I made a recent trip north to Boston. Bike culture was in full effect and the city seems very bike friendly. Boston dwellers feel free to offer you own opinions with comments. I was walking past this bike in Cambridge and it looks normal enough, but when I looked closer . . .
. . . I was reminded of the confusion I felt in Princeton.
Princeton is one of the top universities in the world but readers might remember that I was dumbfounded that bike racks were labeled with their purpose. Cambridge is home to Harvard, another top university, and yet Cambridge feels the need to make sure people know what these objects are for by writing the purpose on them. So in case the intellectual elite from all over the world that descend upon Cambridge forget where they are and/or are confused by metal sticking out of the ground, the city has them covered =)
A few minutes later I did notice a rack that impressed me -
I had actually never seen a rack with a built in cable lock before. The cable is not super impressive in terms of girth, but you have to give the creator credit for something different. All a rider really needs is a padlock to keep a bike somewhat secure.
I have never engaged in a casual conversation and heard a cyclist proclaim their support for nuclear weapons, however this cyclist wants to make it clear s/he does not believe in massive human destruction.
I saw lots of pedicabs in Boston and one thing I noticed is that the drivers were all wearing helmets. I have never seen a pedicab driver in NYC wear a helmet. A Yankee hat yes, a helmet no.
And a restaurant we ate at had this awesome sticker in the window.
It is not clear if you have to wear your helmet while eating to secure your discount. This is leaps and bounds ahead of NYC however. Most business owners look at me like a freak when I walk in with my bike helmet - but I do have a helmet mirror so maybe that is why. My helmet mirror has led to some interesting conversations. For some reason many people think it is a camera.
And it does seem wise to exclude alcohol when it comes to this particular incentive. If people have Boston bike wisdom to share, we would love to hear it.
According to me, one of the best movies of all time is The Princess Bride. I remember being highly skeptical and thought I might not finish it after watching the first few minutes, but boy am I glad I held on. I now watch it at least once per year. One of my favorite things from the movie to include in various conversations are the Rodents of Unusual Size (ROUS).
As it turns out New York City has two versions of the ROUS. Yes we have unusually large rats that can scare dogs away, but we also have Road Obstacles of Unusual Size. Recently I was approached by someone wanting to "get into biking" and he wanted advice on what kind of bike to buy.
The first piece of advice I gave him was to consider a bike that could accommodate some beefy tires. "Getting into biking" in NYC poses its share of challenges and perhaps one of the biggest challenges is the condition of the roads. I am amazed at how quickly a road in NYC can deteriorate. I guess I should not be with the temperature extremes and the non-stop use by vehicles that weigh several tons, but a newly paved road loses its luster very quickly in these parts.
Take this section of road as an example of what might face someone "getting into cycling."
The picture does not really do it justice but trust me, most of the "roughage" is several inches deep. And at least once a year the government rolls in and strips the streets down causing COUS's - or clouds of unusual size. These streets can remain in this condition for several weeks and if I see one I will immediately find another route. Not that my tires cannot handle it, but I do not wish to end up with lungs full of dust.
Then there are the POUS's - Plates of Usual Size. These are especially fun when it rains - nothing like trying to ride across a giant metal plate covered in water, especially when it is dark and you are following traffic and they sneak up on you.
I am also amazed at what road crews will leave. This is a classic example. One time a friend of mine was scurrying across the street in the dark and severely sprained her ankle when she stepped in a giant rut that had been left unfilled after work was performed on the street. No cone, no tape, no warning equaled a trip to the emergency room to determine if any bones were broken.
The old classic pothole also makes frequent appearances and someone I guess wanted to issue a warning here . . . .
And in this case there was a barricade to provide warning.
Motorists frequenty get angry when having to share the road with cyclists but they should actually thank us - cyclists are basically responsible for no road wear. How do I know? Well I have been riding on a bike/pedestrian path for the last 7 years and it has not had to be repaved once. Meanwhile the main streets are repaved once per year.
So if you are interested in "getting into biking" in NYC, my advice is to consider tire size priority number one.
I am somewhat happy that about 80% of my commute to work can be done on a shared pathway in a public park. The benefit is that there is no motor vehicle traffic in the park, the downside is the erratic behavior of many of the people that utilize the park. Although biking around motor vehicles has its downsides, for the most part motor vehicle drivers are predictable. A klutzy roller blader can be just as dangerous to a cyclist as a taxi if you ask me. If there is one shared quality about park users in NYC, it is that they are unpredictable.
More on that in a bit but first of all here is a picture of a sign I stumbled across a few weeks ago when entering the Hudson River Greenway at 95th street.
Happy thoughts began to enter my head when I saw this sign (sorry smokers, not a big fan of that habit) but in my desire to see NYC as a more bike friendly place my thoughts immediately turned to how wonderful it would be if the city decided to ban motor vehicle traffic from Central Park rather than focus on banning cigarette smoking on the Hudson River Greenway.
The funny thing about the sign in the picture is that it looks like it was printed on one of those inkjet printers that can be purchased for $49.99 with a $50.00 rebate and requires cartridge refills that cost more than you paid for the printer. Printer ink sales to me is one of the true rackets of this age. The sign is also zip tied haphazardly to the metal barrier.
One day after I saw the sign it was gone and clipped zip ties were on the ground where it had been hanging. It is obvious, at least to me, that a literate and agitated smoker went all pocket knife on the sign and probably had to strike up a cancer stick immediately afterward to seek relaxation.
I also have more solid evidence that the sign in question was a "rogue" sign because someone obviously was able to read it, leading to its ultimate demise. Not all signs in NYC are legible to everyone. In fact, New York City officials have designed a series of signs that you have to be riding a bike to be able to read. Mysterious you ask? Let me explain. First, check this sign out -
You are likely confused by this sign as you are not presently riding a bike, but rather reading this blog. So let me translate. It states, "Dogs on Leash Only."
What leads me to the conclusion that you have to be on a bike to read it? Well, several dogs in this public "shared" space where this sign is clearly visible have come close to beheading themselves in my spokes while running around wildly without a leash. The park is also inhabited by squirrels and dogs are famous for wildly chasing squirrels.
Related to this, I recently saw the movie Up and laughed very hard at the how easily the dogs in the movie became distracted by the thought of a squirrel. If you have not seen the movie do not view the clip below because it will take away the real time enjoyment, but if you have watched the film enjoy again!
The best part of a dog coming ever so close to injuring itself and me comes when the enraged owner then yells at me, "HEY YOU IDIOT, SLOW DOWN!!!!" With the number of dogs off leashes in the Hudson River Greenway I would not get to work until well after Noon if I slowed my speed any further.
I hardly think I am an idiot, a nerd or dork definitely, but to be an idiot I would have to recklessly endanger others around me in a public shared space, say by acting like an irresponsible and selfish dog owner that lets their dog run wild when people around are jogging, walking, roller blading, cuddling, etc.
In my many years on the planet I have learned that there is no real use in engaging an enraged stranger that is illogically yelling at you, but in my head I say, "Hello anonymous irresponsible person. Did you know that if you put your dog on a leash that you could possibly save harm to your animal and to strangers? The only one not in danger by your selfish and irresponsible behavior is you." If I said this out loud it would only enrage the animal keeper further so I just ride on in silence.
Further evidence that particular signs require you to be on a bike for them to be readable include this one -
Again I will translate because you are likely not riding your bike right now. Although it appears to be somewhat short, it actually says -
Attention dog owners - We have purposely created a safe place for your dog to run around wildly where it will not endanger itself or other people riding bikes, roller blading, etc. Please use the dog run instead of letting your dog, who cannot think in a logical fashion in a space shared by others, including a large squirrel population, off of a leash.
Again it is obvious that dog owners cannot read the signs because they are in plain sight day, after day, after day - unlike the smoking sign which was gone after one day. Oh if I could only come up with a special decoder ring for dog owners. But if they could read the sings they would only likely tear them down.
I have thought to myself that one day I will take my bike into the dog run and start riding wildly around. It is a nice thought, however then I would be torturing the few dog owners that have obviously found a decoder ring and understand what the signs say.
And as proof of how dangerous it can be to have a dog off a leash in public shared space where there are squirrels, check out how dangerous it is to have a dog ON a leash when there are squirrels around =)
The intelligence of dog owners must be brought into question because one of the owners seems to encourage the dog to go after the squirrel, even though the dog is on a leash. What did they expect would happen when Maddie was encouraged to "go get it." Forethought does not seem to be the forte of many dog owners.
Are you frustrated by people that cannot read? Lets hear it in comments.
Way back in May of last year I posted an entry on how disappointed I was with a contest to design a new New York City bike rack. The design that was chosen, in my opinion, was a huge dud. The main evidence is that rarely do I ever see bikes actually locked to them. Maybe it is because the average cyclist can not identify them as bike racks because they are not labeled like the ones in Prinecton.
A while ago reader Ian submitted some photos showing that some people are taking advantage of the racks, but perhaps not for the intended purpose. Take it away Ian . . .
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I came across your post "NYC Bike Rack Verdict: Back to the Drawing Board." I work at Queens Borough Hall, where city DOT installed two of the new circular racks. They were used regularly in the summer... to chain up motorcycles! These motorcycles' owners may just be the most enthusiastic users of the new bike racks!
This may already be on your radar, but DOT is actually still installing the "old fashioned" U-shaped racks. Several have been installed on and around 36th Avenue in Astoria/Dutch Kills. Sorry, no pictures.
Interestingly enough, The Department of Citywide Administrative Services (DCAS), which manages Queens Borough Hall, still doesn't allow employees to bring bicycles inside the building. I lock my bike to a railing behind the building.
I grew up on the west coast and to me the Ivy League was mythical. It was a group of schools inhabited by people with extraordinary intellectual abilities that vied for things like Nobel Prizes and were trained to take on leadership roles to guide the rest of us with subpar intellectual capabilities.
I visited one of the Ivy League schools recently, Princeton, and it only took one second for the image that had been cultivated over decades to be shattered. What great act would could cause years of previously held beliefs to crumble? Well take a look at this -
A President (Woodrow Wilson), a Supreme Court Justice (Sonya Sotomayor), a Secretary of State, (James Baker), a top Military Commander (David Petraeus) are examples of the graduates Princeton churns out, consistently . . . and local officials need to label bike racks?
You can imagine the confusion and sense of dissorientation I felt. You mean to tell me that leaders such as these would not be able to identify a simple invention to assist with bike security? I can just imagine this list of great leaders staring, stupified, at a bent piece of metal bolted to the ground and saying, "What possible purpose could that serve? I wonder what it is meant to be used for?"
As I walked around the now mere mortal shire of Princeton I continued to be my mystified. I live in New York City so you must realize the horror I felt when every bike that I saw "locked up" was secured with a 99 cent store lock, and most were locked like this -
The cheap lock is securing only the frame and the wheels are left completely defenseless.
You want more proof? Check this out. Two quick release wheels just waiting to walk away.
It's almost like the people in Princeton hold to some ancient belief that someone who buys a possession should continue to maintain full and unblemished ownership of that possession until willingly departing with it. How crazy is that!?
New York City is literally a show room floor for bikes. A lock or locks on a bike are merely an inconvenience for "shoppers." If locked outside for very long either a whole bike will be taken or it will start to get picked clean like a turkey in the days after Thanksgiving.
This beauty would not last 5 minutes in NYC.
Some of my faith in the intellectual merit of Princeton students was restored when I learned that they have a bike share program - a true sign of genius. It's called the U-Bike Program and here is one example of their bikes, a Worksman Cycles model.
One other slightly depressing thing is that I saw at least 50 bikes in Princeton and not one of them had what I would identify as a hack (except for plastic bag on the seat in one of the above pictures). I guess it's because people spend all their time studying.
We post submitted hacks on the site consistently and occasionally will feature a guest post. The following is a guest post focused on a recurring them on Bike Hacks - environmental sustainability.
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Contrary to what some people might tell you, alternative energy isn't simply a pipe dream. It's also a way that you (yes, you) can reasonably, realistically, save money in the present, especially as the winter approaches. While it may seem prohibitive to put solar panels on top of your house or build a windmill (and there may be a mountain of regulations designed to stop you from doing so), there are plenty of ways to refrain from using fossil fuels to heat your home and transport yourself without suffering in the process. As an added bonus, you reduce your carbon footprint substantially in doing so.
For example, depending on your town or city's infrastructure and the demands of your commute, it may be possible to get around easily by bicycle, which has two benefits: it both gives you an opportunity to exercise on your commute and to save money on gasoline, which isn't quite as expensive as it was before the crash of late 2008 but has been steadily rising in costs since it dropped from almost $5 to $1.50 a gallon practically overnight.
Additionally, with so many cities' budgets proving increasingly impossible to reconcile, drivers are starting to feel the brunt of this; the city of Chicago privatized parking in an attempt to raise funds for its Olympics bid, prompting astronomical rises in costs and mass frustration, and the city of Seattle is looking to raise its downtown parking rates to $4 an hour, the highest in the country, prompting divided responses.
Compare this to getting around on a bike, which can be free (after purchasing a good lock and supplies to replace or patch flat tire tubes), or using public transportation, which is often cheaper and doesn't require you to park anything or pay for parking (though, of course, public transportation can be much slower in some places and comes with its own set of drawbacks, such as not being able to make your own schedule and having to weather delays and cancellations, sometimes on short notice).
Furthermore, heating bills can be killer in the wintertime. Even small houses and apartments can be billed for hundreds of dollars per month if the heat runs at even temperatures as low as 63 to 65 degrees Fahrenheit all winter. While I have friends who never run their thermostats above 48 degrees, compromise can both bring down costs and make life inside bearable when it's too cold out. Temperature-regulating thermostats bring down costs considerably by keeping houses cold when you're gone and warm when you're in, and putting on coats, sweaters and long underwear makes running a house at lower temperatures exponentially more bearable.
Both of these will help to save you money and bring down the amount of carbon your actions produce on a regular basis. Though there are countless other factors, transportation and heat are substantial portions of one's output, and choosing to use motor vehicles to travel as infrequently as possible, and to keep down heat, has a huge impact on your influence and your bills.
I'm a big fan of the concept of public transit. I'm not always a big fan of the execution. New York City has a fantastic system for the most part. You can go almost anywhere you want to go, 24 hours days, 365 days a week. There are not many cities that can probably lay claim to such a service schedule.
However the benefits in NYC do come at a price - an increasing price that at least in recent years does not seem to result in noticeable differences in service. Although I love the access of the NYC subway, it is probably the dirtiest subway system on the face of the planet. What makes it worse is that since I have lived in NYC, ticket prices have increased 30%, but I have no idea where that money goes.
I would not mind paying extra if the result was cleaner stations and trains, working escalators, and more station attendants, however service only seems to get worse. The utter stupidity of people is one obvious problem. I cannot fathom what goes through someones mind when they spit their gum on a subway platform.
Anyway, I actually don't ride the subway very often which gets to the point of the post. I much prefer riding my bike to riding the subway. I recently spotted this bike and the owner is responding to the recent news that once again subway fares are increasing.
Upon closer examination you can clearly see the selling points.
We are all about promoting cool events here at Bike Hacks and reader Will sent the following along. If you ever want to promote a cool bike related event, give us a shout out.
Will, it would be awesome if you take some pictures and send them to us to post after the event. Also, if others attend, send along your pictures or links to Flickr and what not. Someone who attends please drink a beer for me. Take it away Will . . .
Hey just wanted to share a cool event that will be happening in Northern California (upper Sac Valley) over Halloween weekend. It'll be an easy 20-mile costumed bike ride from the GRUB cooperative (http://grubchico.org/) in Chico, out to Chaffin Family Orchards in Oroville where participants will be greeted by food, drink (remember, Sierra Nevada Brewery is located here!) and a bicycle-generated musical group!!
Here's the site: http://www.wheeledmigration.org/harvest/ There's going to be plenty of locals attending, but we're hoping to get people from all over California (and beyond), and if you could possibly put in a little plug for this event, that would be really great! Thanks in advance!
Call me a social network Luddite. I have a Facebook account, however I think I check it about once per month, and that is usually only when I am using it to advertise. I opened a Twitter account, when I don't remember, however I never did anything beyond creating an account. I never signed up to follow someone's 140 characters.
I jumped on the blog bandwagon years ago and had a personal blog for a long time, but all of the social networking stuff kind of escapes me. I am sure it can be useful and entertaining, I just find myself busy with so many things that I never have found much use for social media tools like Facebook and Twitter. I will eventually see The Social Network, probably when it comes out on DVD (call me a movie theater Luddite as well) and maybe it will get me excited about social networking . . . or something.
However, reader Sam contacted us and shared about some social media and its usefulness related to bikes and cycling. He sent a link to the following post on TusconBikeLawyer.com:
Check this out: Collin F, computer programmer and frequent TNBR participant, has created some kind of robot that downloads Tucson police information on some kind of RSS feed, searches it for its relevance to bicycles, and then puts the resulting report on twitter. It’s quite interesting.
He is also working on a map that shows the location of bicycle collisions, which will ultimately lead to some pretty good information about where the dangerous areas are.
I think the City should be paying him to do this, but he’s doing it for free.
Here is a screen capture of the of the map referenced in the post above. All I can say is that it scares the crap out of me! Look at all those blue dots! If those are all bike collisions, me thinks riding in Tuscon ain't such a good idea. And here I though biking in NYC was dangerous . . . geeez.
Are you a social media fan? Have you found social media and biking to be a productive combination? Want to set this Luddite straight? Thoughts are welcome in comments.
How many of us actually follow our dreams? I know that I have a lot of dreams and/or ideas, but I rarely if ever act on them. I am more likely to blog about my ideas than do anything about them. Witness my entry on my ideal bike rack.
One Bike Hacks reader is following a dream and decided to share with all of us. Toby is following his dream of opening a bike shop and below is his story. Take it away Toby!
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Hello to all the readers of Bike Hacks. Wanted to let you all know that I have opened a bicycle shop out of my garage and share with you my experiences thus far. My name is Toby Miller and in February of this year I turned 40. I decided that it was time for me to do something that I had always wanted to do with my life.
Since I was a small child I have always loved bicycles. I think what I love most about them is their simplicity. And fortunately for me I have good mechanical aptitude and love to work with my hands. So I started gearing up this February for opening a shop by buying bicycle tools. I searched on-line and found the best prices I could and started ordering as much as I could afford. I also bought two books on bicycle repair and started reading to give myself knowledge about the newer gear and brake systems that I was not familiar with. Then I bought 4 used bicycles and tore them completely apart and reassembled them to just refresh myself with everything.
The next step was to go to city hall and obtain a business license. To get a business license to run a bicycle shop out of my garage I had to go before the Zoning board and explain to them what I intended to do with my business and get a letter of approval from them. After receiving my letter I had to purchase a city as well as a county business license. I believe it cost around $40.00. to accomplish this. I also had to get a tax id number.
Now came the hardest part of the whole process. Now I had to call distributors to find a parts supplier. You would think that this would be an easy task but I can assure you it's not. I must have called 40-50 distributors before I finally found one that would give me an account. Two weeks later I found one more that would work with me and I have stuck with only these two. They have both been really good to me and I am grateful to them both. I would mention their names but I am not sure about the legality of such things.
Now I had my distributors and as soon as my catalogs came I took the little bit of money I had and ordered parts and a few accessories. Then I put up a sign on my garage door ordered some business cards and rode around handing them out. Then I bought some more used bicycles and got them ready for resale.
Well that's how it all started and to date I am still rolling. Business is slower than I would like but I am going to stick it out for the long haul. We have another bicycle shop in town and it has been here for 35 years. I figure I'll just be patient and keep going and eventually more people will come to the shop. After all I did not get into this for the money, I got into it for the love I have for bicycles.
Now I have an offer for all of you Bike Hacks readers. If you need anything for you bicycle just contact me and if it is something I have or can get I will be happy to help you out and give you a discount.
Community Bicycle Shop Owner: Toby Miller Columbia, TN 38401 931-797-7990 druid052000@yahoo.com
Good luck Toby!
Have you started your own business? If you do and you would like to share give us a shout out.
