ChiWhoBike #89
I’ve been working on bikes probably 10 years already, on my own. My dad and my uncles taught me a little bit of how to work on bikes, because they also worked on their own bikes. 10 years ago, I had my bike, I was looking for a shop to get it tuned up, and I would take it and when I got it back, it was not the right way that I liked it . And that’s how I went to look for my first tool set. And ever since, I just keep adding tools to my collection. I started working on my own bikes, and on my family’s bikes, then close friends’ bikes and, kept going until I came to Blackstone Bikes, as a volunteer. They liked my work, they saw that I knew what I was doing, and they hired me. I’ve been here with them for a year already, and I mean, it’s been the best experience I ever had. I’m doing what I like, and now I’m teaching kids how to ride bikes, how to fix their bikes and helping the community as well.
So this is a Radio Flyer electric cargo bike. I got it secondhand just for my daughters, to transport them more easily and for me to travel farther away in the city. But I only use this when I am riding with my kids. And this is my third year, biking full-time, literally year round. Summer and winter, rain or shine, I’m outside riding my bike. It’s been only three years, but full-time biking maybe, maybe 15 years. But I mean, I’ve been biking since I was very young. I think I started biking first, and then learned how to walk. So I’ve always been on a bike - all my family, my dad, my uncles have been biking all their life too. So I can say I’ve been biking all my life.
If you want to bike in the city, don’t be scared. I’ve met a lot of people that want to start cycling, but they are either scared or they don’t go out because they need someone to ride with. I always encourage them to come and ride with the bike groups that we have. You know the best one is Chicago Critical Mass, and there’s many other groups that are around the city. They can just come join us and they will see the experience and how we bike in the city. And a lot of people that I’ve brought to the groups, they are full-time cyclists now too.
