Robbie Webber [email protected] wrote on Wed, 23 May 2012 10:35:20
-0500:

> Groupon is offering a B Cycle annual membership for $30 for the next 2
> days. Normally it is $65. This is a great opportunity if you wanted to try
> B Cycle, but were put off by the membership. 

This offer is essentailly the same ($2.50 cheaper) than the half-price
offer B-Cycle offered directly at the beginning of the season. (In the
interest of full disclosure, if you intend to get a membership and feel so
inclined, using http://www.groupon.com/r/uu19497310 will give me a referral
bonus.)

I used to be a daily bicycle commuter, but stopped because of both a knee
problem and my current two-stage commute, the first segment of which is not
feasible by bicycle.  But when B-cycle offered free daily passes during
BTWW, I decided to give it a try as a way of possibly cutting a few minutes
off that last 1.5 miles I walk from my car.  (I know, I'm not supposed to
use that word on this list.  Too bad.  And smart ass replies from
ParkAndRidePrivatiserWong will be unceremoniously deleted.)

I wasn't 100% pleased with the experience, but for this $30 promo I was
willing to buy a membership and see how it goes for a year.  (Interesting
timing that the discount came out shortly after the BTWW promotion ;-) )

The check-out and check-in procedure was pretty slick.  The bikes require a
little bit of getting used to.  On the plus side, seat height adjustment is
easy.  On the negative side, they are only three-speed, which wouldn't
matter enough, but I got a bit of a shock trying to cycle downhill and not
being able to shift to a gear with enough resistance for pedalling.

Location of stations can be a problem.  They have lots of them downtown,
but they are very sparse outside of downtown, which could be a problem if
the one you want to use doesn't have any bikes left to check out.  (On one
of the days, I checked out the last one available at my originating
station.)  Or worse, you could get back and find the dock full, leaving you
unable to return it there.  If that happens downtown (as it did on one of
my bike return attempts), it's not so bad because you can probably find
another station within a few blocks, but if it happens farther out, you are
screwed.

(As for the bicycling itself, for the short distance it didn't seem so bad,
except for my third day of using them when I got a very painful reminder of
why I don't bicycle regularly anymore. I was fine after several hours, but
I did spend that morning in pain and with a cold pack. I guess I just have
to remember to keep the trips short and not to go at commuter speed?)


--------------------------------------------------------------------
mail2web - Check your email from the web at
http://link.mail2web.com/mail2web


_______________________________________________
Bikies mailing list
[email protected]
http://lists.danenet.org/listinfo.cgi/bikies-danenet.org

Reply via email to