I started bike commuting when they installed bike lockers at the commuter train station to which I'd been driving until that point. That was in 2001, I think. When I got to the city, I'd take the subway. I got to work at 9:00 or so.

I started out on an aluminum MTB with a rack and panniers. Changes over the years involved adding dynamo hub, internally geared transmission, ditched the suspension fork....

In 2005 I got a folding bike that I kept in the locker, took on the train, and rode in the city.

In 2007 I switched to a better folding bike that I used for all my commuter biking; folded it up and took it on the train, unfolded and rode at the other end. Its little wheels overpowered the lights, so I learned to make my own LED headlights. I also learned that with the folding bike I could use a variety of different train stations, and I started changing around my routine a lot. I gave up on the luggage rack and panniers, and use a messenger bag at all times. I didn't open my bike locker for years!

In 2012 they moved my office in the city; now I'm so close to the station that I gave up on the folding bike. It lives in my office but I don't use it that much. I now have an old steel race bike rebuilt with fenders and dynamo hub and internally geared transmission and I'm using my bike locker again. There's a rack on the bike but I'm still using a messenger bag. Walking to the train station proved to be difficult; so many years of riding in traffic made me more comfortable among the cars than I am among the tourists on the sidewalk. I'm a really bad pedestrian.

Then they introduced the Citibike program in NYC. Now I ride the Citibike between the office and the station. No more dodging pedestrians on the sidewalk

Another trajectory over the years has been I get up earlier and get home earlier. I now get to the office by 6:30, pretty much avoiding the worst rush hours both morning and evening.