NewsArticleBody
Rising gas prices, the need for physical activity to stay healthy, and a desire to be part of the solution for global warming has encouraged many folks to use their Friday with buses, trains and ferries, whether commuting or traveling. Our expanded mission at Green Gear Cycling/Bike Friday is to help more people do this. Got kids? No problem, as Mike Zamansky explains ...
MULTI-MODAL commuting was the exact reason I bought my Friday.
Turning back the clock a few years ...
had just gotten back in to cycling. I upgraded my 20+ year old bike to a Specialized Sequoia Comp and my daily routine was something like this: Wake up at 4:50 am. Do the three mile ride from my apartment in Chelsea down to Stuyvesant high school in Tribeca to meet up with a buddy of mine. We’d then do a nice leisurely 20 mile ride along the Hudson river greenway, end up back at the school, go in, shower and change, and start our work day. At the end of the day, I’d some times go for another ride or some times just ride the three miles home.
Meanwhile, my wife (also an educator) would take our two children, drive them up to my mother’s place on the upper east side and then continue on to her school. My mom would then feed the kids breakfast and take them to school. At the end of the day, Grandma would retrieve them from school. Later my wife would pick them up from Grandma’s and bring them home.
The summer before this one, however, everything changed. My mom passed away. We knew that come September, we’d have to figure out how to get the kids to and from school. Devorah could drop the kids off, but her work day was too long for her to pick them up. I could arrange an early schedule and get the kids, but since getting the kids would entail a subway and or bus ride, it would kill my early morning rides.
I started thinking about a folding bike.
I went all over the city looking at various models. I wanted something that I could take on a bus, but I wasn’t willing to compromise the ride quality. I remember asking one bike store salesperson about using SPD pedals on a particular folder and that I planned on riding 20+ miles at a time on it. He kind of chuckled ...
My riding buddy at work recommended I looked in to Bike Friday. This was seconded by some one at my loval bike shop. After finding a some one willing to give me a test ride in NYC, I was sold. I ordered a NWT which arrived during the first week of the school year.
My child care problem was solved.
I would ride to work, and at the end of the day, ride to the upper east side to get the kids. I would then fold the bike and take it on the bus and subway. A few weeks in to the year, we hired a young lady to pick the kids up most days so I only had to do the multi-modal commute now and then.
As the year progressed my daughter (fifth grade at the time) started to assert a little independence so I started walking them to the bus and while they would ride across town I would trail on my NWT. Once we crossed Central Park, the kids get off their bikes and we’d all take the subway home. In NYC bikes are allowed on subways so unless it was crowded, I didn’t even have to fold the bike.
Even though I don’t do that commute much anymore, my Friday is now my ride of choice.
The whole family rides (as chronicled on my wife’s blog and I’m hoping to move my wife to a Pocket Crusoe one of these days and when the kids stop growing (currently 8 and 11) we’ll get them Friday’s as well.
This summer we were in Indianapolis and rented a tandem so a Bike Friday tandem might also be in the cards. Of course a Two’sDay is our only choice - living in an apartment, only a folding tandem would fit in the elevator.
In retrospect, I only needed a folding bike for a few weeks, but boy. am I glad I ended up getting a Bike Friday!
RELATED LINKS
Commuting on a Friday Tips from those who do it Monday to Sunday!
Kids on Fridays Never too young for a Friday that fits