Northeast - Summer Streets, '09

Anyone going this Sat? 8/22

I'll be there.

Yah, I'm going to try to go if the weather holds up. :D

Yah, I'm going to try to go if the weather holds up. :D

Cool - I'm marshaling riders in from Astoria at 8:30-9ish, I'll look for you!:thumb:

So sad, wish I was around for this final weekend.

Cool - I'm marshaling riders in from Astoria at 8:30-9ish, I'll look for you!:thumb:

What's the route you plan on taking once you get into Manhattan? Are you hitting uptown first or heading downtown then back uptown? Let me know and I'll try to meet up with you. Hope to see you there! :thumb:

I didn't realize it ended at 2. At least I got a ride in. CP was just a zoo when I got there and I felt I had a better chance of actually riding hard back in Prospect Park so I headed back there. Overall I did 35 miles.

Neither did I. I rolled onto Park Avenue at about 5:00 P.M., and was confused by the lack of bikes and plethora of taxi-cabs...lol.

Saw more accidents today than last week, mostly collisions due to inattentiveness or over aggressiveness. Also witnessed some aggro riders cutting off peds. Seriously? You wanna ride fast, go ride in regular traffic. Summer streets isn't the place for that BS.

Agreed: the streets are crowded, and are occupied by people with a broad range of experience on a bicycle. Pedaling like a psychopath in the Summer Streets program is a very bad idea.

I wasn't there last week but I thought it seemed less crowded, less intense, than last year, which is probably the way it should be. I also thought things seemed to go a bit smoother and more organized - like the City is beginning to get the routine down. The streets were easily divided for bikes and peds, and the cops actually kept the streets open a bit longer for people to get back downtown. None of that "all bikes on the sidewalk" nonsense like we had last year five minutes before the streets were due to open to traffic.

Wait, why would you be ushered onto the sidewalk just because motor traffic is re-entering the street? Aren't you supposed to be allowed to ride with cars...?

I started this week around 8am. Definitely the way to go to avoid the crowded streets. Last week I didn't start until around 10am and it was really packed. I saw someone being loaded into an ambulance this past Saturday. Not sure if it was a bike accident or a sick-related thing though.

I felt last year's event had more fitness classes and performances than this year though. I didn't even really stop to watch anything. Oh and the helmets they are giving out for free this year are so much prettier than the lime and red ones from last year :)

Next week's the last week and kinda sad about that. I wish they can do this event for more weeks.

They're not lime and red, anymore!? How do they look?

Wait, why would you be ushered onto the sidewalk just because motor traffic is re-entering the street? Aren't you supposed to be allowed to ride with cars...?

Exactly ;)

Good old new yorker speaking there lol. I'm the same, I ride CP early mornings or after 7pm if I'm going for a late night hammer session. It's usually the best time to ride CP, weekend or week day.

Overall, I think the "summer streets" program is a great idea, however, I think there are some flaws that could be improved upon. As a far cry, it would be awesome to see summer streets on the west side highway. This would mean that the center of the city could operate as normal and afford cyclist and vendor set ups a long the green way. It will probably cause too much tunnel and bridge traffic but all routes can easily go into and out of the city by avoiding the westside hway.

One can dream right...

I think that's an awful idea. The Hudson River Greenway is a year-round "Summer Streets," and it's right by the West-Side Highway — why the hell would anyone want the event to be held on the latter? Park Avenue is a great choice, as it's large, naturally divided for uptown–downtown traffic, and on the east side (which sorely lacks bike-friendly streets).

Exactly ;)

Ahh...gotcha — :mad:.

What's the route you plan on taking once you get into Manhattan? Are you hitting uptown first or heading downtown then back uptown? Let me know and I'll try to meet up with you. Hope to see you there! :thumb:

well, TA canceled the feeder rides as of last night due to rainy forecasts....I'll still try to ride in if it looks nice at some point, but if it is mostly gloomy I will probably skip it...:(

well, TA canceled the feeder rides as of last night due to rainy forecasts....I'll still try to ride in if it looks nice at some point, but if it is mostly gloomy I will probably skip it...:(

Checked the forecast... 70% chance of thunderstorms and rain until 11am at which point it's 50% chance of rain all day. It's not looking too bad right now but it be careful if you venture out. Some of the thunderstorms could be nasty. Be safe. :)

Since I live only a few blocks away I went anyway. Turn-out was much lower than other weeks and having volunteers yelling "it's raining" every time a few drops fell from the sky didn't help.

Bixi (http://montreal.bixi.com/accueil/bixi-accueil) had a bike share station there so people could get a sense of what bike share is all about. But despite the bad weather it still didn't seem to last long enough. Now, I guess we'll just have to hope there's another Summer Streets next year.

shoot, I never made a single one this year:( (Did two of three last year and was only stopped by several flats the first morning!)

Yeah, I'll be looking forward to next year's....

I too, live right by the start.
contemplated whether to ride or not but I still did at the same time
as the other days, got out before 9AM.
it was much less crowded, route still wet with on and off showers.
I bet it was easy renting a NYC400 bike, saw some of the kid's model,
looks like a folding bike without the fold and had a bottle genset perfect
for this rainy weather.
The free DOT helmet fitting has visors this week, really nice.

Yeah, I'll be looking forward to next year's....

Only if Bloomberg gets elected to a third term. From what I've read Bill Thompson isn't too big on the current DOT policies.

So that was an UNcrowded Summer Streets? Can't imagine how a more crowded situation would really work. I went out and had a lot of fun -- it was cool cruising Park Avenue without even any parked cars. Basically one giant MUP, with all the pluses and minuses.