I’m getting ready to roll the content of Fort Orange Cycling back into the main RocBike.com site. Our Web wrangler, Adam Durand, is working on some new tagging features that will help us identify content by geographic area. I’m also working on setting up multiple events calendars so each region will have one. (Although it may prove easier to have one calendar and tag the events with the city/region name.)

In any case, please bookmark RocBike.com and make it part of your daily bike reading. Thanks!

P.S. — We’re looking for new members of Team RocBike who want to contribute stories about cycling for transportation and recreation in New York State. Are YOU the next team member?

I’m now contributing to the cycling blog Veloquent, run by Kent from Kent’s Bike Blog. If you’ve got a little free time, check out my first post.

I’m now contributing to the cycling blog Veloquent, run by Kent from Kent’s Bike Blog. If you’ve got a little free time, check out my first post.

Now that I’m living and cycling in Albany, I’ve started another blog: FortOrangeCycling.com. “Fort Orange” was Albany’s name when it was still a Dutch settlement. At the moment, the site looks exactly like this one, and I’m going to keep it visually similar so that it becomes part of the fledgling “RocBike Network.” (Joey, you have your mission in CT, too!) Soon enough, the talented Mr. Durand is going to snazz up the logo and colors.

I’ll be cross-posting the Links of the Day at both sites. If you’re in the Capital District and you’d like to become a member of the Fort Orange Crew, or if you’d like to start up your own local site and join the RocBike Network, let me know.

Meanwhile, the excellent Team RocBike here in Rochester is continuing to provide great content about Rochester’s cycling scene. They can always use more contributors, so hop on the bandwagon!

See you over at FortOrangeCycling.com, and right here at RocBike.com!

Welcome to Fort Orange Cycling. If you’re a regular RocBike reader, you’ll feel right at home here. The idea is the same, just the geography is different. I’m now living in Albany, a few minutes outside of downtown, in the Pine Hills neighborhood. I got transferred to the Capital District a few years months ago, but I’ve barely been on a bike since then. Now that I’m living downtown, I hope to be riding just about every day.

I’m writing this in a Starbucks on New Scotland Avenue, in the shadow of the Albany Medical Center. I had to come here and pay for Internet access because I don’t yet have access at my apartment, and I don’t yet know where any free wi-fi is located around here.

I came here on the Packet Boat (Xtracycle), on its maiden voyage through Albany. It was a fun ride — even with the cold and the occasional snowy mist. So much of downtown Albany looks like it came straight out of the colonial era. You really get to feel like part of the architecture as you ride down brick and cobblestone streets past Dutch-style homes and Brooklynesque brownstones.

I’m proud to report that I’ve succeeded in gaining back nearly every pound I lost since January 2007. I was down about 25 pounds on the year, and I packed it all back on in about a month of driving (read: no biking) and bad eating (read: not eating at home). I started working out again a few weeks ago, and I’m trying to get a handle on the eating, too. Now if I can just start riding regularly, I should be able to repeat my earlier success.

I’m going to cross-post the Links of the Day here and at RocBike.com.

As I did in Rochester, I’ll be looking to add new members to the Fort Orange Crew. If you’d like to write about cycling in and around Albany, let me know.

The lovely Adam Durand will also be contributing some graphics. The site will be visually linked to RocBike — part of the expanding RocBike Network.

And now … back on the bike!

I finally added Joey Mac to the Team RocBike listing in the navigation bar. Sorry it took so long, man!

As regular readers of RocBike.com know, this site features a daily collection of links from around the world of “cycling as transportation.” As you’ve probably noticed, those links have been a wee bit scant this week. That leads one to the immortal question, which is, in the words of the Bard:

What giveth?

Turns out I’m moving. Yup, I’ve been transferred by my union to the Saratoga Springs office (north of Albany, NY). My first day there was this past Monday, and I’m living out of a suitcase in a hotel until we sell our house and my family can join me there.

As a result of this major change in my life, I may not be quite as attentive to all things cycling as I once was.

HOWEVER: RocBike.com outgrew lil’ ol me a long time ago. This site is now the work of a gang of contributors, and that means that even with my lessened participation, RocBike will be going strong. Folks are still cruisin’ on Wednesdays, playing Photo Tag, reclaiming bikes from the scrap heaps, and generally having fun on two human-powered wheels.

As for me, I brought the Nomade with me to Saratoga and took one 15-mile ride this week. It’s hilly there. Really, really hilly. It’s also gorgeous, and I look forward to reporting from the area. I think I may start a second site for the Albany region and then maybe link them together with some sort of state-wide brand. Who knows?

So, to my fellow Team RocBike members, I say: “Post early and often!” And to all of you, I say: “Keep coming back! And keep pedaling!”

When I started RocBike.com a few months ago, I had no idea that it would take off the way it has. It was just a place for me to post reports from my new cycling life. Within five months, the site has grown from a little hamlet with no access road to a popular destination for cyclists in upstate New York and beyond. First of all, thanks for your support!

Second, the site’s list of contributors has also grown. In addition to me, RocBike.com articles come from Team RocBike members Adam Durand, Jack Spula, Julie White and Shana Lydon, along with several guest contributors. That’s led to a wee bit of confusion about who’s writing which pieces. I tried to make that clear by listing the author below each story, but that wasn’t enough, so now I’ve put their first name in each headline, too. I want folks to get credit for what they’re writing, and I want you to be able to contact the author of the story or look for other writing by that person.

RocBike.com is always looking for contributions, and not just from our geographic area. If you’d like to contribute, drop me a note from the contact page.

Thanks so much for being here and for making RocBike.com a great place for cyclists!

(By the way, did I mention our new podcast, The RocBike Review?)

Many thanks to bike commuter, chicken avenger and Web guy Adam Durand for designing a new look for RocBike.com. Adam did all the work for the impressive sum of $0 because he’s committed to bicycling and bicycle-friendly communities.

As you can see if you’re reading this at RocBike.com, we’ve adopted an argyle pattern for our new look. Why? A few reasons:

1. Argyle is the pattern chosen by the anti-doping Team Slipstream/Chipotle.
2. The argyle pattern is said to have been derived from the tartan of Clan Campbell, of Argyll in western Scotland. It has seen a resurgence in popularity in the last few years, due to its adoption by Stuart Stockdale in collections produced by luxury clothing manufacturer, Pringle of Scotland. (See Wikipedia for more.) (Actually, this had nothing whatsoever to do with the decision.)
3. Argyle is a classic, so-unhip-it’s-hip pattern that makes everything it touches both cool and elderly at the same time. And how many things can claim that? Maybe Phyllis Diller?
4. It’ll look great on the soon-to-be released RocBike.com shirt, sticker and lug wrench collection. Also featuring Phyllis Diller.

In addition to the argyle, Adam also designed the charming crank icon that you’ll find in the navigation bar. And he came up with the logo for the site and for the soon-to-be-launched RocBike Review podcast.

You’ll also notice the new Team RocBike section in the navigation bar. Clicking on any of the names will bring you to a bio of the contributor and a link to all their submissions. This site is a team effort, and my sincere thanks go to Adam, Julie and Jack for their contributions and inspiration.

More changes and upgrades are in store in the near future. Thanks so much for being part of the RocBike community. We’re based in Rochester but open to all. If you’d like to contribute, drop me a line.