Jack Edinger, a fellow board member at the Durham Bike Co-op, and Anne Fairchild are the next Bull City Bikers.
What bike(s) do you own and ride regularly?
Anne: Trek multi track 730 w/ plastic crate attached!
Jack: Currently ride a 1983 Trek 630 fixed-gear conversion. I also have an ever-changing fleet of frames and project bikes. I counted nine bikes in my workshop this morning, four of which are built up.
What’s your primary flavor of riding?
Anne: Commuting, tooling around town, occasionally for fitness
Jack: Daily commuter, weekend errand-runner: road bike flavor. I occasionally do some mountain biking, but it’s been a while.
What’s the length and frequency of your average ride?
Anne: I typically ride about 15 min. six times a week at least
Jack: Too short, only a few miles to work – but I ride back home for lunch. I would guess I ride an average 20 miles per week commuting, plus a few extra miles on the weekends. I try to make up for my short commute by riding in all weather conditions, year-round.
Why did you start riding and why do you still ride?
Anne: I always biked around my neighborhood growing up. As a young adult in the mid nineties I thought mountain bikes were “cool” and purchased one thinking I would ride it, but in hindsight it was mostly about image. Now I have a utilitarian bike that I ride to get around town easily, reduce my carbon emissions, save money, and to keep as active as I can. I also like being a part of the world when I am riding as opposed to being trapped in a steel can.
Jack: I started riding bikes at a very early age – was very much into BMX as a kid. I lived close to elementary school and would sometimes bike to school. I was the youngest of four boys, who all had bike-boom-era ‘ten speeds’, they were undoubtedly the reason I started cycling.
I also rode to class when I was an undergrad at UNC, until my bike was stolen when I was a senior. I didn’t replace it, and consequently did not ride much – if at all – for many years. Four years ago, my wife Anne and I moved closer to my job at Duke and I started riding again. My first commuter bike was her old mountain bike! It was then that my passion for cycling was renewed. I soon discovered the joy of fixed-gear and was hooked.
What’s the most unusual thing you’ve seen while out for a ride?
Anne: An orange cone w/ a face painted on it at the intersection of Hillsborough and Carolina where I cut through to get to work because the road is blocked off to cars. Who made it and why? It has been useful keeping the Duke lot overflow cars from parking so that we can still bike through the narrow passageway.
Jack: I wouldn’t say I have seen anything unusual, other than typical Durham quirkiness. My wife now commutes to her job on Ninth Street, and I work on East Campus, so we often cross paths when I’m riding back home for lunch as she heads to work in the afternoon. That’s the best, getting a kiss on my commute!
How would your world be different if you wake up tomorrow and there are no more cars?
Anne: I think my world would change a lot less than the average person. I can get about everywhere I go by bike. I would have to work a lot harder to see my family in Chapel hill I guess.
Jack: My world wouldn’t change that much… I suppose my summer commutes wouldn’t be so hot! We’d probably be a lot busier at the bike co-op as well.
What’s one thing Durham could do to become more bike friendly?
Anne: Bike racks on Ninth St. and driver education about bicycles so they don’t act so scared around us!
Jack: More of everything: bike racks, lane striping, dedicated bikeways, driver education, you name it! I personally think Durham is headed in the right direction and has made significant progress towards this goal in recent years. I have faith and confidence in a bike-friendly future for the Bull City. The one thing that we really need, however, is the political will to make it happen. That, and more folks on bikes.