Richard already mentioned this earlier this month, but I wanted to remind our Rochester readers that RIT Center for Student Innovation is holding a Rochester Cycling Summit this Saturday October 24th. The group ride starts downtown at the Central Library at 11am!
Two Team RocBike members – Jack Spula and me – are holding a bike commuting panel/workshop/war story session this Sunday the 27th at the Rochester Abundance Cooperative Market Annual Meeting. I think we’ve been invited more for the strangeness of our bikes than for our friendly demeanor. The event starts at 3:30 at Tay House Lodge in Cobb’s Hill Park, right up a hill near the water treatment plant. Another familiar face at Abundance, Jessica Rodriguez, will be showing off her weird bike as well:
3:30 – 4 – Bike Commuters Show and Tell
Jessica Rodriguez, Adam Durand, and Jack Spula talk about car-free commuting and demonstrate their two – (or three – ) wheeled wonders.
I should give The Chicken Avenger a hose-down this week. There are a bunch of other workshops, including a session on urban chickens and another on vegan gluten-free baking, and it’s completely free and open to the public. Here’s the schedule. This event is right up my alley.
Finally, cyclists and pedestrians will be able to travel down Jefferson Road in Henrietta with a little bit of dignity:
More than one mile of the road will be upgraded, from the Marketplace Mall to under the Interstate 390 overpass. In addition to a third lane in both directions, there will be space for cyclists, sidewalks for pedestrians, and a median which will keep cars from crossing several lanes of traffic in order to make a left-hand turn.
As a cyclist, when I must travel on Jefferson Road I stick mostly to the parking lots, hopping onto the road for short stretches when there is no other option. I don’t know how they’ll handle such a heavy traffic load in a way that’s safe for non-motorists, but maybe they’ll use some ideas that have been proposed for places like New York City.
Only with something like an Xtracycle can you be concerned about overpacking when bicycle camping. Emily loaded what she could onto the rack of Magdalena, her blue road bike, and the rest went into the ample bags of my longtail.
The weather report is saying 10% chance of rain, so we have high hopes that these cloudy skies will leave us alone. We’re heading first downtown, the taking the river down to Genesee Valley Park where we meet up with the canal. Shouldn’t have any difficulty reaching Holley tonight, where we’ll make camp.
Emily says there’s only two things to worry about when packing for camping trips: warmth and rain gear. As we get ready to bike the canal for three days starting tomorrow, she organizes her clothes into neat piles and readies the Zip-lock bags.
June 26 is the last Friday of the month, which means that Critical Mass is happening all over the world. If you’re in Rochester, meet us at 6pm at the Liberty Pole.
Here’s a video I made of the March ride (I try to make one of these every year):
Gary Young wrote in to say that Rochester’s R Community Bikes is running low on bikes! They provide bikes to needy kids and adults in the area, and sometimes sell bikes to raise money for the group. They are taking all types of bikes for donation on the following dates, in ALL-CAPS so you remember:
SATURDAY JUNE 27TH
AT “THE BIKE ZONE”
885 LONG POND ROAD IN GREECE
FROM 10 A.M. TO 2:00 P.MSATURDAY JULY 18TH
AT “PENFIELD FITNESS AND RACKET CLUB”
667 PANORAMA TRAIL WEST IN PENFIELD
FROM 10 A.M. TO 2:00 P.M
I non-consensually donated a bike to them last year, and still felt good about it! You can find more details on their events page, and here’s a PDF of the event flier in case you’d like to spread the word.
Bill Collins sent in this link to a Do-It-Yourself Bike Camera Mount:
The smell of the road, the wind at your back, infinity miles per gallon…
Riding your bike sure is sweet. But you know what would make it even sweeter? The tried-and-tested, make-it-yourself, $10 + 10 minutes Photojojo BikeCam!
This image of a helmeted girl with face-trauma makes me sad. This billboard is near my house so I have to ride past her every day, and I’m getting really sick of seeing it.
One of the sign’s sponsors, Injury Free Coalition for Kids, has some interesting statistics on their site:
Head injuries incurred while riding a bike result in two-thirds of hospital admissions and more than 60 percent of the bicycling deaths.
If two-thirds of hospital admissions were actually from bicycle head injuries, I’d stop riding a bike!
I was also reading this sad story about Bradford Berk, head of the URMC, who sustained a serious spinal cord injury after losing control of his bicycle. This news report transcript doesn’t mention why he lost control, or talk about how to prevent spinal cord injury. It does, however, launch into a bizarre helmet advocacy piece. Two paragraphs about the accident, and then 5 about why helmets are so important.
If I had 5 paragraphs worth of space (or that much time on TV), I’d include a whole bunch of useful tips on top of the helmet tip, such as: ride in the road in the direction of traffic; take it slow on bike paths; use a bell or horn, lights, and a mirror; and give yourself some space on either side to avoid running into things or off the road. We don’t know if that kind of advice could have helped Mr. Berk, since there is very little reporting on the actual accident, but the media should really clear up all the bicycle safety misconceptions.
By the way, The Bagel Bin in Brighton has set up a wishing well to support Mr. Berk and his family. Ride safe out there folks — no matter what you put on your head.
This is turning out to be my favorite spring ever, and a large number of the great moments this season have involved my Xtracycle, The Chicken Avenger. Whether I’m driving around friends or family, blasting some music out the back, or getting admiring nods from cagers, I’m constantly enjoying this bike. It’s probably the best vehicle I’ll ever own.
My brother Ryan gets a ride to the grocery store.
