Also known as Valentine’s Day, this is really a day to express your love for your bicycle. I ran with that theme in the questions posed during the Feb. 13 #BikeSchool Twitter chat and am sharing them here so you can have fun in a more extended comment space if you like.
I do occasionally answer my own questions during the chat so those are here as parenthetical asides. I’m also sharing some of the answers received during the chat that illustrate the power of true #BikeLove.
OK, so this is a pretty predictable theme. But WE LOVE BIKES. That’s why we log on Thursday nights, 6-7pm Pacific time, to follow #BikeSchool and have bikey chats for no reason other than pure, unadulterated Bike Love. #BikeLove
Q1: Roll call/check-in. Who’s here and what’s one thing you really, really love about your wheels? (I’m using “wheels” in the metaphorical sense of the whole bike — not just your wheelset. Although you can go there if that’s what turns your cranks.)
A1: (Yes, the prof can answer her own question) I love the help that Zelda the e-bike gives me going up a hill at the end of the day when I’m two-tired.
Q2: Even the most loving relationship can hit a bump in the road. What’s something you don’t entirely love about your current bike set-up? Do you have plans for some therapeutic efforts at improvement? Will your partner go willingly?
[By the way, Q2 *is not* a subtweet about either Zelda the ebike or my own Sweet Hubs (my nickname for my husband, which he tolerates).]
Q3: When you saw your bike was it love at first sight or did it grow on you over time? Was there one special moment when you just knew This Is The One?
This! #BikeLove #BikeSchool https://t.co/FB1q8O019l
— Niet Van Suiker (@Luke_Wanderer) February 14, 2020
A3: I knew I liked the bike when I got it, but I was living in a fairly hilly area when I got it. It wasn’t until I got the e-assist installed that it was truly transformative. This picture is hours after getting everything installed. #bikeschool #bikelove pic.twitter.com/cPocuqOWx5
— Matthew Rogers (@mttrgrs) February 14, 2020
A3: My road bike was such a smooth and effortless ride, it wasn’t exactly “at first sight” but rather “at first ride.” #bikeschool #bikelove It is all about the feel.
— Beth Nobles (@trailgirl) February 14, 2020
Q4: Did you date several bikes before settling down in happy bike monogamy or are you poly-bike-arous? Have just one bike right now but you’re bike-curious about another? So many kinds of love.
A4: definitely poly-bike-arous! Our family has, at last count, sixteen bikes between the four of us. (We think they’re breeding in the garage) #BikeSchool
— Lisa Corriveau (@spokesmama) February 14, 2020
A4: Oh gosh…I love every one of my bikes for different reasons. I’m getting nostalgic thinking about all the bikes I’ve had in my life. So many memories.
— Car-lite Carfangs (@carlitecarfangs) February 14, 2020
Long adventures on my huffy with my dad…
Commuting all around the city in high school…#BikeLove #BikeSchool
Q5: If you still think back fondly on a previous bike relationship, what is it you miss about that lost love? Did you just outgrow that relationship? Would you ever go back?
A5: I really did love our first cargo bike, but we outgrew it (both literally, and metaphorically). I miss the step-through geometry–it’s pretty nice for mounting and dismounting #bikelove #bikeschool pic.twitter.com/VFBQ32TjNV
— Matthew Rogers (@mttrgrs) February 14, 2020
I got tired of the turquoise paint on my first bike as a girl. So I got yellow and blue tape to cover it entirely with horizontal stripes, alternating the colors. It looked GREAT for awhile, until the tape wore out a bit and got dirty. #A5 #bikeschool #bikelove
— Beth Nobles (@trailgirl) February 14, 2020
Q6: Sometimes you need to break up with a bike relationship that wasn’t quite right for you but could be perfect for someone else. Have you ever passed your bike along to a friend and rejoiced that they could be happy together?
Q7: Or perhaps your relationship with that bike was all wrong from the beginning. You knew it, but it took a catastrophic blow-up (blow-out?) to end it. Have you had to be pushed into dumping Wrong For You And You Know It But Need to Admit It Bike?
[A7: For me it was having that all-wrong-for-me cheap MTB from a warehouse store get stolen. I didn’t need the weight of all those shocks, didn’t know anything about rolling resistance and why those were the wrong tires.]
Q8: A question so obvious but it can’t go without asking: Has love of bicycling brought you together with another human being you love? (Any form of love–not just romantic love.)
[A8: My own story is that I met Sweet Hubs thanks to his description of himself as seeking a partner for dancing, cycling and sailing. I wasn’t sure about the sailing but those first 2 were right on the money. Married 13 years as of this July.]
[A8 more: I definitely have tons of awesome friends whom I’ve met through bike connections.]
A8: My kid and I. All of it #bikelove #bikeschool pic.twitter.com/Ro0DLmC6qt
— Matthew Rogers (@mttrgrs) February 14, 2020
#BikeSchool A8: barf. pic.twitter.com/HtrwpYc5oQ
— Stefanie Randolph (@StefRandolph) February 14, 2020
A8: My neighbors! We had a group ride to an ice cream shop that has now become an annual (or monthly over the summer) tradition!https://t.co/iZOZKNrYpJ#BikeLove #BikeSchool
— Car-lite Carfangs (@carlitecarfangs) February 14, 2020
A8 cont: A few wedding pics to further declare our obsession. #BikeLove #BikeSchool pic.twitter.com/K1A2dp0d6W
— Car-lite Carfangs (@carlitecarfangs) February 14, 2020
1. If anyone would have told me 11 yrs ago that I was about to begin the most interesting work of my life + meet the most wonderful people + friends I wouldn’t have believed it. #bikeschool
— Pedal Love (@PedalLove) February 14, 2020
Q9: Speaking of love… Lots of great bike valentines being shared on Twitter, like these from Bike PGH. Will you be sending one to that someone special? Tweets to follow w/more examples.
I’ve got a new #Valentine postcard ready! 20% off w/code today: ZAZWEEKDAY20 https://t.co/QJr8jAdxPY via @zazzle
— Pedal Love (@PedalLove) February 1, 2020
Achievement unlocked. Bike lanes are featured as a @baltimoresun Valentine this year and I’m hollering. 🚲❤️🚲❤️ pic.twitter.com/uXLg6wL4zM
— Liz Cornish (@lizbybike) February 13, 2020
We have #Valentines for you to share with your bike loves! 🚲 pic.twitter.com/lqGA7XreiO
— SV Bike Coalition (@bikesv) February 12, 2020
Get you a coworker who makes (and sells!) bike-themed valentines 😍 🚲 pic.twitter.com/zII7k2KLc6
— Sarah Sanford (@Sarah_D_Sanford) February 11, 2020
Q9 #bikeschool
— Pedal Love (@PedalLove) February 14, 2020
If you want to color your own Valentine’s send me a note + I’ll email you this a a printable PDF. pic.twitter.com/OGxraPGZIt
Q10: By now you’ve likely seen at least one image of someone riding their bike to create GPS artwork. Here’s a heart-shaped Love Ride in Fort Worth. Have you ever done this? Would you like to try “drawing” with your bike?
That’s a wrap on Love Ride 2020! We had a great time kicking Valentine’s week off with a heart-shaped ride through the Southside. We ❤️you Fort Worth! pic.twitter.com/ax4pyCIynK
— FortWorthBikeSharing (@FWBikeSharing) February 9, 2020
That part I don’t know. Have to go searching for some how-to now. #BikeSchool #BikeLove
— Barb Chamberlain (@BarbChamberlain) February 14, 2020
Q11: This year Valentine’s Day is also #WinterBikeToWorkDay! Nothing warms your heart quite like a ride to work. Will you commit to your ride on http://winterbiketoworkday.org and give your bike some love?
I was the second person in North America to commit! Getting ready for -15F … A11 #BikeSchool
— Niet Van Suiker (@Luke_Wanderer) February 14, 2020
Q12 The #BikeLove concept doesn’t just apply to romantic love. Maybe you love to ride to school with your kid(s). If so, @SafeRoutesNow has a photo contest for you! Have any great pix to share tonight? 2/28 deadline.
I wrapped up the chat with this:
OK, bike lovers, much as I’ve felt all kinds of warm feelings rolling with you tonight, I need to head out to meet up with my platonic love, the bus, so I can get home to my One True Human Love, Sweet Hubs, and to Zelda, Tessa and Sweetie Bike. TTFN! #BikeSchool #BikeLove
— Barb Chamberlain (@BarbChamberlain) February 14, 2020