Cyclelicious seems to have all the good news these days. Today they bring us news of the Tweed Run.
Something to think about in the Spring, anyway.
So.
Last night I rode my bike to Tess’s Lark Tavern for the monthly Poets Speak Loud event. It was an open mic followed by a walk to the Robert Burns statue in Washington Park, upon which a daring poet placed a beret. I’ll talk more about the event over at jasoncrane.org, but I wanted to mention a tangential fact about it here on RocBike.
Last night’s bike ride was my first time on a bike since … maybe September.
There, I said it. The founder of RocBike, former board member of the New York Bicycling Coalition and blogger about car-free living no longer rides a bike.
When I was transferred to the Albany area in November 2007, I lived in Saratoga Springs for the first few months. Most of my job duties, though, were in Albany and Schenectady, so I was on the road all the time and needed to be in my car. My family were still back in Rochester, so my eating habits suffered, too. Less good food, more fast food and food eaten in the car.
In the late winter or early spring of 2008, I moved into the city of Albany and started riding again. It was around that time that I started blogging again in earnest and joined the board of the New York Bicycling Coalition. I was also attending meetings of the Albany Bicycle Coalition, and blogging about the challenges of car-free or car-light living in my capacity as a Parent Panelist for the Albany Times Union newspaper.
When Jen and the boys moved back, I was still biking a fair amount. Jen got an Xtracycle like mine, and we biked a lot as a family. But then things started to change. I had already gained a fair amount of weight because of the changes in my lifestyle. I started driving most places and left the bike locked away. By the fall, I wasn’t riding at all. I was 35 pounds heavier than when I moved here. And my poor Packet Boat was dry-docked in the back shed.
Well, it’s time to get back on the horse. Look for updates from me about returning to the bike and making some much needed changes.
I’ve got nothing to lose but my chains! (And 35 or 40 pounds.)
Jason sez: Welcome to new contributor Bill Corbett. Bill is the president of a small non-profit called Capital Region Sponsor-A-Scholar, Inc.. They help disadvantaged students in Albany, Troy and Schenectady graduate from high school and go on to college. When they get there, Sponsor-A-Scholar gives them $750.00 stipends for each successful semester they complete. Bill lives in Voorheesville with his wife Diane and son Ryan. His son Billy is a junior at Dartmouth college.
Approaching a complicated intersection
In an effort to help other bike riders (read: commuters) I will attempt to make some suggestions on how to approach and navigate a difficult intersection. In my travels to work on a regular basis, I have to navigate the intersection at 155 and 20 in Guilderland. This is a major intersection from all four directions. I approach from the south (Voorheesville) on 155, with the intention of going straight through to Washington Avenue Extension, where I work. It has both left- and right-hand lane arrows as well as four other lanes in either direction. In my first days of commuting to work, I avoided this intersection and went three extra miles each way to stay safe. Researching the safest route you will take is the first and possibly the most important step you can take in bike commuting.
As road work in the Capital Region progressed, Johnston Road was deemed to get a full makeover. This cut out my alternate route and forced me to confront the 155/20 intersection. It was a pleasant surprise to see that 155 actually had a large shoulder in many places but considerably more traffic, as well. They were also in the process of building a Stewarts halfway to my destination (read: ice cream cones on the way home, chocolate chip cookie dough). So I did my usual good research on the safest route for riding and decided that maybe this would work out after all.
My first approach to the 155/20 intersection went smoothly, as I got the light and no one in a car was making a right hand turn, as I was going straight ahead. This did not work out consistently, causing me to have to figure out where to head and when to take the lane in order to be seen and safe. The right-hand lane was doable until I reached the CVS on the right side of the intersection, but then I found I had to move to the left of the right hand turn lane in order to allow the car traffic to make the turn and not run me over (always a serious consideration on my part). So my plan is to approach with traffic, staying always to the right until traffic starts to back up at the light and I can move into the lane safely. As I proceed to the light with traffic, I move to the left of the right hand turn lane and wait for the light that allows traffic to go straight ahead, which I what I do.
On the return trip, as I said, the Route 155 section between 20 and Washington Avenue Extension where I work has an ample shoulder. I can safely use this all the way from work to Route 20 and then I have to confront yet another six lane choice. In this direction, two right-hand lanes have the right to make a right on the arrow. This is much more complicated and requires more eye contact along with other methods of communication such as hand signals and talking to drivers as they wait at the light to let them know what I am going to do. I choose to take the second right-hand turn lane and keep an eye on the traffic behind me to see if someone seems to want to turn right from the lane I am in. In the event this is the case, I again move over to the left-hand part of the second right-hand turn lane. When the light turns green for the straight ahead option, I proceed across the intersection. (Lots of times I stop for ice cream!)
Remember: always wear a helmet, as it is the single most important safety tool you have!
Next time, how to navigate a round-about.
A break light that flashes when you slow down, and is not wired to your bike? Yep. (Via Cyclelicious)
And if that’s not enough of an eye-sore, how about making your WHOLE BIKE reflective? (Via Commute By Bike)
If you haven’t been following local heroes Team Personal Rollercoaster as they unicycle through Panama, check out this video!
Back in November, Orion Magazine published an article promoting bike commuting and asking for bike commuting pictures to be posted to their Flickr group.
In much more timely news, the New York Times profiled Portland Congressman Earl Blumenauer, founder of the Congressional Bicycle Caucus. Who knew?
Today’s link of the day is this bit about the Bicycle Commuter Act.
If you’ve had any luck in this area, please let us know.
A new BBC World Service documentary called the Bicycle Diaries starts this
Friday, Jan. 16. The synopsis reads:
“A journey to 3 different places around the world to discover communities and people for whom two wheels are better than four.”
You can listen online or on XM radio or shortwave. Airdates are listed here:
This past Wednesday was a tricky one for my commute to the RIT campus, which is nestled on what should have remained 1200 acres of beautiful farmland, woods, and wetlands in once-rural Henrietta. The seven-mile trek felt like it was about a quarter-mile deep in slush – what had been actual ice was beginning to melt at around 7 AM. But the ride turned out to be very pleasurable. That’s because my Kona, equipped as I’ve said before with 26 x 1.75 studded Nokians, made mincemeat (okay, wrong metaphor, texturally speaking) of the mush, and it only took 5 minutes longer than usual to get there from here. By the time I pedaled for home (around 6 PM) it was still relatively liquid out there, but ice was starting to solidify on some surfaces. When I went up the twisting path alongside McLean St. between Wilson Blvd. and Mt. Hope Ave., near the UR campus, which conveniently sits along my route to RIT, I could only get a grip while riding; it was too slick for walking. This confirms the point made by stud-enthusiasts: the trickiest part of riding on ice is when you dismount and lose your footing. It also confirms my feeling that it’s pedestrians who get the short end in terms of transportation conditions, not cyclists, though we cyclists seem to get more pitying glances from passing drivers. But I’m really writing to ask a question. Does anyone out there know why so many oncoming motorists will assault a cyclist with their high beams? I’ve got my theories (e.g. they think they’re helping by “lighting” our the way for us poor benighted devils), but what’s yours? And how do you deal with problem? This has been on my mind since I got blasted/blinded Wed. night on East River Road near the golf course clubhouse. Dear drivers who may be reading this: Dim your brights!
From the always delightful Yehuda Moon & The Kickstand Cyclery:
12 sexy custom vintage bikes to drool over during the new year. My bike DevilWing was selected as Miss March. You know you want it!
Matt Yglesias is a political blogger who takes an interest in the politics of transportation. He makes an interesting point about biking in winter:
The top bike commuting city is Copenhagen, not San Diego. If people can bike to work in Denmark’s winter (I even saw plenty of people biking around Helsinki in December) then it can be done wherever you might be in the USA as well. Unfortunately, American mindspace about bicyling tends to be dominated by the insidious recreational bikers, who’ve gotten it into people’s heads that even on a lovely day for a bike ride the act of pedaling requires intricate performance gear including funny biking outfits. But bike commuting is a whole different ballgame — you’re just trying to get to work, so you should wear what you would wear.
Gosh, he makes it sound so easy! Check out his post for the rest of his thoughts, and some debate in his comment section.
A couple weeks ago, when we were in the first major melting phase of this muddled winter, I found myself on a partially submerged road near Cobbs Hill. Apparently all of Cobbs’ snow was melting and pooling on the street. I stopped for a couple minutes to take pictures of motorists as they pondered whether to spend two minutes on a detour or risk severe damage to their cars.
Maybe if I go slowly the water won’t notice that I’m here
Winters bring the most difficult conditions for motorists to get through, be they giant puddles of indeterminate depth, deep snow to get stuck in, or icy hills that send climbing cars backwards. I haven’t had those problems yet this winter on bike. And if I do, I make the point in my Ten Reasons Why Bikes Are Better for Winter Commuting that when the going gets tough on a bike, you can walk or carry it until you’re in the clear.
I can carry 12 lifejackets in my Freeloader bags
It’s OK to feel a little bit of smug self-satisfaction as a winter bike commuter. People think it’s so rough. Oh, you must be really dedicated. I could never do that.
The secret is that, sometimes, it’s much easier on bike.
I’ve combined my love of bicycles with many things, but who’d have thought I could combine it with my 95-year-old-man fashion sense? But now my dream has come true:
That’s right, kids. It’s a bicycle bow tie from the fine folks at Beau Ties Ltd of Vermont. Perfect for that special someone who is … well … just me, I guess. And yes, you can also get it as a necktie, if you’re a wimp.
Yeah. Wow, right? Read it.
So far, not much to report, that’s why I haven’t posted in a while. Let me tell you, CT ain’t got nothin on Rochester winters. There have been two snowfalls thus far which anyone would classify as “heavy”. Not blizzards like ROC is used to, to be sure, but everyone around here freaks out. The roads basically become closed save for a few plows and crazy people who think they know how to drive in the snow.
I still rock my way in like any other day… I may spend less ride time going no-handed and air drumming to heavy metal, but I still get there by my own two legs. And I have to smile when I pass someone begrudgingly cleaning off their car and trying to dig it out of the driveway.
Anyway, this has been my winter rig so far this year, a 90’s Schwinn Frontier a co-worker gave me in the spring because it was wasting away on his back porch:
before work - I call the bike The Final Frontier. I'm a nerd.
I also recently I upgraded my light situation with another Fenix L2D up front and another Planet Bike Superflash, so now I am running 3 total back there. And of course the Neon:
after work - neon's little dim up front... that's why I need a front fender.
in other news, I got a new project for the new year…
a late 40’s Roadmaster Luxury Liner… all original, all intact, as found in storage, I just cleaned up a little so far. It’s already up in the stand getting tinkered with. Original tires still hold air and all the moving parts still move, I realized that it was probably still ridable so I took it out for a test spin (before I completely dismantled it) and shot video because I knew no one would be believe me that it was still functional:
click to watch video
Besides being 60 years old and needing some fresh grease, it rides nice and smooth. Can’t wait to fix this one back up in time for plenty of spring cruisin.
Now I still need to work on finding more people to cruise with here…
I picked up some studded tires from Towners about a month ago, and have been tearing up the roads with them since. I’ve experienced and seen my fair share of wipe-outs in past winter seasons, and after reading about Ethan’s experience this morning, figured that I’d share some thoughts on the studded life.
My tires, basking in the ice-cold neon power of the Chicken Avenger
The Right Tire for You
My particular Nokian tires seem comparatively low-end, as Nokians go. They have just 160 studs per tire compared to the meatier Nokian Extremes that our own Jack Spula uses. Plus, it seems that the $65.00-per-tire asking price at Towners is a bit high compared to what other people are paying around the country for this particular model. So if you can spare the time to research the best value you can find, I suggest you do.
But even lower-end overpriced studded tire models receive praise from their users. I’ve spent time on icy roads with road tires, mountain bike tires, fat balloon cruiser tires, and of course these Nokians, and this winter season (with the studs) is really the first time I’ve felt comfortable in all road conditions. I’ve gotten away in the past with “knobby” mountain bike tires, but they’re only good when there’s snow on the road. Those knobs do nothing to grip onto the ice.
How Far Will Studs Take One?
I still ride with extra caution on nights like tonight when it gets cold after a bit of a thaw. That’s my sensible nature.
Yet studs really speed up my winter commutes. I used to get off my bike and walk it on side streets when there was a lot of sludge build-up. Poorly plowed back roads are still not my preferred route to take in winter, but they’re navigable with the Nokians.
White and black ice usually isn’t much of a problem, either, though I make sure to slow down a bit when the street looks shiny. Turns are easy to take, which is a huge relief at intersections. I was riding with Joey Mac last winter, and we went to take a left at an icy intersection, but Joey’s bike kept going straight. A busy intersection is the worst place to fall off your bike, and avoiding that situation just once is worth the price of at least one studded tire.
The brown frozen sludge that cars deposit next to their path, which Jack affectionately calls “car snot,” is probably the most difficult surface to ride on with studded tires. It builds up the most on roads with moderate use, where there is enough traffic to push the sludge next to the motorists’ path but not enough to help melt it all away. When possible I just ride closer to the center of the road, in the right tire track, and let motorists try to figure out how to pass me safely. But when I have to ride in the snot, I drop the bike down to a low gear and take my time. I’ve even ridden uphill through the snot (on Empire Boulevard, by the bay) and that’s something that can’t be done with standard road tires.
Incidentally, the studs handle fine on clear roads. There’s a bit of a humming noise, and a hardly detectable increase in rolling resistance, but nothing that makes me look forward to the end of the season when the road tires go back on. These tires are welcome to stay on my bike for as long as the weather demands.
Cuts through the snow like a hot knife through Earth Balance.
Now, To Find Studded Boots!
One hilarious drawback of these studded tires is that they’ll take you to places where you can’t walk. I’ll stop my bike and get off, only to stumble around on the icy surface. I’m happy that my studded tires have made me stop cursing my decision to live in a northern climate while I’m on my bike. Now, for some boots that will do the same while I’m walking.
Howdy. Check out this extensive look at Bicycle Helmets for the 2009 Season. And thanks to Randal Putnam for the link.
The Initiative for Healthy Infrastructure at the University of Albany has completed its feasibility study on the Central Avenue Bikeway. You can download a PDF of the study at the IHI site.
Yeah, so how about that ride in this morning?
I took a spill turning the corner from New Scotland onto Myrtle. No damage. Just shook me up a bit. If I’d had studded tires (yeah yeah I’m working on it) it might not have been an issue.
I’m just happy to be riding my bike again.
