当我住在芝加哥,我骑着自行车随处可见。它是一个“没有抉择——无一例外地疯狂不通过自行车通勤在芝加哥,如果你有能力。

CTA(芝加哥的公共交通)是有效的系统每日的客流量1000000个乘客可以。当驾驶自己的车你必须考虑所有的50美元+停车罚单的风险。和开车没有速度比公共交通和事实上,比自行车要慢,一旦你进入城市的迷宫。

旅行时间从我的公寓到循环在高峰时间,~ 8英里:

CTA火车或巴士:43分钟

汽车在湖岸驱动器:28分钟(+停车~ 7美元/小时)

自行车在湖畔路径:33分钟< / il >在芝加哥需要很长时间,不管你用哪种运输方法。但骑自行车能让你要去哪里不低于任何其他形式的运输,和你自己的条件,无需等待交通或站在公共汽车上夹在一群人并持有一个循环过头顶来回倾斜时,希望你不要咬汽车地板上。我的自行车上下班花了13分钟。坐火车,换乘一辆公共汽车,花了25分钟,在一个美好的一天。开车很快,但有人追尾我和为我的98轿车后几个月在芝加哥,虽然我没有驾驶它。我经常坐火车代替开车或骑,因为一个月或两个我认为火车是凉爽的和城市,它是。,现在是夏天,很热,我讨厌流汗,然后把天衣服类。有点容易骑去上班,因为骑很短,我曾在一家自行车店地下室,所以看起来漂亮不是真的问题除了鬼的前房客住在地下室,我看到几次潜伏在挂自行车。通勤在芝加哥的冬天是我最喜欢的通勤。1)没有人出来。 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.所以我两个洞钻到钢架安装刹车,添加一些自定义挡泥板(挡泥板不最终成为一个自定义工作?),随心所欲,一些酒吧,逐步添加贴纸框架,加入了月票居民区。我的同事有这个狡猾的性质与盘式制动器的男孩,但无论。我们折算。我的一些最美好的回忆芝加哥涉及滚动在城里和我的同事,不论晴雨,温暖或冷,有时候我们跑,我们把彼此,有时候我会孤独,耳机,从A点到B点,尽管阻力或雪。我惭愧地说,我不再通勤一旦我开始赛车自行车。额外的16英里的路程是一个不太重要的除40英里左右)我已经每天骑,尤其是在一个自行车沉重和缓慢。我不得不买一辆车比赛在全国各地,所以我放弃了我的自行车,火车,成为汽车文化的另一个愤怒的犯罪者。我现在住在北卡罗莱纳。得到任何地方在我的小城市在非常需要大概30分钟骑自行车。芝加哥并不是平坦的,但它也不是旧金山丘陵。 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.当我回到芝加哥圣诞节和遇到了我的老朋友和同事,我开车去吃饭,他们骑着。当然,他们和我在同一时间到达那里,有效锁定执行仪式,我们走了进去。我觉得恶心,就像一个“其他”,或者像,嗯,一个懒惰的人。所以我做了我的新年决心振兴通勤。八天之后,感觉很好。我的新自行车还重,考虑到我现在有山丘上,我骑的大部分时间花在更轻碳自行车比赛。我是被宠坏的。我购买了五通管的太宽,所以chainline太极端,我把我的链。我花了5个小时上钻到小孔,把挡泥板下刹车我买了。但一个完美的通勤是什么? 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一篇文章关于为什么我们应该乘坐游乐设施,因为你在跟我开玩笑吧。我最喜欢什么通勤是我该机构。即使我不是动车一样快,我总是移动。我不困在红灯时在一个大机器,喷涌出有害气体即使它是什么也不做。我可以更快的路线穿过城市到我要的地方。我不用支付离开大有毒机在一个地方,这基本上是支付溢价的东西我已经买了。我不介意公共交通,但我完全心血来潮的司机和我需要的流量和控制,所以这对我来说不是最有趣的。如果你需要任何更有说服力,我们依赖汽车是完全疯了,给这篇文章通过大西洋一个阅读。或者看看自行车在欧洲基础设施和客流量。在某些方面,我的朋友无意中peer-pressured我振兴通勤。但idk嘿,我认为这是有效的,如果它让我回来。作为是一个激进的回收商的人,浪费极简的自行车爱好者,和户外爱好者,我大约没有道理不骑我的自行车在城里。即使你没有这些东西,尝试骑自行车上下班,看看你是否喜欢它。我理解有时候人们需要汽车。而不是骑自行车上下班不会让你懒。虽然我们不能否认汽车的舒适和便利,我们要想知道我们到底在做什么当汽车明确摧毁这个星球和杀害我们左和右。这里说的维护新的一年的决议。 I expect all of y'all to hold me to it.