Biking NYC

When Alta Bicycle Share announced the news for the Citi Bike bicycle sharing system, I welcomed the news with lots of excitement.  Having a shared biking system had always appealed to me and especially because that meant a few stations would be installed in my neighborhood, East Village.  That meant a lot to me because I could now bike to work without having to worry about where to park my personal bike. I have loved biking ever since I was a child. I would always believe that bikes give you the flexibility to explore those city parts that I could not explore otherwise on foot. Not only did I love and appreciate the flexibility that the biking offered me by taking me from one place to another a lot faster as well as saving me money, but also I was very intrigued by the very mechanics of the bike. It has always been my passion to taking the bike apart and put it back together. I have always enjoyed doing all the repairs myself not only because it was more affordable, but also because it made me feel a lot more connected with the bike and that created a feeling of self-accomplishment.

After arriving in New York City from Europe, it felt as if the urban scale were overwhelming when compared to the human scale. Cycling the streets of New York City felt as if I were crossing the Atlantic Ocean with a kayak. However, I was determined that I was not going to let the concrete jungle dry my long time passion for cycling. I always biked to and from work and school every day. While adjusting to the Manhattan life, the bike became my best friend. Not only did I use it for commuting to work, but also I would bike around the city to explore more of the city’s amazing architecture, thus appreciating even more the other passion of mine, the career as an Architect.

Thus, Citi Bike launched in May of 2013, opening 332 stations that contained a total of 6,000 bikes to share among the New York City residents. This brought me lots of joy and at the same time lots of curiosity on the installation of this bike sharing system. I was now very content that I did not have to worry again about any flat tires, thieves, or any other problems associated with parking the bike in the streets. Furthermore, the protected bike lane was installed on the First Avenue, which enhanced the safety of the bike riders as well as made the street feel a little more people friendly. Ever since the installation of Citi Bike, I have been making use of this bike location, which is conveniently installed near my apartment building as well as near my office building in Midtown.  Although Citi Bike did feel as Hummers in the beginning, the benefits overweighed the disadvantages as I now did not have to worry about finding a secure spot to lock my own bike; Citi Bike has many locations all around the city. Thus, I went ahead and enrolled for the annual membership. 

The bikes were designed to be mainly durable, thus making it a little uncomfortable as you ride. The phone app is very useful because it shows not only where the closed stations are, but also how many bikes the other stations have left. The real time data convenience through the app motivated me even more to sign up for the yearly membership. 

The Citi Bike shared system was the first of its kind installed in New York City. As such, initially, it was not coordinated very properly, as some stations were full and others empty. However, the company, with the development of more data, started using trucks to move bikes around the city to fulfil New Yorker’s needs. For example, East Village is mostly a residential neighborhood. As such, there is a great demand for bikes in the early morning when people leave for work, but there are no free ducking spaces to duck the bike when you return from work. On the other hand, the opposite happens in Midtown, for example in Grand Central, where the majority of the buildings are commercial. 

Although I enjoyed riding the Citi Bike for an entire year, I did miss riding my own, customized fixed gear bike as I had built it myself. I strongly believe that Citi Bike is a great tool to have for riding to and from work or school, that is short distances. Citi Bike did change my views for the better towards bike riding. I did extend the membership for another year as I now introduced my wife towards riding the bike to work. As for myself, I am back to riding the bike that I customized. This bike was especially useful when I did the Tour de Bronx in October of 2015 and successfully completed 44 miles of biking around the Bronx; a dream that came true. 

However, regardless of what kind of bike I use, Citi Bike will always come in handy especially when I get flat tires or other similar problems.

Thank you

for visiting and reading!

Ermir Gjoka