Dear RocBike and friends: I’ve been away from the site for so long, you must think I was uploaded to a UFO. Well, that’s close; I’ve had some health issues to contend with, but those are now under control pretty much. More to the point, I’ve got an announcement: Liz and I and hopefully thousands of others are biking to Detroit next week in prep for the US Social Forum to be held there the following week. Liz and I will be joining a group that’s starting in Ithaca and eventually will be among the proud residents of a massive Bike Tent City in the erstwhile Motor City – and hopefully will be plugged into many an interesting event. I plan to concentrate on – cue the drums, please – bike transportation. Anyway, I’ll also be blogging (and posting to rocbike) as we make our way to Buffalo and across the Ontario Panhandle to Windsor and Detroit and (somehow) back. Hope the posts will be edifying, etc., etc. See y’all online very soon. And check out BikeIt.org as well as the USSF site for details – or maybe you’ve already done so (as I said, I’ve been UFO’ing more than surfing the last months). Take care!
-Jack

Rather than bicycling as many miles as my age, like I did two years ago, I celebrated with a trip to the Albright Knox Museum and surrounding neighborhood in Buffalo, NY, where I saw the above church sign.

I got this beautiful piece of pottery made by my friend and wonderful artist Vicki Hartman. You should go to her website where you can see a better picture than my dark image.

And the great bumper sticker from my partner, which really says it all. You can buy one yourself at Talking Leaves Books, or online at stickergiant.com.

p.s. When in Buffalo, I always like to stop by Campus WheelWorks bike shop. They had some really great-looking cruisers from Felt which I lusted after from afar.

(This is the Frederick B. Douglass/Susan B. Anthony bridge, over the Genesee River in Rochester, New York.)

I usually don’t cycle in groups; I’m more of a laid-back/commuting/put-the-dog-on-the-bike-and-chill kind of cyclist. But, I’m a sucker for a good cause, and raising money for college scholarships for students in need, as a part of our college’s festivities celebrating the inauguration of our fifth (and first woman) president, Anne M. Kress was a good enough cause for me.

Here is Dr. Kress thanking us and sending us off. She later noted that her spring cardigan wasn’t exactly appropriate for the 40 degree weather. (She is still adjusting to our Northeastern climate after moving here from Florida. Most people move the reverse direction, that’s for sure!)

This is the indomitable Susan, who was the chair of our committee and my compatriot in composting (we worked hard to ensure that all the waste from the day’s luncheon and reception was composted, and that’s another story altogether).

We visited all 4 of the college’s sites, first stopping at the Applied Technology Center. We had a police escort along this section, which is a heavily traveled road. I felt very important! Actually, I was the ride leader, so I really was grateful for the help.

We followed a map developed by Karen and Brian of the Rochester Bicycling Club. Most of the ride took us along many of Rochester’s finest trails.

This is the Public Safety Training Facility, which has a bike trail running right behind it. This was my first time leading a ride, and there were some much stronger cyclists than me on the ride, so right about now I was feeling a bit stressed. So I took off like a bat out of hell after this, and had to be reminded to slow down, since this was supposed to be a fun ride for cyclists of all levels!

Between the Applied Technology Center and this shot, we were on trails the whole time. That’s actually when we passed the bridge shown in the top photo. When we got downtown, they were doing some construction we hadn’t expected, but fortunately we were able to get through. Here’s the campus where I work, right in downtown Rochester.

On the way back, the wind started to get me. I never really thought about the fact that the leader takes all the wind. So, once we were back on the trail and it was just a straight shot, a couple of other people got ahead and I just relaxed for a bit.

And finally, back to the largest campus, just in time to change for the rest of the day’s events!

I tend to find riding in a group a bit stressful, so I’m not quite sure what possessed me to agree to actually lead this ride, other than enthusiasm for the event and my usual not-quite-realistic optimism about life in general. However, this was such a supportive and laid-back group that I really had a wonderful time.

The ride also made me really appreciate the network of trails that we have in this city. The streets still aren’t great, in my view, for cycling, but they’re not awful either. And the trails are just so beautiful. From my neighborhood, I could quite easily bike commute to any of the MCC campuses, to RIT, University of Rochester, St. John Fisher, and Nazareth (and their surrounding areas), much of it on trails.

Although I’m not as familiar with these areas: Irondequoit, Browncroft/Winton neighborhood, and Northeast Rochester, I suspect that it’s not quite as easy to commute, but I know people who do it (include some RocBike readers).

I’m curious to hear what you like and don’t like about bike commuting in Rochester, so let me know in the comments!

Meanwhile, I’m not sure if I’ll be leading a ride again any time soon. But the dog and I will be out on the trails; you can count on that!

Easter Sunday I was in Burlington with my family, on the Bikeway. Albany could learn a lot from them.

First, let me say that the waterfront is beautiful. Lots of grass and open space. People having fun. I saw people barefoot in the grass. Would never see this in Albany, where there is broken glass and garbage everywhere, whether it’s paved or not. In Burlington there are things to do on the waterfront, places to eat, places to shop.

I saw every kind of bike on the path. Girls in sun dresses on beach cruisers. Young guys on racing bikes. Kids on mountain bikes. I saw tandems. I saw whole families biking together. People were nice. There was a skate park with skaters and kids on bmx bikes doing tricks. I saw a bike polo game getting started. The only thing I didn’t see was a tall bike.

The bike path is clean and well maintained. There are maps every few miles. I saw things painted on the trail that said “cycle the city.” I could not help but think, this is what biking in Albany could be like.

Riding home through the “snow.”

First, let me say that I did not have my studded tires on. I will blame the weather people for that. For weeks they’ve been saying “omg blizzard we’re all going to die” and I’ll put on my snow tires. And then it won’t snow. At all. And then I have to take the tires off again. Which means I’ve wasted two hours of my life because somebody on tv lied to me. Sigh. So this time I called their bluff and did not put my snow tires on. More on this later.

I did have waterproof clothes and a ton of lights.

So we start from the bottom of Orange Street, which wasn’t bad. It was less than an inch of snow, really. After a block I turn right and climb a steep but short hill that is all snow. My back tire is slipping but I keep it upright and make it to the top to wait for the light. Studded tires would’ve been nice here, but the hill was short so…

The light turns green and I go left up Clinton. The conditions here are slush-tacular. The bike lane is at least visible, if not clear, and I easily pedal my way up the hill. At one point I think to myself “all you haters can eat my slushy wake” and then remind myself to breathe and pay attention.

I take a left on Lake, which is pretty clear. I cross Central and then take a right on Brandon. Brandon is a little one way street with no traffic. I go two blocks in peace, slowly cruising through the coating of snow and trying to enjoy what winter there is.

Left on Ontario. I have to pull over to let a bunch of cars by. No biggie. The first part of Ontario is a mess, in my opinion. It looked like they plowed it, but all they had really done with turn snow and slush into a layer of ice. I wasn’t having any problem with it, taking it slow and steady, keeping my bike straight and moving forward without any sudden movements. Cars, on the other hand, were not having as good a time as I was. Tires spinning all over the place.

The second part of Ontario, which would be after Madison, had some nice wide patches of fresh snow, so I stuck to that. Downhill past the Playdium, slowly, letting the hurried drivers go do whatever it is they’re in such a hurry to do.

Right on New Scotland I pick up a set of tire tracks. This is like one cyclist unintentionally leaving a long greeting in the snow. New Scotland is pretty heavily trafficked so it was clear enough. I took a left near Sycamore, and so did the tire tracks I was following. Those were some skinny tires.

My neighbor said “doesn’t matter what the weather is, you’re on your bike.” I replied, “hell yeah. This is the most fun I’ve had in a week.” And then I banked up the driveway. Strangely enough, the driveway had 3 inches of fresh powder in it.

A really enjoyable ride. There were only two or three spots I thought my studded tires would’ve been nice, but I didn’t regret calling the Weather Channel’s bluff this time. It was also nice to have an excuse to ride slowly, and just enjoy riding my bike, and enjoy winter.

This is the
Frederick Douglass Susan B. Anthony Memorial Bridge, named after two famous Rochesterians. I find it beautiful every day, but especially today with the frost on the ground.

And this is another view, looking towards downtown.

On this crisp morning, I feel incredibly blessed to bike to work.

WOW! It’s been a while! Jason and I did the Livestrong ride in Philly.

And then the summer just took off. I apologize for the lack of posts,
I rarely maintain my own blog, let alone the Bicycle Coalition blog.                                                  Then I was invited to do a rotating post on the Times Union blog.
Well, since I know most of the other bloggers,
and it only requires two posts a month, I think I can handle that, maybe.

Here it is.
Enjoy, link, and leave feedback or comments.
And I’ll try to not be such a stranger
(even though I do stop in everyday).

http://blog.timesunion.com/bike/the-cycling-dead/125/

From today’s New York Times:

It took a few miles to work the kinks out of my legs and churn up the first hill, but the payoff was spectacular. Lake Champlain sparkled blue in the distance, with the Adirondack Mountains rising stately in the background. Lush green hills were peppered with red silos, livestock and a white steeple far off. And then there were the trees, a patchwork of scarlet, orange and yellow that transformed a vista into something so perfect it almost didn’t look real.

• Read the story: “Pedal Peepers In Vermont”

The NYT also published a piece today by a reporter who tried out a pedicab for a day:

• Three Wheels Through the Park

A couple of weeks ago I took a bike ride near Holley, along the Erie Canal. This portion of the trail is not used much, and neither are many of the buildings, it appears.

I highly recommend that you make a day of it and take the kids to Hurd Orchards, one of western New York’s treasures. In the fall they serve apple pie which is yummy and filling enough to be your lunch.

Here are a few pictures from a couple of years ago. I get no credit for those adorable kids.

An evening scene in Asakusa, an area in the Shitamachi district of Tokyo. / Hiroko Masuike for The New York Times

The New York Times featured this cool story about taking a bike tour along Japan’s famed Yamanote (ya-ma-no-tay) train line. I used to ride this line as part of my commute the second time I lived in Japan. When I worked for Bloomberg TV and Radio in Tokyo, my office was right in the area on this map where it says “Marunouchi Business District.”

Here’s the story:

• No Squishing: Biking a Tokyo Rail Line