Nina Garfinkle, 46, South End
Profession: Graphic designer
Style: Chic and polished: long shorts, tank top, black-framed glasses, Prada mini-backpack.
Bike model: Strida folding bike that fits in her closet, a cab, or the ferry. "It has -- I have to tell you -- changed my life,” she says.
How long have you been riding around Boston? About three years.
Any places in the city you avoid while on a bike? Streets with bad paving, fast drivers, and lots of traffic -- like the Boston side of Mass. Ave.
Secrets to biking in a dress? Due to her bike’s unconventional frame, Garfinkle can’t: a skirt “would be totally hiked up,” she says.
How to keep clean? The Strida has neon-green fenders and a rubber flywheel instead of a chain: which means no grease. Her Chinese rain poncho is cut to cover handlebars but stay out of the wheels.
Must-have accessories: Garfinkle wraps her helmet in a makeshift cover that bristles with soft spikes.