Hello fellow bike commuters, roadies and mountain bikers; I hope y’all had a great Christmas and you got the bikey stuff you wanted. The big dude in the red suit was kind to me and eight Awnry Bike frames and parts are now in the works of being assembled. I am really excited to offer these simple but fun commuter bikes.
So now that I am done with my bikes plug, let us get into what happened at BikeCommuters.com on 2016. 2016 is the year that “The Bike Geek” returned to BikeCommuters and I am so happy that I did return. Although I never stopped cycling, health reasons really motivated me to keep riding but I never thought about riding my bike to work because of the “logistics”. Excuses, excuses…
Well, if I was going to be writing for a bicycle commuting blog, it would have been a little hypocritical that I would not be riding my bike to work right? So I did my research and came out with a solution: Bike-Train commute.
I went ahead and purchased a used Devinci Caribou cyclocross/touring bike for my cycling needs and by pure coincidence, the fine folks from 2wheel gear asked us to review their new backpack pannier convertible which is one of the best products I reviewed for 2016.
Being new at riding the train had me a little nervous, I did not know about the train bike etiquette and as you may remember, I was a little over dressed for the occasion.
I had forgotten how much fun commuting on bike is and I was also reminded of how many asshole drivers happen to be on the road. I guess things will never change so riding defensively and predictable is the best advise I can give someone who wants to give bike commuting a try.
2016 was also the year that I got my wife involved in cycling, if you don’t remember, my wife does not know how to ride a bicycle. The solution was to order a Bike Friday Family tandem so her and I can go riding. The Bike Friday Tandem was the best money I’ve ever spent on a bicycle, my wife and I really enjoy riding together.
I also got to add a little more excitement to my commute; I sold the Davinci Caribou and got me a rare Spicer Cycles Cyclocross bike for cheap. I was able to ride offroad for part of my commute on my way back home, that was just plain stupid fun. Oh yes, that was also the first time I tried Facebook’s “live” feature.
Fast forwarding towards the end of 2016, I also stopped making excuses on riding while is dark and got totally lit with the help of NiteRider and BrightLightz. Commuting at night was a different but pleasant experience that I truly enjoyed.
2017 should be an exciting but busy year with the launch of Awnry Bikes, but I do plan to keep doing my weekly post for all of you to enjoy. I do want to take the time to thank the following companies for letting us showcase and review their stuff:
2Wheel Gear, NiteRider, ShowersPass, Abus Locks, DZR Shoes and Burley.