I Love Riding in the City

NAME: Wes Cheney
LOCATION: Norfolk, VA
OCCUPATION: Photographer

Where do you live and what’s it like riding in your city?
Norfolk is a city built atop tidal swamps, and is thus constrained by water. I plan my rides by bridges and ferries. Once when I lived in a flood prone area I parked my cars in the relative safety of a downtown parking garage and biked home through the warm hurricane winds and up to a foot of water.
What’s your favorite (or the most exotic) city you’ve ridden in, and what was special or memorable?
Flat broke after riding across Europe for five months, I scored a job as a bike messenger at Heaven Sent Couriers. What more need be said?

Why do you love riding in the city?
I love finding the alleys and back streets, the pedestrian bridges and little parks, and stitching them into my daily rides to work, the store and church. I love meeting my co-workers at a stoplight, me on my bike, them in their car, and beating them into the
office!
Check out www.wescheney.com

NAME: Amy Rice
LOCATION: Minneapolis, MN
OCCUPATION: Artist
Where do you live and what’s it like riding in your city?
I live in the heart of Minneapolis, MN. We’ve got bike lanes in the downtown area but they scare me a bit and sometimes I hop on to and ride on the sidewalk (I’m always polite and yield to pedestrians when I do so). We have some other nice trails to get from here to there on a bike fairly easily. The city seems smaller to me on a bike than in a car. My dog loves to ride alongside me and knows a whole bunch of bike related commands.

Why do you love riding in the city?
In the winter here in Minneapolis there is a real sense of camaraderie with other commuter bikers. There are days when it is so cold that bikers have a white halo of frost around their facemask mouth and nose holes. We’re proud of our frosty faces. I never cease to think at some point of a 10° below or more ride, “there is something wrong with my bike…no wait that’s me, my muscles, wait no it’s my bike…” Sometimes in the spring when all the sane riders come out with their clean, pretty bicycles and the paths are crowded and the bike lanes busy again I actually miss the sub-zero rides.

Check out www.amyrice.com