In 2003, I got my first grown-up bike: a Trek mountain bike that I used mostly for getting between the UNL campus and my apartment on the south end of Lincoln. I kept using it for commuting when I moved to Chicago after school, but its adventures also branched out to include rides on wide biking paths and single-track trails.
In 2014, while I was living in New Mexico, I figured it was time to double the number of bikes I owned by getting a dedicated commuter bike. After that, the mountain bike was used mainly for what its name implied: riding around on mountain trails, looking for weird things out in the forest. Meanwhile, I used the commuter bike every day during the summer to get between my house and the lab.
Today I'm living in Seattle, and the mountain bike spends most of its time in the garage while the commuter bike gets me to and from work every day, rain or shine. I'm also making more frequent trips to other cities than I was back in 2003, so I have yet another bike use case to fill: one that I can take anywhere with me. This spring I splurged on a Brompton, which strikes the best balance for me between all of the variables inherent to a folding bike - it rides really well, and it folds down to a size that can fit in a (large) suitcase. My plan is to take it with me whenever I go on a week-long trip for a conference or to do work so that I can take it out and explore the city in the evenings. Here's a nice shot of it on a terrace overlooking Lake Union when I took it outside for a spin over the weekend.
No comments:
Post a Comment