The other night I stayed at the shop past close. Storefront lights were off, music was on, I sat at the bench watching night quickly take over the sky, loosening the spokes on my new wheel, one at a time. That morning I had been showing off my work–look at these shiny new wheels I […]
Category: Cycling
Obsolescence
I bought a Surly Long Haul Trucker in the summer of 2015 and if you know Surlys you know. But if you don’t: the Surly LHT was the first of its kind. There are many options now, and arguably better ones, but the LHT was the the only bike being produced in the nineties and […]
Confessions of a bike shop girl
This summer I spent most of my days at the bike shop sitting at the front desk. When a person came in and I said hi and they walked right past me–well, sometimes I got mad. But sometimes I was glad. Because the truth is there was always a fifty percent chance that I didn’t […]
The bike hug (for reference)
I thought I wrote a post about this a long long time ago, but actually I did not. The bike hug: a very slow bike crash that results in something more like a hug than an injury. Example: One day, in a far away land a long time ago. (Crown Heights! Last year!) I was […]
Follow me home
Last night I felt like someone was following me home. I know this sounds alarming but actually I was not at all alarmed at the time (I am only slightly alarmed at myself now as I write this). Bear with me as I explain: If you ride your bike in New York City you know […]
More astonished
A few weeks ago I was alone, pushing my bike up a very, very steep gravel hill somewhere in southern Vermont on a lovely Wednesday afternoon. Sounds nice, yes, but I was not having a good time. I’ve been sad. (Sad?) Depressed. On and off for a while. Months? It’s not a big deal. It’s […]
Wrangle
I work sometimes for a bike collective. We have several cargo bikes that we use for delivery jobs around the city. Bikes are stored in Greenpoint or the Upper East Side. Or at a garage in South Brooklyn. Or at someone’s house. When someone from the collective uses a bike for work or otherwise we […]
Breadmobile
If you’ve been around New York City it is possible you have eaten some bread that was once on this bike.
Things I bring
Tent. Sleeping pad. Sleeping bag. Tarp. Micro towel. Cup. Knife. Spork. (Sometimes I take more cooking supplies but I didn’t feel like it this time.) Keds. Tevas. Billed hat (actually ended up leaving that home). Beanie. Rain jacket. Zipper sweatshirt. Leggings. Two pairs of cycling shorts. One pair of non-cycling shorts. Three shirts. One tunic […]
Should I ride my bike to Maine?
There are obvious reasons to visit Maine by bike. They say it is beautiful. They say the water is cold. But there are reasons not to go to Maine: It is frivolous to ride around on my bike all day. I’m getting too old for this. It used to be cool that I rode my […]
Anne Foster 