pedal people bike workshop northampton ma

“In my experience,” he wrote in a follow-up email, “as I used a bike more and more for functional transportation, I hit a tipping point where it was far more unpleasant to use my car than to hop on a bike. Once I made it to that mentally … it was just a matter of figuring out ways to accomplish what I needed without getting into the box on wheels. Like Hairston, he’s not put off by cycling in bad weather proper clothing, headlights and reflectors, fenders and careful riding can all minimize the impact of wet or cold conditions, he says, even if that means he needs to do more maintenance to keep his drivetrain, brakes and gears clear of road grit.

“It just doesn’t make a lot of sense for me to have a car right now.” He’s done different kinds of jobs in the past, including building his own house, and says he’s “been very fortunate” to have worked things out in his life such that “I don’t need to work right now.” “I’m just far more comfortable on a bike,” he says during a phone interview. Salem Mazzawy, of Granby, commuting on his bike through Northampton. Though he doesn’t ride every day, Mazzawy, a former cross-country (XC) mountain bike racer, uses his bike for everything he does, whether a run to the grocery store in Hadley, a visit to a friend in Northampton or, in past years, for a trip to a place to cross-country ski (he would strap his skis along the length of his bike). Salem Mazzawy of Granby has owned cars in the past but doesn’t any longer. It’s a conscious decision that can be based on any number of factors: a desire to limit one’s contribution to climate change a way to relax and decompress after a day of work by cycling home rather than fighting traffic a way to save money or just having an aversion to cars. “I love the independence I have on a bicycle.”įor Hairston and other people in the Valley whose bicycles are their primary - or only - means of transportation, getting around on two wheels is not a hardship or sacrifice. “I love it,” says Hairston, who has been on sabbatical from Smith this semester. Her only concession, in the event of a torrential downpour, is to walk to work instead of cycling (she lives in a house with her wife and a friend, both of whom have cars). Rain is usually no impediment, either, she says. Today she’s a year-round bicycle commuter, whether it’s going to work, the gym, running errands or just getting around for exercise. She uses the path to commute to her job teaching writing at Smith College.Īnd so Hairston, who lives in Florence, got herself set up to do just that, investing in a special bike equipped for winter conditions, with studded tires, fenders and a rust-proof chain. Andrea Hairston rides on the Northampton Rail Trail in Florence in mid March.

Pedal people bike workshop northampton ma