aka Tom Reingold
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: New York, NY, and High Falls, NY, USA
Posts: 40,506
Bikes: 1962 Rudge Sports, 1971 Raleigh Super Course, 1971 Raleigh Pro Track, 1974 Raleigh International, 1975 Viscount Fixie, 1982 McLean, 1996 Lemond (Ti), 2002 Burley Zydeco tandem
Mentioned: 511 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 7352 Post(s)
I started working as a shop mechanic in my senior year in high school, 1978. I worked as a mechanic and salesman in summers of 1978, 1979, and 1980. Then I started working 12 months a year as a mechanic as I took a leave from college. I even became head mechanic of the esteemed Toga Bike Shop in 1981-1983. Eventually, I was able to get work in my field, computer science, and I left the industry. I taught bike mechanics to children and adults as a volunteer for a bike advocacy group I co-founded in NJ in 2009. In 2011 and 2014, I was between IT jobs and worked as a shop mechanic in NJ and NYC, respectively. The latter job was with my FIRST boss from 1978! In 2019, I "found my tribe" and worked as a volunteer at Mechanical Gardens in Brooklyn, a coop, teaching people about bikes and how to fix them. Then Pandemic came, and I haven't been back. I plan to go back when I return to the city. I love working there.