Hello everyone! I'll try to keep this brief and succinct. My name is Zac and I'll soon be 21 this summer. I've just assembled my road bike from other salvaged bicycles and stripped parts. My '93 Subaru Legacy wagon has been giving me a hard time for the past year. Terrible gas problems, electric problems, exhaust problems, you name it. On top of this, I've been paying $100 a month for auto insurance, and probably $100 - $150 a month just in gas. That's nearly $2500 a year I'm paying just to save myself some time and energy getting to work and to the store, so I've decided to make some changes. Since 2008 has arrived, I've quit smoking, continued to keep my personal relationships healthy, and have decided to stop driving an automobile.

Since I've put my bike together and have been pedaling around through town for the last couple of weeks, I've been sleeping better and feeling better throughout the day. I'm really beginning to understand what is so appealing about commuting by bicycle, and I hope to discover much more on these forums.

I'm currently involved with a non-profit co-op bicycle repair shop in my town called Recycle Ithaca's Bicycles (RIBS) so I have access to tools and knowledge which is absolutely great but I will probably be asking a lot of questions here as well. Glad to be a new member of this community!

-Zac

Welcome Zac! Glad to hear the biking is working out so well for you. Got any pictures of your handiwork?

Hello Zac! Sounds as if you are forging ahead with some good plans there. Yes, let's see some photos of the bike .

Welcome to BF, and feel free to PM me with any questions !

East Hill

I think what you're doing is great. Wish I had something like RIB here, I'd love to donate my time and parts in exchange for access to a workspace and a place to hang out with other riders.

Welcome fellow commuter! Been car-free for more than 8 years --- and since I enjoy living in the city - and work downtown - I do not plan on getting a car unless I'm at a new job where I really have to drive to due to distance - and I don't think that will happen.

I'm down in that area in August (take Greyhound to Ithica) - I go and watch some friends in the Cayuga Tri. Camping at the Taughannock Falls Park again - beautiful place.

And we all brought our bikes. Ya know there is NOT much in the way of flat roads there! Bunch of us went out on a 30 miler and got some good hills under our belt!

Totally, using your skills to benefit the less fortunate is the coolest feeling! I help the neighborhood kids fix their bikes, and it's the coolest thing to help someone else get into the wonderful world of bikes.

Nice work! I used to live in Ithaca and as long as you don't want to really go anywhere far (like where? Auburn? no thanks) you can *walk * to pretty much anything. Or, you know, there's always TCAT. But a bike is more fun so why not?

Congrats on all you've achieved! I lived in Ithaca for six years but for the last three I've been in CT. I'm going back in the Fall and hopefully I'll get some good riding in. Just bought a new road bike and the whole Finger Lakes area is beautiful. I'm hoping to find a place to live somewhere out around Pyramid Mall and I'll bike into Cornell. For the rainy/snowy days, I'll try to catch the TCAT bus.

Thanks for all of your positive replies! I'm at work right now but I'll try to snap some photos when I get home this evening if the daylight holds out.

East Hill- Thank you for the invitiation, I'll remember it.

FlatTop- RIBS is certainly a wonderful resource and a lot of fun. It might be easier to run something like that in a small town compared to larger cities. If you are at all interested in starting a volunteer-oriented bicycle repair co-op you should shoot me a PM and I can help you out with that. Same goes to anyone else.

Tude- Congratulations on your success, that's certainly a long time to get around without a car of your own and definitely inspiration for me to do the same. And you're correct, there really is NOT much in the way of flat road.

For anyone who isn't aware, Ithaca is a small town at the southern tip of Cayuga Lake (one of the regional fingerlakes). The lake is long and skinny because it was carved out of the earth by large glaciers eons ago and the deepest part of this part this particular valley filled up with what is now our lake water. So there are large stretches of flat ground if you know your way around this area as well as hills and forests galore. There's also small downtown park for skaters, bladers and bikers and some really sick tracks hidden out in the woods if you know the right people.

ChristAir- I'm glad you agree. I've helped all sorts of people with their bikes and every one of them is equally interested in what is happening.

Anastrophe- Yeah if I need to get really far it's usually with other people and we'd car pool regardless, or else the bus system works just fine.

Fredo- That's pretty much what I'm doing right now and will continue to do for a while. The nice thing about the TCAT buses is that they have retractable bike racks on the front. The only downside is that only two bikes fit at once but I've honestly never run into a problem where I couldn't fit my bike on the rack on account of it being full already. Besides, most of the people who ride the bus are Cornell University students and they seem to prefer their giant family-sized SUVs.

Photos, yes!

Seriously, if you need to ask anything, feel free to ask me. I won't necessarily know the answer, but I can usually guide you to someone who does know.

East Hill

Wait a few years...we have those same racks on our buses (many cities do) and they are constantly full. Either I bike all the way, or I take the bus all the way, cause you can't ever count on being able to do both. They do make those racks in a 4-bike version but I think they only have those in San Francisco and Portland and other 'nice' places. But yeah. I once saw a Cornell student carrying a dog in her purse on the bus, but I never saw one with a bike.