The Chainlink

Divvy First Ride Reports

As many of us take our first Divvy rides over the next few days, jot down your experiences, impressions or any tips you may have for using Divvy.

I'll start:

I got to Daley Plaza a little past five this evening, for the Pre-Launch Divvy Ride.  My first impression was: man, that's a lot of bikes sitting there!  I checked in at the Divvy tent--and was pleased to find out I didn't need to activate my key fob yet: my paper invitation was all I needed.  Each bike was tagged with one of our names; there was literally a bike with my name on it on the plaza.

Many recognizable faces on the plaza.  I caught up briefly with Anne Alt & Julie Hochstadter, saw John Greenfield scoping things out, chatted with Elliot Greenberger (Divvy's PR guy) and Eddie Imlow (Divvy's General Manager) who was managing to be everywhere even while being hobbled by crutches.

It began to drizzle.  Then it began to rain.  Then it began to REALLY RAIN.  My free cup of gelato from the nearby gelato truck began to melt in the warm raindrops.  An amazing number of people squeezed under the three little tents.  And lots of folks plastered themselves up against the front of the Daley Center, against the windows, trying to stay dry.  I didn't hear much of Gabe Klein's speech, as the windy storm was howling at its height right about then.

Only a few Divvy cyclists had left the plaza when I found my Divvy bike and headed north, first on Dearborn, then up Clark to Fullerton, then up Orchard to Diversey and finally to Wilton.  Diversey & Wilton was the furthest north operational station tonight, which is why I picked it.

Locking up was a little tricky.  I tried several times, but couldn't make the green light come on or the lock activate. Shortly after, four more Divvy riders arrived to lock up.  One had used the Washington, DC bike share, and slammed--really slammed--the front wheel into the lock tower and the green light came right on.  I tested the lock by lifting the rear wheel and tugging the bike backwards, but the lock held.  We all tried the same thing and successfully locked all five bikes.  **TIP** Don't be gentle when locking up, it seems you need to really slam the front wheel forward into the slot. And don't walk away from the bike until you're sure it's locked--you're re$pon$ible for it until it's secured.

Oddly, even now, after three hours, the Diversey/Wilton station still reports zero bikes and fifteen open docks on the CycleFinder app, even though I know at least five bikes are locked there, possibly more.  Perhaps that station isn't communicating properly with the mainframe computer?

Other impressions from my ride: the bike is big, heavy, comfy & cushy.  It absorbed potholes and bumps beautifully, but you had to really work at moving off the line at a green light.  The three speeds seemed kind of close together, and didn't really provide much difference from first to third.  The front rack with integrated bungee cord held my bag and water bottle securely.

Be prepared to be the center of attention during the next week, while Divvy is still new.  I had other cyclists stop to ask me how I liked the Divvy.  Pedestrians and motorists gawked and stared at the bike.  I got one "Whohoo!  You got the first ride!  I chickened out in the rain..." from a pedestrian I passed.

**Tip** Spend a little time experimenting with the saddle height.  The post is helpfully marked off in inches, so you can replicate the height quickly each time.  I stopped and changed it three times during my ride: I've decided 4-and-a-half-inches height seems right for me.

I have no experience checking out a bike yet.  One of the guys who was locking alongside me had an activated key fob, but it didn't release the bike.  That may have to wait until the system is officially open tomorrow.

Have fun!  I look forward to hearing about your first Divvy rides.


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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Alex Z on August 2, 2013 at 7:30am

First time actually riding Divvy to work this morning (JUST beat the rain). MAN those things are geared low! I got a better workout riding Divvy than I do my normal bike. :)

 

Overall pretty fun. It's like riding a big Peewee Herman toy or something. Hope it's not raining tonight so I can ride one home.

 

I was docking just as the thunderstorm erupted downtown and took a chance that the green light meant "you successfully docked it." Looked it up when I got inside and it seems that that is what it means. Phew.

Permalink Reply by Thunder Snow on August 3, 2013 at 6:09am

Alex, after docking, if you want to be sure the bike is locked, just lift the seat a few inches and pull the bike backwards.  If it doesn't release out of the bollard, you've successfully docked. I always do this.

Permalink Reply by Bill Seliger on August 3, 2013 at 8:13am

Several weeks ago I saw a Divvy on the North Branch Trail at Dempster so there are some people taking them well away from the Divvy 'footprint'. 

Thunder Snow said:

The overtime charges for 31-60 minutes of Divvy use are only $1.50 for annual members and $2.00 for 24-hour passes, which is comparable or even a bit cheaper than a ride on a CTA bus.  Maybe she's a big spender?

SlowCoach, you're not quite accurate on the northernmost Divvy station.  Currently, there's one Divvy station operating more northerly than the Notebaert Museum: Diversey & Wilton, near the Brown/Purple Line stop.  And, right now, the most westerly Divvy station running is Damen & Pierce, while the most southern station now running is at McCormick Place, south of Cermak.  I've ridden Divvy bikes to them all in the past week or so.

 

Within the year, the station boundaries look to be Central Park on the west, 63rd on the south and Loyola (just north of Devon) on the north.  After that, the city will be looking for another federal grant to expand out from those boundaries.
 
SlowCoachOnTheRoad said:

Haven't subscribed to Divvy yet but will.  Spotted a girl on a Divvy yesterday near where I live on Irving Park Road and LSD.  Since you can only be on it without paying more for a half hour period, and the northernmost Divvy station thus far in Chicago is the Peggy Notebaert Museum, I couldn't figure out what she was doing there - she would only have had time to get there and then make it back!  

Permalink Reply by h' Zerocats on August 3, 2013 at 8:49am

I was looking at the bikeshare prices in another city I plan to visit and trying to calculate what the total fee would be for holding on to one for a day, or a couple of days. For a tourist already bleeding money on travel to another city, the price with overages may seem reasonable-- especially considering the ease of getting one in your hands.

Permalink Reply by Duppie on August 3, 2013 at 10:58am

I've been doing some important scientific research on the fastest way of unlocking a Divvy. Here is what I found:

If you're a member, you only need to insert the fob until the yellow light lights up. Pull out fob. put fob away. By the time you have put away the fob, the light will have turned to green.

There is no need to keep the fob inserted until the light turns green!

Voila! You saved yourself 2-3 precious seconds ;)

Permalink Reply by Adam Herstein on August 3, 2013 at 12:06pm
I like to try to dock the bikes by riding into the docking station. I've gotten it once!
Permalink Reply by Duppie on August 3, 2013 at 12:31pm

Extra bonus points are awarded if you can do that in a station that is on a narrow sidewalk.

Adam Herstein (5.5 mi) said:

I like to try to dock the bikes by riding into the docking station. I've gotten it once!
Permalink Reply by SlowCoachOnTheRoad on August 5, 2013 at 7:25am

Thunder Snow - I see they are creeping northward slowly.  The weekend after I posted they crept up to Diversey like you said.  Now there are 2 on opposite corners of Wrigley Field (Waveland/Clark and Sheffield/Addison).  So they are almost hitting Irving Park Road.  At that point it will be convenient for me and thousands of others to use them heading south.  Can't wait!

Thunder Snow said:

SlowCoach, you're not quite accurate on the northernmost Divvy station.  Currently, there's one Divvy station operating more northerly than the Notebaert Museum: Diversey & Wilton, near the Brown/Purple Line stop.  And, right now, the most westerly Divvy station running is Damen & Pierce, while the most southern station now running is at McCormick Place, south of Cermak.  I've ridden Divvy bikes to them all in the past week or so.

 

Within the year, the station boundaries look to be Central Park on the west, 63rd on the south and Loyola (just north of Devon) on the north.  After that, the city will be looking for another federal grant to expand out from those boundaries.
 
SlowCoachOnTheRoad said:

Haven't subscribed to Divvy yet but will.  Spotted a girl on a Divvy yesterday near where I live on Irving Park Road and LSD.  Since you can only be on it without paying more for a half hour period, and the northernmost Divvy station thus far in Chicago is the Peggy Notebaert Museum, I couldn't figure out what she was doing there - she would only have had time to get there and then make it back!  

Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on August 5, 2013 at 10:28am

On Saturday afternoon, I saw a pair of Divvy bikes along the lakefront - southbound near 63rd St. beach and northbound in the same area a while later. That's a bit south of the (current) southernmost station at Oakwood and King Drive.

Permalink Reply by Mike Zumwalt on August 5, 2013 at 3:49pm

Along Michigan ave. Grant Park, Lolla-land.

I saw more than a few stations along the way to Grant park that were full as well.

It was a victim of it's own success this weekend.

Permalink Reply by Lisa Curcio on August 5, 2013 at 3:56pm

From looking at the facebook page, I think that was deliberate.  They had "ambassadors" near Lollapalooza and a lot of bikes available.  It was interesting to look at the location map yesterday.  Many, many stations had few or no bikes during the day.
 
Mike Zumwalt said:

Along Michigan ave. Grant Park, Lolla-land.

I saw more than a few stations along the way to Grant park that were full as well.

It was a victim of it's own success this weekend.

Permalink Reply by Vondo on August 5, 2013 at 4:37pm
I finally rode one last night. The bike was ok, I couldn't quite get comfortable but for short rides it was ok. One thing though, according to the app, they show a station at Randolph and State, but unless I totally missed it, it's not there? Anyways, I dig it, my key fob is on its way!

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