I love to ride my bike!

I ride my bike almost every day! I don’t consider myself an athlete and I don’t wear lycra (no shame to those that do). Instead, I consider myself a “utility” cyclist, meaning I use my bicycle as a means of transportation. Instead of hopping in a car to go somewhere, I’ll hop on my bike!
I'm so lucky to live in an urban environment where this type of lifestyle makes a lot of sense!

Some reasons why I love riding my bike:

1. It’s fun!! Riding a bike is just a fun thing to do. I offer to pick up little treats or run errands for my partner just because I like to ride! Also, while I certainly don’t need to push myself to be speedy all the time, it’s a fun way to exercise and going on rides makes me happy. To me, cycling represents mobility and freedom of choice!
2. It’s cheap!! And eco-friendly! I bought my bike, a 1970s road bike, from a coworker over a decade ago for just $25 and it’s still going strong! Repairs are inexpensive (many you can do yourself), and my bike shows no signs of slowing down. For utility cycling, you don’t need expensive gear. Plus, no insurance or gas!
3. You get to see your surroundings!! When you ride, you get to take in the world around you at ~15 mph. I constantly see friends, neighbors, and all sorts of goings-on in a way I might’ve missed from a car window. I also love riding with friends and ringing my bell when kids wave at us!
4. It’s efficient!! I’ve got some collapsible baskets on the sides of my bike, and it’s easy for me to fit a week+ of groceries in there. They are permanently attached to my bike and fold up when not in use, so I don’t really need to think about them. Also, there are no worries about finding a parking spot or tanking up on gas. I can usually find a pole to lock up at right in front of wherever I’m headed, too!
5. It gets me where I wanna go!! Most trips in the US are just a few miles, and biking is often the fastest way to get somewhere in a dense city. Longer trips might require a plane/train/bus/car, but biking gets me where I want to go day-to-day: the grocery store, the doctor’s office, work, the bank, the movie theater, restaurants, social gatherings, whatever! Also, multi-modal transit is awesome too. I recently attended a wedding ~35 miles from my house. I could’ve just Ubered the whole way (or biked!), but I decided to take my bike onto a train which dropped me ~5 miles from the wedding venue. I arrived nice and fresh!

Check out my collapsible rack setup!

What about bad weather?

Let me introduce… the rain cape!

Rain capes tent your whole body while maintaining airflow to keep you from sweating. They have loops and straps specially placed for easy cycling.

Off-bike, I use mine as a rain jacket as well! It’s got snaps to form sleeves, and it packs down into its own small pocket.

New Bike Alert!!

While I love my vintage road bike, I finally took the plunge and bought myself a nice new bike.
It wasn't totally necessary (my other bike still works fine!), but after 10+ years of using a beater bike every day I decided it was finally time to treat myself!

Behold, the Brompton Folding Bike!

Bromptons are high-quality folding bicycles. The idea is, since they can fold down to a compact size, you can easily bring it with you on other modes of transit and wherever you go. If your destination is a few miles from a bus/train stop, you can easily bring it on as luggage. It's easy to bring on rideshares like taxis/Lyft/Uber too.
I've even seen people shove them on overhead bins in planes. I'd love to fly with it someday! Look how tiny it is compared to my full sized bike:
There are tons of accessories made specifically for Brompton bikes. I put a front basket on mine, which allows me to wheel it around like a shopping cart while partially folded like this: Bromptons aren't the fastest bikes (they have tiny 16" wheels, compared to my full-sized bike at 27"!), but they are very convenient urban transport machines. Since they are made from steel, they should last a lifetime with proper maintenance.
At time of writing, I only recently got my Brompton, but so far I'm loving it. I especially love that I can fold it up and bring it wherever I'm going-- no need to lock it outside. I went on a nice shakedown ride all over southeastern Pennsylvania (I think I biked around 70 miles that day?) and it performed well. I don't typically ride for that long, but I might want to upgrade the grips to be a bit more comfortable on long rides. Otherwise, no complaints! Despite its strange looks, it rides (almost) like a regular bike. I opted for a 4-speed configuration instead of the 12-speed version and that's working for me so far. I can always upgrade it later if I feel like I'm missing gears. I ride my road bike as a single-speed though, so 4 gears is plenty for now!
Here's a picture I took during the shakedown in front of some cannons at Valley Forge: As I go on more trips with this bike, I'll update this page with more pictures!