle.
2. There is a cage around the pulley to keep the chain from coming off of the pulley. The axle bolt for the pulley comes loose frequently and alloys the cage to rotate and hit the chain. You have to stop and tighten the axle bolt. Sucks!
3. I thought that since I was going single speed in the back there’s no use for a front derailleur so I removed mine — mistake. Without the front derailleur, curb hops and off-roading sometimes sends my chain to the bottom bracket or my pedal spindle.
4. If your hub body is anything other than steel, the kit is not a good idea. You only put one cog on the back and the cog’s interface with the hub body is very small. Thus, with my aluminum hub body, the cog ate half-way through the hub-body splines — not good if your attached to your hub (mine is 12 years old with roughly 10,000 miles on it). I had to put on an old cassette to spread the load.
5. The spring tension isn’t great or adjustable. So, if your chain happens to be a bit on the long side and taking one more link out makes it too short, your chain may just skip over your cog.

It’s great to be free of a derailleur and all of its problems but the conversion kit needs some design iterations.

Overall Rating: 2 Broken Down Cars

My Miles (estimate):

1. To Work: 17mi/day*260days= 4420mi
2. Farmer’s Market: 13mi*20 = 260

3. Misc. rides to store:  52*10= 520

4. Critical Mass:  10*13= 130

Total Mileage:  5330

My Bikes:

1.  Circa 1997 Schwinn Homegrown converted to single speed with knobby street tires (work commuter)

2. 2005 Breezer Citizen 3-speed with trailer bike and child-car attachments (grocery getter)

Things I Bought for Biking (that I can remember)*:

2 pairs of shorts (baggies), Two poly shirts, 3 pairs of socks, 2 chains, 2 pairs of pedals, numerous tubes and patch kits, 1 pair cranks, 1 bottom bracket, one rigid fork (the suspension was warn out), 2 rear tires (my front tire is about 5 years old and has about 8000 miles), 1 saddle, 2 rear lights, 2 front lights, two boxes gauze pads, 2 boxes band aids, two rolls medical tape, 1 tube of triple antibiotic goo, 1 pump, 1 rear hub rebuild kit, 1 single speed conversion kit, 1 brake cable kit, 2 sets of brake pads, 1 set of brake levers, repair of internal hub (I messed it up trying to adjust it), one rear fender, reflective tape, 1 pair shoes (my others were 6 years old)

Keep in mind that this was not my first year of commuting.  Most of these purchases were required just to maintain the bikes.

* Does not include cash purchases

Total Cost:  $1358.49

A lot of people, when becoming aware that I bike commute, say, “How do you bike commute in Memphis!? Drivers here are terrible and the roads are busy.” Until recently, I couldn’t understand why they would say that, other than they haven’t been on a bike in the past 10-20 years. Then I realized, “They only know the roads that they travel by undesirable vehicle to get from point A to B.” Now I know why they think I’m crazy. They think I ride my bike on the busiest roads in Memphis.

The fact is, I rarely get passed by cars with less than ten feet of distance between me and them. Okay, the distances are closer towards intersections but the passing cars are traveling slowly. I take a wide range of streets to get to and from work. Some are always lightly traveled, some are heavily traveled and some are walks (or rides) in the park. I know what the busy streets are. My friends who drive to work take them. I take the back streets. In town, that’s easy. There’s a thousand different ways to get to work, many of the ways on back streets. I also ride through a local and very historical park. On the one busy road I have to take, I utilize the sidewalk. First, it’s my understanding that in Memphis you can legally do that and second, since no one else is using it (they’re sitting inside watching tv or driving their undesirable vehicle), I might as well.

It’s taken me a while to find the best route to work. Just two weeks ago, after commuting for almost two years, I found a small but very meaningful shortcut through an abandoned airport parking lot, over a small wooden walking bridge and through the parking lot of a career college. I couldn’t believe I had just found such an obvious short cut after more than two years. But finding the right route has been a progression. When I first tried out the commute on a Sunday morning to determine it’s ‘doability,’ I took all of the major roads. That’s fine for Sunday morning but spine-tingling on a Monday morning or Friday night. As I’ve learned the streets of Memphis more and more, I’ve change my route. My route evolved twice within the last two months, each time becoming more safe.

So what do I recommend? Well since even people living in the areas you intend ride through probably don’t know all of the streets and won’t know how to connect them for a safe and comfortable commute, I recommend this: Take several weekend scouting trips, each time selecting different routes. Don’t select roads you know will be heavily traveled during the week. Stick to the parks and small neighborhood roads. If your only option for one section of the commute is the sidewalk, I recommend taking it — at least someone will be using it then. Select your final route based on low traffic or smaller hills or just by areas you enjoy seeing. And, your route to and from work may be different based on traffic flow.

Starting a bike commute, if you haven’t done it before, needs to feel safe and comfortable. To achieve this feeling, good preparation and a little weekend scouting will not only be enjoyable but ensure your commute will get you to work in one piece.

Note for web developers: If it hasn’t been done already, a Mapquest-like search tool that not only eliminates the highways from the search but also allows the searcher to identify very lightly traveled streets would be an excellent tool for bike commuters. (Remember, it’s taken me two years to develop my current route, and I can’t be sure it won’t change again.)

I get depressed about the automobile culture in which I live.  I’ve ridden my bike in Memphis for almost two years now and it seems I’ve had virtually no impact on the transportation choices people make.  A lot of people, mostly at work, have said they admire that I ride my bike.  Yet, I’ve had no one join me or even said, “I’m now carpooling with a friend because I agree cars have a negative impact on the environment.”  Even my friend who rode with me to work several times last fall hasn’t expressed any interest in bike commuting again (I’ll give him that he has been having some knee problems).

I wonder when we stopped thinking that undesirable vehicle exhaust was not pollution.  I wonder when we stopped caring about the clothes we wear and how much we weighed, because if we have enough money we’ll just wrap a nice car around us.  I wonder when we stopped caring about our communities.  I wonder when was the last time we could step outside and not hear the sound of an undesirable vehicle.  I wonder when was it we last looked at the stars without them being blurred or dimmed by air and light pollution.  I wonder if people really realize how violent an undesirable vehicle feels and sounds when passing only a few feet from you.  I wonder if we’ll ever go forward enough to allow us to go back.  I wonder if anyone thinks about anything at all.

I feel like I’m doing the right thing by riding my bike almost everywhere I go.  I wonder what Memphis and other cities would be like if even 20% of others rode their bike or took sustainable transportation.  I don’t think that will ever happen in my lifetime.  I guess change takes time.  All I can do is hope.  Besides, I can’t bear the thought of driving an undesirable vehicle everywhere.