As a bike commuter, I like options. That’s why I spend most of my time riding the Chicken Avenger — a longtail sports utility bike. Whether it’s spontaneous grocery shopping sprees, friends in need of a ride, or that lovely ottoman that’s just sitting out on the curb and needs a good home, my bike has me covered.

My main rig is perfect for getting from point A to point B, but it’s definitely not built for multi-modal transportation. It’ll fit on the front rack of a Rochester RTS bus if I remove the front wheel, but the sheer size of the bike puts bus drivers in a fragile emotional state. Strapping a longtail onto the back of a friend’s car is an even worse idea. And you can forget about fitting a longtail onto an Amtrak train in this region (I hear that’s a possibility on the west coast).

In times like these, I reach for my bizarrely designed, Craigslist-acquired, way-heavier-than-it-should-be Phoenix folding bike.

My bike on the 104 bike trail

This little old-fashioned single-speed contraption is not high-performance, but I’ve ridden it as far as ten miles at a time, and it has a couple nice features to make those long trips manageable. The back rack is just big enough to hold a messenger or laptop bag, keeping that weight and sweat off my back. The cruiser-style breaks are reliable enough to tackle big downhill stretches at a safe speed. And the springy seat absorbs most of the impact of all those potholes on Culver Road.

If I wake up too late in the morning to bike to work and have to take the bus, I’ll often grab the folding bike for an enjoyable ride home. Or maybe my partner wants to pick up her bike somewhere and needs to take a car to get there — I’ll throw this bike in the trunk, ride in the car out there with her, and assemble it for our ride home.

With multi-modal transportation such an infrequent but essential need in my life, I’m glad to have this folding bike around. Maybe someday I’ll invest in something a little more modern. For now, I’ll be having the occasional fun ride on my Phoenix.

Here’s a bike ride happening this August to benefit the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation:

Join us for the FIRST annual Finger Lakes Aptalis CF Cycle For Life®! The route begins and ends in historic Geneseo, NY (just 45 minutes from South Rochester) and offers beautiful views of the Finger Lake’s rolling hills. The 65 mile route will be a memorable ride through some of the most scenic roads in the Finger Lakes region, taking us through Groveland, past the shore of Honeoye Lake, returning to Geneseo through Livonia and Lakeville. Ride at your own pace – this event is not a race, but a day to enjoy the beautiful countryside and celebrate your efforts to improve the lives of people living with Cystic Fibrosis.

(thanks, Jessica!)

Bruce, a friend of RocBike and blogger over at Scenic Route, writes in with the following message:

The final public meeting for discussion of the draft of the Rochester Bicycle Master Plan is

• Monday December 13, at 6pm in the Kate Gleason Auditorium in the Central Branch Library’s Bausch & Lomb building (the new one)
• 116 South Ave, between East Broad and Court Streets.
• Bike parking is out front on the South Ave side, or use the parking meters on the Broad St side.
• Cars can park on-street for free after 5pm, or in the Court St or South Ave parking garages.

This is the last chance for public input before recommendations are issued in the final report.

http://cityofrochester.gov/article.aspx?id=8589943115

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.M

SATURDAY 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.