bike dummy

Biking Directions Come to Google Maps

2010-03-10T16:56:00.004-05:00

This is totally cool - but slightly useless due to lack of mobile support.

I don't know about you, but my smart phone changed how I bike to the point where I almost can't remember what it was like to travel with a rear trunk full of city maps, county maps, local maps ... oh wait, now I remember.

It sucked.

I rode out to somewhere, somewhere, Long Island once and had so many maps with me that I caused traffic accidents from all of the motorist laughing at me as I stood on street corners trying to figure out where I was.

Here's hoping for a mobile option soon.

Bike Shorts at Galapagos

2009-01-05T16:04:00.003-05:00

I've been remiss in my biking and as a result, my posting. So here's something that has nothing to do with me getting on my bike, and everything to do with other people getting off their asses.

Bike Shorts 8
"The next Bike Shorts screening will take place on Sunday January 25th at Galapagos's new location in DUMBO. Keep filming and creating. Remember that you don't have to be able to do barspins or backwards circles to make a movie about a bike. Be creative! Submit your work to us whenever you're finished."

BTW, The flier is apparently wrong, according to the website the deadline is January 18 - so go make a movie.

VIB's?

2008-12-23T17:51:00.003-05:00

There is little enough parking available for cyclists in NYC, so I was mystified by this convoluted system of barriers protecting/saving/blocking this bike rack on Third Avenue and 49th Street in Manhattan.

I mean, can you park here? Not park here? Valet park here?

Who are they saving this for, David Byrne? He's got his own bike racks.

Weird.

Snow

2008-12-19T17:48:00.001-05:00

The Cold Sucks

2008-12-08T17:39:00.002-05:00

I didn't feel like biking this morning. It was too cold and I was too cranky.

As a reward, this is the mob scene I faced on the subway platform.

A commute like this just makes me appreciate the fact that I have options... even if I'm too lazy to take advantage of them.

As seen in ... Midtown East

2008-12-05T10:12:00.003-05:00

The press.

Waiting for Antonio Pierce of the NY Giants to make his appearance at the 17th Precinct in the Plaxico Buress debacle.

Traffic is a misery today.

With the Christmas season comes the dreaded 'Gridlock Alert'.

I find this fascinating. Like the other 11 months of the year the traffic is ok?

Poleriders

2008-11-19T15:56:00.003-05:00

Wow. Two great tastes that taste great together - biking and pole-dancing.

I can't post pictures here because then my blog would have to have an adult content warning, but talk about utilizing pedal-power.

"PoleRider is the first and only bicycle rickshaw powered mobile dance pole; a new invention that merges pole dancing and bicycles.

Our mission is to raise awareness of the immense potential of pedal power and the imagination and to unite two great things that are even better together: bicycles and pole dancers! If you are driving, remember to look out for bicycles. One of them might be PoleRider!"

For more info go to Poleriders

As seen in ... Brooklyn Heights

2008-11-18T09:59:00.002-05:00

I have no idea what these guys are doing, but this seems like a really inefficient way to move a car.

And The Winner Is ...

2008-11-14T17:25:00.001-05:00

Ian Mahaffy and Maarten De Greeve,
originally uploaded by — default.

The Hoop by Ian Mahaffy and Maarten De Greeve, designers based in Copenhagen.
It's rather ironic that I finally managed to post about this yesterday - and today they announce the winner, especially since I just discovered that they were supposed to pick a winner three weeks ago.
Oh well, I guess that blows my rep as the place to get timely news....

The reaction to the announcement has been surprisingly cantankerous. Some of the comments have been downright rude.

“Evoke an abstracted bicycle tire”: what a lame brained
rational. What ever hapened to some small modicum
of functionality.

— a.may

My favorite?

"Well, if they’re pretty enough, maybe the bike thieves will start stealing the racks instead of the bikes."

— KWillets

They say they are going to install at least 5,000 of these over the next few years. I'm going to go the glass-half-full route and just be grateful for small favors. After all, they could have decided to spend that money for more parking meters.

Nice Rack

2008-11-13T09:51:00.004-05:00

The Department of Transportation along with the Cooper-Hewitt Museum, Google and Transportation Alternatives are sponsoring a NYC bike rack design competition.

The finalists are on view at Astor place if you'd like to give them a test park.

"From bus stop shelters to parking meters to street lights, the streets of New York City are a diverse landscape of urban forms. One increasingly ubiquitous element is the CityRack, with thousands on sidewalks in the five boroughs. These simple racks have served us well for the past 10 years. But as we look to make even greater strides in increasing the number of cyclists we need something more. We need something that is functional while simultaneously capturing the attention and imagination of New Yorkers. To supplement our CityRacks, we also seek to promote off-street parking inside buildings to make it even easier for New Yorkers to take up the two-wheel commute."

Janette Sadik-Khan, Commissioner, New York City Department of Transportation

I know no one wants to be a guinea pig, but as the official site says,
"If the racks are broken or missing this indicates the designs as submitted might not be tough enough for NYC. Vandals are lame, but it’s better to know the pitfalls before we start to mass produce new racks."

So lock it up - and vote for your favorite at nycityracks

Vote

2008-11-04T08:36:00.000-05:00

...or shut up.

As seen in ... Greenpoint

2008-10-12T21:26:00.003-04:00

There's nothing like biking down closed streets.

If you missed it, today was the 'Get to the 'Point' 5K run through Greenpoint.

I don't run, but I love all the streets closed to traffic.

For a real kick, try riding the NYC Marathon route before the runners go. It's totally under the radar, but super fun.
No, you don't get to ride across the Verrazano Bridge, but the rest of the route gets closed off pretty early in the morning of the race.

The Night The Lights Didn't Go Out On Broadway

2008-10-04T00:51:00.004-04:00

Paul Newman who?

The last time the lights went out on Broadway was just after 9/11 and like many people, I was stuck in another borough, so I've never seen the marquees go dark.

I was back working at 'no wheels allowed' (not even no wheels please), and I was already in craptastic midtown so I figured I'd head over to 44th St. to watch Broadway's tribute to fallen star Paul Newman.

I picked out a good spot. I know it was good because 2 minutes later a Fox News crew almost boxed me out of it, and I got ready to be moved by the sight of the lights going out.

So we stood there - me and the Fox News crew, 8 o'clock came, The Schubert went black, the Marquis flicked the switch for about 5 seconds, they both came back on, the Fox folks and I turned and looked at each other and shook our heads. The Saint James and The Majestic just didn't even bother at all.

So much for honoring Paul Newman.

They asked me if I wanted to be interviewed, but I decided that saying that the tribute was shitty on national tv was probably inappropriate.

Shame on You Brooklyn Marriott

2008-10-02T09:03:00.001-04:00

I know I'm always harping on this, but come on!

According to the Marriott web site, the New York Marriott at the Brooklyn Bridge boasts "1,100 indoor parking spots" - so why don't you use them instead of allowing the bike lane that is the most direct access to the Brooklyn Bridge for cyclists to be abused?

In a neighborhood already overrun by 'special' parking permits for the local, state and federal courts, do we really need 'protected' livery cab parking?

On the other hand ...

With bike lanes like this, who wants to ride in them anyway?

As seen in ... The West Village

2008-10-01T09:57:00.003-04:00

How cool is this?

The mom who rides this contraption with her two kids told me you can't get the jump seat that sits on the top tube anymore because of the danger that the kid will get a foot stuck in the front spokes, but the older one - who rides in back, still has both feet, so he seems to have done just fine.
I don't know what that extension is called that's attached to the back, that's what got me interested to begin with, but the little footrests on the downtube are my favorite part.

Oy Vey!

2008-09-24T14:07:00.003-04:00

Armstrong to Race for Astana in 2009
By JULIET MACUR for the NYT
Published: September 24, 2008

"Lance Armstrong, the cancer-survivor who retired after winning a seventh consecutive Tour de France in 2005, will resume his racing career in Australia in January, and will end his season after riding down the Champs- Élysées during the Tour de France in July.

Addressing the opening session of the Clinton Global Initiative in New York on Wednesday, Armstrong said he would convene the first global summit of the Livestrong campaign to raise cancer awareness in Paris after the Tour.

“I cannot guarantee an eighth Tour victory,” Armstrong said as he addressed a room filled with more than 60 heads of state and hundreds of others. "But I can guarantee that the Livestrong message will touch all aspects of our society , all continents of our society and certainly touch all the different aspects of cancer.”

...

Since his retirement, Armstrong has traveled the world to promote his cancer foundation, which he formed after surviving testicular cancer in the late 1990s. He also has been a staple on the social circuit, attending film premieres and dating actresses and singers."

Armstrong to race for Astana

Have we learned nothing from:

Michael Jordan
Muhammad Ali
Roger Clemens

I'm sure the list goes on ...

I know he says he's doing this to raise awareness for his foundation, but as a cycling fan, I REALLY don't want to see him huffing and puffing his way through the Alps.
Maybe he's really that good and he can compete on an international level at his age. If so, what does that say about the state of cycling today?

"When you retire too late, you damage your reputation. Michael Schumacher quit when he is still world class. You can only wish that all athletes made such decisions." — IAAF vice president Helmut Digel.

As seen in ... Lower Manhattan

2008-09-16T12:10:00.000-04:00

Waiting for AIG to sink or swim, the press camps out.

The 2008 NYC Century

2008-09-08T11:54:00.004-04:00

NYC Century 2008

Share your bike routes @ Bikely.com

Well that was interesting.

"Interesting" in the same way your do it yourself Flock of Seagulls hairdo was interesting, or interesting the way Aunt Dottie gets after her third cocktail.

I was half dreading 4am went I went to sleep the night before. Hurricane Hanna was in full effect on the eastern seaboard, and as much as I enjoy cycling, cycling a hundred miles in a raging storm is not my idea of something you do voluntarily.

Even I had to admit it was obviously going to be a perfect day when I checked the weather and walked my confused dog.

I got myself together, got myself to the subway, and boarded the bicycle express to the Upper West Side.

There's nothing quite like the combination of spandex-clad, sunblock covered cyclists packed on the same subway as night-shift workers and drunk yuppies who only wish they were doing the walk of shame.

I wish I could accurately quote some of the conversations that I overheard, but they all boiled down to the same general topic:

Drunk Dude #1 "Yo, what's with the bike?"
Cyclist "The NYC Century is today"
Drunk Dude #2 "Huh, What's that?"
Cyclist "You bike a hundred miles around NYC"
Drunk Dude #1 "A hundred miles? No Shit."
Drunk Dude #2 to Drunk Dude #1 "Sounds stupid"

Thankfully, I made it to the start without getting barfed on, got my cue sheet and was on my way.

I love the first part of the NYC Century. Starting in the dark. Bombing down Riverside Drive and then through Times Square. No traffic, just the whirr of a hundred bikes coasting down the hills. Then across the Brooklyn Bridge at dawn and into Prospect Park.

The things I remember are random; The guy in the orange 'You don't have to be the best, you just have to try the hardest' tee shirt that spotted as I was leaving the top of Central Park and then rode with for about 50 miles, the two unicyclists doing the whole hundred, the weird twists and turns the route took through Brooklyn - both across the Carroll Street Bridge (odd choice) and right past the subway station I was at two hours before, but most of all, I remember how I felt after mile 30.

Why mile 30?

Well at about mile 25 on the Shore Parkway Bike Path, right around Gerritsen Beach (at least I think that's Gerritsen Beach - you know, where it's all twisty-turny and there's sand all over the path and there's a little port-a-potty stop?)
Well, right there as I slowed to take a 'natural break', I got broadsided by another cyclist.
Now I've never been in an accident with another cyclist.
I've been doored by cars and I've hit things and fallen, mostly I slow speed topple over while trying to do dumb things, but I've never actually been in a high speed crash.
I wish I could describe what happened, but I can't. One minute I was on my bike and the next, I was all the way across the road on my back. I got hit so hard, I was thrown clear of my bike and didn't even get a scrape.
I checked myself, I checked my bike, I checked the guy (he said he was fine, although I think he knocked the wind out by slamming his stem into his own sternum) I got back on my bike and continued down the path.
Five miles later the adrenaline high wore off and I've never felt worse in my life.
Everything hurt, every mile was agony. I was thirsty no matter how much I drank, and hungry no matter how much I ate, I was tired no matter how slow I went, and I was depressed no matter how beautiful the day was.

I struggled on through to Queens. Gamely did my loop around the Velodrome.
And then at the absolute stinkiest part of the bike path along Flushing Bay - you know which part I'm talking about...

This happened.

I managed to get my tire fixed, rode 20 feet and - don't ask how, it's too embarrassing - broke the tip off the brand new tire nozzle.

A couple of Marshalls stopped to help me and give me a new tube, and I stumbled unhappily into Astoria Park.

Then the person who was supposed to be watching my dog called to tell me they were sick and couldn't get to my house and I just gave up.

I was out of shape, out of spare tires, and out of gas.

I crawled back to the park, picked up my tee shirt and cookie and headed home.

When I finally stripped out of my riding gear, I found a bruise the width of a tire perfectly imprinted on my right upper thigh.

I count myself lucky it wasn't worse. I hope that guy is ok. And I owe that Marshall a drink.

The 2008 NYC Century is in 10 hours?

2008-09-06T21:20:00.000-04:00

I don't know about this...

This is Broadway. I'm supposed to be riding down this at 6 am tomorrow morning, but hurricane Hanna seems to have something to say about that.

I'll see what it's like at 4am.
I know the Century goes rain or shine...
But I don't.

Why I Love Bicycling in NYC

2008-08-31T14:48:00.002-04:00

Cool Ass companies that invite you to bike to work -

And give you a place to park.

Why I Hate Bicycling in NYC

2008-08-20T15:20:00.002-04:00

At least they said please.

I actually love bicycling in NYC. Just as long as I don't have to stop - anywhere, for any reason at all.

Don't go shopping, don't go to the bathroom, and god forbid, don't try to go to work.

They won't let you in.

Oh No They Didn't ...

2008-08-17T16:20:00.000-04:00

Oh yes they did...

You know that stuff I was wondering about?
Well, it's a pedestrian zone for hanging out.

In the middle of Broadway.

I don't actually have a problem with this in theory, after all, it's a busy area and there aren't that many places to sit and rest in NYC if you are a tourist or a marathon shopper.

And anything that makes less traffic is a bonus.

Maybe it's just me, but sitting right next to the speeding cabs doesn't strike me as all that restful.

Luckily, the tourists no longer have to walk on the sidewalk now that they have a nice brand new bright green walkway. (Aren't those big bicycle icons cute!)

Midtown, What a Difference a Block Makes

2008-08-07T13:02:00.004-04:00

Seventh Avenue - Argh!

But Wait... What's This?

The DOT was busy installing a bike lane and protected buffer zone on Broadway between 42nd and 35th streets today.

Why just seven blocks between Herald Square and Times Square - I don't know. I mean for cyclists, what's the use of a seven block lane connecting two of the busiest, most impossible to ride a bike to and still maintain your sanity, places in NYC?
Now I can get between them - I just can't get to or from them.
It sure looks pretty. But what's up with the sand?

That gritty crap they are gluing to the street is some kind of abrasive sandy stuff - and yes, they were using glue. I'm not sure what the point is. Is that supposed to be the pedestrian part of the path? Were people falling over when they walked down the street?

Still no place to park my bike and back to working in a building that won't allow me to bring one inside - even if I use the freight elevator.
It's the old conundrum... camouflage the bike and hide it among all the food delivery bikes chained to some local scaffold, or suck it up and take the subway.
Oh well.

Apropos of nothing.

Hundreds of people standing on line to meet wrestler John Cena.

"Autographs are available on a first come, first serve basis. Fans who make an Ultimate Nutrition purchase at GNC Herald Square location only will receive the opportunity to take a posed photo with WWE Superstar John Cena.

- All Ultimate Nutrition sales at GNC Herald Square are final. No returns or exchanges."

Bicycle Karma

2008-08-01T00:00:00.003-04:00

The guy in this video is purposefully trying to door a kid on a bike.

I hereby bestow upon him the first official Bike Dummy Darwin Award for being a total dumb-ass...
May he never propagate.

No Crossing the Cross Bay Bridge

2008-07-31T09:19:00.003-04:00

Don't try to cross the Cross Bay Bridge on a bike.

The pedestrian and bike path is closed for repairs until at least October, which is a bummer - I like doing the loop around Jamaica Bay.

Luckily, there is a shuttle bus that will take you and your bike across the bridge.
Luckier even if you happen to run into one of the local cyclists who has the driver's number on speed dial to make sure you don't have to wait forever.
I have no idea what the wait time is normally - due to my exalted company it was only about 15 minutes.

Still, it's a bit weird to end up crammed on a passenger van half way through a ride.
By the time I get that far down, I'm usually a pretty ripe and the poor guy sitting next to me and the nice clean couple on a date certainly wished that I had chosen a different route.

In the end, you can get across - I'd just recommend sticking to the Marine Parkway Bridge for now.

Dash

2008-07-30T21:02:00.002-04:00

My trip down to the Rockaways was more exciting than it normally is.
I fell in a pothole, I forgot my map, and I met Dash.

Dash was laying on the ground panting from the heat when I came upon him and his owner about 500 yards from the Canarsie Pier.
The guy wasn't that far from the entrance (and the water fountain) but I figured, hey, I've got wheels and he's got a hundred pounds of dead weight, so I shared some of my bottle with Dash.

Instant Dog! Just Add Water...

Deja Vu All Over Again

2008-07-29T21:24:00.003-04:00

I was riding on the Belt Parkway Bike Path down near Canarsie when I saw this...

I was vaguely mystified until about 10 feet later I ran over these...

Then I remembered.

Last year during the NYC Century, I saw exactly the same warning in exactly the same place and did exactly the same thing.
You'd think I might have figured it out by now - SLOW BUMPS means -
DON"T RUN OVER THE EXTREMELY SHARP PROTRUSIONS STICKING OUT OF THE ROAD RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU.

Tearin' Up The Town

2008-07-18T15:22:00.003-04:00

I finally met the guys who rip up the street.
Usually I just end up turning onto streets that have been torn up to await a new surface, but today I ran right smack into the middle of it.
It turns out this process is called 'milling' and it's done by contracted workers who when asked know nothing about when the street will once again have a surface that doesn't slice up my tires.
They just do the ripping up.

Lucky for me, I've discovered the many and varied uses for two great inventions; the 'innanet' and 311.

Turns out, the DOT actually posts a schedule of the upcoming work - both 'milling' and fixing in the 'Weekly Resurfacing Schedule'.
I will probably never check this again, but it's nice to know you could figure out what streets were a mess before riding on them. (This requires far more advance thought than I've ever been willing to apply, but it's better than the "Whatever, fugghettaboutit" answer I got this morning.)

Wednesday
07-23-08

2 Paving Crews
11th Ave (New Utrecht to 61st St)
46th St (11th Ave to New Utrecht Ave)
Navy St (Hudson Ave to Nassau St)
York St (Jay St to Navy St)
2 Milling Crews
Senator St (Colonial Rd to 6th Ave)
E 7th St (Reeve Pl to Quentin Rd)
Contract Milling
State St (Columbia Pl to Flatbush Ave)

Thursday
07-24-08

2 Paving Crews
11th Ave (New Utrecht to 61st St)
Navy St (Hudson Ave to Nassau St)
York St (Jay St to Navy St)
2 Milling Crews
72nd St (5th Ave to 12th Ave)
E 7th St (Reeve Pl to Quentin Rd)
Contract Milling
State St (Columbia Pl to Flatbush Ave)

Friday
07-25-08

2 Paving Crews
11th Ave (New Utrecht to 61st St)
Navy St (Hudson Ave to Nassau St)
York St (Jay St to Navy St)
Middagh St (BQE to Fulton St)
Willow St (BQE to Pierrepont St)
Monroe Pl (Clark St to Pierrepont)
2 Milling Crews
72nd St (5th Ave to 12th Ave)
E 7th Ave (Reeve Pl to Quentin Rd)
Contract Milling
State St (Columbia Pl to Flatbush Ave)

Schedules are subject to change due to inclement weather or emergencies. For updated information call (311) Monday to Friday, 7 am to 7 pm.

Tour de France 2008

2008-07-17T10:15:00.006-04:00

I know I shouldn't be surprised.

I wasn't going to write anything more about the tour this year.
Poor Cadel Evans doesn't need yet another person bemoaning his lack of personality as a cyclist.

Riccardo Ricco was my shining star of this year's tour. His kind of riding is why I watch the tour to begin with - attacking, dynamic and spectacular.
There was a great live quote from Christian Vande Velde where he described one of the stages following Ricco and Saunier Duval as 'balls to the wall'. (You won't be seeing that in the 'expanded 8pm coverage' on Versus.)

Like his hero, Marco Pantani, he was full of big talk and big results.
And like his hero, now he's gone down in flames.

I'm sad.

Biking to Roosevelt Island

2008-07-15T14:22:00.005-04:00

Less Hate, More Love Part III

In celebration of one full week since my commuter bike was stolen (and my inability to get over it and just replace it) I'm posting another of my favorite local rides - across the bridge to Roosevelt Island.

View from the Southern tip of Roosevelt Island

The very fact that Roosevelt Island exists is a little strange. A product of the Urban Development Corporation, it was supposed to be a suburban, car-free utopia in the center of NYC.
Over the years, I've known a number of people who've lived there, and they all did enjoy it to a certain extent.

The thing I enjoy most about it are the spectacular views and the fact that you can be completely and totally alone.
Past the ruin of the old smallpox hospital (BikeDummy, Sept. 2007) all the way at the tip of the island, is a spot to view the complete panorama of the East River - from the United Nations to LIC.
And it's almost always empty.

The United Nations to the West

Long Island City to the East

To get to Roosevelt Island by Bicycle - either take the tram from 60th street in Manhattan, or bike across the bridge at Vernon Blvd and 36th Avenue in Queens.
The surface of the bridge is metal grating so I wouldn't ride across it unless you've got a mountain bike. It's also currently under construction, so on windy days the dust is really awful.
The path is very narrow and is used by pedestrians as well, so you may need to dismount and walk your bike.
Once across, just follow the roads. The island is a closed loop so it's not like you can get lost.

If you're in the area - drop by the Socrates Sculpture Park or the Isamu Noguchi Museum for a bit of culture.

Ice Cream and Dirt

2008-07-13T16:07:00.001-04:00

Reasons to love cycling on a sunny summer day.

Welcome to NYC, Your New Tropical Destination

2008-07-10T08:37:00.000-04:00

I thought I was doing the Macarena. I swear I didn't know it was a rain dance.

I only lasted two bikeless days before breaking out the trusty Centurion to bike to work.
Now, I would NEVER leave this bike on the street. Not that it's worth very much, but I would cry me a river if it got stolen, and as we all know, in NYC, if you leave it on the street, sooner or later it will get stolen.
Like I said, this is the first bike I've ever had long enough to have to do maintenance on.
The rest were all stripped, clipped or mauled.
The last time I rode my road bike, I got caught underneath the Triboro in an end of the world kind of deluge, so today when I opened the front door of the office and saw a bunch of people starting to huddle out of the rain, I figured I could wait a while before heading home.
I made some calls, I did some work, I looked out the window, and the rain had stopped.
I made it three blocks before it started raining again.
I went from dry to irretrievably soaked to blindly hydroplaning in less than a block.
You know how sometimes when you are riding past the cabs stuck in rush hour traffic and the sweat-stained huddled masses stumbling out of subway stops, you just feel smarter than everyone else?
Maybe I'm being punished for hubris.
Do you think if I did penance the bicycle gods would let up a little?
I know, I could buy that hot pink mountain bike someone is trying to sell on craigslist for $500.
Riding that in public must certainly be punishment enough.

The Manhattan Bridge Bike Path

2008-07-09T15:13:00.001-04:00

Less Hate, More Love Part II

Most Brooklyn cyclists will tell you that if you really want to get from borough to borough, the Manhattan and Williamsburg Bridges are the way to go.

The Manhattan Bridge has been under renovation for so many years that I forgot there were two pathways until they re-opened the North side last year. It now boasts one of the few bicycle only bridge crossings in the city - ramps on either end, east/west bike lanes, and best of all, pedestrians have a path all to themselves on the other side.

On the Manhattan side, the bike path entrance is at Chrystie Street on the left hand (North) side when facing the bridge from Canal Street.
If you are heading south on Bowery or east on Canal, you are 'supposed' to follow the signs down Grand to Allen and back around to the other side of Canal which confusingly enough goes west back to the entrance of the ramp. Very few people bother. Add to this pedestrians filling what is supposed to be the path leading to the ramp and you get a general cluster*@*%.

This decorative arch is NOT the entrance. If you are facing this, go to your left.

The Brooklyn entrance to the path is a lovely new ramp at Jay and Sands Streets.
The approach to this is also crazy if you aren't used to riding in traffic - and hard to find if you don't know exactly where it is.

The stairs to the pedestrian path are on the Jay Street side and the ramp is on the Sands Street side.
Yes, you are actually supposed to be biking on the sidewalk.
They apparently didn't want cyclists coming off the ramp directly onto the BQE entrance ramp (I agree), so you need to be on the sidewalk under the overpass in order to get onto the bridge.

I find that some of the stupider bike paths in NYC are in this area, so I ignore them and just try to keep myself safe.
The intersection of Jay and Sands is right in the middle of the traffic pattern leading from the BQE to both the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges, so you need to be alert, but if you are coming from Downtown Brooklyn the Adams Street approach (AKA Brooklyn Bridge Blvd) is completely empty of car traffic.

I love biking across this bridge.
It's both quick and painless to ride across, and lovely and awe inspiring to see.
The only down side to the bikes only path?
The view from the pedestrian side is pretty freaking amazing.

The Brooklyn Bridge Bike Path

2008-07-08T14:12:00.006-04:00

Less Hate, More Love

People look at me like I'm a maniac when I tell them that I cycle in NYC.
They assume that I'm either a misguided tree-hugger, an out-of-work college student, or chronically suicidal.
Well, I'm none of those things.
I don't do it for the environment, I don't do it because of the economy, and I certainly don't do it for the exercise.
I do it because it's super-fun.

Sometimes that's hard to remember and I get caught up in the negatives - like bad roads, and crazy drivers, and angry pedestrians, and bus exhaust, and no place to park, and leaving work to find your bike stolen.

In an attempt to remind myself of why I love biking in NYC, I've decided to post some of my favorite rides - and because bike dummy is about discovering things that everyone else seems to know - I'm going to start with:

The Pedestrian and Bike Path of the Brooklyn Bridge:

The Manhattan entrance is easy to find, but hard to get to if you aren't used to riding in traffic.
It is directly across from City Hall at Park Row and Centre Streets.
The safest thing to do if you are nervous is dismount and walk from the corner of Centre and Chambers Streets to the pedestrian entrance.

The pathway across the bridge is separated into two distinct lanes; the southern lane (on the right if you are coming from Manhattan) is for pedestrians, the northern lane for cyclists. These are clearly marked with icons, but are largely ignored by tourists who don't know any better. It can get very crowded on the bridge and you need to watch for pedestrians randomly stepping out in front of you.

The Brooklyn side has two access points.
The stairs under the overpass at Cadman Plaza East and Prospect Streets, or the ramp at Tillary and Adams Streets.
The city recently added much needed signs and lighting to the Cadman Plaza Stairway entrance that is heavily used by pedestrians. It is under the overpass at the East side of Cadman Plaza Park. From Dumbo, Washington Street will lead you directly to it.

The access ramp to the Brooklyn Bridge at Tillary and Adams Streets is the easiest way onto the bridge with a bike. (I hate having to dismount and carry my bike)

Last year, they added a two-way protected bike lane on Tillary Street to facilitate access to the bridge ramp entrance from the Downtown and Heights neighborhoods which has made getting on and off the bridge easier for beginning riders who aren't used to merging in and out of traffic.

The Adams Street bike path is still basically unusable due to the fact that the Brooklyn Marriott allows livery cab drivers to park all along the length in front of the hotel, I prefer Clinton Street if I'm coming from Cobble Hill.

The Brooklyn Bridge Bike Path was one of the first joys of cycling in the city for me.
Even if you don't have a bicycle and the thought of hoards of tourists makes you cringe, you should try it once.
There's a reason people travel from all over the world to see the view.

Thanks for Stealing my Bike

2008-07-07T13:54:00.002-04:00

Wanted:

Super Crappy Bike to replace the Super Crappy Bike that was stolen from me last night.

Would $10 cover whatever costs you incurred clipping my lock?

It certainly won't cover the cost of replacing that lock.

Let's make a deal. Once a month why don't you just come by where I work, I'll give you twenty bucks and you leave me my bicycle so that I can get home.

Vive La Tour

2008-07-05T11:20:00.003-04:00

I love the Tour de France for the same reason I love lots of sports.
The thrill of victory! The agony of defeat! The rivalries, the scandals, the awesome athletic achievement!
But mostly, I love watching the Tour because I love the live commentary.
I think Paul Sherwin, Bob Roll and Phil Liggett make the best team in sports. (Thank goodness they finally ditched Al Trautwig)
Bobke is the most colorful - "It'll be a virtual schmegelfest of subhumanoids.", Sherwin is the set up man - "the peleton is nervous today, trying to avoid the fracas at the rear"

But personally, I love Phil Liggett.

Examples of "Liggettisms" (add you own South African accent):

* The first pedal has been turned in anger!
* He's dancing on his pedals in a most immodest way!
* He's wearing the mask of pain.
* He's crazy. He's always been crazy. And what on EARTH is he doing?
* This is a pedigree group of men, they are holding on by the skin of their shorts.
* Now if I were an Olympic cycling judge—which as it happens I am—I'd say that was all right.
* He's really having to dig deeply into the suitcase of courage.
* With this attack the chicken skin is about to fall.
* These boys are descending like stones.
* The yellow jersey makes you ride like two men.
* He's riding like he has four legs.

Vive le Liggett! Juillet Bienvenu!

Washington Street Cobbles

2008-07-03T09:53:00.002-04:00

Cobbles are a (literal) pain in the ass when you're on a bike.

I've been using the asphalt patches on Washington Street to hopscotch my way along this block for the last couple of months, but it's nice to see the stones get replaced rather than the whole street get asphalted over.

I'm not a fan of the strip-mall look that NYC has acquired over the last decade.
It would be great to keep the last few cobbled streets from going the way of the dinosaur.
Broome, Mercer, Peck Slip, Washington ... even bumping along on my butt, I love these streets.

Watch For Cyclists

2008-07-02T11:05:00.005-04:00

This is my new favorite sign.

The bicycle exit ramp off the Manhattan Bridge is so confusing and dangerous that the city just put this gigantic construction sign up at the intersection of Canal and Bowery to warn car traffic coming off the bridge to 'watch for cyclists'.
I'm not sure that it's working quite the way they thought it would.
I'm still getting honked at, cut off and sped by.
Maybe the sign should blink between "Watch For Cyclists" and "Then Don't Hit Them."

but hey ...

It's the thought that counts, right?

You can't get there from here

2008-07-01T12:12:00.007-04:00

Lost in the Bronx ... again.

So I tried to bike to City Island the other day.
And I should know better.
It's not that I don't know where City Island is. It's a lovely gem of a neighborhood located off the Long Island Sound in the Bronx.

I've just never biked there.

And when I've never biked somewhere, I break out the trusty NYC cycling map, follow the marked paths, and never make it where I'm going on the first try.
You might be wondering if my bike dummyness extends to an inability to read maps. Well, let me assure you that it does not.
I am convinced that the official NYC cycling map was drawn by someone who hates cyclists and wants to kill us all - and I think the same person is now in charge of planning all the new bike lanes (but that's a whole other essay).

I've done a bit of riding in the Bronx. It's a lovely borough.
According to the bike map, there is an unbroken greenway leading from Van Cortland park, through the New York Botanical Garden, down along Pelham Parkway North, and across to City Island.

I had some stuff to do, so I headed up the West Side, across the University Heights Bridge, and down Fordham road towards the Zoo. I've biked this before, so I didn't let the traffic and buses get me down. It's horrible, but I was headed for a nice secluded pathway, so who cared.
I hit the park, made a left and tried to find the connection to the path coming down from Van Cortland Park. - Remember, all the roads I've been on so far are recommended bike routes - and I'd only almost died five or six times, not too bad.
I followed my map, but found no sign of the mystery bike path through the Botanical Garden. I even asked the security guard, who kindly informed me that not only were bikes not allowed, he had never heard of a path nearby.
I tried on my own and ended up - I kid you not - ON THE MOSHOLU PARKWAY.
My fault. Just check the map. It's patently obvious that you should be in the oncoming traffic lane in order to find the entrance to the path. (irony intended)

By the time I got around to Pelham Parkway and discovered how nasty the road surface is, I was ready to head back to Brooklyn.

And then my adventure really started.

I ended up on crappy ass streets, going up and down hills, struggling with bike lanes that go nowhere, stop suddenly, don't exist, or magically enough - end on the Bruckner Expressway.

By the way, thanks for the sign. Maybe it would have been more helpful at the intersection before this so I could have gotten off this one way street.

I was tired, hot, and in the process of discovering that spray-on sunblock does not work as well as the greasy, goopy kind when I made a wrong turn on Randall's Island.
(See my post about fear of lightening.)

So I lived through the storm.
I made it back to Brooklyn.
I was pondering the insanity of some of the bike lanes I was being asked to ride in, when heading up Sands Street (recommended bike path), my rear wheel dropped into a pothole and I felt the tire blow.

Just to add insult to injury, by the time I made home - it was raining again.

Thunder and Lightning

2008-06-30T11:52:00.008-04:00

The Triboro Bridge is frightening...

So, I went for a ride, and it didn't go well.

By the time I got to Randall's Island, I could see the storm clouds gathering.

Normally, I don't mind riding in the rain.
I don't actively seek it out, and if I'm commuting, I hate it. But on a warm summer day, at the end of a long ride, it can be kind of nice.
Not this time.

The pedestrian/bike path of the Triboro Bridge is a little daunting at the best of times. The construction annoys me. When it's windy, the barrier feels suspiciously low. And when you approach the metal-caged on-ramp and see lightening repeatedly hit the bridge, well then it's time to run away.

Thunder cracked directly overhead, the sky opened up, and I wondered if instead of a bike, I should have built an ark.

So, there I was... underneath the Triboro Bridge. In the rain.

For those of you who have never crossed the Triboro by bike or foot, it can be very confusing. The DOT provides this map, but I get confused all the time, so here's a simple explanation.

There is no direct route for cyclists and pedestrians from Queens to Manhattan or the Bronx. Instead of following the traffic, the path drops you on Randall's Island from all directions.
You need to cross the island and find the correct span for the borough you are going to, making the bridge a two-step process.

I haven't actually taken the Manhattan entrance this year, so I can't vouch for it, but if the ramps are open, they're at 124/126th and Second Avenue. If not, the stairs are at 124/126th and First Avenue.
Alternately, there's the Ward's Island Bridge at 103rd Street and the FDR, which is for bicyclists and pedestrians only. Ward's Island connects to Randall's Island.

The Queens entrance is the stairs at 27th and Hoyt.

The Bronx entrance is the ramp structure at 133rd and Cypress.

Cyclists need to be very careful. The path is broken by steep stairs.
When you see the spray paint telling you to slow down - SLOW DOWN!

Bike Path Shame

2008-06-29T18:12:00.005-04:00

Today was a perfect day for a ride, and Brooklyn was the place to ride - as evidenced by the endless stream of cyclists pouring off the Brooklyn Bridge.

The Bloomberg Administration has worked hard at changing the perception of this city from that of one big traffic jam, to an environmentally and athletically friendly place.

They even took the time to put together a cycle-specific tour of the waterfalls, which judging by the crowds, a lot of bicyclists are taking advantage of.

How sad is it then that two of the major bike thoroughfares in Downtown Brooklyn/Brooklyn Heights, are perpetually unusable.
This scene is the norm for the Henry Street bike path, and the Adams Street bike path is even worse.

(That's a Prius on the end, by the way)

I have lots and lots of problems with the bike paths in NY, but one of them is NOT that they exist.

That after decades of struggle by cycling advocates, they exist to be used as parking for the First Presbyterian Church and the Marriott Hotel, - that is a problem.

As seen in...Blissville

2008-06-27T09:12:00.000-04:00

I haven't seen one of these in a while, at least not in NYC.

I realize that I'm exposing my ignorance, but I never even knew there was a 'Blissville'.
(It's not called bike dummy because I'm a brain surgeon.)

Waterfalls

2008-06-26T09:48:00.003-04:00

I did a little drive-by this morning on my way to work - and yes, the waterfalls are officially up and running.
The Pier 1 Park wasn't open yet - opens at 10 am today, but from what I could see, it looked ready to go.

I'm not really sure why I'm so fixated on these. Normally I don't have much patience with public art installations, but this one is working for me.
I hopped on my bike, took a detour down to the waterfront, and when I felt the spray blowing off the falls - I was happy.

It might just be that simple.

The 2008 NYC Century is coming

2008-06-25T16:20:00.002-04:00

The 2008 NYC Century Bike Tour is upon us - and registration is open.

I had an amazing time doing this last year, but when I tried to find a good you tube video of the event to post, all I came up with were these long, music video, it was happiness and light, everyone had a great time and waved at the camera, videos.

This bears no resemblance to my finish line experience.
I was hot and miserable and everything hurt. By the time I got back to Central Park I never wanted to get back on my bike again.

So I'm posting this instead.

Summer Streets

2008-06-23T06:05:00.005-04:00

PLAY.RUN.WALK.BIKE.BREATHE.

MAYOR BLOOMBERG AND DOT COMMISSIONER SADIK-KHAN ANNOUNCE "SUMMER STREETS," A CAR-FREE CITY ROUTE FOR HEALTH AND RECREATION

For Three Saturdays in August, Route from Brooklyn Bridge to Central Park Will Open

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and Department of Transportation (DOT) Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan today announced Summer Streets, a new City program that will temporarily open a 6.9 mile car-free route from the Brooklyn Bridge to 72nd Street. Featuring connections to Central Park and other open spaces, Summer Streets will give New Yorkers unprecedented access to the streets for exercise and exploration from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. on three consecutive Saturdays in August, the 9th, 16th and 23rd.

"We anticipate that hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers and visitors will take advantage of streets temporarily opened for recreation," said Mayor Bloomberg. "We hope the Summer Streets experiment will become as much a part of the New York experience as strolling the Coney Island boardwalk, participating in the 5-borough bike tour, or listening to the Philharmonic in the park."

Copenhagen, Venice, Paris, Bogota, and Tokyo are just some of the cities that have had programs like this for decades. Not only are they socially and environmentally friendly, but they make shopping on a weekend semi-enjoyable again.
Forget biking. As a resident of NYC, at times I find myself falling into a pit of despair at the thought of walking through some of the more crowded shopping areas of the city - forget shopping in them.
For a brief and forgettable period I worked in the area between Herald and Times Squares, and just navigating the foot traffic on the sidewalks was enough to make me hate humanity.
I'm totally psyched for this. Not as a cyclist, it will probably be too crowded to cycle, but just as a New Yorker.
I can't wait to take a nice walk.

Pedestrian's Paradise,
originally uploaded by Stardog Champion.

"For the last 35 years, on Sundays and Holidays, Tokyo closes off the main streets in the Akihabara shopping district to car traffic, creating a foot-friendly mall. 'Hokosha Tengoku' - translates roughly to 'Pedestrian Paradise'"

As seen in...Riis Park

2008-06-22T01:00:00.001-04:00

Urban Hieroglyphics

2008-06-21T06:00:00.012-04:00

What do cyclists, and surveyors have in common?
We spend a lot of time looking down at things that other people ignore.

This a small selection of the thousands of enigmatic symbols one finds spray painted onto the streets of New York.
The blue double arrows on the right appeared all over the place just last week.
I never actually noticed any of these until I rode in last year's NYC Century, when, about a week before the ride, these started showing up.

I have come to realize that they mark the roads for everything.
I was just never looking for it.

So, a few days ago, I started seeing these as well -

I don't know about you, but I thought they were freakin' brilliant.
What do you think of when you see this blue glyph?
I think waterfall.
And what do you think of when you think of waterfalls in New York City?

Well, unless you've been living under a rock, you think of Olafur Eliasson's NYC Waterfall Public Art Installation which is due to open in less than a week.

They've been building the scaffolds in four locations around Brooklyn and Lower Manhattan for the last few months, and they've been testing the falls for the last few days.

There's a festival, a temporary park at Pier 1 next to the Brooklyn Bridge, and major goings on all along the waterfront in Dumbo.

The DOT has even put together a plan for a bike tour of the falls - which leads me back to the mystery glyphs that are appearing all over the place.
Just follow the blue arrows for a pre-planned tour of the official waterfall viewing locations.

download the map from the NYC DOT

As seen in...Fort Tilden

2008-06-20T06:00:00.001-04:00

I took a wrong turn at the corner of the Atlantic Ocean and ended up in Fort Tilden.
Corey Kilgannon for The New York Times wrote about Fort Tilden like this:

"TO reach the beach at Fort Tilden, keep the missile silos on your right, the munitions buildings on your left, and head due south of the cannon batteries.

Remember this, because there are no signs to point the way, no scents of sunscreen, lifeguard’s whistles nor flying Frisbees; just these military landmarks, the briny breeze and the roar of the surf.

It is not for everyone. It can be a bit of a hike to the water, and there are no lifeguards. Visitors, in fact, are warned not to swim, because of the dangerous tides. There are no convenient bathrooms, snack bars or other amenities.

The fort, built in 1917 as part of the city’s coastal defenses, was used through two world wars and part of the cold war to keep the enemy — German subs, Japanese bombers or Russian nukes — from reaching New York.

For the explorer, the treasures of Tilden truly unfold. The more you wander the underused pathways of the park’s 317 acres, the more bizarre the place gets.
At Tilden you can do bombs and barracks, or beach blanket bingo. Or both."

Beyond the parking lot, a maze of empty back roads winds its way through the beach grass and wild roses. The road surface is fairly smooth, the sea breeze is cooling - and there is absolutely no one around.
From what I've gathered, the beach at Fort Tilden is used primarily by surf cast fisherman who purchase a permit from the Parks Department which allows them to park somewhat near the water.
For everyone else, it's a hike - or take a bike.

Personally, I suggest a bike. But that's just me.

The Telectroscope

2008-06-19T01:00:00.003-04:00

Hullo London. URaQT :)

This steampunk art project proves that it isn't new technology that makes modern communication shallow, it's us.
And you know what? I couldn't care less.

This fabulous thing is the 'telectroscope' and it lived at the Walt Whitman Pier in Brooklyn for the past month. (Sorry, this post fell victim to my flickr debacle, so the installation closed this Sunday)

The brainchild of British artist Paul St. George, there is a whole backstory to this project which can be found at tiscali telectroscope

The short version is that he asks us to imagine that there is a transatlantic tunnel connecting London to New York that has remained undisturbed for a hundred years awaiting the installation of a nineteenth century communication device known as a 'telectroscope'.

Sound familiar?

For those of you who don't know, Brooklyn is home to the oldest Subway tunnel in the world, which was actually 'lost' and remained undisturbed for more than a hundred years until it was rediscovered in 1981. Atlantic Avenue Tunnel

It's pretty amazing. You go down through a manhole cover in the middle of Atlantic Avenue into this perfectly preserved abandoned space.
Go. Do it.

Back to the telectroscope...

Considering how cool the thing itself is, the majority of people looking at each other through it are remarkable only for their unremarkableness. The telectro - helpers have whiteboards on which to write messages, most of which say things like "Hi", "You're Cute!" or "How's the weather?"
On the London end, even the Queen joined in the fun to look through the simulated 'viewer' and wave randomly to passing New Yorkers.
I wonder what she wrote on her whiteboard?
(Photo of the Queen by Matthew Andrews)

Why did I like the telectroscope?
Well somewhere in London there's a couple that wrote this message to me...

"Nice Bike"

Storm Left Everywhere a Little Less Green

2008-06-18T01:00:00.002-04:00

So, I came across this article in The NYTimes -
Storm Left Central Park a Little Less Green

"It would be a sad census in any case, but the tally of trees lost in
Central Park to high winds during last Wednesday’s storm comes
with particular ill grace in the middle of the Million Trees NYC campaign.

“You felt it was like a tornado,” said Douglas Blonsky, president of
the Central Park Conservancy and the administrator of Central Park.

According to the conservancy’s survey, 33 trees were significantly
damaged, 24 of which have already been removed."

I know Central Park is a big deal. But I've heard no mention of the damage that was done to old growth trees all around the NYC area. I was out in that storm, and I was clicking my heels together and screaming "There's no place like home" along with everybody else.

I took the top picture from the bike path off the Henry Hudson Parkway, looking down toward the river. I'm not sure if this is technically part of Fort Tryon Park, but I don't imagine those trees fared much better.

I was dismayed by the sight of so many damaged trees while I was riding, but not as dismayed as I was when I discovered that I would have to portage my bike up and over the felled tree blocking the base of the stairs down to Dykman Street.

That is one big ass tree.

Flickr... Not so free

2008-06-17T14:54:00.003-04:00

Hmm.

"You've run into one of the limits of a free account. Your free account will only display the most recent 200 things you've uploaded.
Anything beyond 200 will remain hidden from view until you either delete newer items, or upgrade to a Pro account.

Nothing has been deleted, and if you upgrade, they'll all come back unharmed."

I know I'm the only person who didn't realize this, but I naively thought that the monthly upload restriction WAS the limit for my flickr account. Imagine my chagrin when I saw the words 'one of the limits' and realized that there could be quite a few more that I hadn't ever bothered to learn.
So, in honor of my newly christened (ie 'paid for') flickr pro account, here are a couple of photos that have nothing to do with anything other than I was on a bike when I took them.

Brooklyn Cobbles

2008-06-03T19:32:00.003-04:00

Or, why George Hincapie should come train in Brooklyn for next year's Paris Roubaix.

Went for a spin the other day and decided to swing over to see how long it will be before Ikea opens down in Red Hook and we are inundated with all the extra traffic.
It's amazing how quickly you can build something when you really want to - they are almost done with the landscaping, so I'd say it will be open any day now.

I know they say there won't be traffic problems because this Ikea is accessible by mass transit, but first; the closest subway stop is at least 15 blocks away, and second, who actually wants to carry furniture home on the subway?

I'm hoping this Red Hook landmark survives, but chances are if you never went to this bar when this was the ass-end of Red Hook, you won't be going now.

The single most glaring change (other than the giant yellow and blue box store that takes up the entire pier) is that they've repaved the street leading around to the parking lot. Gone are the famous cobbles, replaced by vehicle friendly asphalt.

Cobbles and trolley tracks are some of the more picturesque remnants of old NY that still linger in Brooklyn, and most of the outer boroughs. In the last 20 years, Manhattan has been stripped of much of it's physical history in the name of progress and I've been saddened to see it erased. I still remember the hollow, glass block sidewalks that lined SOHO and the blue slate streets of the west Village.

Lucky for us Brooklynites, not only do we have a lovely assortment of cobbles and trolley tracks that wend their way through DUMBO and Red Hook, but for those looking for the real deal, we've got Industry City.

Industry City is the name for the four million square feet in 10 industrial buildings between 37th and 32d Streets just off the Gowanus Expressway. It's desolate, dusty, and absolute hell on wheels - for those of us on two wheels.

I found an interview where George Hincapie talks about his training regimen and the fact that he sometimes has problems training for the spring classics because of snow.

Well, I say 'Come on over to Brooklyn George! We've got plenty of cobbles, and almost no snow."

Sunday Riders

2008-05-18T20:28:00.003-04:00

I haven't been on my bike since the 5-boro due to an injury, so even though the weather looked a little questionable, I hauled my out-of-shape self onto my bike and headed out for a spin.
Like any good urbanite, I try to avoid certain key, congested areas when I travel from place to place. These are dependent on weather, season, day of the week, time of day, and like a London Cabbie, 'the knowledge' is a source of pride amongst those of us who make this city our home.
So today, I decided to bike to Harlem for brunch with a friend - and promptly regretted it.
Why? Well, my schedule has been a bit bizarre recently so I forgot one very important fact.

Today was Sunday.

And Sundays are for Sunday Riders.

Sunday Riders in NYC fall into three distinct categories:

1. The Date or Family outing.
Riding hybrids or cruisers, these cyclists will do anything to avoid riding in traffic including riding on sidewalks and going the wrong way in bike lanes. They ALWAYS ride abreast, never in line and are impossible to pass.

2. The Tourist.
Riding rental bikes, these daring adrenaline junkies are found only on the West Side Bike Path doing no more than 8 mph and can most often be seen stopped in clumps checking to make sure that they aren't lost. (Hint - It's a bike path, not a bike maze, it goes in a straight line.)

3. The Weekend Warrior.
These lycra bedecked athletes are out in force once the weather warms up, time trialling up the Hudson with their heart rate monitors and handlebar mounted GPS.
I don't actually have a problem with most of these guys. Hey, we all gotta pay our bills, and for most of us, that means no play time during the week.
The ones I have a problem with are the headphone wearers.
I get that music makes a work out easier. It's motivating. But given the crowds on the path on the weekend, cyclists wearing headphones make me homicidal.
We've already got the power walkers, joggers, and roller bladers wearing headphones. As cyclists, you've got to have experienced the insanity of trying to pass someone on a crowded path who's meandering all over the place and can't hear you behind them. Add deaf cyclists doing anywhere from 10 to 20 mph into the mix, and it's just hair raising.

Now, I'm not advocating something like this:

It's called a "CyFi" and quite frankly, I hope if you get one of these, you ride where I don't. But at least you might hear me when I tell you that I'm going to pass.

The 2008 NYC Five Boro Bike Tour

2008-05-05T18:11:00.006-04:00

The NYC Five Boro Bike Tour is marketed as "The biggest recreational cycling event in the United States" - and it certainly feels that way as you wait for the start.
30,000 people on bicycles, all in one place, all at one time, is a lot.

This year, I cheated.

Before you get all crazy on me about fairplay and sportsmanship, I will point out that A: there were extenuating circumstances, and B: it's not like I pulled a Rosie Ruiz.

I've been trying to ride this tour with a good friend of mine for the last two years, and as she is quick to point out, SHE is the one who got me interested in riding it to begin with. But it just doesn't seem to happen. She's very active, works out, does martial arts, but she doesn't bike. She used to as a kid, but not any more.
Now, she's a motorist, and though she says she wants to ride the tour, I don't think she actually wants to be on a bicycle.

I think urban car drivers are far less likely to be comfortable riding a bike in traffic than anyone else. Their vision of traffic is so frustrating and full of bizarre hazards, that the thought of being on the street minus all the sheet metal gives them the heebeegeebees.

But that's the point of the bike tour, no traffic. For this one and only day each year, NYC allows some of it's streets to close, and the cyclists descend from everywhere to take advantage of it. (Hmm, imagine if it happened more than once a year?) So, it's not the traffic that keeps her from doing it, but each year something happens - and she can't make it.

I made a back up plan this year just in case, and two days before the tour, when she said she wasn't going to be able to go, I called another friend who has said for the last two years that he wished he had known before hand, because he would absolutely love to ride in it. He was happy, I was happy - until I got the email at midnight the night before...

Maybe he can meet me, but he won't know until morning. Maybe at the top of Central Park? I should call him.

This is where the pathetic excuse kicks in.

I just couldn't do it again.

Last year, I lined up all by myself, even though all my friends had dropped out or stood me up. I waited patiently in the freezing cold from 7 am until after 9 am when my part of the line finally started moving. I waited alone, listening to the couples and the families and the friends with Christmas garland hanging from their helmets, and I was bummed.

So this year, I rode in across the Brooklyn Bridge, hung a right instead of a left, rode up to 30th street, and then joined into the group. I still got caught in the pre-central park traffic jam, but at least there was a sense of movement, and less of a third wheel on a date kind of a feeling.

Once we started to move, I could feel how different this time was going to be from last year. I'm no triathlete, but I did ride more in the last year than I have at any point in my life. And I did most of it on these same rutted, crappy, city streets.

I felt strong. I felt fast. I felt happy, and I wasn't waiting for anybody.

I caught some fast riders and strung in behind them, letting them clear a path for the most part. Not too fast, we were getting passed by the 'super-bombers', but fast enough to feel good. Stopped for a banana and bathroom break at Astoria Park, hit the road again, and Holy Chiquita, Batman... I was in SI by 11:40 am!

Where, last year, I could barely move until the 'halfwayers' started to bail out at the Brooklyn Bridge, and I waited for hours until I could get on a ferry back to Manhattan, this year, we cooked along at an average speed of about 15 mph (topping out at 30 mph on the downhill section of the BQE), there was no wait for the ferry at all, and I was passing people going the other way back across the Brooklyn Bridge as I headed for home.

Would I go stand in line at the start next year? Sure, if I was with friends. But it's kind of like going to a football game. Tailgating is half the fun, but not if you're doing it by yourself.

5 Boro Route Map

2008-05-02T09:12:00.004-04:00

For those of you still trying to figure out what's going on on Sunday, here's a great source of Bike info in NYC. Click on the map or follow the link below.

NYC BIKE MAPS

These guys are a great source and I feel shamed not to have mentioned them before now. (Although honestly, there's been a link to their site from this one for about a year.)

The 2008 NYC Five Boro Bike Tour is This Sunday

2008-05-01T14:44:00.004-04:00

... And I haven't got a thing to wear.

I rode in the 2007 5Boro - AKA the Commerce Bank Five Boro Bike Tour (although why they can't spell 'borough' correctly, I'll never know.) Some people call it the New York City Bicycle Marathon, but I think that's pushing it a bit - it's only 42 miles long.

What it was, was very fun, and very cold, and from the weather report, it looks like more of the same. Last year I had the pleasure of A: being stood up by every single person who was going to ride with me, and B: ending up so far back in line at the start that I was 'blessed' by the priests of Trinity Church who came out onto the overpass a swung a censor over my head while I shivered in the cold.

I stood alone, freezing, waiting to move for what seemed like hours. From the start time at the head of the field, to the time I actually got to move, was endless and my lips were turning blue.

It doesn't look like it will be significantly warmer this year, so I'm trying to figure out what to wear that will be ok for standing around in the cold at 6:30 am, cruising along at around 18 to 20 mph on the BQE after all the 'halfwayers' leave the field at the base of the Brooklyn Bridge, and then keep out the wind on the ferry ride back to Manhattan. I must admit that I'm stumped.

I know, I know. Layers. But layers of what?

If you are not already signed up, you're sort of out of luck. Registration closed about a month ago and the ride is full, but I know from experience that around this many days before, a lot of people who were gung ho a month ago start developing strange ailments that 'force' them to drop out.
If you still want to go, try getting an ID number off craig's list, I would guess there are people looking to re-sell or give away theirs.
The thing is, you can't ride without one.

This is a very well attended, and therefore, very well organized ride. It is heavily staffed and the marshals will divert you from the route if you don't have a number.
So what, you say? Well, you can ride 42 miles around NYC any old time you want to, but on Sunday, more than 30,000 of us will be closing this city down to automobile traffic. That's what makes it fun.

How often do you get to ride on the FDR or the BQE? Other than Critical Mass, how often do you get to share the streets with thousands of cyclists and watch the car drivers shaking their fists in the vain hope that someday they will get to move? And my very favorite part? How often do you get to ride a bicycle across the Verrazano Narrows Bridge? Other than this ride? - Never.

Bike Gloves

2008-04-27T11:32:00.004-04:00

I love bike gloves.

They are just the best example of industrial design I can think of at the moment.

They cushion the parts of your hand that need cushioning, they give extra grip to the parts that you need to be grippy, and a good, worn in pair makes even the most amateur of cyclists look serious.

However, beware the super dirty bike glove handshake.

The best part of the bike glove - especially on cold damp days like today - is the built-in snot rag.

I kid you not.

Other than the baby clothes you wore as a toddler, how many other things do you get to wear that have a part designed for you to wipe your snotty nose on. (I'm not even sure my baby clothes had a place where I was supposed to wipe my nose - I think I just did it.)

Cyclists have lots of issues, and there are lots of goofy specialized items designed to deal with those issues. We've got padded butts, and compression shorts, long-tailed jerseys, sex-specific seats, and oh, the list goes on - snotty noses are just a small part of it.

But I'll give credit where credit is due. The 'wipe your nose here' part of my glove is sheer genius.

Please, just remember to wash yours before you shake my hand.

A Perfect Beach Day

2008-04-19T18:15:00.005-04:00

Now, this is how the boardwalk at Coney Island is supposed to look.

What a perfect day for a ride to the beach.

I wandered on down to Coney Island and basked in the sun for a few minutes before heading down through Brighton to the Belt Parkway Bike Path. The shoreline was alive with early summer fun; picnics, barbecues, and cyclists galore. I thought about heading to Canarsie, but then decided to hang a quick right and cross the Marine Parkway Bridge (AKA Gil Hodges Memorial Bridge) onto Rockaway Beach.

When you haven't ridden a route in a while, you forget the little details.
Such as... When you make the turn down Flatbush to go past Floyd Bennett Field and head to the bridge, don't stay on the right hand side, which is the side you come from and the side you are going to end up on. The bridge is more than a mile away and the tiny, rutted, glass covered path is a pointless obstacle when there is a perfectly lovely bike path on the other side of the road.
Oops, forgot about that.

Also, although I am as guilty as most, there is a reason that the sign asks cyclists to dismount and walk across the bridge.
The path is really narrow. Most of us ignore this and blithely bike across anyway - including me - but I don't try to pass riders in front of me while there is an oncoming cyclist.
Come On Mountain Bike Dude! There were only four people on the whole bridge and you had to pick the one moment in time when we were all at the same point on the span?

Anyway, a short sojourn to the ocean had me in a better frame of mind and I hung out for a while enjoying the quiet that only exists in the off season.
A month from now and Rockapulco will be in full swing.

As seen in...Ocean Parkway

2008-04-13T07:57:00.003-04:00

Don't park on Ocean Parkway.
This was the sixth car I saw with a bashed out window as I went down the length of the road.
For you it's a bummer because someone smashes up your vehicle and steals all your stuff. For me it's a bummer because someone smashes up your vehicle and leaves this all over the street. -

Shattered safety glass is hell on tires.

I know you don't really care about my tires so much - after all someone just stole all your stuff, but why not kill two birds with one stone?

Don't park on Ocean Parkway and we'll both be happy.

It was a Dark and Stormy ... Beach Day?

2008-04-12T18:51:00.000-04:00

Did the first ride of the season out to Coney Island.

I love this ride. There is something magical about being able to get on a bicycle in New York City, ride for a while, and end up at the Atlantic Ocean.

The sights and smells of a carnival mingle with the breeze blowing in off the sea. Hot Dogs, Beer, Suntan Oil... But there was none of that today. Today was quiet, misty and mysterious. A day where you look out to the ocean and imagine all the people and places on the other side of the fog.

Somedays, I love riding in NYC.

Spring is Here and it's Totally Craptastic

2008-04-10T16:22:00.000-04:00

Beautiful, beautiful day.
Some of you may remember the issue with my new job - no bikes allowed in the building.
(See my post "Well That Sucks")
Well, I finally managed to get off my butt, collect about 40 pounds of locks, put air in the tires of my commuter bike, and get moving.
And I can honestly say, I've never seen a worse route in my life.
I now work in midtown, and there is really no way to get there that isn't fantabulously craptastic.
I mean, it's horrible.
Forget about the fear and agita of having to chain my bike up to the scaffolding outside the building. Forget about carrying four different locks that, I kid you not, weigh more than my steel frame road bike. No matter which side of Manhattan I come up, I've got to cross the worst, exhaust filled, speeding bus, potholed, crazy tourist filled streets I've ever seen - and I LIKE biking in NYC.
And the comments. My God.
Allow me to digress for more than a moment.
I love spring in NYC. Some of the most pleasurable weather is in spring and fall. The air is warm, but crisp and clear feeling. The light is beautiful, and everyone is happy. People start stripping off clothing left and right, which isn't always a good idea, but is, at times breathtaking. (There are a lot of very beautiful people here, and there is nothing like that first spring day when they start soaking up the sun and showing off the skin.)
For some reason, most bicyclists do not fall into this category of super-hotness. Could be how many fat asses there are out there. Could be that even if they aren't fat they jam those selfsame asses into unspeakable lycra outfits that you wouldn't make a beer cosy out of.
Ow! My eyes! I've gone blind!
Digression number two:
The other day, someone I haven't spoken with in many, many years found me via the internet. I was telling a friend about our little email exchange, and he said to me, 'Oh, he's just trying to date you.' - Like that's a bad thing. I don't think he meant it like that, but maybe he did. What, I can't go on a date? The guy was totally friendly, polite and nice.
Which brings me to my final craptacular point.
By what right do you - and you know who you are - get to say shit like that to me? Because I'm female and I'm on a bike? I am not wearing Lycra (and even if I was what business is it of yours) I am not shoving my body parts at you, I'm not even showing any skin between my bike gloves, my long sleeve shirt and my jeans.
To the nice guy in the van in Williamsburg who wished me a good day... 'Thank You' - was he trying to date me? I don't know. But he was polite and friendly and he made my day better.
To the (numerous) schmucks in Manhattan near the entrance to the Lincoln Tunnel... 'Fuck You' and I hope someone says that to your Mother, your Sister, or your Daughter - then come talk to me.
Sometimes I think the world just wants me to be a hater - and I don't want to be a hater.

Back In the Saddle - With No Batteries

2008-04-05T21:29:00.000-04:00

Today was the first beautiful day that I was free to ride - and it was glorious.
I pumped up my tires, lubed my chain, and set out across the Manhattan Bridge.
I left some basic tools down in Miami with my other bike, so I needed to replace those. Also, I was determined to solve one of the problems that dogged me all through last summer - my misfitting helmet.

I don't like things on me when I ride for fun. No backpacks, camelbacks, fanny packs, messenger bags, hydration belts, lycra, or compression shorts... I don't even wear a watch. What I do wear is a helmet, because honestly, if you ride anywhere in NYC you have to be a total moron not to wear a helmet. Personally, when I see a helmetless rider go by, I give them a Darwin Award for improving the odds that they remove themselves from the gene pool.

Given how I dress when I ride it's no surprise that when I bought a helmet last year, I bought one that was way too big. I thought it was great. No binding, no pinching. I perched it on my head, clipped the chinstrap, and off I went.
This was fine on the commuter bike, but when I got the Centurion it all changed. Leaning over drop handlebars for the first time, my helmet dipping over my eyes, I realized I had a problem - that I didn't fix for an entire year.

Hello new Trek 'Vapor' helmet, and thank you yet again to the nice guys at Metro Bikes on Hudson.

Did you know that a properly fitted bike helmet should stay on your head if you tip forward without the chinstrap closed? And I don't mean with your ponytail shoved through the back. You need to take some time fitting these, and the guys at Metro Bikes are wonderfully patient.

The fit between a Giro, a Bell, and a Trek are significantly different, so don't just get one that looks cool. It seems like a no-brainer, but most of us are riding around in helmets that won't do crap to stop our brains from splattering when we flip over that cab - because they don't fit.
Here's a link to a little checklist to make sure your helmet fits correctly.

Got my gear, hopped on my honey and headed out over the Williamsburg Bridge to go meet up with a friend. Whipped out my trusty camera to take a shot of the spectacular view - cloudless spring skies over Manhattan, and discovered...
NO BATT.

NO BATT = NO PIX.

Sorry.

British Bicycle Advocacy

2008-03-27T14:23:00.000-04:00

As seen in...Brooklyn Heights

2008-03-18T11:36:00.000-04:00

And you thought parking was bad in your neighborhood...

The Bicycles of Winter

2008-02-25T12:58:00.001-05:00

Oh, the lonely cycles of winter. Left outside awaiting better days.
For some, that day will never come.
The Fall saw them stripped of useful parts, and undisturbed through the Winter snows, they are left to rust in the cool Spring rains.

Not so for others whose hard existence beats down upon them day after snowy day.

These "iron horses" work until they drop, and like the sign on the big building says,

"Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds."

Summer, please come back. I miss you.

"Share the F***ing Road"

2008-02-08T08:14:00.000-05:00

Cyclists Court Death Daily

It's dangerous, but Miami is getting friendlier to bikes.
By Isaiah Thompson
Published: January 31, 2008 in the Miami New Times

"Before the sun rises over Miami — before the highways swell with traffic and the streets begin to hum with the sound of a million motors turning at once — the first bicycles appear. From the east — the beaches, Key Biscayne — come the racers. Clad head to toe in thousands of dollars' worth of Lycra, they glide along in tight, silent packs, their wheels producing a collective whirring like a hive of wasps set loose. From the west come the construction workers, mounted on cheap, heavy mountain bikes, outfitted with hard hats and packed lunches.

For this brief moment every day, Miami is full of cyclists, rich and poor alike. As the sun peeks over the horizon, and I-95 begins dumping cars into downtown, the bicycles vanish; the city gives itself over to the cars.

At first glance, there is nary a place on God's green Earth better suited to biking than Miami. It's utterly flat, with weather that lets a cyclist pedal year-round without donning so much as a scarf in January. Its streets are wide and, for the most part, arranged in a tidy, easily navigable grid.

But to ride in Miami is to be among the few and the hunted. Florida ranks among the highest in bicycle fatalities in the nation — second only to California — and in 2006, eight cyclists were killed on Miami roads; nearly 400 were injured. Such statistics are nebulous, though; many bicycle accidents go unreported. Even a crash that results in death might not be recorded as a bike fatality if the victim dies at the hospital.
...

While most of the county's bike planning exists in a cryogenic freeze, Miami Beach's has begun to thaw. The city went from having a single four-block bike lane in 2004 to boasting five bike lanes, four of them within the past year — by Miami-Dade standards, a revolution. The lanes are largely the result of the efforts of local busybody, neighborhood activist, and BPAC member Gabrielle Redfern, who is running for Miami Beach City Commission in the fall of 2009.

A true Miami Beach patriot, she rides the requisite beach cruiser, a bright olive green Trek painted with little flowers and equipped with a pretty reed basket. "I'm a middle-age Jewish lady who's running for commissioner," she explains, pedaling in the slow, comfortable way that people on the Beach do. "I have to ride a respectable bike."

Five years ago, during her first, unsuccessful bid for a commission seat, Redfern raised a stink when Miami Beach was designated a Bicycle-Friendly City by the League of American Bicyclists. The city had won only a bronze medal, but even so, Redfern's suspicions were immediately aroused: At the time, Miami Beach didn't have a single bike lane.

According to the league's director, Bill Nester, the city's application — submitted by its former director of environmental resources, Bruce Henderson — boasted of 11 miles of bike lanes. Miami Beach has since been removed from the organization's Bicycle-Friendly roster. The city hasn't reapplied.
...

"They say it's not safe to ride on Alton Road. But it's not safe because there are no bike lanes. Bicycles will never be transportation vehicles until people feel safe to use them."
As we cruise down Meridian Avenue, a driver revs his car engine and pulls in front of us. The passenger's head juts out the window. "You don't bike in the middle of the fucking road, bitch!" he yells, and the car tears off."

To see the full article go to The Miami New Times

The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly

2008-02-05T13:50:00.001-05:00

The Good - The South Dixie Highway Bike Path

The bike path utilizes the space beneath the elevated Miami Dade County Metro, paralleling South Dixie Highway (aka US 1). For long stretches, it weaves beneath the concrete supports, offering shelter from the hot southern sun. This is a smart, smart way to utilize what would be abandoned space beneath the rail line.

The Bad - The Intersections

The Metro's elevated track intersects all the major Avenues and weaves back and forth across US1. Every time it does, you've got to find your way across six lanes of homicidal traffic. It's unlit at night, and the blind curves and improbable exits make for a thrill ride equaled only by skitching in wool mittens.

The Ugly - Hey Ma, lets go play on that jungle gym under the Metro. You know, the one right next to the power substation?

What are they, kidding?

I'm the first to admit that just about everything looks better in the early morning Miami light, but nothing saves this pathetic attempt at 'public space' from looking exactly like what it is - an abandoned, dirty, miserable, your tax dollars at work, boondoggle. I mean who in their right mind would let their children within 100 yards of the power substation, much less play right next to it. The electrical buzz is so strong, my metal fillings vibrate as I ride by.

At least the sand might slow down the homicidal motorists.

Cheating on my Honey

2008-02-02T21:58:00.000-05:00

Damn, but ain't she sweet?

I mean, I feel guilty and all, but you know how it is?
It's cold in NYC.
And this sweet thing practically jumped in my lap and said 'ride me sugar'.
Look at those classic curved lines, that phat round rear-view. And it's not like she hasn't been around the block once or twice. The girl may look good, but she's pushing 30, at least.

Baby, it's cold outside - but not in Miami where I found this cream puff listed on Craigslist.

Now, Miami is not the most bike-friendly of towns. Uber-car-culture makes for much unpleasantness when trying to navigate this city, but like many auto-centric areas, the main thoroughfares are hell, and every other street is smooth, flat and empty of all traffic.
For some reason, people in cars are willing to sit in traffic and honk at each other rather than hit a few back street stop signs. This means more road for those of us on two wheels, but unlike NYC, here the streets don't all connect. It is actually impossible for me to get where I'm going without braving some of the worst intersections I've ever seen.
Miami is criss-crossed with canals which make navigation more complicated than I'm used to. You may be headed in the right direction, but the only way over the water probably involves eight lanes of traffic, none of whom have apparently ever seen a bicyclist before.

I'd say it's frustrating, but really, when I get stuck or get yelled at, I just take a deep 70 degree breath and gently reassure my new-found love that all will be well.
As they say on Wayne's World - "SCHWINN!"

'Tis the Season for Giving - Bicycles

2007-12-17T15:34:00.000-05:00

It's that time of year when we are reminded that giving is (supposedly) better than receiving.
In that spirit, I'd like to remind all you apartment dwellers that you can get approximately 4 square feet more living space - for FREE!
That bike's been sitting there untouched since July. It would gather dust, but you've been using it as a combo coat-rack/laundry hamper and it's buried so deep, you don't even remember what that patch of floor looks like.
Sure you could sell it on Craig's List, but haven't you been saying that since September?
Take back your space! You pay enough for it!

Here are some folks who actually want your used bike in December:

The nice people at Recycle A Bicycle will take your reusable bike and teach kids to refurbish it either to give away in exchange for volunteer work or to sell in one of their stores. They are happy to give you a tax-deductible receipt in exchange.

For a more political donation, go to The FreeWheels Bicycle Defense Fund "dedicated to providing the resources necessary to fight New York City's attack on the civil rights of bicyclists and assisting those arrested, ticketed, or harassed for bicycling."
They have non-profit 501(c)3 status.

Or how about Time's Up NYC's Direct Action Environmental Organization. These guys do a great deal of advocacy in NYC. Their free bike maintenance classes - held year-round in a space they are about to lose - have been a godsend for untold numbers of NYC bikedummies like me.

Well That Sucks

2007-12-13T12:52:00.000-05:00

I started a new job recently, which I find pretty traumatic even though all of my jobs have basically been in the same one square mile of Manhattan.
You have to figure out what subway to take - and where to stand on the platform to get to the secret exit that gets you closest to the side door of the building. What time you have to leave - in order to miss the worst of the crowds and not be late. Where to get food from - and how long they will take to get to you.
Are the elevators packed to bursting twice a day? Do they wax the halls at night? Is it freezing or broiling or both?
It's the little things that can make or break a new work experience, not just the salary, the perks, or the hours.
My new building doesn't allow bicycles.
Not after hours. Not via the freight. Not using the stairs.
Never.

This is a first for me. Everywhere I've ever worked let you bring a bike. And usually your dog, your six-foot tall purple friend Barney, and anything that wasn't on fire at the moment. I mean nobody ever cared. We had security, just not this kind of security.
So I looked it up, and this is what I found in the NYT...

Twelve flights of stairs. That's pretty serious.
The article is also from 1895. (See the whole thing here)
Apparently bicyclists and buildings have been having this problem since the first person tried to bring a bike inside for safekeeping.

Lynette Chiang at Bike Friday has been doing an interesting study where she tries to enter NYC Office buildings with a folding bicycle to see if she'll be turned away.
With a FOLDING bike. And LEGALLY. And she still has problems.
See her study here

I guess everyone knew this was an issue except for me.

It's not a problem today. The sleet and snow is keeping all but the hardiest (craziest) bicyclists off the streets, but I am going to want to start riding in at some point.

I'm concocting a plan. We'll see how it works.

CrashStat 2.0 is Online

2007-12-12T12:22:00.000-05:00

Bicycle and Pedestrian advocacy group Transportation Alternatives
just launched a new and improved version of CrashStat - a web site which maps the locations where bicyclists and pedestrians have reported being hit by vehicles.
In some ways this is just another collection of information that is going to get used by proponents of one agenda or another to advocate less cars, more bike lanes, no bikes allowed, whatever their "thing" is. On an individual level, this map is already useful for me.
It's pretty easy to leave the house with a kind of WTF attitude about biking in NYC. You know that "I'm biking where I need to go and Fuck You Too."
The sheer number of collisions along the routes I take normally isn't surprising - it's just eye-opening.
I love my bike, but maybe a little more caution wouldn't hurt.
It certainly wouldn't hurt as much as a broken leg.

Biking to a Different Beat

2007-11-29T17:39:00.000-05:00

This has nothing to do with my personal experience of bicycling. But I'm always telling people who bitch about trying to bike in traffic in NYC that there are a million different ways to enjoy riding in this city.
It doesn't have to be about exercise, or efficient transportation, or 'being green'.
It can be about exploration, or community, or I guess, even about rockin' the beats.

This is an excerpt from today's NYT.
For the full article, go here.
For the phat photos, go here.

By COREY KILGANNON
Published: November 29, 2007

A new biker gang is roaming the streets of Richmond Hill, Queens. This crew of mostly teenagers can be seen riding along 103rd Avenue just west of the Van Wyck Expressway. The bikes roar, but the booming sound has nothing to do with engines — because there are no engines. They are ordinary bicycles, not motorcycles, although these contraptions look and sound more like rolling D.J. booths. They are outfitted with elaborate stereo systems installed by the youths.

“This one puts out 5,000 watts and cost about $4,000,” said Nick Ragbir, 18, tinkering with his two-wheeled sound system, with its powerful amplifier, two 15-inch bass woofers and four midrange speakers. It plays music from his iPod and is powered by car batteries mounted on a sturdy motocross bike.

The riders are of Guyanese and Trinidadian background. In those countries, turning bicycles into rolling outdoor sound systems is a popular hobby.

“It’s really big where I come from in Trinidad,” Mr. Ragbir said. “When I first came to New York, I started with two little speakers. People here thought I was crazy because no one here has really ever seen it, except maybe for some Spanish dudes with a radio strapped to their handlebars.”

He added: “People say, ‘It’s the next best thing to having a system in a car.’ But it’s better because you don’t even have to roll down the windows.”

Cyclists Get Bridge Path. Now, How to Get to It?

2007-11-20T07:49:00.000-05:00

(Quoted from the New York Times)
By ANDY NEWMAN

New York City's bicyclists love the newly restored bike and pedestrian pathway over the Manhattan Bridge. Really, they do.

But in the five weeks since the path opened, most cyclists have concluded that reaching it from the surrounding streets ranks somewhere between a headache and a nightmare -- even worse than the gnarly Brooklyn-side approach to the Brooklyn Bridge, which requires crossing as many as 15 lanes of traffic.
...
Cyclists riding south on Bowery toward the bridge have no direct approach to the entrance, and on Friday, a crossing island was also cut off by illegally parked police officers' cars.

Mr. Primeggia said that while difficulty reaching the bridge was not ''identified as an issue'' during construction of the path, the agency was investigating after complaints from Transportation Alternatives.
...

My favorite thing about this article?
It's publishing date...

August 6, 2001

To read the complete article, go to The New York Times Archive

Manhattan Bridge Update

2007-11-19T07:58:00.000-05:00

CYCLIST'S TRAGIC TURN
BROOKLYN BREWERY FOUNDER'S SON KILLED

This is the entrance to the Manhattan Bridge Bike Path from the Brooklyn Side. Once you find this and cross it, it's a breeze. There's a fancy new on-ramp, and the North side is (technically) only for cyclists.
Of course, this street is the entrance to the BQE in one direction, the Brooklyn Bridge, in the other, and, if you'll notice, cyclists are asked to ride in the cross walks because they couldn't engineer a safe route onto and off the bridge that allowed us to ride as vehicles.
This means that you have to merge into traffic from the sidewalk.
The Manhattan side is much worse.
I've been riding the newly re-opened North side for a month now and I still can't figure out how to safely and legally get on and off the bike path.
It's great that the path is open, but this trend of patchwork bike paths and lanes with no thought to how cyclists access the routes is going to get more and more people hurt and killed rather than making it safer to ride.
If we are in traffic, then we are traffic.
Making cyclists unpredictably ride to the left, to the right, on sidewalks, and then merge with traffic is a tragedy that isn't waiting to happen. It happens every day.

I was posting only yesterday about my ride across the Manhattan Bridge.
My use of the word 'suicidal' was meant to be ironic, but in light of what happened to Sam Hindy, it's not a joke.
Sam encountered a different issue from the one I'm describing, but I think they are all connected.
Traffic patterns that make no sense lead to accidents.

By JOHN DOYLE, ERIKA MARTINEZ and LUKAS I. ALPERT
(Quoted from the NY Post)

A DAD GRIEVES: Devastated father Stephen Hindy (left) says son Sam was an avid cyclist. The 27-year-old was killed when he fell from the upper deck of the Manhattan Bridge yesterday.

November 18, 2007 -- A man whose father co-founded the Brooklyn Brewery was tragically killed in a freak bike accident on the Manhattan Bridge when he fell more than 20 feet from the upper roadway onto the lower section of the span, police said yesterday.
Sam Khaled Hindy, 27, and a friend were headed to Brooklyn when they accidentally rode their bikes onto the upper part of the bridge reserved for automobile traffic at 11:50 p.m. Friday.
When they realized they were in the wrong lanes, they turned to go back to the entrance of the lower roadway on the Manhattan side, where bicycle and pedestrian paths are located.
But as they made their way back, Hindy struck a barrier, sending him flying down onto the lower roadway through a split in the bridge, landing next to a car, police said.
"A bicycle hit the right side of my car. I didn't see the guy. I thought it was garbage bags. He didn't hit my car, he hit the street," said Joachim Romage, 62, who was driving his 1995 Toyota Avalon across the bridge at the time.
"I was so shocked. How can someone riding on the upper level flip over?"
Hindy was rushed to New York Downtown Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 12:30 a.m. yesterday.
...
Noah Budnick, of the cycling advocacy group Transportation Alternatives, said the entrance to the bridge's bicycle path has long been a problem because it is not clearly marked.
"The traffic is so thick around the bridge and the street grids are so confused that without a map or experience, it's understandable how someone could be misled and end up on the roadway," he said.
Stephen Hindy said his son - who had recently moved back to New York from Boston and worked as a computer engineer for the Internet advertising company DoubleClick - was an avid bike rider who frequently rode between Brooklyn and Manhattan, although he usually went across the Brooklyn Bridge.
...
to read the complete article go to the NY Post
Or see related articles: Bicyclist Killed in Fall on Bridge
Son of Brooklyn Brewery owner dies in accident

New Path to Tofu

2007-11-17T20:57:00.000-05:00

Oooh - Sexy!

Yes, It's the bicycle specific lane on the Manhattan Bridge.
Check it out. Bike icons in both lanes. Woo Hoo.

Of course, I did see about 5 people on foot on the North Path, but who cares. As the weather gets colder, fewer and fewer people cross the bridges any way.

The approach on both sides is suicidal and takes you through some of the worst streets to cycle on, but it's so nice to ride across the river without fear of hitting or being hit by random tourists, kids, sightseers or joggers on the Brooklyn Bridge Footpath.

I love riding on the Brooklyn Bridge, but sometimes the crowds get to be too much. The Manhattan Bridge leads right into the heart of Chinatown, and the best fresh tofu in NY - I only almost got killed three times on my way there.

You See, I See

2007-11-11T10:44:00.000-05:00

There is endless talk on the web about sharing the road - something New Yorkers do not do well. These 'talks' inevitably lead to anger and vitriol - something New Yorkers do very, very well.
There is a movement to ban bicycles on the Brooklyn Bridge, a movement to ban cars in Lower Manhattan, and a movement to add more 'people barriers' to crowded crosswalks. We've been stratified by our preferred choice of movement - 4 wheels vs 2 wheels vs no wheels and apparently no one sees the need to ride a mile in the wheels of another.
As a pedestrian, I've always hated bike messengers and all drivers of vehicles - always getting in my way and forcing me to break my stride, or horrors, actually stop at a corner.
As a driver/passenger, I'm convinced that all pedestrians and cyclists are blind, suicidal maniacs who actively must push each other off the edges of the curb like penguins testing the water for killer whales.
And as a cyclist, I've discovered that, though no one has seen fit to share the secret of teleportation with me, pedestrians have developed the ability to materialize from nowhere, forcing me to either hit them, or get run over by the cab that they've just hailed.
This schizophrenic experience of the world has lead to my new fascination with the concept of 'context and perspective'.
In other words - How do you see the world versus how do I see the world?

You (probably) see a fairly empty street.

I see a bus that will ignore my existence and push me into the pitted, pot holed half lane that is bounded by a jagged mini - cliff of extruded asphalt on one side, and delicate piles of broken glass on the other.

The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence, and the line is always moving faster at the other register, but in cycling, my chosen lane is always better than the one you are trying to push me into.

As seen in...Brooklyn Heights

2007-11-06T21:55:00.000-05:00

This Pug has seen more of New York City than most people I know.
He's also got better manners than most people I know.

The Green Half Mile Parking Zone

2007-11-05T13:04:00.000-05:00

I'd like to give a shout out to the First Presbyterian Church just past Clark street, in Brooklyn Heights, for guaranteeing the failure of the city's experimental bike lane paint job.

Throughout the week I find the lane blocked by occasional parked cars making drop-offs or pick-ups from the church, but it's on Sunday when they really shine.

After all, who in their right mind would want to use a bike lane on Sunday morning?
I guess if I'm not in church I must not count.

The Lazy Cyclist's 2007 NYC Marathon

2007-11-04T16:04:00.000-05:00

I heard about a ride that starts at the base of the Verrazano Narrows Bridge and follows the route of the NYC Marathon from a guy that I met during the Twin Lights Century. It sounded great. A quick guerrilla-style spin through NYC taking advantage of the closed streets and festive atmosphere.
I really meant to do it.
But instead, I did the Lazy Cyclist's NYC Marathon.
Need instructions?
Go out the night before. Drink wine (South African - very good)
Wake up late.
Tune in late to Marathon Coverage on TV and miss the start.
Realize that everybody's favorite male equivalent of the 'dumb blond' weather girl - Al Trautwig, is doing the commentary and curse the fates that made you interested in sports that the networks deem worthy of 'wacky Al'.
Turn off the sound and marvel as Paula Radcliffe dominates the women's race from beginning to end.
Feel guilty.
Haul your ass onto your bike and go cheer on some stragglers.
Finish 26 miles in 02:16 - not bad considering the traffic was murder.

Not much going on on Fourth Ave. by the time I got there, but they still wouldn't let me bike on it

Aside from the insanity on Fifth Ave. in Brooklyn, the ride was lovely. The weather was crisp and slightly overcast - technically perfect for riding.
I cobbled together a 'cool weather' riding outfit and set out to do my 26.
Life was pretty good until I hit the shore bike path. There, riding into a nice chilly headwind coming off the harbor, I discovered that my fingers and wrists get chilled where they are exposed, my lips chap, my nose runs, and I get cold crotch. Fingers, lips, nose... these I expected. But cold crotch? Is there such a thing as too well ventilated ergonomically designed sports equipment? Those of you with gender specific bike seats may know what I'm talking about here.
All I can say is, every once in a while, I'd hit a gust of wind, and 'Oh Daddy!' - Yowza, I have got to work that out if I'm going to be riding in chilly weather.

My version of a water stop.

Congratulations Martin Lel, Paula Radcliffe, and the 38,000 runners in this years NYC Marathon. Hell, I can't even run for the bus.

Fear of Speed

2007-10-08T12:51:00.000-04:00

or...why you should always post when you think of something and not wait until later when the point is moot.
Earlier this summer, I thought about devoting a post to my fear of going downhill.
But I didn't.
I just couldn't get myself to go downhill at faster than 25 mph.
This may sound completely wimpy to you 'hammerheads' out there, but I am fully convinced that at high speeds, my rickety bicycle will shake itself into little pieces, disintegrating beneath me, and then throwing me unceremoniously to the pavement below.
This fear is compounded by the fact that I'm still learning how to maintain my own bike. Every time I touch something on my bike, I'm convinced it's going to come undone.
It's not that I'm completely uncoordinated, and it's positively not that I don't know how to use tools. I can do my own electrical work, but I am still learning the subtleties of how my bicycle fits together. The vague, 'tighten until not too loose but not too tight' instructions in every bike maintenance book should just say - 'it's trial and error stupid'.
Also, where in heck do all you bike people do your bike maintenance? I live in an apartment. There's no room.
Back to going downhill.
Twenty Five MPH is a nice round number, and my fear of it had a nice ring to it.
But then the Monmouth County Century happened, and in a classic case of necessity being the mother of invention, I broke the 25mph barrier.
I just couldn't worry about it. I was tired and cranky and the hills were too big not to take advantage of every iota of downhill momentum. I didn't even notice that it happened. I was going through my Cat-Eye after the ride and at max speed, for the first time ever, it said 28.5 mph.
Woo Hoo.
I was riding around Prospect Park the other day and as I came to the nice smooth downhill on the south side of the park, I dropped my hands, put my head down and watched my speedometer. 22...23...24... around this point I would normally give my brakes a little judicious tap, just to keep myself under my self imposed speed limit, but today, I was feeling daring. Zoom Zoom, let's go. 24.5...24.5...24...23...22...Huh?
All this time, and I never knew. I can't freewheel faster than 25 mph on that hill. It's not steep enough and I'm apparently not heavy enough. Guys blow by me all the time on that stretch of road and now I know why.

It's not that I've conquered my fear. I still feel like my bike is going to fly apart, I just start feeling the fear at a higher speed now - and I guess I have to find another hill.

The Psychology of Bunnies

2007-09-28T12:49:00.000-04:00

Shhh, Be Vewy Quiet. I’m hunting Wabbit.

The endless miles of the Twin Lights Century made me think about many things (100 miles alone through suburbia will do that to you). Snack Availability, Roadkill, and Bunnies were very popular topics.
I like a good bunny better than most cyclists – probably because I ride by myself so much, and the century provided me with an opportunity to really categorize what made a bunny good and what made a bunny bad.

A ‘good’ bunny is going the same way via the same route at a slightly faster rate than you would go by yourself.
Their bicycle should be more expensive than yours and have more gear attached to it.
(You should feel good to be keeping up with them, not embarrassed to have your ass kicked by the deli delivery guy.)
They should be wearing bright, easily identifiable clothing.
Fluorescent green, electric blue and shiny psychedelic designs are all good. The more unique the better, so that you can distinguish your bunny from other riders and objects the further away from them you fall.
There are few feelings more satisfying than losing your bunny only to spot them a mile or so later as the road curves in the distance. They need to be wearing something bright for this to be possible. White is not a good choice – there are a lot of white things in the world and as you grow tired, you may begin to mistake these objects for your bunny causing bouts of depression and sadness.
A good bunny rides predictably and lawfully.
It’s no use following someone who randomly speeds up and slows down for no good reason, only to blow through six lane intersections while cursing the honking traffic every time they miss the light – unless you like to do this too, in which case good on you both and I hope you don’t believe in Darwinism.
A good bunny does not acknowledge you until one or both of you has reached your destination.
Even if they are alone too, it’s weird to try to form a little temporary team based on a randomly shared pace. I try to keep far enough back so that my bunny doesn’t even realize that I’m there. On a country road, this can mean keeping back a few hundred meters.

And then there were none. The turn off to the 100 mile route spelled the beginning of a long stretch where I saw very few other cyclists.

I need bunnies when I ride long distances. I’m not interested enough in keeping track of my own pace to stay consistent without other riders for context. I start to daydream. I stop and take pictures. I go into a low gear to climb a hill and then forget to switch out of it.
I don’t normally think very much of it. After all, who cares really? But the Century had a finite time limit, and I have to admit, it did stress me out a little.
I really didn’t feel like missing the ferries to go home and end up sitting on the pier in NJ for hours. With that in mind, I figured that I needed to keep pace with at least the slower consistent riders. Averaging 14 mph with rest-stops would get me back in about 7.5 or 8 hours, just in time for the 4:30 ferry home.
I’m slowly discovering how these things work, and I guess the start will always be a little nervous with faster and slower riders all mixed together trying to shake out into some kind of organization. It’s a little hard on the ego, but I am not a 22 mph over 100 miles rider, and those guys are going to pass me never to be seen again.
I picked up one set of bunnies for a couple of miles, and then another set after the rest stop. I got “wheel sucked” for the first time in my life by a guy who had been dropped by his group at a light.
Boy is that annoying. I mean follow me, fine. But don’t crawl up my ass for 8 miles.
Then, at mile 30, it happened. I picked up these two guys in bright blue matchy matchy jerseys, and comfortably slotted in a couple hundred yards behind them. I followed them for almost 40 miles, until they split up at a rest stop and the one I stuck with took a wrong turn. 40 miles with the same bunnies – how cool is that? I saw one later at the last rest stop before the finish, and I almost broke the no contact rule, but I thought better of it. I mean, what was I going to say, “Hey, I was following you for 40 miles, I just wanted to say ‘Hi’?”
My last bunny was more of a buddy than a bunny. The last 20 miles of hills were every man for himself and I was keeping pace with one other guy until that last hill that I just couldn't make it over without walking. This last hill highlighted a basic difference between my philosophy and his; I hate having to walk my bike up hills, but I'll do it. He refused to dismount on the hill and I passed him while he was recovering. He waved me by and I saluted. I beat him to the finish by 10 minutes.

Adding insult to injury. The sign at the top of the hill that I didn't make it over.

2007 Bike New York Twin Lights Century

2007-09-24T10:36:00.001-04:00

View of sunrise over Coney Island from the deck of the SeaStreak Ferry, en route to the start of the 2007, Bike New York, Twin Lights, Monmouth County Century. (You'd think with a name this long it would be a bigger ride than it is, but more on that later.)

I don't know why I decided to do this Century - maybe to prove that I could, maybe to see what it felt like to actually ride 100 miles instead of survive the 100 which is how I felt about the NYC Century, or maybe just because the days are going to get shorter and every opportunity for a beautiful ride seems like a good idea.

The day started well. The forecast was perfect for a ride and I made it to the pick up point at Pier 11 with time to spare.

The SeaStreak Ferry runs to NJ year-round, but this route gets busy during the summer when smart city dwellers run away to the beautiful, clean, uncrowded beaches at Sandy Hook State Park. The ferry ride itself was beautiful and relaxing. I chilled out for the 45 minute ride, and even had a cup of COFFEE.

The start was two minutes away from the ferry landing in Highlands NJ. The sun was up. The day was looking grand. All was right with the world.

The longer distance riders all looked pretty homogeneous. Not that there weren't many colors of people, but not that many different 'types'. Everyone was riding a 'nice' road bike, there were one or two exceptions to the spandex, but we stood out like sore thumbs, and the median age felt like it was about 45.

I checked in (again) and went to get my 100 mile cue sheet. Considering how few people there were, it seemed chaotic at the start. The nice man who I asked for the 100 mile cue sheet, kindly offered me a 50 mile sheet in case I wanted to back out. I very nicely declined and even resisted the urge to drop-kick him for patronizing me before 8am.

I set off down the road, a little nervous about riding in a completely unfamiliar area, but that's one of the best reasons to do these rides - they are plotted, planned, marked, and fully supported, so if you run into trouble, you've got help coming.

I arrived at the Oceanport Rest Stop with a group of riders who left at about 8am - and it wasn't set up yet.
OK.
I have no idea what the 7:30 riders did, my guess is they just skipped it. It was only about 10 miles in, so fine.
Got to the Sunnyside Rest Stop - and this is where my memory fails me because they all melt together at a certain point - either here, or at the Shark River Rest Stop they had no water. No Water. I filled my water bottle out of a sink that said "Please, only use sink to wash hands". I'm assuming (mostly because I didn't get sick) that if the water wasn't drinkable, it would have specifically said - "Don't Drink The Water". As it was, the water was warm, I was unhappy, and the rest stops were about 20 miles from each other - out in BF NJ, so water seemed pretty important.
Oh, for those of you who wanted a PBJ - I took the last half they had. Sorry.

Somewhere around the 70 mile mark, I saw my first marshal. He asked me what I was doing so far behind him and I commented that if he was supposed to be sweeping the tail of the ride, I had just left a large bunch at the last rest stop. No idea what that was about. The he asked me how I was enjoying the ride. I said, "Eh".
I thought I was just being cranky at the time.
Don't ask me if I'm enjoying myself at mile 70. Until 50 or 60, I'm usually feeling pretty good. More than 60 miles is where the Century turns into more than the average ride for me and it becomes work. Like a work horse, at about 85 miles, I can smell the stables and start sprinting for home. Between the two, I'm cranky.

The total climb for the 100 is 4,058 feet. Most of that falls into the final 20 miles.

I made it almost all the way to the end and then had to walk the final hill at mile 100 that led past the turnoff to the ferry landing.
There's a sadist laughing somewhere in Monmouth County.

The Twin Lights Century is much much smaller that the NYC Century and I'm not sure if that's the problem, or if that's what makes their lack of preparation even worse. I have much more respect for the organizers of the NYC Century now than I did when I rode it. It's tough to get it together the way they did and the Twin Lights proved that.
I saw one marshal, no SAG wagon, and spent at least a half hour wandering around various rest stops looking for some water to drink, or something that wasn't a cookie to eat.

In the end, I didn't enjoy this as much as the NYC Century, but it was a good experience. It made me think about what I like about biking, and what I'm less than fond of.
I don't like going around in circles. I like seeing new things. I like to focus on a goal. I don't like hills. I like drinking cold water. I don't like mealy cookies. I liked the parkour aspect of the NYC century, I was less enamored with the 85 of 100 miles through suburban NJ.

This has nothing to do with how the ride was organized but man, New Jersey People, what is it with the roadkill? I saw so much roadkill that I'm surprised there are any living things left in Jersey. For a while I was keeping count and making up modes of categorizing the different types, but I gave up at about 35 carcasses and shouldn't a whole deer count as more?

I would absolutely do this ride again, but either I would only do the 30, which is a lovely loop around the most picturesque areas, or I would try to talk someone into going with me. It's just not interesting enough to do alone.

I finished in 8.5 hours including rest stops and missed the 4:30 ferry by minutes.

No Floyd, No...

2007-09-21T10:56:00.001-04:00

Say it ain't so Floyd Landis.

"Landis’s Positive Doping Test Upheld"

By JULIET MACUR,
NYT
September 21, 2007

More than a year after winning the 2006 Tour de France, Floyd Landis lost his lengthy, costly and very public doping case yesterday when an arbitration panel upheld charges that he had used performance-enhancing drugs to win the race.

I'm so depressed, I don't even want to talk about it.

Boys vs Girls

2007-09-19T12:46:00.000-04:00

It really is ‘OK if you don’t love me’.
I know there is a God for Margaret.
and I learned everything I ever needed to know about sex
from Judy Blume.
(I still can’t meet guys named Ralph and not laugh like a character out of Family Guy.)

But apparently, I still haven’t figured out that boys and girls are different.

Ladies, no matter how repulsive you find the apparel designed for female cyclists – and for Pete’s sake, it’s ugly. Don’t buy men’s jerseys and think they will fit.
They don’t.
I’m sure there are some exceptions to this rule. After all, some women look good in low-rise jeans. Not as many as think they do, but some.
Jerseys are different.
Women’s jerseys are cut to flare over your hips so when you lean over your handlebars you don’t moon the universe. Men’s jerseys are ‘elasticized’ to make up for their lack of hips. This means that fat guys look fatter, and women look like misshapen potatoes.
I, of course, learned this by purchasing a quite lovely jersey the other day from the men's sale rack. I don’t have ‘bike clothes’ and most of the stuff I’ve seen is just embarrassing. I saw this perfectly plain jersey and thought now that I’m riding a lot, I should give it a try. Maybe there’s something to all this specialized gear?
Well, I still haven’t figured that part out.

(It’s not called bike dummy because I’m a brain surgeon.)

As seen on... Roosevelt Island

2007-09-17T14:09:00.001-04:00

The ruin of the smallpox hospital at the tip of Roosevelt Island is one of my favorite 'urban decay' landmarks in NYC.
Known as "The Renwick Ruin", it was built by James Renwick in the 1850's to serve the victims of the smallpox epidemic that was sweeping the country in the days of the Civil War.
Renwick was famous for his Gothic Revival structures, of which more than a few have been designated as NYC landmarks. These include; Grace Church, St. Patrick's Cathedral, and the Greyston Conference Center in the Bronx.
I love biking to the tip of Roosevelt Island. You can take a bike over on the tram from 60th street in Manhattan, but it's much more satisfying to use pedal power and come across the connecting bridge from Astoria at Vernon Blvd. and 36th Ave.
It's one of those great hidden places where you are at the center of it all and yet, are almost always alone. From East to West, there are spectacular views of LIC, the Williamsburg Bridge, the UN, and Sutton Place.
The view of the ruin, glowing eerily on the shore of the island, has mesmerized many a New Yorker over the years. I've always been jealous of those who have been inside - but not jealous enough to jump the fence.

For more info on the ruin go to The Roosevelt Island Historical Society.

There's got to be a morning after...

2007-09-16T22:45:00.000-04:00

Happy Birthday Neil.
Great Gig.
I should have gone home, but I didn't.

Don't drink and bike.
(It's not called bike dummy because I'm a brain surgeon)

Almost perfect, Prospect Park

2007-09-15T17:04:00.000-04:00

This was going to be an entry about how beautiful today was. How much I love this weather. How great it felt to get back on my bike for the first time since the century. But instead, it's back on my soapbox I go.
Today is Saturday, right?
There are no cars allowed in Prospect Park on weekends, right?
Saturday is considered part of the weekend, right?
So how come every single time I turned down onto the East Drive I got passed by a car?
Now, don't go blowing this picture up to report the license plate on this car. This one was just unlucky to get caught on camera by me. It was the other 8 or 9 that got me steamed.
The first one, ran right up the asses of these two kids on BMX bikes and honked at them to get them to move. Another one honked at me as it blew by doing about 30 mph. The others just scared people who didn't expect them to be there.
There is a special place in hell reserved for motorists who honk at cyclists.
I can hear you, OK?
I am not the one who is hermetically sealed in a metal box with air-conditioning running, a radio blaring, and my face permanently attached to a cell phone. Before you ran up behind me, I was enjoying the quiet sound of the wind and the click of my wheels.
I don't want to be in your way any more than you want me there. I will move over as soon as it is feasible. You do not see the pot hole on the shoulder or the glass in the road.
If you have come up on me too fast for me to react, then surely blowing an airhorn at my back and surprising me, will make me more capable of getting out of your way.
Give me one good reason why it is OK to honk at a group of kids who have the right of way in a park?

Green, huh, Good God Y'all...

2007-09-14T15:16:00.000-04:00

What is it good for? Absolutely nothing. Say it again...

I always thought this was a protected parking lane that belongs to the Brooklyn Marriott on Adams Street - and apparently I'm not the only one.
I have never once seen this clear of cars and never once seen anybody trying to do something about it. Until they painted the damn thing puke green, I never even knew it was there.

To read up on the Adams Street bike lane, go to the Transportation Alternatives Magazine Archive
Here's an edited selection of what you'll find.

Dear Brooklyn Marriott:
I travel for business about twice a
month, and whenever possible, I stay at
Marriott Hotels. When I am not travelling,
however, I commute every weekday to my
Midtown office by bicycle via the Brooklyn
Bridge. This takes me past the Brooklyn
Marriott every morning at about 6:30 am
on the new Adams Street bike lane.
Frequently, taxis and car service limos
are parked illegally at the curb directly in
front of the Marriott; meanwhile, the Mar-
riott driveway is almost always empty. This
forces me and other cyclists to swerve out
into traffic as we pass the hotel. This is
extremely dangerous, exposes Marriott to
liability...

The Marriott replied:
Thank you for sharing your concern
regarding bicycle safety, particularly the
Adams Street Bike Lane.
Since the Bike Lane opened in late
1998, the hotel has been addressing the
problem you have mentioned.
...the New York Marriott Brooklyn has been
attempting to keep the appropriately
designated areas in front of the hotel as
clear as possible. However, our staff has
encountered verbal and attempted physical
abuse as we attempt to police the area...

Ken Schwartz, GM
NY Marriott Brooklyn

"staff has encountered verbal and attempted physical abuse as we attempt to police the area"

Whoa. How about the lone bicyclist who is trying not to get killed?

I've got a radical idea ... How about the Police police the area?

Before you get too excited about the fact that the Marriott and/or NYC is attempting to address this issue, keep in mind that the pictures were taken today...
and the letters were written in 1999.

Nuff said.

The Green Half Mile

2007-09-13T19:27:00.000-04:00

Daily News - Riders say abrupt end to bike path on busy road is dangerous
Brooklyn cyclists are seeing red over a new bright-green bike path in Brooklyn Heights and Cobble Hill.
Bikers and advocates said they have no problem with the brightly painted Henry St. path itself, which they said makes the lane stand out better and helps keep cars from parking there.
But they charge the popular new lane abruptly ends at Amity St., just south of Atlantic Ave., where Henry St. becomes too narrow for a car to safely pass a bike.

Brooklyn Heights Blog
..."why is the bike lane on Henry Street being painted such an awful shade of green? It’s hideous, and it seems more of a distraction than a safety aid. What gives?"

Kermit’s Bike Lane

hideous!!! and what precisely would make a driver think: green=cyclists?
it’d be so much clearer & safer if they just bother to actually repaint the bike-lane signage with fresh (& reflective) coats every now & then.
instead, idiot bureaucrats let the paint coats deteriorate & fade away, then decide (genius) to splatter the whole of Henry St in puke-green.

I haven’t gotten around to seeing it yet, but I am curious how slippery it will get when it rains (or is the paint not that thick?)

- I've been seeing so much stuff about this recently that I figured I might as well share a penny's worth of what's on my mind.

I hate the green bike lane.

(and here comes the other penny)

The flat all-over color makes it almost impossible to identify the many obstacles that they've arbitrarily painted over, like - manhole covers, inset utility access holes, and potholes. It's like navigating an obstacle course with night-vision goggles on.
It's slippery when wet - and not in a fun Bon Jovi way either.
The color hasn't changed motorist's driving (and illegal parking) habits in any way. By far the worst offenders stop in front of the First Presbyterian Church just past Clark street, and painting the lane hasn't given them pause.
For some reason, every Tom, Dick and Harriet, Yellow Rat Bastard T-Shirt wearing, we're too cool for helmets, cruiser rider, feels like the green lane should allow them to ride the wrong way down the street on it.

And finally, now that it's dirty, it's just FUGLY.

The scariest part of the Daily News Article?
"The green path is the first of its kind in the city. If successful, other bike lanes also will be painted, officials said."

Argh.

Follow the white rabbit

2007-09-12T11:57:00.000-04:00

"I know why you're here, Neo. I know what you've been doing.
I know why you hardly sleep, why you live alone, and why night after night, you sit at your computer.
You're looking for him.
I know, because I was once looking for the same thing. And when he found me, he told me I wasn't really looking for him. I was looking for an answer.
It's the question that drives us, Neo. It's the question that brought you here.
You know the question, just as I did."

"Who is The 0001?"

Ed DeFreitas
President, Five Borough Bicycle Club

Knock. Knock. Neo

2007 NYC Century - reflecting on the backside of 100 miles

2007-09-11T14:24:00.000-04:00

First of all...
If you check the very bottom of my Sept. 8 entry, you will see this...
"Coffee should move to the top of this list. I don't think I can face 5am without a cup of coffee."
If you then go to anywhere in my Sept. 10 entry, you will notice that there is no mention of my solving this problem and finding myself a cup of coffee.
This is because, I rode the whole #^%*ing day with NO COFFEE!
2008, NYC century resolution #1
Never again will I attempt to ride this without a cup of coffee. I will not get freaked out about losing my group. I will just let them go. I will stop at the first place that has coffee, and I will drink it.
2008, NYC century resolution #2
I will NOT fold up my cue sheet, stick it in my trunk, and never look at it again, because I might learn something useful from it. Like that the actual length of the route is 103 miles - not 100. This may save me from future bouts of depression and anxiety when my odometer turns over at 100 miles - and I'm still not at the finish.
2008, NYC century resolution #3
I will try to read something other than the weather report, because I might discover that, oh say, Farm Aid is going on on Randall's Island, or the Race for the Cure is happening in Central Park - and I might not be so confused by what I perceive to be route changes.
2008, NYC century resolution #4
I will not be intimidated by or make snap judgments about cyclists based on their choice of outfit. Some of those spandex guys and hipsters turned out to be quite nice - And because of all the stopping and starting and traffic and obstacles, you never know who you are going to be grouped with from one minute to the next. I lost more people at red lights, only to regain them at hills, than I can count, and everybody, without exception, was friendly, supportive and non-judgmental of my own lack of fashion sense.
2008, NYC century resolution #5
I will make suitable offerings and blood sacrifices to the Gods of bike luck throughout the year in hopes that I do not become one of the hundreds of mechanical failures and blown tires that littered the course like bleached bones in the desert.
2008, NYC century resolution #6
I will remember that no matter how bad it hurts while I'm riding, when I'm done, popping 2 Advil and putting ice on my knees, is better than sex.
2008, NYC century resolution #7
I will ride again next year.

6:30 am - Depart 110th St.
8:45 am - Coney Island
11:00 am - Flushing Meadows
1:45 pm - Astoria Park
4:00 pm - Van Cortland Park
5:00 pm - Arrive 110th St.

Total Time - 10.5 hours
Total Miles - 107 (I don't know - that's what the CatEye says)
To see the route, click on the map to go to bikely.com.

2007 NYC Century - There I Went

2007-09-10T11:11:00.001-04:00

Slow and Steady did not win the race.
But I did finish my first century.

For all my planning and list making, I was too nervous to sleep. I felt the beginnings of a cold coming on on Friday which I promised myself I could have later if it would just go away until after Sunday. Instead, it put me in bed for most of Saturday which made it really difficult to get to sleep (as opposed to bed) at a reasonable time.
I awoke before my alarm, walked my very confused dog, picked up my carefully prepared bike bag, and then decided to ride to a different subway stop because mine is a little lonely at the best of times, and I don't count 5am as the best of times.
I was already running late - and I hadn't even left Brooklyn.
There were a bunch of cyclists on the platform, and many more on the train. I ended up in a conversation with a guy on a mountain bike and no helmet who said he was going to ride the 100. He was very polite, and kept insisting he didn't need a helmet, so I gave him some safety pins for his number and wished him luck.
By the time we all managed to haul our bikes up and out of the subway, it was 6:15 am and I was not feeling too happy with myself. Considering how little sleep I got, I could have been there by 5. Starting on time didn't seem too much to ask.
I got myself a cue sheet, stuffed it in my trunk and took off with a bunch of other late arrivals.
My first surprise was the long swoop down Riverside Drive. I don't know why I thought we were going through the park, but obviously, we weren't.
I wish I'd taken a picture of Times Square at dawn. There is something refreshingly sleazy about Times Square when it is empty that the tourists and the Disneyland gentrification have stolen from it over the years. Sort of like catching the prom queen on her early morning walk of shame.
The early parts of the ride were frenetic and full of moments of panic. I was riding with people who were much faster than me, and the effort it took not to get dropped at every light was making me wonder how I would finish the 100.
A lot of the people starting early seemed to come from bike clubs. Lots of hand signals and yelling 'Clear' and 'Passing'. Endless clicking in and out of clipless pedals at stoplights. I'm not used to riding in a group, so the argot was both strange, annoying, and oddly compelling. Fairly quickly, I was joining in - pointing at holes, signaling turns, and motoring along a little faster than I would have gone on my own.
Ain't peer pressure grand?

Crossed the Brooklyn Bridge as the sun was rising, curved around through Dumbo, and then off to Prospect Park.
The route through Brooklyn is very familiar to me, so I settled down a bit and found a more natural pace. I was getting passed a lot, but I no longer felt like I was getting 'dropped'.
I peeled off to use the rest room at Coney Island and for one shining moment had the early morning world all to myself. I didn't remember there being a generous number of bathrooms at the Canarsie Pier, and I just couldn't face the long lines. Ate bananas one and two, bemoaned the lack of things NOT made of chocolate, recognized a couple of people from the subway, and took off toward Queens.
The section through Queens was the least familiar part of the route for me. And now I know why.
I hate to say this. It's really quite rude. But...
I never want to see Queens again.
The ride into Flushing was beautiful.
In all my years in NY, I've never seen the Unisphere's fountains turned on. It is an awe inspiring sight. Flushing is about at the halfway point on the 100 mile ride, and I felt pretty optimistic about my chances. Brooklyn had seemed easy, Manhattan went by so fast, it was barely a memory, Queens would pass into the Triborough Bridge, and I would only have the Bronx to finish.
Oh, no, no, no.
Queens sucked.
Forest Hills. Jackson Heights. Richmond Hill. Are you seeing the pattern?
From Flushing to Alley Pond Park and back again to Astoria, all I did was ride up and down, up and down. Hills, hills, hills. I hate hills.
My lowest moment came in Alley Pond Park, where after what felt like miles of hills, I was finally flying down a long, steep, downhill to the rest stop, when I saw riders struggling back up the hill toward me. I realized at that moment that every foot I descended I was going to have to fight my way back up, and I crumbled inside. Things were starting to hurt, the day was getting hot, and that Godforsaken corner of Queens felt like the end of the earth.
I decided to call my family and friends to inform them that I would now be living at the Alley Pond Park Rest Stop - because there was no way in hell that I was getting back up that hill.
One powerbar later...
I decided to leave.
There's no use living at a rest stop where you have to wait on line to get a banana, and I was in no mood for a line.
So I took off toward Astoria in hopes that getting back on a recognizable route would perk me up.
Some parts of the ride back across Queens were lovely. There are stretches of waterfront promenade that are breathtakingly beautiful. However, there are also seemingly endless stretches of hilly, asphalty, sun beating down on you, cars trying to run you over, semi - suburban streets, that I am not likely to revisit anytime soon.
I arrived at Astoria park and was heartened to see some familiar faces. - Not that I actually knew any of them, but I kept finding and losing the same basic group of riders. - The bunnies to my tortoise.
Ate bananas three and four. PBJ number one and orange number three. Was momentarily confused by the sign that said, "55 milers - 5 miles to go. 100 milers - 28 miles to go. 75 milers - (scribble out) 28 miles to go."

Huh?
I rode this part of the route on Monday.
It goes over the Triborough to Randall's Island, across to the Bronx, and then East across Bruckner Boulevard. I thought the 75 milers had been riding with us up until this point and were almost done.
Confused.
Maybe delirious.
Went over the Triborough, which didn't back up as badly as I expected, but I think it probably sucked earlier in the day given that you have to carry your bike up and down three sets of stairs. Onto Randall's Island, and then - across the pedestrian bridge to 106th street?
Wait a minute.
This isn't how it's supposed to go.
But there are the green C's.
Pointing North.
Right smack into a Saint's Day Parade.

So, off I went, across the Willis Avenue Bridge and into the Bronx.
I really enjoy riding in the Bronx. There are some bike paths that are true hidden gems. But I was not enjoying myself this time. My back hurt, my left hand was going numb from clutching my handlebars too tightly, and all of a sudden, I developed a blinding, shooting pain in my knee every time I had to put pressure on the pedal to grind up a hill.
My odometer said 90 miles. I was almost home.
I fought my way to Van Cortland Park, dreaming of Advil and cold water. Ate bananas five and six, and orange number four. Compared odometers with a guy who got lost in Queens and somehow managed to shave three miles off the route. I was going to make it.
The volunteers were giving advice and pep talks. "Last rest stop before the finish in the park. Remember to use the rest room. Only eleven more miles to go."
WHAT?
My odometer read 96 miles.
How was that possible? Maybe my odometer is set wrong and I just never noticed because it's a cumulative discrepancy. Oh God. Riding 10 miles in pain is one thing. Riding 17 was way too much. ...But I had already done 6 of those miles. I only had 11 more to go. ...I was so close...How could I give up now?

That little voice is really annoying sometimes.

I saddled up and took off.
This time, there were no groups to go with. We were stretched out too thin, and the faster riders were already done.
I know this part of the ride really well. Which is a good thing, because, going up a hill in Washington Heights, I had my first mechanical failure of the day. My chain slipped, and I tumbled onto a parked car. Some nice marshals made sure I was OK, and I hopped onto the back of their group and let them lead me back down to the park.
110th Street seemed like a foreign land. Bright and crowded, with blaring music and daytime park users. It was like crossing the international date line and landing the day before you left.
I saw the guy whose classic Italian racing jersey I had admired in Bayridge, and the kid who I passed in Flushing riding what looked like a food delivery bike, complete with metal basket. There was the 'hotter 'en hell' chick who left me in the dust at Alley Pond Park, and finally, the guy in the green t-shirt who I saw for the first time at 5:30 in the morning on the subway platform in Brooklyn. Just then, I felt that I knew them all.
I stood for a moment the the afternoon sun and wondered if it had all been a dream.

2007 NYC Century - Here I Come

2007-09-08T12:49:00.000-04:00

Ride Gear

º Bike
º Lock
º Cycling Gloves
º Shirt
º Shorts
º Socks
º Helmet
º Jacket
º Sunglasses
º NYC Bike Map
º Water Bottle
º Headlight

Bike Bag
º Patch Kit
º Spare Tube
º Tire Levers
º Multi-tool
º Mini Pump

Misc Items
º Advil
º Cell Phone
º Handi-Wipes
º Camera
º Confirmation Letter/Ride #
º Directions to Event
º Energy Bars
º Energy Drink
º Money
º Sun Block
º Bandana
º BandAids
º EyeDrops
º Chapstick
º Remember Rosie Ruiz Membership Card aka Metro Card
(just kidding, I wouldn't, really...I wouldn't, stop staring at me like that, I said I wouldn't!)

Things to do:
Figure out what is making that annoying 'clicking' sound.
Lube Chain.
Check air pressure in tires.
Find someplace in my neighborhood that is open at 5am on Sunday where I can get a cup of coffee.
Figure out how I am getting to the start. Am I riding? It's going to be pitch black at 5am and I am at least 10 miles from the top of the park.
Coffee should move to the top of this list. I don't think I can face 5am without a cup of coffee.

Rain, rain, go away

2007-09-06T21:07:00.000-04:00

No, no, no.
No rain.
Not on Sunday.

If anyone knows an anti - rain dance, please start doing it now.
Better yet, if you teach it to me, I'll do it.

On a brighter note, if you missed today's bike snob nyc, go there now for a withering and hysterical skewering of mid-life crisis road bike culture.

Please God, never let that be me.

As Seen In...Hell Gate

2007-09-04T20:40:00.000-04:00

Built in 1917 by Othmar Ammann, and engineer Gustave Lindenthal, the bridge over Hell Gate is more properly called the New York Connecting Railroad Bridge.
Ammann was also the builder of The George Washington, The Triborough, The Throgs Neck, The Bronx Whitestone, and one of my personal favorites, The Verrazano Narrows Bridge.
Le Corbusier once called Hell’s Gate the most beautiful bridge in the world.
I love the view of this bridge from the bike path on the Triborough - I just wish the stairwell leading to the path on the Bronx end didn't stink so much of shit.

I See Cs

2007-09-03T20:31:00.000-04:00

I went out for a ride, and look what I found.
They've marked the roads for the upcoming NYC Century and I couldn't help myself. I started following the green C's up through Brooklyn and then on to the Bronx before I came to my senses - and started losing the sunlight.
I'm getting less freaked out and more excited as the day draws closer, and today's little test run was actually a lot of fun.
It was pretty easy to follow the route - even without any kind of map, although I did run into one WTF? that has to be the result of financial or political route gerrymandering.
Right after crossing the Pulaski bridge into Long Island City, the route takes a quirky turn down to Gantry Park for one block of teeth chattering cobblestones before it returns to 5th street. I mean, Huh? Is that necessary? For a view of the mega-condos and the back of the Pepsi sign I have to dismount off my bike or risk a flat? Whose bright idea was that? Seriously, it's a detour to one stinking block on the waterfront. Anyway, I think that part is on the 55 mile route, so if you are riding that distance on skinny wheels, look out.

I picked up the 100 mile route at Astoria Park and followed it over the Triborough and into the Bronx. I knew I didn't have enough time to do the whole loop of the borough and make it back home to Brooklyn before the sun set, so I bailed in Sound View and set out for the University Heights Bridge. I saw one green C in Inwood, but I was heading for the bike path, so I let it pass.
Those things are like popcorn. You want just one more before you go home.

2007-09-02T09:53:00.001-04:00

Who doesn't love the onion...

Non-Doping Cyclists Finish Tour De France

PARIS—A small but enthusiastic crowd of several dozen was on hand at the Tour de France's finish line on the Avenue des Champs-Élysées Tuesday to applaud the efforts of the 28 cyclists who completed the grueling 20-stage, 2,208.3-mile race without the aid of performance-enhancing drugs.

"It became most difficult for us on the 7th stage, which was almost 200 kilometers and the first stage through the mountains," Kvistik said while accepting the non-doping victor's 100-franc check from his stretcher. "Not only did the excruciating pain and weakness in my legs make it difficult to walk my bike on the steeper stretches, it was mentally very hard to know that half the other clean riders were dead or dying."

A Little Hell, A Lot of Heaven

2007-09-01T14:17:00.002-04:00

Oh Wow.

I set out to find the South County Trail again.
I keep hearing that the Putnam Trail is in fact paved and passable on a road bike, but considering the mini - disaster that was my last attempt through Van Cortland Park, I decided to give up on that for the moment. I skipped riding through the park entirely and stayed on Broadway heading north.
I think I can honestly say that the stretch through Yonkers is the most miserable I've been on a bicycle, without actually falling over. The traffic is terrible on Rt 9. It's all buses and potholes and cobbles and exhaust and then - hills. Hills, and hills and more hills.
I think I've mentioned that I hate hills. I'm not a triathlete. I'm not in training for the tour de Georgia (don't even get me started on that name). I ride for fun and because it's a great way to explore my surroundings. Ok, I mean there is a great deal of personal satisfaction in achieving goals and feeling healthy and strong, but I don't go looking for things to climb over.
Up and down, up and down, the wind whipping into my face off the Hudson. In the words of the inimitable Bob Roll, I was "Doing the PaperBoy".
I forget who he was describing when he said that, but unlike me, I think that rider bonked while climbing an alp.
I thought about bailing out, but I knew I'd just be pissed the whole way home.
Long story short, I found the entrance to the South County Trail at Barney Street in either Yonkers or Hastings - on - Hudson. It runs right between the Saw Mill Parkway and Saw Mill River Road - and it is heavenly.
Paved, shaded, tree-lined, smooth, picturesque and a complete and total surprise to me. In classic Bike Dummy form, I used to live about a third of a mile away from this path when I got out of college - and Friday was the first time I ever saw it.
I felt like I could go forever.
Unfortunately, I got a late start, so I started to lose the light around New Castle. I had just enough sun left to take a slight detour around part of the Croton Reservoir, dive down to the Mount Kisco Metro-North train station, and head home.

view across the reservoir to the
Brooklyn Botanic Garden Research Center at Kitchawan

If anyone knows of a more pleasant way to get to the trail head from NYC, I'd appreciate hearing about it. I'm not even sure where it starts on the southern end.
To see my route, click on the map to go to bikely.com.

Buying Bike Stuff I Don't Need

2007-08-30T12:49:00.000-04:00

Living in NYC means that I worry constantly when I leave my bike unattended for even a minute - even though to most people it looks like a POS, this bike means a lot to me. Keeping it whole means carrying around heavy locks and taking every removable object off my bicycle when I do something as simple as going to buy a soda in a deli.
I've learned my lesson the hard way - more than once.
The easy answer would be a backpack, but I really hate biking with a bag on my back. It just takes the fun out it.
With that in mind, this spring, I bought a
Trek Interchange Trunk Pack so that I wouldn't have to mess around with crap velcroed to every tube on my bike.
I love it.
Except that I put the matching quick release rack on the commuter bike and kept the Blackburn rack on the road bike.

Months of velcroing later... I finally decided to swap them last night. I mean, it's no big thing. Just unscrew the bottom of the racks from the rear wheel hub and then the bent metal part from the seat post clamp. Then, swap 'em. Right? Wrong.
I have now learned that the shiny metal things are called "brackets". I know this because, my bike is 20 years old and the screws on my seat post are a bigger than the ones that fit the Trek rack and are bigger than the ones that fit every set of brackets sold at the local bicycle shop.
I did discover a new bike shop. (new to me, that is)
Sid's on 34th street was very helpful and they offered to drill out the hole on the brackets for me to make them fit. It's always nice to discover a bike shop where they don't give me attitude for either a: being female, or b: not being a serious enough biker for them to care about.
While waiting for the mechanic to do the modification, I also helped myself to:

1. A new set of bike gloves. (mine have been through the wash too many times, no really...)
2. A nice red jersey. (on sale! 25% off)
3. A tube of mechanics grease. (it's "the king of lubes")
PLUS
4. Custom drilled rack brackets with all the screws. (so I know they all fit)

I really only 'needed' one (1) hex nut and bolt to replace the one that is rusted and stripped on the old Blackburn Rack. It's the only part that I couldn't just take off one bike and re-mount on the other.

This habit of buying 'stuff' that I don't really need is why I've got the one mile = one dollar rule. I can buy anything I want. I just have to have biked enough miles to cover the cost.
I better hope the weather is nice this weekend. I need to put in 110 miles just to break even.

Henry Hudson D'Oh

2007-08-29T14:26:00.000-04:00

New York is an amazing city. I've lived here all my life and I still discover something new every day. Bicycling has added tremendously to my knowledge of the city and the surrounding areas, but recently, I've had a run of frustrating bad luck.
One of the reasons why the city is so intriguing is that it is always changing. Stores, buildings, fads and causes come and go. Entire neighborhoods disappear. New ones spring up to take their place. Sometimes it feels like every night the city folds in upon itself and unscrambles into something new by morning.

I took this while crossing the Broadway Bridge at the top of Manhattan. The point in the distance is at Spuyten Duyvil - one of my favorite named locations in New York. According to Wikipedia, some of the origins of the name are Speight den Duyvil, Spike & Devil, Spitting Devil, Spilling Devil, Spiten Debill and Spouting Devil. Meanings include "Spinning Devil" or "Devil's Whirlpool" or "Spite the Devil."
I thought it would be nice to return via the Henry Hudson Bridge - the bridge at Spuyten Duyvil, but instead, I ran into this:

Closed, closed for repair, re-routed, non-existent. I've had some strange Karma going on that's drawn me to every fenced-off, under construction route in NYC, but this was a first - you can get on it - you just can't get off on the other side.
D'oh