There and Back...
 

Enjoy these highlights of my morning ride to work, and my night ride back!

Very cool. Thanks for that! What did you use to film your exploits?

Around 1:10 on the way home I couldn't see a thing ahead of you. Time for a new light?

My camera is a 1st Gen Contour Roam. I think the newer ones do a little better in the dark. My main light is a Niterider 500. It is more than bright enough and lights up the street like a motorcycle headlamp. I was showing a co-worker and he said that in the video the light doesn't look as bright as in real life and I agree. It is possible that I accidentally had the light on low, or it had switched itself to low which it does when it gets down to a certain battery level, except it has never done that, and I had just charged the unit 2 days before. So my first guess is the camera is not sensitive enough, and my second guess is I accidentally put the light on a lower power setting. Here are the specs: Product: NiteRider MiNewt.500 Cordless LED Headlight

Hey, those were fun! You're a good video producer.

It's clear you feel lucky you can commute by bike. How many miles is it?

You started when the sun was low on the horizon and went home after it had set. Seems like a long work day!

You live in a quiet city. Traffic is mild, and very few people travel on foot. Maybe I'll take videos of what it's like here, though there are probably plenty of NYC bike videos available. It's madness, I tell you.

But we are both lucky we can travel by bike. I just had some stress tests done at a cardiologist. It appears that I'm in good health, thanks to all my time on bike.

Cool video! I like to watch videos of peoples commutes sometimes, and these are pretty good.

@noglider- I'd love to see some vids of your commute. The biggest fear I had to overcome was riding in traffic for the first time since I was a kid. I was petrified until I finally just rode in. I live in a pretty small town, and I couldn't imagine trying to commute around NYC.

I don't have a video camera, though I do have a recent-model ipad mini and an old iphone 4. I think I would do better to dig up some youtube videos. Let me see what I can find.

This is the first hit from typing "cycling on NYC streets" into youtube. A visitor takes shots on the bike. Very nice. He seems not disturbed by all the mayhem, especially all the pedestrians who enter the bike lane obliviously.

Most streets in Manhattan are one-way, and the bike lanes are on the left side. It takes getting used to for some people. As you can see, there is a hazard from left-turning motor vehicles. They aren't yet used to the fact that they should yield to the traffic in the lane to the left of them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0CKr0UXQsM

My Commuted Commute

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADUhqva9PwU

Official Selection of
2011 Bicycle Film Festival and Bike Shorts 13

cool videos. i think the songs fit each video well. was that one day? or different days. if it was one day that was one LOONG day at the office.

Great vids. All of them.

For the NYC vids, those people just walking in the bike lanes would drive me absolutely nuts!

Thanks for the comments! I am very fortunate that as Colorado Springs has grown over my 22 years here, traffic has moved away from my routes. Last month my wife and I just visited my daughter in Greenwich Village, NYC. Plenty of bicycles and bike infrastructure, but it did not look fun. Two of my three routes are just at 9 miles. The third, which only became a safe alternative after some roadwork two years ago, is 7 miles, but only into work, as the roadway in the opposite direction did not receive the same shoulder upgrades...specifically a bridge with a low railing.

They do drive me nuts. I have actually had tantrums over this. I am not proud of what I did! I lost control.

I should see if I can find videos that highlight the behavior. In the evening rush hour, 8th Ave becomes extra crowded, and people head toward Penn Station (for trains) and Port Authority Bus Terminal. The sidewalks are full, so people walk in the bike lane. Many of them enter without looking. Many of them have music pumped into both their ears. They appear to have regard for no one's safety, including their own, not to mention courtesy.

As a result, I have started using the Hudson River Greenway bike path more, even when it adds distance or time. It is the best place in Manhattan to ride. I'm lucky that I live two blocks from it, and it takes me to many places I need to go. Movement is downright orderly, compared with the rest of Manhattan, and the scenery is breathtaking.

Wait, it's fall already?? Man we still have high temps in the 80's 'round here! :P

How long have you been commuting OP, you have pretty good lane position and lane control from what I can tell.

I am extremely skeptical f bike lanes for all the reasons in that video. Motorists should be responsible and aware enough to drive sharing the road, and so should cyclists.

I could probably plan bike lanes in nyc better than they have it done, and i don't even live there.

Someone at the climate march on sept 21 asked me if they had bike lanes etc where i live and i was like "nah, we don't really need them, we just need safer roads and more driver education" Adding that "theres a bunch of people that ride unsafely on the crowded and obstructed sidewalks without helmets often, but they are usually kids or fair weather riders". The lady said "yea, i have no idea why people are so afraid to simply ride on a surface intended for 2, 3 and 4 wheeled vehicles". :)

- Andy

I really need to get a camera..... You guise might have new appreciation for the BS i have to confront every time i leave my driveway. :D

- Andy

I have been biking since being a Chicago kid in the 60s and 70s, but here in Colorado Springs since 1992. In fact, I have had essentially the same commute for 22 years.

@TransitBiker, I used to feel the same as you. The bike lanes are very far from perfect, but the effect has been good. We still need to be very careful. NYC is a dangerous place in traffic. But things have improved, partly in thanks to the bike lanes. If you spent some time in them, you might agree.

Traffic looks pretty calm in COS. We have an office down there and back when the FREX was in service, I'd load my bike on it and take it with me down to the office. Even without the infrastructure, riding in COS was fairly nice.

Neat videos, noglider. NYC doesn't look too terrible. I get people walking in front of me when I ride through "downtown" Endicott occasionally, but I think the taxis and trucks parked in the bike lanes would drive me up the wall.