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My last 6 months of bike commuting

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My last 6 months of bike commuting

Old 05-05-19, 02:26 AM
  #26  
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Retirement sucks when you have no money. We also condition you to believe that if you have no job then you have no value.

So, are you going to be worthless? I rode with my friend's kids and taught them about road riding and traffic patterns so they could anticipate turns. You have to be nice, super supportive and be quick with compliments. And never reshape your metal pedals with a hand tool or you will be seen as a "pedal file".

You can also start up a meetup group and lead rides. Or join existing ones. Commuting sucks because it often involves a job and worse yet, a boss. Boss spelled backwards is double s.o.b.
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Old 05-05-19, 01:45 PM
  #27  
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Originally Posted by alloo
As a new cyclist who has a similar commute distance, how long did your commute take when you first started (time) and how long does it take now (time)? Just curious. Congratulations, don't give up biking for joy in your retirement.
It took an hour when I first started, and it takes an hour now. It isn't the riding speed, I'm a much faster, longer endurance rider now than ever but you just can't beat the NYC traffic lights. The things I've improved on is that I can now go from 14th St to 23rd without getting stuck at 20th by riding faster, and I'm much faster up the bridge's incline of about 4%. That adds up to about 2 minutes total and I get stuck somewhere else instead.

Retirement sucks when you have no money.
I have enough to last quite a while. I'm going to find some other things to do, but not for a little while so I can enjoy myself.
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Old 05-06-19, 05:24 AM
  #28  
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If you have no car, everything is bike commuting...
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Old 05-06-19, 06:49 AM
  #29  
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Originally Posted by zacster
It took an hour when I first started, and it takes an hour now. It isn't the riding speed, I'm a much faster, longer endurance rider now than ever but you just can't beat the NYC traffic lights. The things I've improved on is that I can now go from 14th St to 23rd without getting stuck at 20th by riding faster, and I'm much faster up the bridge's incline of about 4%. That adds up to about 2 minutes total and I get stuck somewhere else instead.
I have another question. On your commute over the years, how many times have you had a flat tire?
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Old 05-06-19, 11:14 AM
  #30  
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Originally Posted by alloo
I have another question. On your commute over the years, how many times have you had a flat tire?
Not that many overall. In 10 years time I've had maybe 5 flats during a commute in either direction. I'm always prepared and can fix a flat pretty quickly. I've had Gatorskins on the bike for about 5 years now and only had 1 flat on those, and with that one flat I bought a new pair.
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Old 06-23-19, 06:17 PM
  #31  
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I found out the other day that my company basically forces everyone to take the last two months off, so I'll be done on August 9th instead of September 30th but still getting paid. On top of that, my last project takes me to China for 10 days, through the 8th, all expenses paid of course.

Not sure what I'll be doing on the 10th though...
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Old 06-23-19, 11:00 PM
  #32  
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Probably helping with the G20 summit.
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Old 06-24-19, 09:38 AM
  #33  
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Happy for you.
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Old 06-24-19, 10:29 AM
  #34  
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Originally Posted by zacster
I found out the other day that my company basically forces everyone to take the last two months off, so I'll be done on August 9th instead of September 30th but still getting paid. On top of that, my last project takes me to China for 10 days, through the 8th, all expenses paid of course.

Not sure what I'll be doing on the 10th though...
Aww, man, that sounds rough! I hope you can struggle through it all. Thoughts and prayers.
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Old 06-24-19, 08:23 PM
  #35  
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Congrats on retirement!

Originally Posted by acidfast7
Congrats!

My recommendation would be to cash out and move to CPH. If you don't live in the city core, houses are quite affordable by most urban area standards in the US.
Is CPH Copenhagen? I've never been to Europe but seems like it's great for biking.

I had a friend who lived in California and worked in Taiwan for a few months. Says he can barely stand riding the road back in California since Taiwan roads were so nice.
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Old 06-25-19, 11:29 AM
  #36  
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Copenhagen is probably the best and busiest cycling city in the world. Everyone bikes there, young, old, male, female. It is the primary form of transportation. Nobody rides fast, at least not in the city, but everyone gets where they need to go.
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Old 07-07-19, 02:58 PM
  #37  
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3 weeks left... Just sayin'...
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Old 07-21-19, 07:56 AM
  #38  
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Down to one...but who's counting...

But I'm going to try riding in Shanghai too but not likely to the office.
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Old 07-22-19, 08:40 AM
  #39  
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Originally Posted by zacster
Not sure what I'll be doing on the 10th though...
Do you like working on bikes (pro-bono to start)? I might have a few ideas (and no, not fixing my bikes for me. I do that myself).

Also, I have another "bike related" project that might be fun for an hour a day (again pro-bono to start), if you might be interested...
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Old 08-09-19, 04:20 PM
  #40  
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Today was my last day of work, after 2 weeks in Shanghai. I didn't ride in because I had too much to carry. I also didn't get to ride in Shanghai mostly because of the heat, but I also couldn't get Mobike to work on my phone. The internet doesn't quite work in Shanghai as it does here. But riding there would have been fine, a lot of people do and all the street signs have English on them.

I might be interested in a project as long as it doesn't require getting myself somewhere that takes longer than I'd be working on it.
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Old 08-12-19, 10:35 AM
  #41  
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Originally Posted by zacster
Today was my last day of work, after 2 weeks in Shanghai. I didn't ride in because I had too much to carry. I also didn't get to ride in Shanghai mostly because of the heat, but I also couldn't get Mobike to work on my phone. The internet doesn't quite work in Shanghai as it does here. But riding there would have been fine, a lot of people do and all the street signs have English on them.

I might be interested in a project as long as it doesn't require getting myself somewhere that takes longer than I'd be working on it.
Can I interest you in volunteering at the Mechanical Gardens bike coop in Williamsburg? It's open every Monday evening from 6 to 9, and I'm almost always there. It's very satisfying for me.
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Old 08-13-19, 07:07 AM
  #42  
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Originally Posted by noglider
Can I interest you in volunteering at the Mechanical Gardens bike coop in Williamsburg? It's open every Monday evening from 6 to 9, and I'm almost always there. It's very satisfying for me.
I was thinking of something like this. Maybe in September as I'll be away the next two weeks. I see they have an orientation tomorrow now and I'll try to make it. Their website seems to be down but their facebook page works.

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Old 08-15-19, 11:06 PM
  #43  
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Retired life in NYC should be grand combined with the extra time to travel and see/cycle the world. The benefit of having free airfare is spectacular! If only! I also used to help teach classes at TimesUp in Williamsburg but now little children have put a stop to that activity for the time being. @noglider Do you volunteer at a different COOP?

I also commute 10 miles + each way daily and really appreciate it especially since my free time dedicated to long rides has been curtailed. Now you can enjoy riding the here without the destination set as your place of employment.
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Old 08-16-19, 07:22 AM
  #44  
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@greg3rd48, I volunteer at Mechanical Gardens, not Time's Up. Tomorrow three of us are representing Mechanical Gardens on the Bike East event. We will offer mechanical assistance as needed.
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Old 08-26-19, 08:32 PM
  #45  
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I went to Mechanical Gardens 2 weeks ago for the orientation, and I was totally turned off. This just wasn't for me. I wanted bikes, not role playing with a banana. (yes, really)

I think maybe I'll just start my own, use my house as a base for doing free bike repair. I'm not looking to start a shop, just help people out. I mostly have basic tools, but most of the common ones, some specialty tools, and space in my basement even if it is a little gross. Maybe I'll take the shop vac and clean it up. Bike wash would be a thing too as I bought a set of brushes, have a bucket and a garden hose, and a space in the driveway. Wash, clean the chain, the cassette, hose it down and lube. No charge, just bring beer or wine as one can afford it. And I'll keep it local, Prospect Park and environs, and one night each week, or maybe every other. I just need to get rid of the car in the way to the back door.

Tools:
Bike repair stand
Dumb trainer to do derailleur adjustments under stress
Allen wrenches
Torx wrenches
Metric open wrenches
SAE wrenches for whatever
Torque wrenches and hex bits
long ratchet wrench with same hex bits
Cassette tools for Campy/Shimano
Bottom Bracket Cup tool for Campy/FSA (and Shimano?)
Chain whip
Pin spanner for older cranks
Crank/headset wrench
cone wrenches
crank extractors
Zeus crank bolt tool! Only this tool will fit a Zeus crank. And how many of you know about Zeus?
Campy Ultra Torque bearing tools (really specialized)
Derailleur hanger alignment tool (a great tool for making bikes quiet.)
Spoke wrench, but only the size I used
Spoke tension gauge
Chain tools
Chain wear gauge
Park Chain cleaner
Park brush set for cleaning
Master link tool
cable/housing cutter
Bench vise
Hammers (if you can't fix it with a hammer it can't be fixed!)
Tube Patches (but no vulcanizing fluid at the moment, need to get some.)
Finish Line dry lube
Squirt wax chain lube
A 40 year old tube of Phil grease
assorted others...

This set has been enough to build/rebuild my own bikes, but I know some older bikes will need special tools that I don't have, and I'm sure there are some special Campy tools as well since everything Campy makes requires a special tool. It is far from a complete bike shop. No facing tools as I've never had to face a BB or headset. And not a good collection of those common items such as washers or ball bearings. I'm mostly well versed in external geared bikes, not IGH nor fixies.

Now that I look at it, I've got a lot of bike tools!

Last edited by zacster; 09-01-19 at 06:54 AM.
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Old 08-30-19, 08:50 PM
  #46  
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Originally Posted by zacster
My retirement is set for September 30th and one thing I'll miss is the 10 mile commute each way. I'll just have to make up for it with 20+ mile daily rides, somewhere other than where I live, like Paris or Copenhagen, or on a wine tour of Italy. It'll be a rough retirement but someone has to do it.
Enjoy! Was a 32 mi RT commute myseld and just retired in August. Moved and just got my first ride in yesterday. Lots of bike trails where I moved to in Ohio, and I can ride my bike down a lane and get on to hundresds of miles of paved trails. Will miss the commute but not so much the work
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