Bikes, Bikes, and More Bikes
By Jenn | May 1, 2008
Spring is in the air, and with it comes bicycles! Seems like it’s time to dust off my bike, inflate my winter-flats, and start two-wheeling it again… and that’s a lovely thing. Biking in NYC is quite literally a death-defying act, but the benefits are so darn rewarding– great exercise, fewer cars, less pollution, and happier people. I’ve been thinking about buying a new (used) bike expressly for city riding, but perhaps with a few modifications my current steel stallion might work out just fine.
Here are a few recent biking tidbits from around the internets…
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Straight from our nations’ capital: Bicycle-Sharing Program to Be First of Kind in U.S.:
“A new public-private venture called SmartBike DC will make 120 bicycles available at 10 spots in central locations in the city. The automated program, which district officials say is the first of its kind in the nation, will operate in a similar fashion to car-sharing programs like Zipcar.”
Unverified rumors report that Madison, WI already has a bikesharing program, so it’s not entirely clear if the D.C. venture is indeed the “First of Kind in U.S.” Either way, this is a landmark program which will pave the way for future bikeshares. Sure, it’s entirely sponsored by Clear Channel, which is a little creepy… but corporate-sponsored creepy seems to be how the world rolls these days.
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NYC:
- Some recent encouraging NYC biking stats, from Transportation Alternatives:
- NYC gets its first physically-separated bike lane [video!]
- 35 miles of new bike lanes were installed in the past year, with an additional 55 planned for the remainder of the year
- 700 new bike racks have been installed on city streets, with some even replacing car parking spaces
- May is Bike Month! “Bike Month celebrates the fun, convenience and ease of cycling in NYC. Cycling is good for you, good for the environment and good for New York City.” Click here for an entire month’s worth of cool bike activities.
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Sign a petition to convince Google Maps to provide “Bike There” directions! [link via NotMartha]
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Bikepooling: An AWESOME idea!
“Bikepooling is the practice of riding your bike in the company of at least one other cyclist…
…bikepooling shares carpooling’s benefit of social interaction and brings a whole other set of benefits to the table—increased visibility on the road, improved respect from other road users, and cooperative adventuring. If driving a car is a passive, rote task; and riding a bike is about actually living your life; then bikepooling is a way to share the daily adventure of bike commuting with someone, to learn how to be safe and fun together, to try new routes and get into the groove of familiar ones, to laugh and play together while being ambassadors for a safer, cleaner, happier city.”
The Bikepooling website has just recently launched, but hopefully it will start getting more traction soon and more people will start bikepools. Seems like all of the current bikepools are in Cali, but I’m going to start one for NYC and see if anyone turns up. I’d LOVE to hook up with a cyclist nearby– it would make my bike commute from Brooklyn to Gramercy safer and more fun.
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Related Posts:
- On Bikelanes
- Benefits of a Bicycle
- Bike parking in Brooklyn — bye bye cars!
- Bikesharing in Lyon, France
[Image by via tanakawho via Creative Commons]
Topics: Activism, Health, Transportation |
Biking in NYC is a great thing. A bit crazy at times, but so much fun.
There are a lot of resources adn activities going on out there.
Keep in mind that the NYPD *actively* targets cyclists especially on the last Friday of every month due to Critical Mass.
Critical Mass is a non-organized “mass” bike ride that happens monthly. Typically folks meet around 7pm at the north end of Union Square park (where the farmer’s market is held). Numbers can range from 5 to thousands of riders but last I went was typically 20-100 if it wasn’t a special event.
While I fully 100% support Critical Mass and miss it since I moved east, if you are planning to join in, be prepared. Know your legal rights (check the ACLU for info), know the current law about the number of bikes allowed to ride together (shockingly low) without a parade permit. Be prepared to spend a night in jail - not a joke.
Google the documentary Still We Ride for a good story.
Another good resrouce on city cycling (not just Critical Mass stuff) is Time’s up NY
One of many on Police tactics vs cyclists in NYC.
The NY TImes had a great video series on police conspiracy vs cyclists and protesters during the 2004 GOP convention in NYC too but I can’t locate it anymore.
Lots of scary & interesting stuff going on out there with bikes and cops.
But I truly don’t mean to discourage. Just fire you up :)
Hey, if you ever want to meet up for a ride, give a shout! That would be wonderful. :)
ack, sorry must have left an html tag open and borked the links/post above. No edit options!
I think I’ve got it taken care of! let me know if I mismanaged your links.
I started bike commuting to downtown Kansas City late March of this year and I love it. We are a car town and I find that biking is so much more social. I like the fact that it is a less complicated commute. I can just roll right our of our building and be on my way. Driving means I have to walk a block and half and down 4 flights of stairs just to get my car. After that there is the battle with traffic to merge onto the street and get out of downtown. Bikes can slip by so much of that.
Apparently it’s called the “red bike program” and I can’t find any links (the bike store that runs it doesn’t keep a website!), but you go to Budget Bicycle and you get a free bike and lock for six months at a time. Technically the DC program is the first of it’s kind because they actually charge you :)
[…] Speaking of Bikes! May is Bike Month in the USA! did you know that Friday May 16th is National Bike to Work Week? Check out some of the […]