The Chainlink

Being a person with something like ten bikes, I never figured I'd ever be a Divvy subscriber. Then my February crash changed things. While I'm coming back, I still walk with a crutch most of the time, and getting from the Metra to the office (Dearborn and Adams) and back is still a pain (literal, at times).

So yesterday, I saw in an email from the City of Evanston that a $15 discount is available during May on an annual Divvy membership. I figured that might well be a better way to get across the Loop, and signed up.

Given that it's supposed to rain this afternoon, instead of riding my old Schwinn three-speed to Metra this morning, I walked a few blocks to the Valli shopping center, checked out a Divvy, and rode to the train. Once in the Loop, I had a few predictable teething pains. The first was figuring out where the nearest docks were (having assiduously ignored Divvy before, because I was above stooping to that level of bike ridership :-). Finding a dock, the first bike I picked had a seatpost stuck in the "down" position, and even after returning it to the dock, it took a few minutes and a phone call to Divvy before I could get a new code to check out another bike. Now I know to adjust the bike before taking it out of the dock. (If I'd have waited a couple more minutes, the phone call to Divvy Central would have probably been unnecessary. But, dang, it was cold this morning.)

So, if you see a crazy guy riding Divvy downtown with lights on his helmet and a crutch strapped to his handlebars, wave and say, "hi!"

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Ha! Glad to hear! Divvy has many uses--glad to have a new convert on board!

Yeah, I have less than ten bikes... three working and one project to be exact, but I'd totally get a DIVVY membership if I could get anywhere I need to go in 30 minutes or less. I really love the idea of DIVVY, but they system is not presently configured for people in my situation/neighborhood.

I've mentioned this before, but it would be great if DIVVY would adopt the NYC tactic of giving subscribers more time per ride - 45 min - vs daily use riders, who are more likely to be be tourists, who get 30 min per ride.

What neighborhood? Just curious.

I'm fortunate to live a 25-minute Divvy ride from work, so it's perfect for me. Absent that, I'd use it much less frequently.

McKinley Park - my commute takes at least 30 minutes on a non-DIVVY with a tail-wind and a lot of luck with traffic lights and traffic. Commuting on a DIVVY to the loop is not an option from here without doing the swap thing, which I've done and can be kind of a fun challenge, but I certainly would not want to make it part of my regular commute.

Yeah, I wouldn't want to deal with that either.

Maybe on a day where you knew you weren't going to be biking home for whatever reason.

Welcome to the club. While certainly not perfect, it's a good option for many of us. You'll want the CycleFinder and/or Chicago Bike app on your phone to help find bikes/docks. It can be frustrating to arrive at your destination to find no docks available.

Yeah, having 45 minutes instead of 30 would be very useful at times.

I installed the suggested Transit app, which I find outstanding. Besides doing the Divvy thing, it also shows me CTA buses and trains, PACE buses, and Metra info. That makes me a very happy camper.

Very useful app.

A strapped on crutch - yeah, that's distinctive. ;)

A couple of years ago, my version was pedaling very slowly while wearing a big orthopedic boot on one foot. That low first gear came in very handy.

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