Wish I could hold the images and sounds from this morning’s ride

The Canada geese honking on the Genesee River

The statue in front of Bausch & Lomb as I turned the corner

St. Mary’s Church to my left

The dead pigeon on the side of the road, only partially flattened

The throng of people at the bus stop at Main and Clinton

Everyone in line for coffee and donuts as I wheel into the building

More Halloween cycling madness! Here are photos from the Critical Masquerade in Rochester.

From today’s New York Times:

In Hard Times, Profit at Rochester Transit System

By WILLIAM NEUMAN
Published: September 14, 2008

At a time when public transportation systems around the country are struggling with soaring fuel costs and pinched budgets, the bus system in Rochester, N.Y., has done something that few others would contemplate: this month, it lowered its single-ride fare.

Rochester’s Regional Transit Service is no behemoth. It carries 15 million riders a year, as many as the New York City transit system carries in two days. But as economic hard times have reduced tax revenues and increased demand for government transit subsidies, its experiences may provide valuable lessons for larger cities that are planning fare increases, like New York, Minneapolis and Cleveland.

The Rochester system, which expects to run a surplus for the third year in a row, has been able to reduce its one-ride fare in part by eliminating some low-trafficked routes, avoiding debt and aggressively raising revenues from other sources. The fare fell to $1 from $1.25 on Sept. 1.

It has, for instance, reached agreements with the local public school district, colleges and private businesses to help subsidize its operations, warning in some cases that certain routes might be cut if ridership did not increase or a local business did not help cover the cost. In recent years, income from these agreements has equaled or exceeded the income from regular passenger fares.

All the while, ridership has increased by 7.4 percent over the last two years in an area where the population has remained stable. And while only about 1 out of 6 customers pays the single-ride fare (the majority use daily, weekly or monthly passes), the transit service expects further ridership gains now with the fare cut in place.

Read the rest of the article.

Here’s my version of what I’d like News 10 NBC to do (yes, I’m on a bit of bike theft rant these days).

Dear News 10 NBC Editors:
On 18 August 2008, News 10 NBC ran a story about Mayor Robert Duffy’s “Zero Tolerance” crime policy. Part of the story featured footage of a Rochester police officer nearly running into a cyclist on a street in the 14621 neighborhood. Reporter Ray Levato cited this as an example of “zero tolerance” for crime.

To use this incident as an example of zero tolerance is destructive to safe and congenial use of the roadways for motorists and cyclists alike.

In this specific scenario, both used poor judgment; the cyclist by not wearing a helmet and not being more aware of the car on his left; the police officer by not signaling or looking back and fulfilling his legal responsibility to exercise “due care.” While both used poor judgment, only the police officer committed a crime; unfortunately, the cyclist could have paid with his life. As a regular bike commuter and occasional driver, I am all too aware that she with the heavier vehicle wins, regardless of who is breaking the law.

As to zero tolerance, I’d like to see the police address the rings of bike thieves roaming our city neighborhoods…three bikes were stolen from my neighborhood this weekend alone, including my own.

Instead of presenting cyclists as criminals, I urge News 10 NBC to explore two related issues: 1) bike theft–who’s committing it, how to prevent it, and information about R Community Bikes (http://www.mpnnow.com/lifestyle/x1542100972), where people in need can get free bicycles rather than buy stolen ones; and 2) safe and courteous procedures for sharing the road between drivers and cyclists.

Sincerely,
Julie White
Rochester, NY
writer for www.rocbike.com

Isn’t that a beautiful bike? Here’s the story…it’s a follow up to my previous post. Tanya was driving down Plymouth Avenue in Rochester, thinking…”You know, I’ve NEVER seen a GT Nomad…if I see one, I will know that it’s mine.” A few blocks later, she saw someone on a GT Nomad, a young man, stopped in a parking lot talking to a woman in a parked car.

Tanya pulled in to the parking lot, got out of her car, looked him straight in the eye (not an easy feat, since she’s 5’4″ and he was over 6′), and said, “You’re on my bike. Get off my bike.” He got kind of flustered, and said that he paid for it, it’s his bike. This exchange continued for a few minutes, with him getting more agitated and saying, “I didn’t steal your bike…it’s my bike.”

She decided to try another tactic (this was her most prudent moment of the interaction). She said, “Let me start over. My name is Tanya (extending hand). What’s yours?” He reluctantly shook her hand and told her his name. She told him that she’s had the bike for over 10 years, and it means a lot to her, then asked him how much he paid for the bike…the answer, $20. She said, “I’ll give you $40 for it. Get off the bike and follow me home, where I have the money.” He did so, she put it on the bike rack, and in her least prudent moment of the interaction, invited him to get in her car.

His female friend said, “No, he’ll ride with me.” Was she protecting him from Tanya? I don’t know, but I’m glad she did it, for whatever reason.

They followed Tanya home, got their $40, and Tanya had her bike back. This whole thing makes me simultaneously proud and terrified.

But wait…there’s more. Tanya took the bike to Full Moon Vista to get a wheel (since the thieves had replaced her nice one with a cheap one), lights, etc. While there, she noticed a Trek that she had been researching. She called me to come down and try it out.

Kyle sweet-talked me into buying it (perhaps that’s because I practically begged him to give me reasons to buy it). Seriously, I tried it out and I love it! By the way, philosophically I’m totally with Adam on buying from Craig’s list…but there are two factors against such an approach. First, I’m not so patient as to wait until just the right bike comes along. Second, I did not inherit the lesbian mechanical-skills gene (maybe that’s because I’m bi, but that’s another story), and would feel totally overwhelmed at having to make major repairs/parts replacement.

One more thing…perhaps you noticed how well the water bottle matches the bike (come on, you can admit it!). Here’s a closer picture just in case you missed it…
I bought that water bottle on Saturday, the day before my Specialized was stolen. All I can say is that I must have been meant to have this sweet blue Trek.

I brought it home last night, where it is being kept in an undisclosed location…bike thieves, don’t even think about it! Like I said, you don’t want to mess with my butch girlfriend.

Rochester Mayor Bob Duffy talks about “zero tolerance” crime policy

Chuck and Gary sent me links to the following story:

Cop nearly right-hooks cyclists in Rochester (Channel 10)

Chuck also included these comments:

Check out the video from last night’s channel 10 news. The cyclist was nearly “hooked” by a police cruiser, and the officer decided that the cyclist was not following the “rules of the road”. The written story and commentary stated that the cyclist “darts out from the side”. Clearly, he was simply continuing to travel in his original direction. I think that the cyclist’s mistake was to not take the entire lane.

Dave Moulton wrote about this story on his blog today.

What do YOU think? And what should we do about it?

I love many things about living in Rochester, and now I can add the Rochester Twilight Criterium to the list.

Not only was it an awe-inspiring race, but you could get close enough to get vertigo from the wheels spinning by as a hundred cyclists rode flat out in the rain.

And, it being Rochester and all (the city that’s more like a small town), I ran into a lot of people I knew, including Kyle from Full Moon Vista, who verbally ambushed me after my awkward ohmygodcrossthestreetbeforemorecyclistscome run across Broad Street with a, “Nice sprint, Julie.”

I do have one complaint…what’s up with the pro women being relegated to a 5:00 start, before all the men, a lower purse, and little to no media coverage. The men’s race was billed as “the main event.”

Anyway, you can find media coverage here.

Put it on your 2009 calendar!

This came into the RocBike inbox today:

Name: Tucker

Subject: For the Rochester crew–a story of hope

Message: Hey guys, I live and bike here in ROC city, and I blogged
today about a cool riding experience I had involving a positive
interaction with a driver. I thought I’d share it with you, just in
case it was of interest. Thanks for what you do to promote cycling
here in town and all over! My blog’s at www.tooooks.blogspot.com.

Head over and check it out, won’t you? Grazi, Tucker!