Well the day has finally come when I'm willing to step up to the plate. I want to trade my Black Beauty for one of New Belgium's custom rides. This has been a long time coming.
I've been a bike commuter for the better part of 20 years in Boise. I've chosen to live and work in such a way that I can either walk or ride. BUT...I have this car you see. It's a 1992 black VW Jetta. It's cool. It has a sunroof, a good stereo, and lots of bitchen stickers. It gets good gas mileage and I only put one tank of gas in from May 12th to July 7. But the lack of gas I've had to put in doesn't make up for the cash I have lavished upon it. A new alternator, new clutch, new radiator, new windshield...etc. This car has less than 120,000 miles on it. Clearly this car wants me to know something.
That something is the fact that nothing will ever compare to my 1983 Honda Civic Wagon unless it's a bike. When I had the Civ, affectionately named "Little Blue," my life was centered around my bike. That car took my bike to Moab, Telluride, Eugene, Yellowstone and a multitude of bike racing stops with the Wild Rockies Mountain Bike Racing series. It got more than 40 mpg. BUT...it wouldn't pass the stringent emissions testing that Boise does to help our air quality. So I sold it...for $400 and I cried. I got a picture of that car about a year ago. My heart still aches...and Black Beauty knows it. That's why my feet were bathed in antifreeze yesterday when I pulled into work.
In Boise we have a very strong cycling community that has recently been rocked by 3 deaths. It takes guts of steel to ride on the roads these days as there is a lot of animosity between the cycling community and motorists. I've been on a couple of the memorial rides and spoken passionately about the need to educate everyone, cyclists, motorists, and pedestrians. I rode my bike almost every day during May and most of June as well. I told people to get out of their cars and on a bike...
Then came July...and I didn't ride one single day to work. My trusty steed (a 1992 Raleigh Tangent) baked in the garage, waiting for me to mount back up and ride to Tully's for a skinny iced mocha that fits perfectly in the rack in my borrowed coffee cup. Sure the Raleigh has the late 80's scatter paint job, but I've upgraded the gearing and have a bent up rack on the back. I look at the commuter bikes with their intricate gearing and built in fenders and wish I was able to commit.
Nothing makes me feel better than when I am on my bike. I see the same people every morning and we greet each other, scope each other's safety efforts and peddle on. I have a commute people would die to have.
All I need now is one push to be a full time commuter. If that car wasn't out there, I'd never get in it. I look to you to help me make the needed change. It would be my pleasure to be an ambassador for New Belgium, for the Treasure Valley Cycling Alliance, to be part of the change needed to educate the community of Boise about bike commuting and the change it can bring to our whole city.
Thank you so much for the opportunity to tell you my story.
In Boise we have a very strong cycling community that has recently been rocked by 3 deaths. It takes guts of steel to ride on the roads these days as there is a lot of animosity between the cycling community and motorists. I've been on a couple of the memorial rides and spoken passionately about the need to educate everyone, cyclists, motorists, and pedestrians. I rode my bike almost every day during May and most of June as well. I told people to get out of their cars and on a bike...
Then came July...and I didn't ride one single day to work. My trusty steed (a 1992 Raleigh Tangent) baked in the garage, waiting for me to mount back up and ride to Tully's for a skinny iced mocha that fits perfectly in the rack in my borrowed coffee cup. Sure the Raleigh has the late 80's scatter paint job, but I've upgraded the gearing and have a bent up rack on the back. I look at the commuter bikes with their intricate gearing and built in fenders and wish I was able to commit.
Nothing makes me feel better than when I am on my bike. I see the same people every morning and we greet each other, scope each other's safety efforts and peddle on. I have a commute people would die to have.
All I need now is one push to be a full time commuter. If that car wasn't out there, I'd never get in it. I look to you to help me make the needed change. It would be my pleasure to be an ambassador for New Belgium, for the Treasure Valley Cycling Alliance, to be part of the change needed to educate the community of Boise about bike commuting and the change it can bring to our whole city.
Thank you so much for the opportunity to tell you my story.
