Riding a folding-bike is not just as simple as getting from point A to point B. When you ride a folding-bike or an electric bike, really any bike, you change the vantage point from which you view your surroundings and experience the world in a different way. Instead of sitting on the subway or in a car for cumulative years of your life, you spend that time outside, living, exploring, breathing fresh air and doing good things for your body.
Riding my folding bike: a day in the life
My Brompton at 104th and Broadway
Biking is all about re-imagining how you experience the world, and a folding bike allows you to do this in new and interesting ways. The other day, I got up, made breakfast, grabbed my M6L Brompton Bike, which I keep folded up in my closet due to my small room, and headed out the door for my morning ride to work at NYCeWheels. The first 10 minutes were beautiful, a cool breeze on my face and the scenery of Morningside park to enjoy as I rode south, but then a thunderstorm hit.
I’m from Seattle so I’m used to a little rain, but this was a monster, water comingdown in buckets, lightning striking like a bowler, so I headed to the Subway at 125th and Lex, folded up the Brompton Bike and headed down to the 4 train. On the train, it was crowded but one seat opened up. I moved to over to sit, turning the Brompton on its side to slide it under the seat, and the man standing next to
Brompton on the 4 Train
me started laughing, “That’s a BIKE?” I told him about NYCeWheels, he told me that he used to ride when he lived in Seattle and then I got off the train at 86th to finish my ride, still very wet, but now in a better mood.
Feeling good about my Brompton Bike
A folding bike allows you to move through life with just a bit more freedom and creativity. If I couldn’t fit my bike in my closet, I would never have enough space to even own a bike. If I couldn’t fold-up my Brompton, I never would have made it on that crowded train, not to mention find a seat, and I wouldn’t have started a conversation with that very nice man from my hometown. A folding bike lets you live in the cracks, change your mind at the last minute. You can be anywhere, sit anywhere, get anywhere in the city, and change your mind if it starts to rain.
This might not seem like enough to change your life, but what is life if not an aggregate of how you spend your time, and the times I’ve spent riding my folding bike have been some of my best.
Jack
