Expanding bike lanes, handing out free helmets and making lessons free: New York is making great strides in encouraging pedal power at the expense of exhaust fumes, even if some cyclists are still nervous about navigating bottleneck traffic.
For years, the city of 8.5 million—which has the most extensive public transport network in the United States—stood and watched the bike boom take off in European capitals.
In 2013, then billionaire mayor Michael Bloomberg launched the Citi Bike sharing scheme and since then, New York has seen the fastest growth rate in cycle use of any big US city.
"The city has come a long ways in terms of having a much stronger commitment to promoting bicycling," says Rich Conroy, education director for Bike New York, a non-profit organization that encourages safe cycling.
"People realize we can't grow as a city by building more streets and adding more cars," explained Conroy.
Get exercise time in, lose weight, get to work, and save money all at the same time. What's not to love?
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Wednesday November 22 2017, @08:55AM (2 children)
Can't fit a holder for supersized soda cans on a bicycle frame.
Where's the sweet sense of the won victory [wikipedia.org], the celebration of the size [theyeshivaworld.com], the smell of freedom... I mean the XXL McFreedomFries [ytimg.com]?
(grin)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 22 2017, @09:03AM
Why carry all the extra weight? Makes you have to do extra effort to carry that with you. Plus, you won't have time to drink it any way.
(Score: 2) by MostCynical on Wednesday November 22 2017, @09:17AM
Don't forget these, too: https://www.suregripracks.com/product-category/bicycle/ [suregripracks.com]
Or
https://rambobikes.com/product/r170-rambo-gunbow-holder/ [rambobikes.com]
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Wednesday November 22 2017, @09:48AM (12 children)
Yeah, I wanna be out riding a bike then... What's it like plowing through all that slush?
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 22 2017, @09:57AM
I did it once, a few days after a blizzard. Snow banks frequently on the roads and sidewalks that I had to navigate. Only went about 1.5 miles. It was scary but doable.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by FatPhil on Wednesday November 22 2017, @10:23AM
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 3, Interesting) by PiMuNu on Wednesday November 22 2017, @10:55AM (2 children)
I commute by bike most days. I have cycled on ice on one of the few really cold days here and it was very difficult, but I was not riding the right bike and the roads were not gritted. If, as in New York, you get proper winters, you can get ice tyres for bikes. I understand they work quite well, though you have to spend an hour or two doing the tyre changeover (much the same as a car I would guess in NY). Some googling:
http://www.icebike.org/the-ultimate-guide-to-winter-bike-tires-and-studded-tires/ [icebike.org]
I typically find I don't get cold on my body as I am working too hard to really chill. But my hands and ears do tend to fall off. Most cyclists wear thick skiing-type gloves and windproof balaclavas for the really cold days. I guess with speeds of 10-15 mph and quite physical activity it is pretty comparable to skiing in terms of temperature. The worst days are when it is cold but still raining and dark - visibility at night can slow me down even with good lights.
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Wednesday November 22 2017, @10:29PM (1 child)
> visibility at night can slow me down even with good lights.
The scariest overall are the assholes who start driving without clearing their windshield and windows. They can't see shit outside of a tiny angle at the front, so bikes are in grave danger, even worse than with cellphone idiots (the combo of the two is deadly).
When biking during snowfall, regardless of how bright your head/tail lights are, always stay very clear of anyone with accumulated snow on the glass.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Thursday November 23 2017, @09:02PM
(Score: 2) by PiMuNu on Wednesday November 22 2017, @11:04AM
ps: I reckon my approx 10 mile rural commute to work costs me about $2 in fuel going by car, every day. So even cycling for a couple of summers would recoup the cost of a decent bike, even ignoring maintenance costs on the car which are much higher than bike maintenance costs. Plus the other benefits to myself and the community - reduced chemical pollution, reduced noise pollution, quieter roads, better health.
(Score: 5, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 22 2017, @11:57AM (1 child)
N of 1 story first: I got to work one winter day, riding through the tire ruts in the snow, to find myself alone except for the servers. Even the building security, which our landlord hired, didn't show. Turns out the schools had a snow day so all the parents kept back... and then everyone else did too.
But it varies - mostly by conditions!
Slush is fine. It's slow. It'll clog rim brakes a bit. It's a little more like a boat than a bike normally is. But unless temps are dropping and a brake line re-freezes on a downhill, or some other avoidable control loss, it's just kinda gross.
Very cold is fine. It's dry and generally roads get salted, gritted, cleared, and stay that way. If the road has snow it'll stay solid and not really be a problem even if it builds up between tire and frame, where it just self-coagulates into a fatter fender. Have warm gloves and earmuffs! Don't ride with wet hair!
Hardpack is so-so. Sometimes it'll kind of crumble under-tire which slows but eases handling and isn't unpleasant. Sometimes it'll just keep its texture and then it's like mountain biking on moderately bumpy terrain. This is the condition that spike tires are suited for.
Melting and refreezing is sketchy. Water over ice is dangerous on two wheels, as one drops instead of side-sliding. In particular avoid places where people were walking, their refrozen footsteps will act like brutally slippery cobblestones, jolting the bike around.
Black ice and other straight slick ice is of course lethal. Frost is worse than snow on downhills.
On the whole, I find winter riding faster than bussing, about the same as driving for 2-4km, and a little slower but much more pleasant than driving for 4-20km. I haven't done more than 20km in real winter conditions. I expect the drag would be pretty tiring.
(Score: 4, Informative) by tonyPick on Wednesday November 22 2017, @02:03PM
Frequent cycle commuter here - and the above is basically spot on. I'd add that fresh snow is actually a lot of fun to ride on with the right kind of knobbly MTB tires, and I'd be a bit warier over packed car tire tracks since sometimes the snow can compress down into a solid slippery block, but tracks versus fresh depends a bit on the exact conditions.
In general there aren't many conditions when I don't feel it'd safe to cycle to cycle through a city in winter, and it's never so bad you can't get off and walk for a few meters, at which point you've got a bike as an inline zimmer frame and a helmet on.
Country lanes, some "tend to refreeze overnight and don't get gritted" back roads, and the odd downhill stretch cover pretty much the only places I'll avoid, and those are the places you don't really want to walk down either.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday November 22 2017, @12:40PM (2 children)
Winter time in NYC isn't as bad as non-New Yorkers might think. The ocean currents generally keep it pretty warm. When I was in the shipyard in Brooklyn, we rode our motorcycles for most of the winter.
That said - we also saw a helluva snowfall in 1983. 24 inches fell in about five hours, and shut the city down! Pretty sunshiny day when we went in to work, still nice at lunch time, and when we came out again at 4:30, there was about a foot and a half on the ground, with more falling.
So - bicyclists will need to pay attention to the forecast. And, hope the weather man is right!
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Wednesday November 22 2017, @04:41PM
Also they plow and salt roads, so the shared bike lanes are passable, and they plow and salt dedicated bicycle paths. Climbing over snow banks to reach buildings is no fun, but that's true for pedestrians and drivers alike.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Wednesday November 22 2017, @05:18PM
Yeah, I spent the first 27 years of my life in NYC. Milwaukee is a lot worse (yes, Uzzard, I KNOW my traffic appears to be coming out of Madison or Fitchburg. It's not. Proxies are a wonderful thing...). I've still got family out there and they wonder why anyone would ever leave.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 3, Interesting) by iwoloschin on Wednesday November 22 2017, @03:35PM
One thing many folks don't consider is what's the alternative? I bike through the Winter, it's faster than walking, generally faster than the bus & subway, and far, far, far cheaper than driving. Interestingly enough, while the actual biking is colder than walking or waiting for the bus, the duration of time spent outside is usually less!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 22 2017, @03:44PM
Taxis will find a way to run you over whether you are in a bike lane or on the sidewalk.