Posts Tagged ‘Memphis’

After wrapping up a shop-lead ride, a badly needed commuter bike tire change and tube patch while watching the Tour de France, I realized that a floor pump serves nicely as an alternative hassock.  Just place the pump a couple of feet from your beer-stinking couch and rest your achilles tendon on the handle.  With beer in hand and legs raised, your leg metabolites will work their way to your organs and allow you to relax and watch others suffer while you recover.

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

I recently began converting an old Peugot Monaco frame into a fixie. While very familiar with most aspects of bike repair, the old frame represented new challenges. Before I began buying a bunch of replacement parts (I found the frame without a seat and seatpost, wheels, brakes, chain. While also having a loose bottom bracket), I headed to Outdoors, Inc. Fortunately, I found Jason there and he demonstrated how to remove the bottom bracket and he set me up with some new bearings and a lockring tool (not something found commonly in stock at other shops). Jason also understood — without me saying directly — that I wanted to do the repairs myself. He removed the components of the bottom bracket and got me what I needed and threw it into a ziplock bag — ready for the work in my garage. The staff then helped me measure and order all of the components I needed to make the conversion. When the components came in I had some problems with the seatpost sizing, since the Peugot has an odd size seatpost. Mike (who also builds his own frames (Magnolia, if I remember correctly)) took the time to describe what I should do to shim a post in order to make it fit.

Furthermore, since I use bicycles as my primary form of transportation, Isaiah has been more than helpful and diligent in making sure that I was aware that parts I order were in and ready for pickup.

The bike repair staff at Outdoors, Inc. is knowledgeable, helpful and organized. With that being said, they need to make sure they continue to help bikers learn how to fix their rigs. After all, there aren’t bike repair schools readily available to teach repair techniques. And, if you hadn’t accommodated my needs for instruction, I would have gone elsewhere.

Outdoors, Inc. Midtown receives a 5 Broken Down Car rating. Cheers to you!

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.)

It started a bit dreary but turned out beautiful.  Come join us.