当我住在芝加哥的时候，我去哪里都骑自行车。这是一个没有决定的决定——如果你有能力的话，不骑自行车在芝加哥上班是很疯狂的。

CTA(芝加哥的公共交通系统)的效率和一个每天有一些乘客的系统差不多1000000个乘客可以。当你开自己的车时，你必须考虑到所有超过50美元的停车罚单的风险。开车并不比公共交通快，事实上，一旦你进入迷宫般的城市，开车比自行车还慢。

高峰期从我的公寓到环城的旅行时间约8英里:

CTA火车或公共汽车:43分钟

湖岸大道:28分钟(+停车~$7/小时)

在湖滨小路上骑车:33分钟到芝加哥的任何地方都需要很长时间，这与你使用哪种交通工具无关。但是骑自行车不会让你到达比任何其他交通工具都慢的地方，而且你可以按照自己的方式到达那里，不用在车流中等待，也不用站在公共汽车上，夹在一群人中间，在来回摇晃的时候举着一个环在头顶上方，希望自己不要咬到公共汽车的地板。我骑自行车上班花了大约13分钟。如果天气好的话，乘火车再转乘公共汽车大约需要25分钟。开车很快，但在芝加哥开了几个月后，有人追尾了我，把我的98年的轿车撞毁了，尽管我开得不多。我经常坐火车而不是开车或骑马，因为有一两个月，我觉得火车很酷，很有城市气息，事实也的确如此。当时是夏天，天气很热，我讨厌出汗，然后穿上白天的衣服去上课。骑车去上班要容易一些，因为路程很短，而且我在一家自行车店的地下室工作，所以看起来好不好并不是什么问题，除了那个住在地下室的前房客的鬼魂，我有几次看到他潜伏在悬挂的自行车中间。在芝加哥的冬天通勤是我最喜欢的一种通勤方式。其他人都不出去。 2) Fenders. 3) Cutting fresh tracks in the snow. 4) It's immensely exhilarating to ride in single digits and get toasty inside your jacket, arriving at your destination refreshed and with rosy cheeks. Night commuting was pretty fun too. I rode a beater. I bought it as a freshman in college and dragged it around, locking it outside every night for four years. I don't know if I ever replaced the chain. I was missing a spoke on the front wheel. I brought it with me to Chicago, where I quickly learned that locking your bike outside was not a thing and a surefire way to get even the beateriest of rides stolen. My bike was everything a true Chicago commuter was not: it had a kickback brake, an internally-geared 3-speed hub, and these big wide curly bars. Once I started riding it to class, I realized I needed to make some changes because 1) my knees hurt, and 2) everyone in Chicago rode a fixed gear '80s Schwinn with a threaded headset and bullhorn or drop bars. I was way uncool. And because I was working in a shop I had access to people and tools that would help me modify my bike into a sick new ride. I soon also realized the difference between functional and cool.所以我在车架上钻了两个孔安装刹车，添加了一些定制的挡泥板(什么样的挡泥板最后不会变成定制的工作?)，安装了一个飞轮和一些下坠杆，逐渐在车架上添加了贴纸，加入了通勤城。我的同事有一辆带盘式刹车的自然小子，不过无所谓了。我们往返各地。我在芝加哥最美好的回忆包括和我的同事们在城里打滚，风雨无阻，冷暖无阻，有时我们比赛，我们拉着彼此前行，有时我一个人戴着耳机，从A点到B点，不管顶风还是下雪。我很惭愧地说，我开始骑自行车后就不再通勤了。对于我每天已经骑了40多英里的路程，尤其是骑着一辆又重又慢的自行车，额外的16英里通勤路程是一个不小的增加。我不得不买一辆车去全国各地比赛，所以我放弃了我的自行车和火车，成为了另一个愤怒的汽车文化的犯罪者。我现在住在北卡罗来纳州。在我住的小城市里，骑自行车去任何地方最多需要30分钟。它不是芝加哥的平地，也不是旧金山的丘陵。 I hadn't ridden my commuter in ages. It wouldn't have worked in NC with just one speed, or with its immense weight. I almost cried of happiness when a customer of my Chicago bike shop took the bike for his son. After five years of ownership, it was hard to see it go, wondering if it would be ridden again. But I did want to revitalize my commuterness, living in a place where most car trips would take less than 10 minutes. I built up a 10-speed Soma road frame with 32 tires and 42 bars and those rad pedals that are flat on one side and clipless on the other. And then I just never rode it.当我回到芝加哥过圣诞节，与老朋友和同事见面时，我开车去吃晚饭，他们骑马去。当然，他们和我同时到达那里，进行了高效的锁锁仪式，然后我们进去了。我觉得有点恶心，就像一个“其他人”，或者像，嗯，一个懒人。因此，我把重振通勤作为我的新年决心。八天之后，感觉很好。我的新自行车仍然很重，考虑到我现在有山上要爬，我花了很多时间骑更轻的碳赛车。我是被宠坏的。我买的底部支架太宽，所以链线太极端，我总是掉链子。花了我5个小时dremel和附加挡泥板，以适应下我买的刹车。但是什么是完美的通勤者呢? It's going to be outside all the time, in the rain and snow and salt, and it has to withstand being locked metal-on-metal. People are going to try to - and they might succeed in - stealing the bike. I still get sweaty when it's above 36 degrees. I have to be alert for texting drivers at all times (can anyone else believe that this is a problem? it's insane that anyone would try to look at little letters while hurling through space at many miles per hour). And no one really commutes by bike here. It's weird. But I am committed to upholding this resolution. The biggest impetus for the change was a series of car problems that cost me upwards of $1,000 in December. I lost my damn mind. I just graduated from school and have student loans. Wasting money on something I don't absolutely need is asinine. I wanted to be as far away from cars as possible. I work from home, meaning that I don't rely on my bike to take me where I need to be every day, but I do occasionally work elsewhere or like, go to yoga. And the best way to get there, is to strap on my shoes and a pack and just go there. Same goes for riding on the trails. In the past, I have driven to those trails to ride. The Bike Snob posted一篇文章为什么我们要骑马去兜风你在开玩笑吗。关于通勤，我最喜欢的是我所拥有的代理。即使我的移动速度没有汽车快，但我一直在移动。我没有被堵在一个大机器里等红绿灯，尽管它实际上什么也没做，却在不停地喷出有毒气体。我可以通过城市走更快的路线去我要去的地方。我不需要花钱把我的大型有毒机器放在一个地方，这基本上是在为我已经购买的东西支付溢价。我不介意公共交通，但我完全取决于司机和交通状况，我需要控制自己，所以这对我来说不是最有趣的。如果你还需要更多的证据来证明我们对汽车的依赖是完全疯狂的，尽管说这篇文章通过大西洋一个阅读。再看看欧洲的自行车基础设施和客流量。在某种程度上，我的朋友无意中迫使我重振通勤。但是我想，嘿，如果它能让我回到那里，我认为它是有效的。作为一个激进的回收者，一个废物极简主义者，自行车爱好者和户外爱好者，我不骑自行车在城里到处转几乎是没有意义的。即使你不是这样的人，试着骑自行车上下班，看看你是否喜欢。我知道有时候人们需要车。不骑自行车上下班并不会让你变得懒惰。但是，虽然我们不能否认汽车的舒适和便利，我们不得不想知道，当汽车明确地破坏地球，从左到右杀死我们的时候，我们到底在做什么。那么，让我们来坚持新年决心吧。 I expect all of y'all to hold me to it.