metronycbike

hi ,
are there any bicycle advocate groups north of nyc? Looking for Westchester,Putnam, Rockland and orange for a start.
i know the nycc does a lot of riding through nyack and piermount so their members do get involved in the issues that affect them on their routes.
There doesn't seem to be any voice for bicyclist in Westchester.
city groups have their hands full and it would be over stretching their resources for them to get involved in the areas up north. I know there are bicycle clubs in Westchester , but AFAIK their message boards are restricted to members only, so they are not a inclusive medium. bicycle clubs do not always make the best advocates since they usually have fund raiser rides on public roads, so they cannot politically be too outspoken about issues.
i ride on route 9 between Tarrytown and Yonkers and believe that with some bicyclist advocacy in the area it could become a bike route to parallel the nyc to nyack route. this is a short video i took of a problem area between Tarrytown and iIrvington NY that is going to get worse without bicyclist input.
please excuse the horrible editing , i will correct it as i get time, my computer was crashing. i think it does show the problem somewhat though.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=jDQFv_H5IpQ

https://stopdangerousdriving.wordpress.com/

stevesurf

Try the Westchester Cycle Club - good luck! fyi I am in Yonkers

https://www.westchestercycleclub.org/about.php

metronycbike

westchester cycle club is a good club , but not really an advocate club.
i know they worked on getting share the road signs installed, but i believe their hands would be tied politically as they need so many approvals from local agencies to do their annual westchester ride. the WCC does not do many rodes in yonkers they try an find less traveled congested roads. th eproblem is since there is no voice, bicycle unfriendly decisions are made when new development ,t and roads are put in. their online resource are only for dues paying members. i am looking for a more open to all advocacy group. the city has plenty and they do good work, there is a sense of community.
there are so many items that need to be tacked that are not bike friendly in westchester rockland. harriman state park is one area. the roads need repaving, not more tar patches. Shuttle buses from cold spring train station should be provided for the hikers and bikers. the seven lakes drive speed limit should be reduced to no more than 30 mph, the emphasis should be on the human powered park users, not the current motor vehicle short cut. the palisade park commission actually outlaws the use of most small vespa type motor scooters in its parks. only real gas guzzling motorcycles are allowed. harriman state park has regs against walking along the roadway, the park roads are for cars.... crazy car culture in th epipc needs to be worked against.

Jrather

It is indeed a pretty bad situation. The culture here sees bicycles as an anomaly. I live in Ossining and sometimes ride on the portion of Route 9 from Ossining to Croton-on-Hudson, but you'll never catch me on Route 9 through Sleepy Hollow. No way. There is no shoulder, traffic moves at 50+mph for several miles, and drivers have only contempt for a person on a bike. There are some major roads that make accommodation for bikes, such as Route 100, but frankly Westchester County DOT is not with the program when it comes to making the thoroughfares here for pedestrians and bikes. Many roads are very narrow, yet full of high speed vehicle traffic.

FWIW, I work as an urban planner and we are doing what we can in the municipality in which I work to make bicycles a viable mode of transit. It doesn't help when the local school district rips out the bike racks behind all of the schools to keep kids from riding their bikes. The lack of shoulders on so many roads here is just a huge, huge problem, and the cost of acquiring the rights of way from local property owners to add shoulders on to these roads is completely prohibitive... not to mention the political fallout that would occur from any local government who tried this.

dendawg

Rocland Bicycle Club
https://www.rocklandbike.org/index.php

metronycbike

i just read the rockland web site, i went to the rules page and have a lot of disagreement with their interpretation of ny state bicycles rules and law.
so right off the bat we have a bike club that has incorrect and IMO propagating poor information. i know they mean well , but not a true advocacy group. i do not think stating on its web site that nys law says one must ride to the extreme right is the law, many times it is not the safest way to proceed, and taking the lane is safer. i also don'elieve a true advocate group would be worried and mandate the h stuff.( i just lost 85 percent of westchester cyclist here)
i noticed in dobbs ferry a new york sport club is going to open next to the south county trailway at Lawrence street. i also believe a new short bike/hike trail is going to be placed on the east side of the saw mill parkway from hastings.
i contacted the real estate office of nysc concerning the preconstruction incorporating of safe and secure bike parking, since it on the trailway. everybody that might be interested in this gym , should contact them. security is a prime consideration, since it is on the saw mill parkway, therefore bike thieves would have a quick getaway.
Gerard(period)Buckley(at)town(dash)sports(dot)thecommondomain, not want to get him on spam lists) is the closest i have gotten to a contact , he said he will forward my email to the real estate division

stevesurf

It sounds like you've got very specific goals for your interpretation of bicycling advocacy. Like anything else, support for specific causes will vary by region (which I am sure you realize already). In the little crowded County of Westchester, we have had some very nice cycling friendliness, that have been the direct result of Bicycling Advocacy:

- A major arterial road/parkway closed for bicycles (Bicycle Sunday on the Bronx River Parkway)

- One MUP stretches over 35 miles and covers some of the most beautiful scenery (South+North County Trailway)

Yes, I know, Cycling advocacy is not fulfilled just by MUP enhancement, but better by having safer, shared roads. Some things are just not easily done like in "Cycling Friendly" cities/regions like Portland or Tucson.

I celebrate the hard work that many have done in Westchester and would encourage you to do the same. If you do not wish to, then try supporting some larger advocacy groups like Times Up! or Transportation Alternatives that are always in need of volunteers.

metronycbike

i have been involved with times up and ta for quite a few years. that is more the type of cycling advocacy i am looking for in the Westchester Rockland orange area.
you are right i have a pretty narrow view of advocacy i won't argue that .
i have learned a lot from both those organizations, they planted the seed to want more in Westchester /Rockland,
the bike clubs , like all clubs tend to be devoted to club activities and promoting rides and riding, with some advocacy , that is their mission, nothing wrong with that
same with 5 bbc and nycc , i am also member of those, i thought the nycc was going to throw more of a fit over the repeated Summer closure of the south side pathway on the gwb the last two summers. i was kind of surprised they took that in stride, most of their rides go over the gwb. but nycc demographic is of a more fit athletic rider than the other nyc clubs. The whole gw bridge being closed to bicycles from midnight to early AM since the RNC is a huge defeat for all the bicycling organizations that have members that use the bridge.
the trailways south and North are interesting to ride once in a while, they get boring fast though, and still no bathrooms or water fountain on them, the restaurant in the park, the old Catina was supposed to be converted into a facility for south county trailway users a couple years a go. it already has everything needed. it is a restaurant , bathrooms , plumbing , electricity even parking. i pass by the south county trailway parking lot at the Hastings Yonkers border almost daily, The fact that most people feel they need to drive to a bike trail , even though they live within 3 miles of it, says volumes of the thinking and ride-ability of the local roads. a couple years ago i wouldn't have given this a second thought , it was a natural Westchester/Yonkers occurrence to drive to the start of the bike ride.

dendawg

The PANYNJ is an entity that answers to no one. :-) They could care less about the drivers who pay the tolls, so why should they care about cyclists and pedestrians.