Save The Kent Avenue Bike Lane

ACK! Maybe this is just a scare tactic by T.A., but I just received the missive below and it sure gave me the heeby jeebies.

I have no idea if anyone reads our little blog. And if you do, I am guessing you probably already get the full slew of T.A. stuff. So, maybe you have already sent something in.

But if you haven't done the e-fax thingy, please do. Trite but true: it takes but a moment and it can't hurt to have our voices massed and shouting!

Thanks and ride on...

Click here to send your E-Fax To Mayor Bloomberg

Dear T.A. Brooklyn Committee member,

The Kent Avenue bike lane is in trouble. Local elected officials are bending to the will of drivers angered at the loss of parking, and are calling for the lane's removal. We need you to reach out to Mayor Bloomberg, who has the final say, and affirm the value of this critical link in the bike network.

We would not be reaching out to you if we didn't think this project and future lanes in North Brooklyn weren't in jeopardy. To prevent this lane's removal, please help by sending this e-fax now . You can modify the text as you see fit.

The Kent Avenue lane is not perfect. T.A. supports the efforts of Community Board 1 and the DOT as they identify addition parking and loading zones on adjacent streets, and work with businesses to find solutions to loading difficulties. But we firmly oppose the premature calls of residents and elected officials for the lane's removal in order to preserve convenient parking spaces for area car-owners at the expense of bicyclists' safety.

The Kent Avenue bike lane is the precursor to a fully-formed Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway. This plan, including the removal of parking, was overwhelmingly approved by Community Board 1. T.A. supports the Kent Avenue bike lane as a way to hold the future greenway's footprint, and protect the thousands of cyclists who use this dangerous street.

Send off the e-fax today . T.A. will cc your other elected officials and community board, multiplying the impact of your statement.

All Wet

It was gross and wet last night. Really gross and really wet.

And I am a stone cold fool! I rode all about in the gross and wet.
With my backpack.
Which contained my laptop.

ACK! Like I said: I am a stone cold fool!

When I got home, I delicately unearthed my laptop from my backpack. Needless to say, I feared the worst. But, by some minor miracle, my laptop was a-ok: bone dry and booted fine.

It would appear that my backpack--the dubiously named Hacker Daypack by Timbuk2--is that most marvelous of modern marvels: a truly waterproof bag.

And yet, when I rooted about the bag to grab some nighttime reading material, I found that my book was soaked. In fact, everything else in the bag was soaked.

WTF!?!

I won't bore you with a full review of the Hacker. It's not a bad bag: the laptop stayed dry because it's under a genuinely waterproof flap (it was also nestled in a corduroy pocket...which just can't be waterproof). But it's not a great bike commuter bag by any stretch. It's too small for real big loads. And it didn't come with a sternum strap, which just baffles me.

SO...what IS the ideal bike commuting bag for a smaller gent who likes a two strapped backpack?

I will say this: I tried the mini Ortlieb backpack and HATED it. Yes, it's a teutonic waterproof wonder with all sorts of shiny cool. But it was basically a cumbersome sack that did not fit my 5"4 frame. Damn tall Krauts!

I will also say this: I have a really sweet looking ReLoad Midpack. But beautiful as it is, the bag is NOT waterproof. And a really cruddy sternum strap. To their credit, the good folks at ReLoad have recognized these flaws and unleashed a new and seemingly VASTLY improved Midpack.

Anyone tried the new Midpack?

Anyone got a better Timbuk Bag?

Anyone got a waterproof, laptop lugging, two-strap, comfy, ergonomociallyummy-but-not-clunky bag they'd recommend?

Not that I have the wads of cash to buy it, but if I go sallying about in the rain again, I want ALL my crap to be dry.

Broadway 5th ave Bike Lanes - Not So Good

There has been a plethora of bike lanes springing up all over our fair city, but under the ever watchful eye of the Flatiron building, something un-kosher has crept up on Madison Square. It's most noticable when you ride downtown on Fifth avenue and all of a sudden you realize that the bike lane that used to be there is hidden behind a wall of potted plants.

In fact, to be able to get back on the bike lane parallel to Madison Square Park, you'd have to take an almost impossible 90 degree left turn onto the green painted lane.

What is the point?

Isn't the point of bike lanes - to make a safe place for cyclists that is also well integrated into the street?

To et on the bike lane, you'd have to put yourself perpendicular to traffic which seems extraordinarily unsafe.

Can anyone explain this to me?

The DOT powerpoint slideshow that was used to sell the lane is not helpful.

transportation town hall

So, we're just back from the Transportation Town Hall at the Swinging 60s Club. Simple summary: the Hassidim are pissed.

The slightly glib summary would also mention that business owners are also pissed. So was this lady behind us, who represented everyone's palpable displeasure with the new bike lanes on Kent Street.

Speaking as a dude who bikes every day and is wholeheartedly in favor of bike lanes, including one on yummy wide Kent Street, I can get their beefs.

The Hassidim can't safely drop their kids off and it does sound like some cops didn't get the memo about stopping exceptions, leading to some perhaps dubious tickets.

The business owners and their bunged up deliveries most certainly get the short end of the stick.

So, the bike lane is not ideal. As a biker, I don't ask for the world. I want a basically car-free space, where I feel might rights and person are respected: I am not scrapping for a wee sliver of the road that I most certainly deserve to be on.

Anyhow, David Yassky sort of played conciliator and agreed that there should be further discussion amongst affected parties.

Which leads me to a few final thoughts:

1. People, we got our asses kicked. The Hassids, business-owners and pissy lady factions showed up en masse. All we bikers had were a few valient, voluble bikers...but just a few!

Anyhow, I am new to this politics stuff and perhaps Yassky was posturing/throwing a bone. If there is a subsequent pow-wow of some consequence, bikers should be heard!

2. This section of Kent is part of the proposed Brooklyn Greenway. I am a fan of the Greenway and do a bit of work for them. It absolutely seems like a great project. Still, I would be curious to know how necessary a continuous Kent path is...I suspect it does make a very real difference and I for one like it and I would gladly stop if the cars stopping also do it in an orderly fashion that respects my space.

Can we Learn to Live within our Means?

So, this morning, front page of the New York Times is this article.

I was struck by this quote:

Clearly the market does not need the oil because demand has collapsed,” said Francisco Blanch, a commodity strategist at Merrill Lynch. “Just look at new car sales. That gives you a sense of the magnitude of this crisis.”

So, apparently people have continued to NOT use their cars, and therefore, among other things, there is less need for oil, which becomes gas. This is all contrary to this article which claims:

The sharp decline in gasoline use earlier this year — with volume down nearly 10 percent in some weeks — suggested to many people, including the automobile companies, that a permanent change in American habits might be at hand. But with gasoline prices falling drastically in recent weeks, some American drivers are returning to their old ways.

The October 29th article goes on to say that historically, after times when gas is expensive, such as the seventies oil crisis, Americans have returned to burning gas with wanton disregard.

But in the late 1980s, as prices eased, people switched back to larger cars. With prices low through the 1990s and early 2000s, sport utility vehicles became the vehicle of choice for many Americans. Those vehicles, because they were technically light trucks, were subject to lower efficiency requirements.

And, this is all evident on the streets everyday, filled curb-to-curb with Tahoes, Escalades and other massive idiot-boxes.

The reality is that Americans will never get rid of their cars. We've built a society that is dependent on them. As an aspirational society, where consumption equals social standing, big fancy cars aren't going away either.

But the recent fall in consumption is heartening to me.

If people can make small changes in their lives that can have such a dramatic effect in the aggregate, then there is hope for the future. The problem is getting people to stick with it.

Willy Lewis, a nurse’s aide, said he just started mowing his lawn every week again after mowing it every third week this summer to save gasoline. Katina Sneed, a housewife who would like to work as a secretary, complained that higher gasoline prices had impeded her ability to find employment.
“I didn’t have enough money to put in the car to look for a job” until the last few weeks, she said. “I can do a little more searching now.”

I mean, Mr. Lewis, really... do you need to mow your lawn so often? Couldn't you do a trim with a manual lawnmower? And Ms. Sneed... have you heard of the internet? Where do you have to go to look for work? Do they still have hiring halls in Louisiana?

Here's hoping that everyone goes to manual power for at least a little bit. We live beyond our means when it comes to credit, and when it comes to energy. When you are the power source, you are living within your means, any more is credit at the expense of economic and ecological factors. If you ride your bike to get around, you've done a huge bit, keep doing it, and lets all do it together so we can be safer...

I mean bike commuting.

My optimism may have been overstated

Things are better for cyclists in New York than ever before. That is a fact.

Then this came up on the internet yesterday:

Please attend tomorrow night's Brooklyn CB1 meeting to speak out in favor of the new Kent Ave bike lane, a key route in the Brooklyn bike network and a vital link in the greenway connection:

CB1 Transportation Committee Meeting

Wednesday, November 12

211 Ainslie Street, corner of Manhattan Avenue

6:30 pm --- registration for public speaking ENDS at 6:15 (get there at 6pm and sign up!)

Bike lane opponents have sent a letter to elected officials, the press and City Hall. It is imperative that local cyclists and supporters of livable streets attend tomorrow night's meeting, sign up to and continue to speak in favor of this important transportation improvement for the neighborhood, for now and for the future.

Those bike lane opponents were primarily the residents of the buildings along Kent Avenue, who were pissed that they couldn't park their cars on the street anymore. Then there were business owners who couldn't load and unload in front of their businesses. On the other side were guys wearing all sorts of 'technical' fabrics and carrying helmets in their hands.

Here's what I learned:

The internet is a wonderful place to stir up hysteria, and the business owners have a point.

So, to the first point. There was no threat of the bike lane being recinded. None. The commuity board voted for the lane to be put in... and that's it. Apparently they can't vote for it to be put OUT. The hysteria on the internet was just that.

The residents along Kent were angry that they had lost their free on street parking. I reminded them, to a chorus of boos, that free street parking was not a right in New York. On the other hand, I thought the businesses were right. They have to be able to unload and load to maintain their businesses.

Lets always remeber that as cyclists we are members of a community, and we have to respect others. We cannot, as Bike Snob says, enter our 'cone of smugness' and not look out.

Oh yeah, read Bike Snob, he does this way better than I do.

Things seem to be better for Bike Commuters

This morning, Jeff brought this to my attention.

The summary is:

The power that be has decided to tackle the great bugaboo in NYC cycling accessibility, which is secure parking for your ride.

I really do think that the more secure parking areas there are, the more bike commuters there will be. It's a simple correlation. I bet there are more people riding bikes in NYC parks for fun on a summers day than there are commuters on any day of the week. Take all their bikes and you'd have a beautiful sight like the one above, taken in Japan.

Of course, in Japan bicycles and parked bicycles are so ubiquitous that they're running out of parking spaces and have to come up with novel parking garages like this one:





I wasn't sure there would be enough parking for all the joyriders turned crusty commuters.

With that question in mind, I decided to examine the issue mathematically. Taking the great 2768591 square foot icon of New York, the Empire State Building, and dividing it by the requisite 7500 square feet of space per bike rack means that the Empire State Building would have to open 369 bike parking spaces on 34th street and 5th. Which would be wonderful, because my optometrist is around there.

The only fear I have is that we'd be concentrating our bikes in a sheltered space allowing bike thieves all the time in the world to steal my possessions. Maybe - hopefully - they'll require a security guard.

Now, the story was originally broken by the Post as is mentioned in the NY1 video. For the sake of journalistic integrity, I checked out the article and was shocked, SHOCKED, to discover the following comment from a fellow reader:

Metamorph wrote:
4 more years of this whiny lunatic? Real estate values are crashing, and this gasbag wants to impose ridiculous requirements like this on builders? Bloomberg is an out of touch busybody with an overbearing sense of "nobles oblige."

Well, I agree! It's about time that Bloomberg, ultra wealthy noble that he is, ought to oblige us with a place to park our no-cost transportation. 'Nobles Oblige' indeed, ya douchebag.

Well, regardless of the parking situation, I'll keep riding - until I can have this guy's commute.

Much love, and promising more posts, more frequently now that I'm unemployed.

-Harry

If the first rule of successful blogging is to write regularly then we suck big time.

But we DO NOT actually suck. No siree! Like some big old sperm whale, life sprang out of the cold blue waters and plum swallowed us up. Really!

To wit: I got married, bought a house, made a lot of waffles, launched a couple of web sites, pondered untold imponderables and did my meager best to help a few friends through some troubled times.

Lame excuses perhaps, but they sure did take up a lot of freakin time.

Fortunately, we still managed to ride our bikes...A LOT!

In fact, I even rode my bike to my wedding. And I rode it FROM the wedding, just-married decorations and all.


Please please please come on back soon. We are raring to post all sorts of awesome about the suddenly trendy sport that is biking about New York City. REALLY!

Another prescriptive rant, bitches!

Today is the fifth anniversary of the start of the war in Iraq.

I know that cyclists can be seen as self righteous about our riding. After all – and give yourselves a pat on the back here, we’re on the right team, eschewing the oil that drives this nation’s wars and all that. But the reality is that we still live within a culture that uses oil. We define ourselves in opposition but we are inextricably part of it as we define ourselves, by accident of birth. It’s the same shame that a Brandeis liberal feels about not being Black.

I say – screw it. Let’s just be nice. If all we did was say ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ as we passed a pedestrian, maybe that pedestrian would decide that you don’t have to be a stark, raving mad nut to ride a bike. They’d realize that regular, decent and, yes, nice people ride their bikes to get to work because it’s fun. And as regular, decent and nice people ride their bikes to their regular, decent and nice jobs, we’d realize that, in fact, by riding our bikes, we’ve caused a revolution.

Now for that bong hit I was holding off on till I reached the end of this little hippy bullshit.

Also, if you belong to the NYPL or QPL, they are offering free downloadable movies. In the case of the unfortunantly named NYPL.org, they have streaming movies! I don't know about Brooklyn. Bg ups to the library. I'm off to enjoy 'Sherlock Holmes abd the Secret Weapon' Oh yeah, they also have an awesome image database of the best pictures ever.

Love,
Harry

Bicycling can kill you (but that’s why it’s fun)

At the risk of sounding overly dismissive, cycling is fun because it’s dangerous.

There’s such a thrill descending a hill, picking up speed as you hunch over the handlebars, hearing the whirring of your hubs and feeling like your momentum could propel you up the side of a mountain. And then you hit a pothole or a frost heave and the front wheel comes up for one terrifying moment and your mind goes blank and you, contrary to instinct, let the bike have it’s head, and you feel the front tire bite and begin to track straight and true down the road. That sweet terrifying moment is the reason that cycling will always rock as hard as Jeff believes Van Halen rocks.

The downside is that you can get seriously hurt, or killed. I read about them in articles emailed to me. My first instinct is to dismiss them as amateurs who couldn’t handle riding on the street. This is what is called a ‘defense mechanism’ to insulate myself from the reality.

I’ve come close to being one of those articles. I T-boned a speeding cab on first avenue somewhere before Belevue where a sidestreet inexplicably goes two way. There, I was lucky to get away unhurt and with only a taco’d front wheel. I’ve also smacked into the pavement headfirst at thirty five miles an hour and earned an extended stay in the Intensive care unit of Nyack hospital (I owe you money kids, I know… much love, peace, you’ll get it). The risks are very real to me and I choose to ignore them, not in a cavalier way but after having made a concession in my head that the rewards of riding are a lick of the elixir that is the purest form of speed available, and worth more than the chance that I’ll get hurt or killed.

It is the decision I think that many cyclists who became cycling fatalities made as well. Let this entry be a memorial to everyone who had to pay the price for so much joy. I pledge to ride as much as I can to honor their spirit and I will remember them everyday so as not to join them.

some bags for harry

I am not a terribly acquisitve man, but something about backpacks hooked me a few years ago. Maybe it's because I am short (5'4) and it's been hard to find a good fit. Or maybe I am a spazz. Anyhow, I have bought a few and I am here to help Harry in his quest for a good bag.

One huge caveat: I am a two strap chap. I like a backpack. It makes more ergonomic sense to me. But all these companies make shoulder bags, so phooey.

THE BAGS
1.Re-Load MidPack aka The Sandwich Bag
PROS: It has a really cool sandwich; storage space; customizability; just a neat looking bag.
CONS: Skimpy sternum strap; poor support to storage ratio.

I used to buy humble backpacks, the EMS student-y style bag. Certainly not bad...but not waterproof, not terribly enduring, not great storage. In short, not ideal, a bit hinky.

So, the itch was there.

And then I won my fantasy baseball league; I came in to some funny money. Why not spend on a well-built, custom bag that met my needs. Custom, comfortable, the bag just for me.

My more bike fiendish pals recommended a few companies, including ReLoad. Simply put, ReLoad makes good looking bags. One look at their stuff and I was hooked. Trite but true.

So, I set about designing the me bag. I mean, how cool is that: you get to pick colors, add a big something to the bag, really deck the thing out. The ReLoad people were uniformly lovely. I knew that someone made my bag and they really cared about the product.

The bag came it and its sheer size was a shocker. Tis a monster, at least relative to the piddly bookbag. And there was my design. I had a big ass sandwich on my back.

The dimensions and ostentation took some adjustment, but ultimately they are my favorite aspects of the bag. It is a cool looking thing (that sandiwch is the logo of my fantasy baseball team. VIVA LA WALLBANGERS!) and it hold a fload of stuff. I carried a turkey on my back. and a computer.
ice

I just wish the danged thing was a bit more comfortable. For all the obvious skill and love put in to the sewing, I feel like the component straps are not that nice. If you are gonna be a dumbass and get a bag big enough to haul turkeys and you are dumb enough to actually carry turkeys on your back, then that bag should be able to carry turkeys with some modest comfort. The shoulder straps aren't terribly well padded and the straps are a bitch to adjust.

I will say that the ReLoad people were quite nice and personable.

CONCLUSION: Glad to have this bag--I will always treasure my Sandwich Bag. And I would think about buying another ReLoad if I could specify straps and get measured up. But I am not sure this is a solution for Harry...

I need a new messenger bag.

I’ve been riding with an old TimBuk2 (that’s how they spell it) for over ten years and not only does it look ratty and the lining is coming apart… but it has started to smell like my armpits – particularly when it’s wet. I’ve taken to strapping it to the rack of my bike, which works wonderfully. That said, I’ve never found a perfect bike bag.

I realize that that last statement was a gay statement.

I’ve tried panniers, and they seem like a good idea, but I never got used to riding with a weight imbalance. On top of that, it is truly an embarrassing moment when you catch a glimpse of yourself in the mirror, ankle strap, helmet still on head and carrying a pannier, while your co-workers are giving you that indulgent smile usually reserved for the retarded.

I tried a pannier/backpack combo from Bike Nashbar that I scooped off my co-host Jeff for a week. It actually had a really nice backpack with an integrated rafting trip style dry bag. But the ‘pannier’ part epically sucked. I lost the bag while scooting across Queens Plaza, as a multi-cultural mess of the world’s worst drivers bore down on me, intent on delivering their lunch carts to a prime midtown location.

So, a new messenger bag it is. There are so many more companies making messenger bags now that it’s blown my mind and set me off the quest. I’m also afraid of buying the favored douchebag brand like, say … Chrome (fer chrissakes, they make a Vans rip-off sneaker now… that’s just low. Fuck you, Chrome Messenger bags.). But I want a handmade USA made bag that’ll accommodate my ‘Ninja Sword’ strap style (Loop goes OVER the shoulder – the other way is too close to car mirrors and doesn’t look like a Ninja Sword). Join me on my Quest, to be continued later or till I get a free bag.

Bike Tunes: Ike Turner

Working Together (right click to Save Link and enjoy repeatedly--go for it!)

Game of Love (right click to Save Link and rock out repeatedly--why not!)

First things first: nycbikecommuter does not condone biking and listening to tunes. We DO condone rocking while riding and a good tune should stick in your head long after you hear it, providing ample fuel for your commute.

(Full confession: I have been known to listen to tunes while riding about Prospect Park. And maybe on the Manhattan Bridge. But never in traffic. At least not since I ran in to a car while listening to tunes).

And we DO condone tasty tunes, two of which we have gleefully posted and eagerly hope you will download asafp!

These tracks pay tribute to the recently departed Ike Turner. Whatever his personal flaws, Ike was a supremely tasty guitarist and even a fine songwriter--he wrote both these songs, albeit as Eki Renrut (get it?), a pseudonym he devised to procure additional royalty checks.

Culled from Working Together, a GEM of an album that you can snag in its entirety from iTunes, these songs show Ike and Tina in a more mellow mode than some of their more strenuous hits.

Given Ike's well-reported extracurricular ickinesses, I can understand if you greet the eponymous title track with a few ironic titters. But try to shelve your cynicism and enjoy what is a lovely plea for unity: the melody is a honey, Tina's vocal is rough-hewn but restrained, Ike chips in some tangy guitar and the horns take this track over top. Gets me every time!

Game of Love is far funkier fare. Ever the able rhythm guitarist, Ike drives the track with an itchy lick that could go on for many a minute without bugging me. Tina rides on top with a nasty vocal that never shows an ounce of strain or fuss. A stone cold groover!

If you dig these tracks, by all means read this illuminating interview with Ike. And run don't walk to find Bold Soul Sister, a Meters-esque mover that has yummy rough vocals from Tina and a groovin Ike riff that achieves lift-off on the fade-out. yummy!

Rest in Peace Ike.
Ride and rock folks,
nycbikecommuter