Advocacy & Safety - Biking across town in NYC

So, I have my bike and have been using it mainly on a designated bike path. I ride less than a quarter of a mile on the main street before I get to the path. But, the other night I decide to go visit my brother across town via bicycle. The trip is about 1 mile across town and then half a mile uptown. Not a big deal. I'm pretty specific about following rules and I'm learned that you should follow the same rules that a car would follow on your bike. So, I ride across town and stop at every red light and wait for the green. Then, I'd stay near the curb but there are parked cars and I'm afraid that if I hug the cars, that will encourage drivers to whiz by me so instead I take the right lane (not the whole way, but on the stretch that is parked up). I know that drivers don't like to be slowed down but I was being careful to signal so everybody knew what I was up to but somehow I managed to irritate half the cars on the road and even got yelled at. Ugh - I hate riding on the streets. How do you other city dwellers do it!?!

Do you ride a fixed gear? :p j/k

Cars fly by me with inches to spare on my left a lot. I just had a soccer mom on a minivan fly by me at about 50 mph yesterday on the local expressway (Central Expressway, for those of you familiar w/ the South SF Bay). It woke me up, that's for sure.

When I see something I don't like, especially what you're describing, I usually take a slower ride (maybe even walk) on the sidewalk. I know, sidewalk=dangerous, but hey, at least we stay out of those New York taxi drivers' way! ;)

WELCOME Sally to the world of bike commuting in New York City. I've been bike commuting in Manhattan for the past two years and can tell you first hand that it is a technical course. My commute is about 40 blocks each day but it can get scary. Here is my advice.

1. Ride in a straight line ONLY - NEVER and I mean NEVER make a turn unless you turn your head to see is on your right side. There are times you might have to go over a pot hole to maintain position but that's better than getting hit from behind any day. Cars today are so slient that they could be inches away from you but you would never know the difference. The fact that cars might be 50 feet behind you makes no difference.

2. Use your neck - This is one reason why I don't use a rear view mirror is that drivers will be more cautious if they think your going to turn. Turning your head to see the traffic behind puts fear in a driver's heart since they think your going to make a turn and cannot predict your postion. As a result, they're not likely to fly by you at full speed. NEVER go around a parked car without looking behind. If you have to come to a full stop, do it.

3. Ride the bus lane - I ride on the bus lane on 5th and 2nd avenue. It's sometime better to ride with the buses than the cars and is the rule of the road according to DOT. Then again, Madison avenue is horrible during rush hour since there are too many buses in that one lane.

I happen to find it safter biking across town (Horizontal) than riding on the Avenues (Vertical). The cars going cross town are slowed down by grid lock so you just pass by them easily. Cars going on the avenues are at full speed trying to beat the lights. Much more dangerous in my opinion.

Yesterday a bus was honking the horn at me and got pissed that I couldn't do 45 MPH! I just took the lane ignoring him completely and raised my hand like "What do you want me to do?"

To which he responded by honking even LONGER!

Best of luck.

:lol:

Thanks Dahon.Steve - all good advice. I was wondering about getting a mirror so I could see what is behind me. I think that next time around, I may chose to ride cross town on a smaller one way street as opposed to 14th which is always so busy and hectic. One thing that made me wonder is that none of the other bikes on the road stopped because the light was red and would somehow circumvent the traffic in order to get to the otherside of the street. Part of me wanted to follow their lead but I figured I should get more accustomed to riding in the streets and not weave through traffic.

I just had a soccer mom on a minivan fly by me at about 50 mph yesterday on the local expressway

What the @%$# are you doing riding on an expressway??!!

There are people who hate mirrors and people who like them very much. I'm part of the latter group. A mirror gives you advance notice of how traffic behind you behaves. Of course, you should still turn the neck and look behind you when you change lanes, for instance.

Sometimes, when I see a car that could be a bit too close, I signal a left move as a preventative measure. It often works.

Originally posted by Dave Stohler
What the @%$# are you doing riding on an expressway??!!

Ironically, it's the only place where a trip from the Peninsula into the South Bay can be done without being ran over by traffic. The other long range option is a road called El Camino Real and I'd rather stay away from that highway. Central Expressway is a much better alternative because it has less traffic, less stop lights, and much wider shoulders (with no parked cars).

The soccer mom minivan flew by me because she was trying to make an exit, and there was an "exit only" lane that I was riding on the left side of (where the large solid white dashes are). She was aparently going too fast or I was going too slow (about 22 mph) and she saw the need to pass me before taking the inside lane.

She just passed a little too close. :rolleyes:

SiliValley's expressways are not limited-access freeways. Unfortunately, the way the place is laid out, most of the smaller residental streets dead-end in culs-de-sac, forcing bicyclists onto the major arterials in order to get from point A to point B. This is a generic problem in most of the country's newer suburbs; the only place I had a full grid of alternative low-speed roads was west-central Los Angeles.

>>>>>>One thing that made me wonder is that none of the other bikes on the road stopped because the light was red and would somehow circumvent the traffic in order to get to the otherside of the street. Part of me wanted to follow their lead but I figured I should get more accustomed to riding in the streets and not weave through traffic.<<<<<<

If you commute in Manhattan, you better respect the lights! I'm serious about that. The Police are giving tickets like candy during the morning rush hour. Two or three times a year, a zero tolerance on bikers comes into effect and hundreds of tickets are passed out. Yup.. You Guessed it. I have one. I'm going to fight it since the fines go up dramatically after the first offense.

I'm respecting the lights from now on but I never know when I might pass a light that turned red accidentially and get pulled over for a ticket. That's why I have to fight this ticket since the second offense is horrendous. These are some of the numbers

1st offense - $100.00 plus $30.00 surcharge
2nd offense - $200.00 plus $30.00 surcharge
3rd offense - $500.00 plus $30.00 surcharge

Respect those lights!

Holy Cow...those fines are huge! I'll definitely be careful- and i'm going to try out a mirror because I really feel like i don't always hear cars behind me- until they're practically on top of me!

I have a Third Eye mirror that clips on my glasses, which enables me to be continuously aware of the traffic behind me. Another advantage of the glasses mounted mirror, you can scan the traffic in several lanes by moving you head from side to side.

When passing parked cars you must keep your distance from them so you dont get doored. Also keep a watch for parked cars with people in them.

19 years ago I was in NYC for 10 weeks. I didnt find the motorists too aggressive, although my commute was only from Bayside to Lake Success. At the weekends I did a lot of sight seeing downtown, and had a most enjoyable time.