I met Todd on the Staten Island Ferry – we got to talking about biking in the city, and in Staten Island in particular. He lives in the borough and rides his bike – a Gary Fisher mountain bike he bought at a garage sale – to commute to jobs in Manhattan, where he works as an audio technician.
Some people might ride to be part of a “bike culture.” They usually don’t live in Staten Island. We might complain about the biking situation in Brooklyn and Manhattan, but compared to Staten Island, we have it pretty good. As the boroughs have become more and more bike friendly, this one hasn’t really followed suit. A cyclist in the street elicits surprise and occasional outrage from drivers used to owning the road. Aside from a couple of major thoroughfares, bike lanes are nonexistent. So it’s not a surprise that Todd doesn’t know too many other people who ride and his choice is sometimes met by puzzlement by friends and family.
But Todd continues to ride, for all the simple, obvious reasons – he can leave his car at home and not worry about parking; he can save money on public transit (the ferry is free); he usually gets to his destination faster; he likes the exercise and being outdoors. Makes sense to me.
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viewer - Is the fork mounted backwards? The rake/trail and brake mounts don’t seem right.
Dmitry - Good eye. I think he had it knocked out of whack in an accident and hadn’t noticed.