We have the occasional train story here on RocBike, given that several of us are regular or semi-regular (irregular?) train riders. In fact, I rode Amtrak today to get home after contracting the stomach flu in Rochester over the weekend. Jen and the boys drove home yesterday, and I rode the train today.

Here’s some good news:

Budget saves Amtrak’s Adirondack line

By ERIC ANDERSON, Deputy business editor
Last updated: 1:03 p.m., Monday, March 30, 2009

Full state operating support was restored for Amtrak’s Adirondack service from the Capital Region to Montreal, ensuring the train operates for another year, the president of the Empire State Passengers Association said this morning.

Read the rest of the story.

UPDATE: Here’s a link for the Empire State Passengers Association.

(Nick Kurczewski for The New York Times)

PARIS — The Velib bike rental system has been hailed by Parisians and tourists alike for its convenience, as well as being a “green” alternative to getting around the French capital via taxicab, bus or metro. But the high cost of fixing, maintaining and, in many cases, replacing the fleet of about 20,000 bikes is proving too much for JCDecaux, the company that runs the program.

• Vandalism Vexes Paris Bike-Rental System – Wheels Blog – NYTimes.com

From Tuesday’s Albany Times Union:

Albany wants to jump on cycling
Consultant sought to develop master plan for bike lanes, routes

By TIM O’BRIEN, Staff writer
First published: Tuesday, September 16, 2008

ALBANY — With high gas prices and a constant fight for parking spaces, Albany is examining ways it can promote two-wheel travel.

“We are an older city. We have a really great network of streets that lend it to be a really bicycle-friendly city,” said Doug Melnick, the city’s director of planning. “If you build good facilities, people will use them.”

The Capital District Transportation Committee is providing $75,000 for a consultant to develop a master plan to make it easier for bicyclists to ride through the city and commute to work.

“Bicycling is a viable mode of transportation,” said Mary Lou Nolan-Gillham, a member of the Albany Bicycle Coalition. Three generations of her family have been bicyclists. Her son doesn’t own a car or have a driver’s license, yet has lived and worked in Philadelphia, Brooklyn and now New Paltz.

“On any given day I’ll see six or seven bicyclists pass me while a year ago it would have been one or two,” Nolan-Gillham said.

She also works with the Troy Bike Rescue, which has moved to Albany, and lets people fix donated bikes that they can then keep.

Nolan-Gillham sees two major issues that must be addressed: fixing pot holes and getting drivers to stop treating bicyclists as obstacles.

Read the rest of the story here.

This is from today’s Albany Times Union:

Disabled man’s mobility taken in street theft
Custom three-wheeler was Jeff Elsbree’s sole means of transport

By PAUL GRONDAHL, Staff writer
First published: Friday, September 5, 2008

ALBANY — Stolen bikes are commonplace, but when someone cut the lock and made off with Jeff Elsbree’s custom three-wheeler, an otherwise routine theft robbed a 52-year-old disabled man of his independence.

Elsbree, who suffered a traumatic brain injury in a car accident when he was 18, was being fitted for a new arm brace at a physical therapist’s office on Madison Avenue Tuesday evening when his trusty red tricycle was stolen.

He locked it up with a chain and padlock, as usual. He came outside 30 minutes later to find his only mode of transportation gone.

“I don’t try to hurt anyone. I try to help people. Then I get my bike stolen,” said Elsbree, who speaks haltingly and has suffered seizures. His left arm and hand are withered and his left leg is in a brace. He uses a crutch and walks with difficulty.

Police told him that it’s unlikely, as more time elapses, that the trike will be recovered.

Read the rest of the article.

My family and I were riding our Xtracycles back from a Hair of the Dog show at Ten Broeck Mansion last night when we came upon Loren Grugan from the Albany Rickshaw Co. He’s been mentioned on RocBike here and here. We found him at Washington Park with three passengers — a woman and two young children, who all thought the ride was “great!”

I talked with Loren while we pedaled and asked him to write about his experiences for RocBike. He already knew about us (thanks, Google!) and said he would. So look for dispatches from PedicabLandia coming soon.

The Albany Times Union ran a commentary piece this morning on bike trails:

Bike trails idea needs steering

By MARLENE KENNEDY, Executive Business Editor
First published: Friday, August 22, 2008

Long ago and far away, a bicycle was my main mode of transportation.

I was in college, subletting a friend’s apartment in order to take a class over the summer, and for some reason I can’t recall, had gotten use of my brother’s bike. It was an old black Schwinn with coaster brakes (probably the reason he let it go), on which I mounted saddlebag-style baskets over the back fender — ideal for carrying a couple of bags of groceries.

My world then was a small city without public transportation, but with the bike I could easily get to school, work and shopping.

Nowadays, my horizons — and transport options — are wider. And while various sizes and styles of bicycles clutter the garage, I don’t use one to get to work.

Someday, though, I might be able to, via the Tech Valley Trails system.

Read the rest of the article.

From the Albany Business Journal:

The owner of the new Albany Rickshaw Co. has teamed up with the Lark Street Business Improvement District to promote his pedicab business.

Loren Grugan, a 17-year Albany Police Officer, formed his rickshaw company in July and hopes to expand it from one pedicab to six by spring.

The rickshaws, which run from 6 p.m. to midnight Thursday through Saturday, also will be leased out to independent contractors, Grugan said.

The business had been delayed getting off the ground while Grugan finds insurance that will cover himself as well as independent contractors that he plans to hire.

Read the rest of the story here and previous coverage of this story on RocBike here.

The fine folks at EcoVelo just let me know about their site. Here’s their description:

Utilizing bicycles for transportation to reduce our impact on the environment.

Welcome to EcoVelo. This site is the public expression of our personal commitment to reduce our impact on the environment by employing bicycles as our primary mode of transport. By sharing what we learn from this endeavor, while also providing an aesthetically pleasing experience that celebrates the beauty of the bicycle and the joys of everyday bike riding, we hope to inspire others to make a similar commitment.

Thanks for visiting-
Alan & Michael

So head on over, and tell ‘em RocBike sent you!

Turns out that the kind of bicycle camping we just did at Five Rivers is known as an S24O, which is geekese for a “Sub-24-hour Overnight.” The fine folks at Rivendell Bicycle Works have a few things to say (and sell) regarding bicycle camping:

Hiroko Masuike for The New York Times

Moving Targets
By JAN HOFFMAN
Published: August 8, 2008

IT seemed like a good idea at the time.

Save gas money, be environmentally correct, lose weight — just by biking to work. And so after two decades, Dan Cooley, 41, saddled up a silver 21-speed Raleigh in April to make the daily two-mile commute to his nursing job at a senior citizen center in Louisville, Ky. In four months, he lost 15 pounds. Way to go, Dan!

Friday morning, July 25, around 6:50 a.m., he was pedaling on a residential street, wearing his green hospital scrubs, when a Volkswagen roared out of a driveway in front of him. Swerving to avoid the car, Mr. Cooley cursed loudly and rode on.

The driver and his passenger cursed back. As Mr. Cooley pulled over to the sidewalk, the car turned onto a driveway, knocking him off his bike. In Mr. Cooley’s narrative, the passenger, swearing, jumped out and pummeled him. Then he got back into the car, which zoomed away. Mr. Cooley lay prostrate on the sidewalk, bloodied, with a concussion and a torn ligament.

The rest of the article, which bravely quotes Bike Snob NYC, is at the New York Times site.

Quite possible the greatest part of this story is that the Times is forced by its editing conventions to refer to him as “Mr. BSNYC” throughout the article.