Be sure to read this post from the Fat Cyclist all the way to the end.

sorry, I mean..
Your opinion on bags,
AND commuting set-ups.

I exceeded my Timbuk2 medium.
Which, when I first started commuting,
I was VERY impressed with.
I mean, work papers, rain jacket, tools,
AND ice cream & milk & treats?

But now I’ve outgrown it.
I did supersize to a large,
but something more calls out to be carried…
artwork, camera & gear,
larger food shopping trips.
After two weeks of debate,
I’ve ruled out the xtracycle,
Sorry Jason,
I came thisclose to ordering a Schwinn Coffee 3 spd
to retrofit, but I’m intent on making my one bike ‘be all’.
So I looked at Sun Lite grocery panniers that were inexpensive, but generic,
all the way to Ortlieb, at $100 per bag,
then to the Detour commuters at $59 per bag.

What’s the feedback, set ups and suggestions?

i have serious problems with ALOT of things,
one being the photo size selection on WP,
so to view pictures while I’m struggling on WP,
visit me @ Liberty on Bikes! .

SO BACK TO OUR TOPIC.
For those that are LCI certified, by-the-book cyclists,
I ‘m sorry to offend, but it’s something I naturally do….

There’s been alot of debate lately on every blog on:
cyclists running red lights,
cyclists running stop signs,
cyclists passing cars on the right at red lights
(which happens to be my everyday doing)
and cyclists needing to abide by all laws.

UMMMMMM, wait for it….
NO!
There I said it!
I’m not irresponsible,
and I certainly don’t advocate breaking laws,
or pose a ‘do as I say, not as I do’ rule.

I ADVOCATE ARRIVING TO HOME/WORK ALIVE!

And until motorists respect other roadway users,
I’ll ride on the offense.
Passing stopped cars on the right?
It’s safer for me to start the green light up front,
rather than be in the middle of rush hour traffic
trying to pass me while I start off ten cars behind.

When it’s bumper to bumper and at a stand still,
and there’s a wide shoulder onthe right?
SORRY! I’m gonna get on that and keep moving!
Who’s going to sit behind a tailpipe waiting in traffic?
You’re an angry motorist? Well then, get a bike!
Surprisingly, in town you can beat traffic!

Lastly:
- a bad cyclist will do less harm than a bad driver.
- since driver’s are unwilling to share the road, and
abide by the laws, I WILL DO WHATEVER I NEED TO
SURVIVE. The laws were not written for cyclists safety.
- If motorists want us to abide by ALL traffic laws,
THEN I’M TAKING THE WHOLE LANE LIKE A MOTORCYCLE!
oh wait, they don’t want THAT.
- So it’s a double standard? Yeah, I’m not buying what they’re selling.

The city of Rochester’s Tuesday Nature Nights, includes a series of guided bike rides co-sponsored by MVP Health Care, starts on 6 p.m. Tuesday May 26 with a bike ride through the High Falls and Corn Hill neighborhoods area. Participants should meet at the Pont de Rennes pedestrian bridge.

The nature nights are from 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesdays through Aug. 25. A brochure listing all the rides is available via the city of Rochester Parks & Recreation Dept. Helmets required and riders under 18 must be accompanied by an adult. Call (585) 428.6770.

This story is from The Berkshire Eagle, the local paper in my hometown area:

By Dick Lindsay, Berkshire Eagle Staff

Thursday, May 21

GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass. — Until a few weeks ago, Charles Spirydowski’s longest bicycle ride was about three miles — a jaunt he took with his daughter.

This week, the 37-year-old Housatonic man will attempt a 200-mile ride over the course of three days to raise money and awareness for emergency medical services personnel who’ve died in the line of duty or from a job-related illness or injury.

You can read the rest of the article at the Eagle’s Web site.

A 10 year old boy was riding his bike without a helmet in my neighborhood. He ran a red light and hit a car. And died. Please stop running red lights. Please, please please.

Information about our aptly timed Ride of Silence is here.

This is so cool. Make your own blinking bike patch, jacket with glowing buttons, or turn signal cycling jacket.

Way beyond my capabilities, but way cool.

Saturday, June 6 onboard Mary Jemison
“Bicycling and Boating” tour of the river and canal, culminating in a lunch cruise onboard Mary Jemison.

The Mission of Corn Hill Navigation (a not-for-profit organization) operators of the Sam Patch and Mary Jemison canal boats: to foster the improvement and sustainability of the Erie Canal and Genesee River for current and future generations through education, awareness, and enjoyment.

Bike & Boat Tour
Start location of the Mary Jemison boat tour and bicycle tour: Corn Hill Port, Exchange Blvd., Rochester.

Bike tour of Genesee Riverway Trail & the Erie Canal start time: 10:00 a.m. (90 minute ride)
Lead by Richard DeSarra, Rochester Bicycling Club Board member

Boat tour of the Genesee Rive and the Erie Canal start time: 12:00 noon. (75 minute tour)

Bike and boat tour options: cost associated with the boat tour & box lunch (optional),
bike tour is free.

For reservations you may call us at 585-262-5661 or online @ http://www.samandmary.org.

This past Friday was Bike To Work Day and I got to pretend I was purposely recruiting other cyclists to bike commuting in honor of the day. In reality it just happened to work out that the person who has been saying to me “Yeah I’d really like to try that.” for, mmm, 2 years just happened to cave to my “How ’bout tomorrow? How ’bout Thursday then? Friday?”

She could do Friday. We agreed that I would get off the bus early and ride to meet her & her husband at Perinton park & we would all ride together from there. They showed me some crazy shortcuts through parking lots and nice wooded trails in East Rochester that would be useful to know but that I will never in a million years be able to remember. We got to work and she bought me a coffee and I saw a cockroach crawling through the hole of a blueberry bagel in the bakery case, not relevant to the story, except that I decided I didn’t want a bagel.

In late spring & summer we have half days on Fridays so we met up at the bike rack around 12:30 and after some lunch we biked over to Pittsford to pick up the canal trail. She rode with me well past her house. Once we got past the crowded parts of the towpath I got to try out her recumbent for a few miles. It took me a while to even get moving but once I got the hang of it, I was laughing like a maniac because I felt sort of like I was in Mario Kart and that someone would start shooting giant turtle shells at me, also I felt like it might flop over at any moment. It was very comfortable & fun & I would try it again. I don’t know what everybody’s got against recumbents except for the weird need to classify everyone as one kind of cyclist or another. I don’t think I’ll rush out to buy one though–I’m still happy with my current bike (mostly).

I’m not  sure my friend is totally sold on bike commuting as a practical option. Historically she’s been more of a leisure time cyclist. She told me a couple of times that I needed gel shorts and cleats. I’m sure those things are awesome and maybe I would be able to ride my whole commute without bus assistance if I had them, but I like to being able to ride without a lot of specialized gear. Just get on the bike and go and be able to get off the bike and walk without a major wardrobe change. But then again maybe I’m doing that cyclist classification thing too.

Anyway, I know she had fun and she wants to do it again this Friday so maybe she’s sold after all.

Jason sez: Bob Anderson is a one-man hurricane on the Albany cycling scene. He’s doing great work with the Albany Bicycle Coalition, and also taking amazing photos of cycling culture for local galleries, and for his blog, Liberty on Bikes! Bob’s inclusion on the Team RocBike roster is long overdue, and I’m glad he’s here. Under the photo is Bob’s sketch of his own biography.

married almost 11 years, 3 kids from 3-8, commute everyday by bike, born in Seattle, lived in golden, colorado & salt lake city, utah, here for 11 years, manager by profession, also a photographer, artist, decorator, manipulator of color/pattern/texture, punk, instigator, prankster, tattoo collector, 80’s trivia master, student of taoism, and agent of chaos.

I scanned this from the Spring 2009 magazine Geico sends it’s members.

Yehuda Moon and the whole gang from the Kickstand Cyclery are coming back on June 17. Huzzah!

If you haven’t experienced this wonderful cycling comic strip, now might be a good time to catch up.

Well, maybe not technically insane. But she sure does take pleasure in things that would kill the average person. And in this case, almost killed her.

Read about Jill’s latest amazing adventure.

Like Ethan, I went to see the movie Veer at the Madison Theater last night. I went to the late show, and was impressed at the size of the crowd coming out of the early show – particularly on a rainy Thursday night. I recognized most of the folks, but there were also some new faces, which was cool.

Also impressive was the organized presence of the Albany Bicycle Coalition (ABC) at the event. I was greeted by a volunteer named Rohan when I arrived. He had stickers, copies of magazines from one of the sponsors, Urban Velo, and sign-up sheets to collect data about the attendees for future recruitment by the ABC.

I thought the movie itself was fun and often inspiring. I’m not sure it’s a great recruiting tool for people looking to attract “just plain bike riders,” given that it focuses on the cycling counterculture of Portland, Oregon, much more than on everyday commuting cyclists. That’s not really a negative, though, because I don’t think the film’s focus is on recruiting. To me, it was a snapshot of the cycling scene in one place at one time. As such a snapshot, I think the filmmakers did a fine job capturing the freewheeling, adventurous and confident spirit of Portland cyclists.

The film also spends some time on the process of lobbying for passage of a new bike law increasing the penalties for reckless drivers who injure or kill vulnerable road users. This footage is split up throughout the film. It’s great to see an organized, professional approach to bike lobbying, even though there’s not much substance to the lobbying segments. For example, there’s no detail on the crafting of the legislation or on exactly how the lobbying occurs. Once again, though, I think that’s probably beyond the scope of the film.

One part of Veer that I wondered about was the amount of time spent on ZooBombing, in which cyclists ride mini-bikes downhill as fast as they can, starting at the top of a hill near the Portland Zoo. Some of the ZooBombing footage is interspersed with an interview with a local police officer. He’s made to look fairly ridiculous as he describes the ZooBombers’ violations of traffic laws in their downhill races. I don’t know, though. From what I could see in the movie (and that’s the sum total of my knowledge about ZooBombing), it looked like the cyclists were flagrantly and dangerously violating the law – riding with few if any lights at night through stop signs in residential neighborhoods. In most debates between law enforcement and cyclists, my experience has been that law enforcement tends to be ill-informed or unconcerned about cyclists’ rights. In this case, though, it’s hard to fault a cop who thinks ZooBombing is dangerous. And it’s odd that the cycling advocates in the film never acknowledge that. (I’d love to hear your opinions in the comments section.)

On the whole, I enjoyed Veer. I found parts of it inspiring, such as the various bike advocacy and training programs for kids and adults. It was also fun to watch people just enjoying a cycling lifestyle. And above all, kudos to Bob from Liberty On Bikes! for bringing it to us, and for everything he’s doing to make Albany a better place for cyclists.

Once again, a bicyclist beat a car and a bus commuter in the Albany commuter contest. The story and photos are at All Over Albany.

(Thanks for Claire Nolan for the link!)

Many thanks to Bob for getting us an exclusive showing of Veer.

Veer is a documentary about the Portland, Oregon, bike scene. It is large and multifaceted. They follow a couple of groups around, from the DIY bike repair shops, to the lobbyists, to the synchronized mini-bike dancers, to the bike chariot racers. There’s a lot, so it’s worth seeing, whether you ride your bike or not.

I think people in Oregon are perhaps too interested in riding mini-bikes (kids bikes) and tall bikes. But at least they’re having fun. And that’s what I think is important. The majority of this documentary is about people having fun on bikes and changing what riding a bike means. They talk about how it’s not just about fitness or transportation anymore.

If Veer is meant to be inspirational and make you think about the bike community in your city, I think it sets the bar unreasonably high. Portland has been building their bicycle community for decades. I didn’t see anyone in that documentary whining about being passed too closely by a car, or crying about a lack of bike lanes. In fact, one guy got a ticket for breaking traffic laws and actually shook the officer’s hand. Cyclists in Portland are responsible riders. In Albany, we’re still struggling to get people (drivers and cyclists alike) to recognize that bikes belong in the streets.

This is my first post here on RocBike. I’m excited to be contributing to a blog that helped inspire me in my mission to start bike commuting seriously last year.

I just wanted to share some bike related links that I’ve enjoyed lately.

• Tour de Commute – Bike commuters win!
• A Bicycle Built for Two – Some great photos from a bike powered wedding.
• Team Wonderbike – I know you’ve all seen this, but Bike to Work day seems like a good day to watch it again.
• Rainy Day Blues – I love the makeshift bike repair stand here.
• I Love All These Cyclists (Except When I don’t) – I rarely ever have this problem except when I do. Seeing other cyclists on my route is the exception rather than the rule… except for all the folks who are riding the bus with their bikes now-a-days.

Happy Bike to Work Day. Hope to see you out there.

JASON SEZ: I’m sure many RocBike readers are familiar with That Which Rolls, the wonderful blog written by Jody Benedict. Recently, Team RocBike member Julie White asked Jody whether she’d like to become a RocBike contributor. Happily for us, Jody agreed. Here’s a little bit more about Jody:

Jody Benedict works as a “web person” at a small college but she’s also a “print person.” A few years ago she might have called herself a graphic designer but the boundaries of her trade have become fuzzy and unfocused.

Very early in life, Jody decided she hated bikes as the result of a few unfortunate accidents (one nasty one involved an electrified barbed wire fence) and left her bike to rust under a bush somewhere. As she grew older she realized that she hated cars more than she hated bikes and she’d rather leave her car to rust in the driveway. She started bike commuting on her rusty bike. (Back then she only lived two miles from work.) She still didn’t LOVE biking until she discovered that all bikes are not created equal and a tune up and properly inflated tires can make a world of difference.

She eventually got a new bike and fell in love with it. She realized how far she could go on her own power and discovered a feeling of freedom, a feeling of self reliance, and a feeling of connection to the world around her that she never felt when she was moving through the world in her car-bubble.

Currently, Jody is a multi-modal commuter (bike+bus). Her commute is a minimum of 7 miles round trip but she usually rides between 14 and 22 because she doesn’t like standing and waiting around for things (like
buses). She could skip the bus part entirely but that would mean a round trip commute of almost 60 miles and she’s not in that kind of shape or doesn’t have that kind of bike, she’s not sure which. She still has a lot to learn about cycling but the process of learning keeps her interested.

She also has other interests which include camping, hiking, insects, mushrooms, observing and understanding the natural world in general, board and video games, reading, preparing for the zombie-pocalypse, and probably some other stuff she can’t think of right now. She spends way too much time
writing boring entries on her personal blog, That Which Rolls, named in honor of Alfred Jarry’s bike.

It’s Bike To Work Day / My political statement / Is to wear a tie

The construction of a ramp replacing the staircase underpass has begun.

All riders will need to cross Clover St. at-grade during the construction period of approximately six weeks.

The road entrance/exit on the west side of Clover St. is now open and is several yards north of the old entrance.

Please be careful crossing. Auto traffic is often moderate to heavy with speeds normally 40 -50 mph.