Living Out of a Bicycle

“Nobody's interested in who stole who's bike,” some poster commented on one of my blogs.

Nobody? Well, maybe nobody who lives with a roof over his head. But if you're homeless, a bicycle is quite a valuable commodity. If you have a decent one, and not just any old beater given you for free, you protect it as best you can. Even if it's a beater, it might be irreplaceable, at least in the short term.

For people like my friend Ricky and me, our bikes have become more than just transportation. They're also mules. A means, by which, we carry everything we have. I'm proud of Ricky. It took him a while to get himself set up, but he eventually did. Now, instead of having to lug four backpacks everywhere he goes, he has one he keeps with him and three mounted on his bike. Oh, by the way, I'm proud of me too for selling Ricky on the idea...

His bike is a beater.

Mine is not.

I bought mine a year ago last January in lieu of buying a van. That was the original plan when I went to work driving. I would buy a van, and live in that. But I wasn't making enough. Any van I looked at that would be worth having would cost me in excess of $6,000 unless I was willing to go out of state to get it. The option to do that, working as much and as long hours as I was, simply wasn't viable.

You'll laugh at me and say: “But you weren't paying rent! You should have saved a lot!”

Well... I did save a lot. But it's not as cheap as you might expect, being homeless and having a full time job. (My current job is part time, which suits me just fine for now).

You have to make arrangements for showers. Food is a problem, and out on the road, you mostly have to eat fast food. You have no way to cook for yourself. So, you end up spending a full hour of your day's wages, at least, just on food! That's 1/8^th of your paycheck!

I had been working two months when I could finally afford to outfit my bike. I was so sick of walking and carrying everything everywhere... I was ready!

So, I walked into Livermore Cyclery and picked out a Trek 7100. Why that one? It was the cheapest one with front shocks I could find in the shop. It also had 700c wheels (as opposed to 26” wheels). Now, these are 700x35mm rims. That's important because, when you ride a lot, you get a lot of flats. I'm no stranger to flat tires. Happens all the time. With 700x35mm wheels the tires almost fall off when it goes flat. And they go back on just as easy. Not so with skinny racing tires or any 26” wheels. I don't need special tools to get the thing off, just a patch kit and a pump to fix the flat.

I tie my sleeping bag to my handle bars. It's a Coleman with shoe string ties. Was a pain in the rear at first to get tight enough, but it didn't take me too long to learn. I can have my sleeping gear out, set up, then stowed and mounted in less than ten minutes. When one of Livermore's finest tells me I have to move, that makes it a whole lot easier, rest assured.

When I purchased my bike, I already knew you could get special racks for the front end. I had to special order those. The guys at Livermore Cyclery mounted all of them for me, of course. I just didn't have the tools at the time. It took a little over a week to ge the front racks, but I road out of the store with my back rack and bags mounted.

I have to say this, however. The guys at Livermore Cyclery tried to tell me that front bags were a bad idea. I was better off with a trailer.

Wrong!

Never let anyone tell you this. A trailer replaces back bags, not front ones. There is virtually no weight on the front of your bike when you're under weigh with front bags. There's so much torque when I take off front a standing stop that my front wheel still comes off the ground even with the bags on it. That's where I keep all my clean cloths, by the way. I keep other stuff in the back bags, including the two blankets I use for pads, the tarp I put on the ground in winter (against the cold ground). Tools, and miscellaneous gear.

The stress from the bags all ends up on the back wheel. I've had to replace spokes there. Oh, and never, EVER use one of those wheel sleeve bike racks when you have bags. You will break spokes in them!

The bags and racks are worth more than the bike itself. I spent $650 just on those. The bike cost $450 at the time, all of it brand new.

80lbs of bike. People ask me sometimes if it's difficult to balance. Nope. It rides like a heavy bike. And I can get the thing up to a nice clip if I'm not facing a head wind.

There have been three attempts by thieves to steal it. Imagine, Attempted Bicycle Theft! Failed attempts. The first time I might have lost it. It was serendipity that I did not. I was visiting a friend who lived in an apartment complex in town, and my friend suddenly noticed my bike was no longer where I'd left it. I ran out of the apartment and found it, in pieces. The tools I had, by then, accumulated were gone. Some other minor items. But I was lucky enough not to have lost it...

I did, however, lose it. I was screaming obscenities at the top of my lungs. I'd never felt so violated.

I've spoken of the other two instances. Both times were by a well known thief and methhead named Leonard Mooney. He did not, of course, succeed because I watch it like I hawk if there's any danger of people making off with it.

I now am secure enough in my job to ride it to work again. Confident that Bosslady likes me enough that when (not if) she figure's out I'm homeless it won't mean automatic termination. So I'm putting more miles on it than I had been in the last few months. Feels good...

But the next time I talk about a homeless man losing his bike due to theft or whatever else... that's about equivalent someone burning down your house... just so you know.