modern life vs. human nature

Even though I own a biodeisel SUV i decided that I wanted to ride my bike more often to work so that I would contribute less pollution to our air. Coincidentally, my SUV broke down soon after I made the decision and so I threw myself wholeheartedly into the commuter biking thing.

Last season I bought a $300 (made in china) Nishiki hybrid bicycle that I used to get around on because my downhill mountain bike was just too heavy. As soon as I started riding the Nishiki more often it started to break down. The more bike shops I went to the more I was told that my bike was basically a “piece of shit” and that If I wanted to get a “good” bike I would have to spend some dough. Feeling a little depressed at having to shell out more money for what I thought was an inexpensive way to get around the city I decided to shop around more..and low and behold I found the best bike shop in the world! Our Community Bikes on Main St. in Vancouver is a non-profit cooperative bike shop where they don’t tell you your bike is a piece of shit and they help you improve it inexpensively with used or donated parts from other bikers.(You still pay for parts but they are super cheap.) The other great part about the shop is that the volunteers teach you how to fix your bike too. So instead of just dropping your bike off and waiting for the repair guy to fix it you bring it in and fix it yourself with their help. What a concept?

So a few months later I have created the bike in the above picture(my CHUB!)

It is a pretty sweet ride, has all the gears of a ten speed and front shocks. All for below $500..which includes the original cost of the bike a year ago. For me it is the perfect combination of all types of bikes. In other words, it works for a curb jumping, wheelie popping, fast commute to work.

My car is now fixed and when I drove it the other day I was not happy.  Traffic sucked and people in cars seemed a lot less happy then the people I meet who are riding or walking to work or just plain cruising around enjoying the outdoors.

I have read that there are other such shops in most major cities and I hope that more open in smaller towns as well because this seems like a progressive way to help solve our pollution problem and enjoy our lives.