Bike Forums - Hey all, from HoCo, MD and soon to be NYC

Hello,

My name is Brandon 'Blue' Schlueter and I'm a new transfer student at Pace University in NYC. I'm born and for the most part raised in Howard County Maryland ( there was a 2 year stint right after I was born that I lived outside of Madrid, Spain). I have been rock climbing for 6 years and am a certified guide in the Hueco Tanks State Historic Site outside of El Paso Texas. I only recently came into biking as a necessity after a minor head injury that wasn't minor enough to prevent the MVA from making me go through my state's Medical Advisory Board, which can take up to 9 months. I love biking though, and with the state of gas prices I don't know if I'll want to ever completely go back to driving.

I recently acquired a secondhand circa 1989 Trek 1000, and I love it! It has required some attention though, mostly minor tuning, but the front brakes ('88 Dia-Compe) have a perpetually loose cable that needs some fixing... It's a great first bike especially for the price ($0) and I will hopefully move off of it and pass it on to another needy new rider in a few years:)

I will be moving up to New York City at the end of the month, and I'm planning on taking every precaution to keep my bike safe. I'll be living in Brooklyn Heights and attending class in the Financial District of Manhattan, and the morning rides over the Brooklyn Bridge will hopefully be quiet refreshing.

I hope I can make use of everyone's good advise here, because I'm already stuck on riding after less than a month.