Last Fall I kicked off this series with an expose of some of my own experiences as a bike commuter. Now, it’s my Dad’s turn!
Tim recently hopped on the bike commuting bandwagon as a cathartic way to rebuild strength after a prolonged illness, save money, and to stick it to the government.
Where do you live? I live in Eugene, OR
How long is your commute? My normal commute is only about 20 minutes each way to my part time job (playing poker) which means I work at night and commute home in the dark.
What kind of bike
do you ride? Raleigh “hybrid”, kinda mountain bike, kinda road bike… the tires are too wide but it gives me a workout…
Do you wear work clothes on your bike, or wear bike clothes and change at work? Helmet (highly reflective), bike gloves and regular “work clothes” depending on what kinda work I did that day… generally work boots and construction-type clothes…. I then “change” into an appropriate poker hat (covers my eyes and most of my face… and I’m ready for “work”
How do you carry your stuff? Paniers? Messenger bag? Milk Crate? I carry my stuff in a highly reflective back pack with a blinking red light on the back…
Fair-weather rider? I would still call myself a fair weather rider… I’ll be glad to ride in light rain and cold, as long as there’s no ice… I did get caught in one hail storm that I didn’t like at all.. The weather in Eugene doesn’t get too bad so I can see myself riding 90% of the time as I get stronger…
Scariest moment on the bike: I haven’t ridden long enough to have any scary moments… I’ve only been riding for about a month.. the big scare is finding my way around the bike trails and finding the the least populated streets that constitute the most direct route…
Tips for new riders: Although I’ve ridden for years, my bike commuting experience would put me in the “new” category… my advise for new riders is to get as much reflective clothing as possible and just get on the bike and ride… it’ll addict you as you do it more and more…
W
hy you ride: I ride because I want to gain some strength and fitness and screw the companies that sell gasoline and the government entities that tax gasoline… don’t get me wrong, I don’t hate businesses that sell gas, I’m a card carrying Libertarian and unabashed capitalist…. but there are alternatives to everything and riding a bike allows me to beat them out of a few dollars a week of my “hard earned” dollars… By the way, I feel the same way about providers of “public transportation”….
If you are a bike commuter and would like to be featured in this series, please send an email to lauren@artintercepts.org for consideration. Thanks!
Lauren Warnecke 
I used to be able to ride my bike to work when I lived in Germany. Now I have to drive because I live too far away. I really miss riding because it’s great exercise and is free!
Those are two reasons I really love to ride 🙂 Public transit and gas are so expensive where I live (Chicago) and it’s hard to justify the cost when I know I could be riding. Hopefully some day you’ll get to commute by bike again! Thanks for reading, Lauren