it sounds like the bottom line is: albany is for mediocre academic women and their whipped boyfriends/fiances

That stings.

not quite but I <3 your effort. :love:

i haven't had time to read the whole thread so i don't know how many of you live in albany, but if you could ALL please drop me an email at mikerexhouse@earthlink.net

i would love to get together with some fixed riders, i live in albany!

My Grandma lives in Albany. F-ck there is nothing to do there. It's boring, PLUS you have to put up with the NY winters. Ugh.

and kids who may or may not be going to med school there?
the only other place in ny i applied is valhalla, which i guess is only 30 minutes from nyc
then i went for 2 places in dc, 3 in philly, 4 in chicago...

Come to syr witha ll the cool kids!

all fixed gear people in syracuse, we must convene!

It looks like there is a small Albany (at least area) group here!

I'm down south in the City of Kingston, and I'm the only fixed rider on the street that I have ever seen.

I grew up in Tillson, and went to high school at KHS. I never rode a bike in Kingston when I was growing up, but it must be a challenge - the roads are not exactly bike friendly.

kevinsubaru - *points, laughs* My boyfriend used to work in Kingston. Seems like a decent enough place, but what a hellish drive, even in his fabulous Subarus. He was a project engineer on the FDR library; what a nightmare.

EDIT: Also, I hate UBB code. :P

Saratoga is nice for three months a year. a bit better than Albany. I used to go to school up there too. All I can say is.......it sucked.

hot as hell all summer and frigid as a mother****er all winter. Short Springs and Falls too.

The best part about the Capital District Region (AKA the Armpit of NY) is that it is a short drive to VT.

kind of like how a herpes is a lot better than aids. I mean, Western NY is the rock bottom.

maybe it's just because i've lived in the general area my whole life... but you guys just don't know how nice this area is... next to albany you have columbia and dutchess counties, both of which have a lot of historical value and beautiful BEAUTIFUL biking routes. albany itself isn't exactly the greatest city in the world, but it has more than most people would ever require... it's just not the type of place that you go to and say, "wow, this is a great city!"... you have to dig a little deeper.

maybe it's just because i've lived in the general area my whole life... but you guys just don't know how nice this area is... next to albany you have columbia and dutchess counties, both of which have a lot of historical value and beautiful BEAUTIFUL biking routes. albany itself isn't exactly the greatest city in the world, but it has more than most people would ever require... it's just not the type of place that you go to and say, "wow, this is a great city!"... you have to dig a little deeper.

Michael, you hit the nail on the head....you definately have to dig a little deeper and open your eyes a little to appreciate what we have here.

As for Kingston being bike friendly, well, it isn't very, and that is why I stick to the woods mostly. People here don't share the road like they should, so you can't really zip around without a care in the world...always 200% attention, and thats for geared bikes, fixies, and everything else that has tires and pedals. That being said, 5 miles to my west is "Forever Wild" forest (most of Ulster county is the Catskill Park) which I recreate in frequently, I live in a populated area with lots of arts/culture, and if I feel the need, I can be in Boston in 3 hours or hop on MetroNorth and get into NYC.

I graduated college in 2004 and came back to this place. I said "Hey, people vacation here...how bad can it be!?!?"

Take care,
Kevin

only the homeless and destitute vacation in Albany.

I lived in Albany for 4 years. Yes, there is some beautiful countryside. Yes, there are a lot of beautiful bike rides. Yes, Crossgates is a good mall when you need to get your shopping done.

There is still absolutely jack**** to do in Albany. There are rides just as beautiful within 20 minutes of NYC, Boston, Seattle, San Fran, and most every other city in the US with a halfway decent nightlife. I've found that the people who love Albany are the ones who haven't been to enough other places. If you love the countryside, move to Vermont or Colorado or Montana. If you love the city, dear God move to a city! All Albany has going for it is highest crime rates in NY in the surrounding towns (Troy, Schenectady, Waterford) and its proximity to VT skiing.

rknj, Curt Kurt - Damn, you people must be boring. Go back to your anonymous ticky-tacky nightclubs with gonorrhea on the barstool seats. I'll take the Adirondacks. Nice people, pleasant area, cheap living, and a 0% ****** rating for participants of the Crit Mass last night.

Oh, and you're afraid of a little bit of Capital Region winter? You wusses. It's warmer and drier in winter than it ever was when I lived in Chicago. Summer's a little more humid, yeah, but it's no Florida. Get on your bike and ride, your so-called 'pain' is merely weakness leaving the body.

Again, Albany's not the greatest city in the world (greatness is centered at 35th and Shields in Chicago), but it's a nice little city. And if you couldn't find anything to do here or in the surrounding area, you're either dull or daft.

exactly, soze.

plus, this thread isn't about dissing albany... it's about compiling a list of dudes and dudettes who wanna ride in albany.

i can't believe your still talking about albany.

I actually hate nightclubs, I was talking more along the lines of convenient high-quality live entertainment. Shows, plays, hell, even street performers! Things to do in the actual city as opposed to going out into the wilderness which you can do just about anywhere. Oh, and winter in Albany sucks because it's dirty, the roads suck, the drivers suck more, and it's an hour to any mountain worth the lift ticket.

And it's not so much not being able to find anything to do in Albany, it's not being able to find anything NEW to do there after living there a while. You can do everything worth doing in that city in a year.

whatever man, nothing is across the board anyway. what's good for one is bad for another.

i just moved here this last summer for school.

i used my road bike everyday when i was in california and now i'm getting into fixed gear and would like to meet some people to ride, learn, drink and smoke with.

i'm not gonna **** on albany (because i have to be here for a while!). there are definitely some chill spots around from what i've seen from riding around - i'm just having trouble fitting in or something. hit me up if you want to go for a ride!

wow im surprised to see so many albany riders. ive lived here (well capital region area anyway. clifton park to be exact) all my life and hated it until i want to school on long island. now i dont mind it so much. yeah the winters and summers are pretty brutal and yeah albany isnt as great as nyc but it isnt bad if you know people and you know the area. there is **** to do here, you just have to find it, or like other people are saying, make it yourself.

You make your own fun. There weren't any races going on here so I started writing them. Now we've actually got sponsors and prizes and a fairly consistent core of racers.

And every cyclist ought to learn how to handle winter. Buy some tires, get some real gloves. It makes you stronger.