Fortune Favors The Bold

Let’s talk bikes:

• For those of you who don’t pay attention, I have a bike that is simultaneously a steep budget item (for a low-wage bum like me) and a real looker, so that means it is thief candy and it also gives me small flashes of panic/anger when there is a visible new scratch on the thing. Rather than make a psychiatrist rich with analysis fees for treating my bike-parking neurosis, I’m thinking my best bet is to get a beater bike where I am comfortable both with leaving it somewhat vulnerable to minor thievery and also comfortable with using heavy-as-hell security measures. (The nice bike would come with me on club rides, when it is never left in an insecure situation) I think all of the time about building one from the frame up, but I get the feeling that, even if I did the actual build all alone, I’d somehow end up spending more for parts than I would pay for a new entry-level hybrid. Because this is New York and even a chain is $20. The wheels alone would fuck up my budget. Similarly, buying a “commuter” bike from any source, new or used, is either expensive (most often with new) or unreliable (most often with used). I still consider it a mistake that I spent as much as I did buying Carolyn’s bike, because the thing needs a better drivetrain and still isn’t all that right until the front wheel is replaced - as I did for the rear last summer. Riding Carolyn’s bike is like trying to spin a rusty playground merry-go-round, and I totally get why it’s not fun to ride more than 5 miles at a time on it. I don’t want to make that same mistake with a beater bike… but, fuck, something like this built from parts should cost no more than $200 and I’m not buying something for $500 just for it to get boosted in a week. Hey, if you’ve built your own bike on the cheap in NYC and you have any tips on sourcing parts, let me know.
• I’m getting stronger through strenuous/fast riding daily, but, holy fuck, this heat never ends, does it? I look forward to the fall weather, as I always do (while wanting more of summer, of course), because I’m hoping the “bike weather” will last through December because of all the glaciers we’ve melted and the baby seals we’ve killed, collateral damage for still enjoying iced coffee through Hanukkah.
• I did not forget my “bicycafe” idea. Just wanted to note that I stopped at Blue Sky Bakery in Park Slope on Sunday and had a muffin there, and they seem like a great place to refuel. They also have a “Bike Friendly Business” sticker in the window, which is great for establishing a connection with cyclists but I have no idea what they’re doing to actually be friendly to bikers other than the fact that I went in wearing a helmet+jersey and no one assaulted me or anything. But the main appeal for me is that it seemed like a nice place to gather, and they had things that a cyclist would want to eat while riding (warm fresh muffins ready-to-go), and that’s saying more than 99% of shops in NYC. Chewy bagels over-slathered in full-fat cream cheese sit like concrete chunks in my stomach on my ride, so, fuck all of Manhattan on that one. Also, and the reason why that’s a Yelp link above: why the hell do they NOT have a website? (I could remedy this for them. HMMMMMMM.) So, while not perfectly aligned with my vision for a place that gets most of the things right, they are at least doing some things that other businesses should consider doing. Hopefully, in a couple of months, bikeshare will make any able-bodied person a cyclist, and I predict any place that’s truly bike-friendly will be a locus of social activity and commerce (and, probably, profits). Just ask Bicycle Habitat.