Erin Houston: I Live Here

Erin Houston is an editor at the University of California, Davis.   She is a bike commuter, a blogger at 1girl + 2wheels, and the co-founder, with her husband, of the very popular Sacramento Tweed Ride - where cyclist in dashing tweedy attire get together for a leisurely ride through town.

The next Tweed Ride is this weekend.   Meet Mrs Tweed:

Erin and her Rivendell Quickbeam

SacCycleChic:  Tell me about your bikes?  Which one is your favorite?  Why?  Do you remember your first bike?

Erin Houston:  I am the proud owner of two bikes.  (For so long I've had only one that this is a new luxury.)  I have a Rivendell Quickbeam, or the bike on which I learned everything I know about riding, and a Betty Foy, also a Rivendell.  The Betty is still in her zygote phase: right now she is a little more than a frame.  I am very much looking forward to building her up, but I'm also excited about doing it slowly, about picking out components and doing some of the assembly myself.

I's a little indulgent for one person to have two Rivendells in her life, I grant - certainly at the same time at least.  But the Betty Foy was a special - and unexpected - find.  She was love at first sight.  In the Betty, I see everything that was great about the bikes I've owned before: the glittery green banana seat of the Schwinn I first learned to ride, the butterfly-painted fenders and green and pink pompons of the Electra cruiser that got me thinking about bikes again, and the efficiency of the road bikes I've ridden.  It may be premature of me to say this, since technically I have yet to take the Betty Foy out for a spin, but she is my favorite.  And I have a good feeling she always will be.

Mabel - the Rivendell Quickbeam 

SSC:  What is cycling to you?

EH: Riding a bike has made such a huge difference in my life.  It rescued me from the drudgery of a thirty-mile round-trip commute that I was really starting to resent.  After a year or so of driving back and forth, all those miles started to feel pretty lonely, those hours seemed wasted.  In fact, I got so grumpy about commuting that I very nearly left my job.

Then I had a chance intervention: I happened to meet a woman who had an equal commute, but she rode her bike in to work twice a week.  It was a revelation to me, and I was in complete awe of her.  Instantly I determined that I would do this too.

Around this time I also happened upon what is perhaps the most memorable sentence ever to appear in a blog post (so sorry that I've forgotten the blog where it appeared)  Driving makes me angry and fat.

My mind kind of squished these two events together into a combined message that is pretty clear.  So now I get on my bike, I ride the train, and I can't believe how much happier it's made me.

Sally - the Betty Foy.  Photo: Erin A. Houston

SSC:  What would you tell other to encourage them to cycle?

EH:  Because it wasn't very long ago that cycling seemed like a strange world to me, I am acutely aware of how hard it can seem to just jump into bicycling - particularly bike commuting.  And if I ever start to forget the initial strangeness of cycling, I simply recall how dramatically a friend's face blanched when I suggested he take the lane on a particular not-terribly-bike-friendly street that is part of his commute.  Our roads and our cities are largely designed for cars and our psyches are so ingrained in car culture that it takes time to adjust to life on two wheels.  It's important to respect the transition, and to support and motivate and challenge new riders, but not push them.

It's so tempting for me (and maybe many other cyclist) to start the conversation about bikes with, "Hello. I bike to work.  You can too.  Ask me how."  But, in many ways, that's like asking someone to run a marathon with you tomorrow; it's such a huge bite all at once.  So my advice is to go slow.

Take some time to connect with your bike.  If you feel uncomfortable riding city streets to take yourself to work everyday, don't.  Start off riding around your neighborhood on the weekends.  Maybe ride a bike to your favorite coffee shop early in the morning (before the streets crowd with commuters) and treat yourself to that (sacred) first cup of coffee.  Go on group rides.  Ride with your friends.  Over time, your skills and your confidence will build.  And you may be surprised where that can take you.

SSC:  What do you think of Sacramento's bicycle culture?

EH:  I had always suspected that Sacramento was a great cycling town, even before I became someone who rode a bike.  We all cite the obvious things - the terrain is mostly flat, the streets are wide, and there are number of bike lanes, etc. - but what I have learned in the time since my husband and I started the Sacramento Tweed Ride is that Sacramento is lucky to be home to so many people who are passionate about bicycles.

From builders, to advocates, to riders, there are so many people here with great vision for the present and future of cycling in this town.  It surprises me that Sacramento still lurks under the radar, overshadowed by the big bike cities (like Portland, New York, San Francisco, and Davis).  We have so much to offer here.  This is a great city for cycling!

Erin and I share a passion for out-of-focus photography
This one is for you Erin! ;)