Stefi moved here from Berlin a few months ago. She was used to riding everywhere so she got a cheap but practical bike and started getting around the city on two wheels. (It turns out there is no law that says that if you are wearing a skirt/heels, you must ride a Dutch granny bike.)

New York has a ways to go to rival Berlin’s bike infrastructure, so as the winter came and rider numbers dropped off, Stefi didn’t ride as much. “I felt less safe as a single rider sharing the road with the taxi drivers. But once the weather got nice again, there were so many more bikes on the streets. I could usually ride in a group, which feels much safer.”

Stefi says she loves riding a bike but is a little befuddled by the athletic/recreational mentality many people here have about bikes. “I like riding but I don’t really do it for fun. I just use my bike to go everywhere, so by the end of some days I’ve already been riding for a couple of hours. No need to go for another bike ride.”

#BikeNYC is a cyclist portrait series by Brooklyn, New York photographer Dmitry Gudkov. Its aim is to bring you the many faces, styles, and stories of bike riders in New York City. You can read the original blog post here Bike Portrait: Stefi at the Manhattan Bridge

George Hahn with his Brooklyn Cruiser at the pedestrian plaza across from the Flatiron Building. George runs georgehahn.com (“The Journal for men who aren’t millionaires, but who like to look good and live well.”). He’s also been riding a bike for transportation in New York City since moving here in 1994. Back then, he was very much in a racing mode – road bike, spandex, laps around Central Park. For years, he still saw cycling primarily as a sport, just one that was also useful for getting around the city. As he writes in his Contributor-at-Large feature for Brooklyn Cruiser:

Throughout all those years, I was drunk on the influences of racing, hunched over an aluminum frame with nine gears (three of which I actually used), sporting a helmet that made me look like I had an alien brain, toe clips, and even a pair of scuba shorts fitted with ass pads, a.k.a. bike shorts. I looked like a tool. I acted like one, too. With earbuds mainlining a thumping soundtrack to my Iron Man fantasy, I tore through Central Park, city streets and bike paths with reckless and speedy abandon. I had that intense biker face with clenched teeth, like the angry grill of a Cadillac Escalade. American Psycho on a bike.

All of this meant that cycling required a special uniform and a special mindset, and was not well integrated into the rest of George’s city life. He recalls a moment on the street when he saw a Dutch-style city bike, its upright, relaxed rider wearing casual clothes. It hit him: “This! This is what I want!” The upright Dutch bike was the natural next step in his New York cycling evolution. Quoting George again:

My enjoyment of riding a bike no longer requires a sacrifice of my own personal style. The city bike has become a significant part of my life here in New York, and I suspect it would be a big part of my life no matter where I lived. Aside from the pure enjoyment it offers me, it’s my chief mode of transportation. Only in inclement weather do I take the subway, the bus or a taxi. I honestly cannot remember the last time I refilled my MetroCard.

George doesn’t always ride in a suit, of course. But if he happens to be wearing a suit, he doesn’t hesitate to reach for the bike. He simply rides.

Also, don’t try to steal George’s saddle.

More coming soon from this shoot.

#BikeNYC is a cyclist portrait series by Brooklyn, New York photographer Dmitry Gudkov. Its aim is to bring you the many faces, styles, and stories of bike riders in New York City. You can read the original blog post here New York Bike Portrait: George Hahn and his Brooklyn Cruiser

Incidentally, about five minutes after I shot this portrait, I encountered this:

#BikeNYC is a cyclist portrait series by Brooklyn, New York photographer Dmitry Gudkov. Its aim is to bring you the many faces, styles, and stories of bike riders in New York City. You can read the original blog post here Bike Portrait: Ja’Juan and the Schwinn Le Tour

Calista was commuting from Flatbush to her job at the Whole Foods in Tribeca.

“I had plans to be the first famous Calista but Calista Flockhart beat me to it. I got the Brompton last July and I love it – it goes everywhere with me and I never have to lock it up.”

#BikeNYC is a cyclist portrait series by Brooklyn, New York photographer Dmitry Gudkov. Its aim is to bring you the many faces, styles, and stories of bike riders in New York City. You can read the original blog post here Calista and her Brompton

Ilea lives in Greenpoint and works as a nurse at NYU Hospital.

“I got this bike (Motobecane Astra folding bike, c1970) from Bike Works in the Lower East Side. I have a road bike that I take on longer rides in Prospect Park. This one I mostly ride around the neighborhood – to the store or the community garden. I take the ferry to work so I leave it locked up at the pier. It’s always nice to find it there waiting for me when I come back to Brooklyn.”

Did you “Like” the #BikeNYC Project Facebook page? – lots of good stuffs there…

#BikeNYC is a cyclist portrait series by Brooklyn, New York photographer Dmitry Gudkov. Its aim is to bring you the many faces, styles, and stories of bike riders in New York City. You can read the original blog post here Brooklyn Bike Portrait: Ilea in Greenpoint

A filled Citi Bike docking station

Annual members will be able to check a bike out with a key fob.

Citi Bikes’ Dani Simons demonstrates how to lift the bike out of the docking station.

…and demonstrates the sturdy kickstand with her red kicks

So simple, even a Daily News reporter could do it. In theory.

Annual members will have access to unlimited free rides under 45 minutes.

Customers with daily or weekly memberships will be able to ride for 30 minutes before incurring extra fees.

Once a bike is checked out, its front and rear lights flash automatically until it is docked again.

#BikeNYC is a cyclist portrait series by Brooklyn, New York photographer Dmitry Gudkov. Its aim is to bring you the many faces, styles, and stories of bike riders in New York City. You can read the original blog post here Citi Bike Preview

After yesterday’s portrait of Janette Sadik-Khan, let’s meet someone who uses New York’s developing bike infrastructure every day. Josephine rides her bike to work – but first she has to take Cid and Rex to school. Clinton Hill, Brooklyn to the East Village, about 4 miles each way on the xtracycle. This is pretty much daily, though they do have a “40 degrees and above only” policy.

Speaking of the bike – it’s nice to see that you don’t have to spend a fortune on something fancy to ride with your kids. Josephine’s husband got a used xtracycle kit on craigslist and installed it onto a bike they already owned. Josephine hopes her experience will inspire other moms and families to give riding to school a shot.

#BikeNYC is a cyclist portrait series by Brooklyn, New York photographer Dmitry Gudkov. Its aim is to bring you the many faces, styles, and stories of bike riders in New York City. You can read the original blog post here Bike Portrait: Taking the Kids to School by Bike

#BikeNYC is a cyclist portrait series by Brooklyn, New York photographer Dmitry Gudkov. Its aim is to bring you the many faces, styles, and stories of bike riders in New York City. You can read the original blog post here Bike Portrait: Janette Sadik-Khan and Citi Bike

Annie’s a lifelong New Yorker who’s been getting around by bicycle for most of her time living in the city. Dre, three and a half now, has been doing the backseat passenger thing since he was two. Since she’s in real estate, the bike is helpful for many short trips around the neighborhoods to look at properties. I asked her what she thinks about Citi Bike. She said she wasn’t sure and that she heard it will be too expensive. When I explained that it’s $95 for a year of free rides, she changed her mind. She figures it will be a great option for times when she may want to get uptown but not have a bike to worry about.

#BikeNYC is a cyclist portrait series by Brooklyn, New York photographer Dmitry Gudkov. Its aim is to bring you the many faces, styles, and stories of bike riders in New York City. You can read the original blog post here Bike Portrait: Annie and Dre

I heard Janine before I saw her, thanks to the dance music coming out of some decent speakers mounted on her Workcycles Dutch bike. I only had time to take a quick snap right there in the 2nd Ave bike lane. Fortunately we later got in touch by email and Janine was nice enough to answer a couple of questions about biking in NYC.

How did you start cycling in NYC?
“I don’t know really. I didn’t have any friends who commuted by bike at the time (though I’ve made quite a few since I started). While I don’t think I’d be out there now if it weren’t for groups like Bike NY and Transportation Alternatives or people like JSK [Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan], and all the messengers and commuters who carved out space for me and/or helped get bike lanes put in place, I can’t say that I noticed the infrastructure before I started using it. All I know is that one day, I wanted a bike.”

What is your daily commute like? 
“I live in Washington Heights and work across the street from Grand Central. In the mornings, I commute to work via the Hudson River Greenway and then head across town on 44th. In order to avoid the monster hills when you exit the Greenway at 158th or 181st, I travel home via 8th ave to Central Park West, continuing along Frederick Douglass Boulevard and St. Nicholas Avenue.”

What’s the best thing about getting around NYC by bike?
“Utility cycling adds a little treat and the possibility of micro-adventures before and after whatever you’re doing. Because I always have my tunes with me, I’ve gotten to play DJ to a few crosswalk dance parties, for example. Even if it’s a route you take all of the time, you’ll see something different every time. It being NYC, this is true of the Subway too, but on bikes, I always get a seat and I see much more sky.”

What would you most like to change about the experience?
“It’s hard to say. So much of the experience is based on the rider. I want to see more women out there. I’d like to see more people hit the brakes when pedestrians have the right of way (it’s the world’s cheapest ego boost; brake for a red and the pedestrians will look at you as if you’re a hero. Many say thank you). I wouldn’t mind never seeing another person riding against traffic. I’d like to see the NYPD get serious about policing traffic violations.”

Any other thoughts about bikes in New York?
“I feel that the bike has really opened the city up for me. When I first moved here 12 years ago, every time I hit a new neighborhood, I’d see all of these new things I wanted to do and places I wanted to go. The bike has rekindled those feelings because now I go through those neighborhoods that I used to just travel under. The Greenway is old hat to most cyclists, but I still remember the first time I rode it. I was like, ‘how long has this been here!?’ And, ‘wait a minute, are those hawks?’”

#BikeNYC is a cyclist portrait series by Brooklyn, New York photographer Dmitry Gudkov. Its aim is to bring you the many faces, styles, and stories of bike riders in New York City. You can read the original blog post here Bike Portrait: Janine