Gassed out.
I have been on bikes as long as I could remember, but not until I lived in Santa Cruz, CA in 2016 did I become a full citizen-cyclist. The no-car life was amazing but it wasn’t a choice, I didn’t have a car because I had run out of money traveling and had no plan of commuting out of the core SC area anyway so I went into it optimistically. After traveling for a year or so with only 2 backpacks, the thought of investing into such a depreciating asset was too heavy, too clunky and burdensome.
The bike I found was a 2013-ish Marin Hybrid 700c and it cost me $150 off of Craigslist. It was a solid bike and a great deal, a deal you can still find today (after sellers get tired of trying to get $500 for one). I commuted to Bay Photo up in Scotts Valley for a minimum wage $11/hr job that had me in the best shape of my life. Because of the early morning pedal (no eBike) up and the fast fun ride home to a strictly budgeted Trader Joe’s diet. It was here that I started doing math from the minimum wage bracket and things were not adding up. My previous 8 years of work was being a Diesel Mechanic with a solid $90k per year union job, so while it was freeing to make the big change (and drain my savings) it got real-real real-quick.
The wake-up call was when I did the math on buying a bus pass, so I didn’t HAVE to pedal the side roads of HWY 17 uphill EVERY morning, but still enjoy the rides home! A simple $60 bus pass, which definitely saved money paying per ride, put my net into the red with my 40 hour per week minimum wage job’s income. When I did the math in the lunch room I looked out at the parking lot and all the people who drove into work and thought, how are all these people affording a car? Without really asking anyone at all, I ‘m sure the reason is that it was financed or they had 2 jobs. But for my own internal research and development, I said I either need a raise or EVEN THIS is too far of a commute to be profitable.
So I got a job at a restaurant as a busser and that had less certainty, but soon outperformed the strict minimum wage structure. I was afloat and reduced the need for bus pass or car needs altogether with only a 20ish minute, fewer hill, ride into Johnny’s Harborside. Shout out to Dan too, who had an influence on servers tipping out other staff in a more structured 10% across the board (not required I don’t think) but really made the job sustainable and predictable.
Anyway.
The only thing I needed by this time, several months from buying the used Marin was fenders for the rain! This was something I never thought was necessary for a bike until of course it was my mode of transport rain or shine. When I would ride passed everyone sitting in their cars in traffic thru cluttered Santa Cruz I was like… this is the way. When I go back to the city and drive around (I have a Van and depend on it for work), it feels wrong and that I should just park at the gates of 17 and just bring my bike to ride in the rest of the way! But I’m also struck with how unsafe it still is for bikes, even in a city so perfect for it like Santa Cruz.
So, as gas prices rise (as they should honestly which I will touch on in future posts) and our climate outlook is hotter and more dire by the day, the time has never been more NOW to give up gas and get on bikes. This will be my journal and blog like is the late 90’s again and something I never did, as a myspace-facebook-instagrammer throughout my 20’s. I am excited to put my thoughts on ePaper and use far less energy than posting A.I. slop IG hopefully. With this blog about bikes and bikeable infrastructure in my newest city Santa Rosa, with mountain bike content as well as reviews and more. Gas out with me and see you next time.