bicycles

This morning I thought I'd film a short bit of my ride to class. When the weather is good it is a nice ride.

A sandstorm ripped through Beijing today.

I have been in China now for about 3 months and I finally purchased my very own bike. Although its the middle of winter and I can't ride it that often it is still nice to own a bike. Beijing is the "Kingdom of Bicycles" and I LOVE IT. Now if it'll stay that way with car ownership on the rise I don't know but I hope it will.

After spending two weeks in Scandinavia and using many of the city bicycles I became a bit lazy in my bike riding. The standard bicycle in Europe is considered old-school in America. They are typical 1 or 3 speed cycles with *gasp* coaster brakes.

Yup that old-school pedal backwards style is all the rage throughout Europe.

We arrived back in New York for one of the final days of the Bicycle Film festival. We're heading out to see whats left of the festival.

I wanted to bring my bike to NAB this year but I didn't want to pay the $75 surcharge (each way) nor did I have an "official" bike bag. I borrowed a duffel bag from a friend and stuffed my bike inside. I sent it as though it were normal cargo and not a "bike". Worked great!

Another late, late night at the office led into a wonderful late-night/early morning ride. I jumped on my bike at 1:15am this morning and headed north from Columbus circle (59th & Amsterdam) up to home in Hamilton heights (the 150s). The great thing about riding past 1am on a Thursday night is that the roads are clear, by New York standards, and the nights are pretty clear. The bad thing about riding past 1am on any night are toe trucks and private-garbage collectors.

Now I'm not a fearless cyclist but I do pretty well on most city streets. I'll ride fast through Times-Square area, mid-town, financial district, wherever dodging cabs, pedestrians and city buses. They may be a little scary but truthfully I tend to trust the cabbies.

Toe Trucks on the other hands those drivers are freakin' crazy. They drive these 4 ton hunks of rotting steal at break-neck (or break-bike) speeds with little regard for stopping distance or side-clearance. I don't know what they make in commission but it obviously must be worth more than a human life at the speed.

The only thing scarier than a toe truck, however, is a private garbage collector truck. These 20ton hunks of rusted, rotting, putrid smelling steel drive faster than the toe trucks, stop without warning, and turn corners without signaling. The only thing that makes them remotely safe is that you can hear them bouncy up and down the roadway from about 2 miles away; which gives you about 10 seconds to move. This early warning system, however, is about soothing as hearing the sound of Godzilla in downtown Tokyo.

They are freakin' scary

Fortunately I only ran into a single private garbage collector truck and it was stopped so I was able to step up my speed and get the heck away from it as fast as possible (I'm serious, I book it when I see them). My ride was pretty relaxing considering the fact that it was 1:15am and I just got done working 14 hours at work.

The ride through the upper west side was nice and there were not very many cars to contend. Although I did ride in the far left side of the lane to avoid the pesky cab hailing pedestrians that tend to wander out into the middle of the street. I didn't feel tired until I hit the small hill in the early 100s and then my lack of sleep really hit me at 125th where I had to gain a hundred feet or so of altitude in ten or so blocks. Oh man you get a good workout on those hills when you ride a fixie.

The best and worst part of the night was the very end of the ride. Just past 145 street I was riding alongside a tour bus and a minivan cab. I didn't notice for a block or so but the cabbie was motioning to me to race him.

Now I'm a sucker so.. I did it. Starting at 146th I raced a cab to about 148th street where I pulled ahead of him, put on some more speed and pulled ahead of the tour bus too. At 150th they got stuck behind a red light and I sailed ahead. Mainly because I was going so fast that I couldn't stop. I took a left turn at 151st, jumped off my bike, headed inside and then.....

felt like I was going to puke. I might have won the race but I destroyed my body.

it was fun! :)

24 Cyclists were killed in 2005 and 14 cyclists were killed in 2006 on the streets on New York City. Although 10 less people died in 2006 it shouldn't be viewed as a mark of improvement. 2 cyclists were run down on a car free bike path in 2006 which demonstrates that cyclists are not safe anywhere in new York City. In a city where traffic congestion costs the city 13 billion a year* and over 150,000 people ride their bike everyday bicycling should be safer.

Watch the video then come out to the ride. I will see you there.

*Read the PDF:

I had my last meeting with the CCRB (Civilian Complaint Review Board) this morning regarding my complaint against Lt. Albano of the NYPD. After the meeting I decided to head out to Staten Island because I've never been there before.

Check out the video.. its in MP4 so.. get yourself some Quicktime.

On the last friday of February I decided to ride, for the first time, in New York City's Critical Mass. Of course the ride, like all cities, is not sponsored nor encouraged by the city but New York definitely has a unique approach to Critical Mass.

If you are unsure what Critical Mass is and you either (a) ride a bike, (b) drive a car or (c) breathe you need to learn more. Google Critical Mass, Now!