Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - were there a lot more bikes on the road today?

i would expect there to be
in nyc that is

not as many as i thought there would be.most people would rather spend 2 hours in car traffic then 30 minutes on a bike lol

I rode in fairly early and left around 8:00pm. I didn't see nearly as many as I thought I would but it might have been the time of day.

I left for work around 8am this morning and the only part that sucked was getting over the bridge with the amount of people walking on it. Not nearly as bad as comming home. I left with one of my tattoo artists and we just decided to get off and walk over the bridge. It was nice to see the red cross at the end of the bridge with hot coffee for everyone. Tomorrow will prob be the same deal.

what coffee?! which bridge?

The brooklyn bridge had free coffee. But you're better off on the manhattan bridge, as far as pedestrians. I rode over at around 8:45 this morning, and there were a lot of bikes, more so than I'd see on a nice summer day. Just got off the williamsburg, and aside from being really bloody cold, it wasn't so bad(or crowded).

It's a pretty sketchy combination though. Bikers who aren't used to riding in the city, and the cold, and motorists who aren't used to the city, and the extreme traffic getting in and out.

what coffee?! which bridge?


The Willy B had coffee around 6pm when we went over it.

at 9am there was about 25 cyclist and at least 22 or so walkers. i had to lead a pack of riders from bergen st to the manhattan bridge.

they blocked off a whole lane of lower broadway to be a bike lane. real mixed results, it's usually parking and at places still was, and all sorts of fools decided to ride the wrong way in it. One or the other would have been cool, but the two together just cancelled each other out. You could tell the non regular riders pretty easily, they were either going way too slow or way too fast...

haha, yeah I had one of the way too fast on my tail tonight coming off the bridge. He looked like he was trying to race me, but nearly killed himself trying to play in traffic. Everytime I weaved around traffic he'd get stuck and after it clear I hear him huffin and puffin catching up to me till the next jammed intersection. It's nice that more people are riding, but it's also dangerous that there are so many people out that have no idea how to ride in the city.

ahh ****, that is why they blocked off some part on broadway. i was wondering that when i got out of work.

it was 25º this morning at 9:30. Most people wouldn't dream of riding their bike in weather that cold. Even someone on NPR said it would be a "brave endeavour" to ride your bike on a day like today.

my girlfriend is planning on riding in to work tomorrow at 8:30... carroll gardens to MoMA (53rd). i'm gonna probably ride with her cause she's a bit sketched out about it (route wise and cold). we'll take the manhattan over, and not sure from there. anyone have good recommendations for heading north?

my girlfriend is planning on riding in to work tomorrow at 8:30... carroll gardens to MoMA (53rd). i'm gonna probably ride with her cause she's a bit sketched out about it (route wise and cold). we'll take the manhattan over, and not sure from there. anyone have good recommendations for heading north?

I like riding up 2nd ave but I turn at 39th. Past that it gets much more busy.

what avenues are shut to traffic during the strike?

madison and 5th. take madison north after 23rd.

my girlfriend is planning on riding in to work tomorrow at 8:30... carroll gardens to MoMA (53rd). i'm gonna probably ride with her cause she's a bit sketched out about it (route wise and cold). we'll take the manhattan over, and not sure from there. anyone have good recommendations for heading north?

take 1st North until 23rd street. Go west on 23rd until 6th ave. Go North on 6th Ave all the way to MoMA.
My experience tells me that this route requires the least amount of climbing/descents. 1st ave after 23rd street starts ascending; and getting west of 1st ave after 23rd street sucks (relatively)

Oh, Madison is closed to traffic, well that is also another way to go, though a bit more hilly/bumpy.

Oh, Madison is closed to traffic, well that is also another way to go, though a bit more hilly/bumpy.

agreed

haha, yeah I had one of the way too fast on my tail tonight coming off the bridge. He looked like he was trying to race me, but nearly killed himself trying to play in traffic. Everytime I weaved around traffic he'd get stuck and after it clear I hear him huffin and puffin catching up to me till the next jammed intersection. It's nice that more people are riding, but it's also dangerous that there are so many people out that have no idea how to ride in the city.

Maybe he was trying to catch up to tell you that you were going to get yourself killed riding in traffic like that, and give you a lecture on vehicular cycling? Could be why he didn't make the gaps :rolleyes:

definitely not 6th ave, it's really crowded. madison is where it's at.

The mother of all critical masses is waiting to happen

thanks for the tips. we're about to head out. we're taking 1st to 23rd to madison. see ya on the bridge!

I like riding up 2nd ave but I turn at 39th. Past that it gets much more busy.
going against traffic?

****, i meant first... dunno why i said second. im gonna head back down second to NYCVelo and buy my lady some cold weather gear after dropping her at work. i'll probably just be cruising around town today. if ya see someone on a benotto with a two-tone green RELoad bag and bright yellow handle bar tape say hey!

edit: wait, that wasn't me that said second.

going against traffic?


I was wondering the same thing... But it's probably no worse than dealing with 6th ave.

this morning I think I rode past more people that didn't know what they were doing than yesterday. Also I saw a large # of people pushing bikes. What's the purposes of that. Just funny.

not as many as i thought there would be.most people would rather spend 2 hours in car traffic then 30 minutes on a bike lol]

I think the news has done a great job of saying how cold it is, and you would be crazy to bike. Although I assume most will walk or the traffic jam.

I think people who had a bike sitting around all dusted them off and started riding today. Oddly, still not many around where I work.

herent, I wasn't really weaving alleycat style, just some manuvering, nothing outta the norm. It was kinda funny seeing some people trying to weave through traffic with big moustache bars, just a little awkward.

I think this strike might help some folks realize how easy and quick it is to commute by bike by forcing them to try it out. Hopefully some converts will be created because of this strike.

definitely more bikes out..
(LBS's doing brisk business changing flats, replacing tires)
but also, markedly less cars at the 96th St checkpoints..

yeah, rode in from brooklyn, over manhattan br, up allen to 1st then over 14th to 6th and up to 53rd. it was easy going for most of the way, but coming over the bridge i saw lots of inexperienced riders, some going too slow to maintain a straight line and others bombing down the bridge at a full sprint then almost killing people and themselves. riding up 6th i came across tons of inexperienced riders as well as hundreds of people walking in the street/path. tomorrow i'll definitely take madison up.

even with the cold there's too many weekend warriors who don't know how to ride and the peds are even more asleep than usual. it's ****ed

A lil' late, but riding on the East side path isn't that bad, especially in the morning. It'll take you, car free, up to 34th street. Just remember that after the hospital you need to hop back on the path to your right to avoid riding on the exit ramp for the FDR. from there you can cross town a bit (i'd suggest avoiding getting close to the QB bridge, as its crazy around there right now).

Seems as though the cold has finally got to Chicago riders. Not very many people on the road this morning. Lots of people walking to the subway/buses.

yeah, rode in from brooklyn, over manhattan br, up allen to 1st then over 14th to 6th and up to 53rd. it was easy going for most of the way, but coming over the bridge i saw lots of inexperienced riders, some going too slow to maintain a straight line and others bombing down the bridge at a full sprint then almost killing people and themselves. riding up 6th i came across tons of inexperienced riders as well as hundreds of people walking in the street/path. tomorrow i'll definitely take madison up.

I came up Sixth from Houston to 46th both yesterday and today, and it was like two different worlds. Yesterday it was totally open in the cone lane, but today the gloves were off. Way too many delivery trucks blocking the lane, and then after 34th street, it was as though the peds just decided to take it over. I wound up on the other side of the street for a while and tried to avoid my own death. I should have taken one of the alternate routes, but yesterday had me fooled.

I am also pretty sure I broke somebody's side-view mirror on Smith Street, as he was blocking the lane and I as I Flintstoned my way by my bars caught it and bent it the wrong way. It snapped back into place, but I definitely high-tailed it to the bridge before he could catch up. Seeing as both the mirrors on my car have been ripped off by speeding cabs, I feel I am due.

I'm running out now. Ya all better come to Columbus Circle at 6pm. Screw CM, Bike-Pools are the new chrome pista.

hehehe...
http://newyork.craigslist.org/mnh/rnr/119649575.html

haha, yeah I had one of the way too fast on my tail tonight coming off the bridge. He looked like he was trying to race me, but nearly killed himself trying to play in traffic. Everytime I weaved around traffic he'd get stuck and after it clear I hear him huffin and puffin catching up to me till the next jammed intersection. It's nice that more people are riding, but it's also dangerous that there are so many people out that have no idea how to ride in the city.
I noticed that too about the new cyclists. Some were wobbly and didn't know how to properly dismount (tip over onto one foot w/ butt still in seat), some were slow and some were jack rabbits that couldn't navigate traffic. I'm no speed demon (computer says 11 mph avg) and I still passed all of them. And at work, the locks I saw on some of the bikes...well let's just say I'm no thief and I was still eyeing some bikes cuz of the weak locks on them.

I love that you can't see the bikes in this picture.

Makes you wonder if New York is too dangerous to even walk without a helmet...

this morning I think I rode past more people that didn't know what they were doing than yesterday. Also I saw a large # of people pushing bikes. What's the purposes of that. Just funny.

is it just too crowded or something? more photographic evidence:
http://www.nynewsday.com/media/photo/2005-12/21074114.jpg
125 photos here: http://www.nynewsday.com/news/local/transportation/nyc-strike1214-gallery,0,3909609.photogallery

i really don't get to see any of this since i just go along the west side highway. some highlights i liked:
http://www.newsday.com/media/photo/2005-12/21059499.jpg
http://www.nynewsday.com/media/photo/2005-12/21067211.jpg
http://www.newsday.com/media/photo/2005-12/21057104.jpg
is that a fixie up front?
http://www.nynewsday.com/media/photo/2005-12/21042884.jpg
i want that 'dana!

so which one of you jerks is the guy on the red track bike that cut me off at Jay and Fulton yesterday? You were making a *big* point of passing me at Llivingston and then you quick-cut across three lanes of traffic right in front of me. *I* was holding a perfect line, it should be noted, and was proceeding cautiously. I *should* have hit you (which since I am huge would have hurt your scrawny ass a lot) but I swerved and hit a nice british lady walking across the crosswalk instead. In the process I somehow broke both my cleats, making it so that I couldn't go more than 5mph or so the rest of the way to work. Thanks!

Just a note: I commute by bike pretty much every day, year round. My feeling is that you don't. So here is a tip: when there are a bagillion peds *and* traffic backed up in all directions, *and* 5-10x as many bikes around as normal it is not a good time to decide that you are in an alleycat. Especially when you f with me. Had we crashed we could have fallen in front of opposing traffic and been killed. As it stands my having to apologize to a nice lady for something that was your stupid fault and then noticing that when I tried to stop at the light at Tillary that my cleats were broken and that I could, in fact, *not* stop.... well that really pissed me off. Keep up the good work.

That is all.

Oh, and regarding all the people in those pics pushing their bikes -- they are making people walk their bikes on the BB in the mornings. Take the north side of the Manhattan instead. Not that there weren't a lot of people pushing their bikes up the Manhattan B this morning I guess because they were out of shape.

so which one of you jerks is the guy on the red track bike that cut me off at Jay and Fulton yesterday? You were making a *big* point of passing me at Llivingston and then you quick-cut across three lanes of traffic right in front of me. *I* was holding a perfect line, it should be noted, and was proceeding cautiously. I *should* have hit you (which since I am huge would have hurt your scrawny ass a lot) but I swerved and hit a nice british lady walking across the crosswalk instead. In the process I somehow broke both my cleats, making it so that I couldn't go more than 5mph or so the rest of the way to work. Thanks!

Just a note: I commute by bike pretty much every day, year round. My feeling is that you don't. So here is a tip: when there are a bagillion peds *and* traffic backed up in all directions, *and* 5-10x as many bikes around as normal it is not a good time to decide that you are in an alleycat. Especially when you f with me. Had we crashed we could have fallen in front of opposing traffic and been killed. As it stands my having to apologize to a nice lady for something that was your stupid fault and then noticing that when I tried to stop at the light at Tillary that my cleats were broken and that I could, in fact, *not* stop.... well that really pissed me off. Keep up the good work.

That is all.

another dumbass: i'm alone, riding up 1st with the lights, holding my line, some dozy chic is jaywalking across the road, completely and utterly oblivious to anything going on around her. i adjust my line to go behind her rather than startle her out of her reverie, at the last moment she looks up, jumps out of her skin and tries to leap backwards, staright *into* my path, i try to adjust, she tries to adjust but all she does is jump back in my path.
this is one of those split-second situations we all know and love. anyway i kinda hit her bag and that's all. would have been the stupidest spill ever though. solitary bike vs solitary ped in a completely traffic-free 4 lane avenue.
i'm just amazed at the degree to which people put their faith *solely* in their sense of hearing; this chic was completely unaware of her surroundings, walking across an avenue intersection with the traffic firmly light on green.

...at the last moment she looks up, jumps out of her skin and tries to leap backwards, staright *into* my path, i try to adjust, she tries to adjust but all she does is jump back in my path.

it's actually always better to cut in FRONT of someone than behind, as most ppl will instinctively either STOP in their tracks and/or walk BACKWARDS. you'll notice you do this too when on two feet..

so which one of you jerks is the guy on the red track bike that cut me off at Jay and Fulton yesterday? You were making a *big* point of passing me at Llivingston and then you quick-cut across three lanes of traffic right in front of me. *I* was holding a perfect line, it should be noted, and was proceeding cautiously. I *should* have hit you (which since I am huge would have hurt your scrawny ass a lot) but I swerved and hit a nice british lady walking across the crosswalk instead. In the process I somehow broke both my cleats, making it so that I couldn't go more than 5mph or so the rest of the way to work. Thanks!

Just a note: I commute by bike pretty much every day, year round. My feeling is that you don't. So here is a tip: when there are a bagillion peds *and* traffic backed up in all directions, *and* 5-10x as many bikes around as normal it is not a good time to decide that you are in an alleycat. Especially when you f with me. Had we crashed we could have fallen in front of opposing traffic and been killed. As it stands my having to apologize to a nice lady for something that was your stupid fault and then noticing that when I tried to stop at the light at Tillary that my cleats were broken and that I could, in fact, *not* stop.... well that really pissed me off. Keep up the good work.

That is all.


Yeah, unfortunately saw quite a lot of this kind of thing today and yesterday, including an overanxious speed demon cutting off a group of struggling newbies doing their level best to negotiate Jay street while trying to get onto the Manhattan Bridge on the Brooklyn side. Now I know those Magna-riding executive assistants are stiff competition and all, but drop em' somewhere else, eh?

yea my thing was to just get out of her way and keep it moving, also not to startle anyone either. i didn't expect her to see me at all

Noumena9, arent you the one riding red track bike?
usually i would chase some silly roadies if they pass me but not in this traffic. i almost got doored 3 times today! those guys got no imagination. i just let them go. i understand how they feel. first time on the streets in traffic. they feel like....rookies :D

it's actually always better to cut in FRONT of someone than behind, as most ppl will instinctively either STOP in their tracks and/or walk BACKWARDS. you'll notice you do this too when on two feet.. they will take the steps back if they see you. if you try to pass in front they will try to run forward lol.

i hate midtown!

oh man, life on the roads this morning was rough. 5th and madison are both open to traffic now, with one lane being blocked off as an emergency lane and bikes aren't allowed to use it. even more people out on bikes than yesterday and way less room for them. the cones that were blocking bike lanes are mostly gone now after being mauled by cars and dragged off.

riding up 1st i passed a guy on a folding bike. when my girlfriend, who was just a bit behind me, went to pass him he suddenly stopped and got off his bike clipping her and causing her to fall into the right lane of traffic. luckily no one was coming, but she fell on her ass and hurt her tailbone. we had to walk from 23rd to 53rd... bummer.