December 7, 200915 yr ^That makes a lot of sense, and explains why space will be ruled by fat people. But seriously--and serious ups--for fat people on bikes everywhere: I'm your number one fan.
December 9, 200915 yr Hipsters repaint bike lanes in brush off to Hasids Hipsters brush off Hasids By Jeremy Olshan and Jamie Schram, New York Post, December 8, 2009 Groups of bicycle-riding vigilantes have been repainting 14 blocks of Williamsburg roadways ever since the city sandblasted their bike lanes away last week at the request of the Hasidic community. The Hasids, who have long had a huge enclave in the now-artist-haven neighborhood, had complained that the Bedford Avenue bike paths posed both a safety and religious hazard. Scantily clad hipster cyclists attracted to the Brooklyn neighborhood made it difficult, the Hasids said, to obey religious laws forbidding them from staring at members of the opposite sex in various states of undress. These riders also were disobeying the traffic laws, they complained.
December 9, 200915 yr ^Good for them. The streets are, after all, public property. On the other hand, I wonder what the hue and cry would have been if the cyclists had just started taking the whole damn lane.
December 10, 200915 yr 'Road Rage' Case Highlights Cyclist Vs. Driver Tension By Mandalit del Barco, NPR, December 2, 2009 Bicycling magazine called it "the road rage incident heard 'round the cycling world." A driver in Los Angeles was recently convicted of using his car as a weapon against two cyclists. And the case is focusing attention on the often uneasy relationship between motorists and bicyclists who have to share the road.
December 10, 200915 yr Individualism, Identity and Bicycles in Northern California By Verlyn Klinkenborg, New York Times, November 18, 2009 PALO ALTO, Calif. On the hour they come, great clouds of cyclists pulsing between classes along the street called Serra Mall — the main axis of Stanford University — like so many slowly charged particles in a physics experiment.
December 11, 200915 yr Hipsters repaint bike lanes in brush off to Hasids Groups of bicycle-riding vigilantes have been repainting 14 blocks of Williamsburg roadways ever since the city sandblasted their bike lanes away last week at the request of the Hasidic community. A source close to Mayor Bloomberg said removing the lanes was an effort to appease the Hasidic community just before last month's election. Abraham contends the bike lanes put children at risk of getting hit by cars or bicycles as they exited school buses. - There are "school busses" in Brooklyn?
December 15, 200915 yr *ahem* This is nothing more than glorified signage and markings. Like, sharrows? 'Bike boulevard' stirs sharp divisions By Mike McCoy, The Press Democrat, December 12, 2009 These days Santa Rosa's Humboldt Street would probably be more aptly named Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Street. For those who travel it, or live there, it's become a street with a dual personality since the launch in August of a six-month test as the city's first official bike boulevard — a route shared equally by cyclists and motorists.
December 21, 200915 yr Too Cold For Nude Protest, NYC Bikers Switch Gears By The Associated Press, NPR, December 19, 2009 Bicyclists who planned to go topless to protest the removal of a Brooklyn bike lane switched gears Saturday, pinning plastic breasts to their jackets as they rolled into a snowstorm. Dozens of bikers joined a protest called the "Freedom Ride" to oppose the removal of a bike path in Williamsburg, an Orthodox Jewish neighborhood. But the fierce snowstorm in New York kept them from pedaling topless as planned.
December 21, 200915 yr I have mixed feelings about the in-your-face approach. The residual twenty-something in me says, "Yeah! Go for it!" but the seventy-year-old has learned from experience that confrontation seldom leads to resolution. Perhaps the Hasids could respond to an approach that says the challenges and temptations are meant to strengthen their faith. :wink: Concerning the danger to children alighting from school buses, don't traffic laws everywhere stipulate that vehicles may not pass school buses when the stop sign is extended? Cyclists should be expected to obey that just as they're expected to obey other traffic laws, and if the school buses use designated stops, spot enforcement should be effective in educating the chronic offenders.
December 21, 200915 yr The residual twenty-something in me says "Yeah, go for it." but the almost forty-something in me says "Die, hipster scum." Still, the residual citizen in me says the street is public property and as such should serve all of the public, not just the segment of the public with the most influence. The hipsters could just as soon convert the sidewalks into a continuous ironic t-shirt bazaar, and I'd find it just as much an affront to the public good. Bonus: http://www.latfh.com/ Warning: NSFW website name.
December 21, 200915 yr The Hasids are an ultra-conservative Jewish sect that wears heavy coats, full blouses/dresses and hats even in the middle of the summer. They find bare legs -- on women, very offensive. I have a friend who lives in that neighborhood (a hipster ^^) and she said that she gets jeered by the Hasids while biking down the streets there en route to her workplace. The bike lanes were totally legit and standard-issue like many other neighborhoods, but were removed because of complaints from the Hasids on religious/moral grounds, which is completely absurd.
December 23, 200915 yr Ex-police chief seeks removal from civil suit By Benita Heath, The Tribune, December 22, 2009 CHESAPEAKE — The man who was police chief at the time a Huntington, W.Va., bicyclist was Tasered and arrested has filed a motion that he be removed from the upcoming civil rights lawsuit. Russell Bennett, former police chief for the village of Chesapeake, says he should be excluded from the suit filed in August by Huntington-based construction firm owner Anthony Patrick. In mid-August 2008, Patrick and a juvenile who is a nationally ranked racer, were biking through Chesapeake as part of an endurance ride through Lawrence County before returning to Huntington, W.Va.
December 24, 200915 yr I was harassed by a Girard cop when I was a young teenager. He was pissed because I was using the road. The pig took off his badge and name tag before getting out of his squad car.
January 6, 201015 yr Foundation wins again in bike-path dispute Residents' argument fails to convince appeals court By KENT MALLETT • Advocate Reporter • January 5, 2010 COLUMBUS — Licking Township residents opposed to construction of a bike path on land they claim to own lost in court for a second time Tuesday. A three-judge panel from Ohio’s Fifth District Court of Appeals upheld Licking County Common Pleas Judge Thomas Marcelain’s April 29 ruling that the Thomas J. Evans Foundation is sole owner of property proposed for a six-mile bike path from Heath to Hebron. http://www.newarkadvocate.com/article/20100105/UPDATES01/100105026
January 8, 201015 yr Bikes and cars: Can we share the road? With more bikes on the road, drivers are frustrated -- and cyclists are at risk. Now's the time for changes. By Christie Aschwanden, LA Times, November 2, 2009 Mandeville Canyon Road is a two-lane, dead-end road that twists and climbs for six miles through a quiet Brentwood neighborhood. "It's perfect for bicycling -- like honey to bears," says Jeffrey Courion, former public policy director for Velo Club La Grange, a bicycle touring and racing club. But with just one lane in each direction and limited visibility in some places, the road has also become a flash point for conflicts between motorists and cyclists. "It's a problem of people competing for space," Courion says.
January 12, 201015 yr Is anyone here commuting in this crud? I rigged up a trash picked Murray into a single speed and have been commuting on it. It's been hell to say the least, what is everyone else using for a winter rig?
January 12, 201015 yr I'm retired, so leaving the house is up to me. I've been keeping my walks shoveled, walking when necessary, and not riding. I did go out for a short ride to observe New Year's Day, and it was brutal; the streets were in good shape, and going out wasn't bad. When I headed home, though, I realized what I nice tailwind I had had. As a headwind, it was brutal. I do have a car, and take it out maybe a couple of times a week for necessities.
January 12, 201015 yr Is anyone here commuting in this crud? I rigged up a trash picked Murray into a single speed and have been commuting on it. It's been hell to say the least, what is everyone else using for a winter rig? Not I, though I ain't afraid of no cold. If this would melt off and dry up, I'd happily do my 30-mile work commute. I HAVE been running in this, and cleats notwithstanding, it's hell. Come on warm snap...
January 12, 201015 yr I'm retired, so leaving the house is up to me. I've been keeping my walks shoveled, walking when necessary, and not riding. I did go out for a short ride to observe New Year's Day, and it was brutal; the streets were in good shape, and going out wasn't bad. When I headed home, though, I realized what I nice tailwind I had had. As a headwind, it was brutal. I do have a car, and take it out maybe a couple of times a week for necessities. Riding into a strong headwind is never much fun.... but THAT sounds really unpleasant! The way my work schedule is I am essentially on my own during the week and I ride a bike 99% of the time. The weekends are much different, my wife is not a cyclist so we take the car everywhere. We were a two car household but no longer need both of them. My mother in law has been borrowing my wife's car while my brother in law was back from college.
January 12, 201015 yr Is anyone here commuting in this crud? I rigged up a trash picked Murray into a single speed and have been commuting on it. It's been hell to say the least, what is everyone else using for a winter rig? Not I, though I ain't afraid of no cold. If this would melt off and dry up, I'd happily do my 30-mile work commute. I HAVE been running in this, and cleats notwithstanding, it's hell. Come on warm snap... I agree, the cold does not bother me at all as long as I dress for it. It's all the cruddy snow that makes for the fun. Last year I only took my bicycle if the roads were clear so riding in snow is new to me. I was wondering how practical homemade studded tires are but have a feeling that they are mostly for ice and not snow. I admit my work commute is much less than 30 miles, I don't think that I would attempt that in the current conditions either. I'm looking forward to that 39 degree heat wave forcasted at the end of the week.
January 13, 201015 yr Yeah I have Thursday off and will attempt a long ride in the 40 degree heat. Since riding 130 miles on September 15th or thereabouts I have only been on one lengthy ride, about 45 miles sometime in mid-October. I have no idea how painful this ride is going to be Thursday. In 2009 thanks to getting laid off in early June I had a great summer on the bike. I did four 100+ mile rides including two 130 mile rides and about four more 80 mile rides. I didn't get caught in a thunderstorm even once, which was a miracle. It's not that the thunderstorm is so bad, it's the several hours of pedaling in wet socks back to the house that sucks.
January 15, 201015 yr (Columbus) Report Lists Most Dangerous Intersections For Pedestrians, Bicyclists NBC-4 News COLUMBUS, Ohio—A new report released by the Mid Ohio Regional Planning Commission lists the region’s most dangerous intersections and corridors for bicyclists and pedestrians. NBC 4 reported with the FAST FACTS. When it comes to pedestrian traffic, few intersections are as busy as the one at Lane Avenue and High Street near Ohio State campus. From 2003 to 2007, that intersection saw the region’s most vehicular crashes involving pedestrians and bicyclists. Full story & video at: http://www2.nbc4i.com/cmh/news/local/article/Report_Lists_Most_Dangerous_Intersections_For_Pedestrians_Bicyclists/30019/ Maps of crash locations at: http://www.morpc.org/trans/BikePedCrashLocationsCorridorsMaps.pdf List of most dangerous intersections & corridors: http://www.morpc.org/trans/BikePedCrashLocationsAndCorridorsByCity.pdf Table of Bike/Pedestrian accidents by location: http://www.morpc.org/trans/BikePedCrashesByCityAndVillage.pdf
January 15, 201015 yr Bikes, pedestrians and cars need to make a commitment to mutual awareness. While biking, running and driving I've had oblivious pedestrians step into my path while engrossed in a texting session, fiddling with an mp3 player, or just looking everywhere but where they're walking and who's around them, as if the world around them were just a great big TV show. In fact, crossing Hubbard near High on foot last Saturday night, no fewer than three cars came within feet of mowing me down (I should worry about that maybe) all because of the driver's lack of awareness and/or some sort pants-wetting level of excitement about being in the Short North. I've griped about it a million times, I know. It's sad that we'd ever reach a point where we would need to launch a campaign to encourage a general awareness of ones' surrounding, but I fear the time has come.
January 16, 201015 yr Bikes, pedestrians and cars need to make a commitment to mutual awareness. While biking, running and driving I've had oblivious pedestrians step into my path while engrossed in a texting session, fiddling with an mp3 player, or just looking everywhere but where they're walking and who's around them, as if the world around them were just a great big TV show. In fact, crossing Hubbard near High on foot last Saturday night, no fewer than three cars came within feet of mowing me down (I should worry about that maybe) all because of the driver's lack of awareness and/or some sort pants-wetting level of excitement about being in the Short North. I've griped about it a million times, I know. It's sad that we'd ever reach a point where we would need to launch a campaign to encourage a general awareness of ones' surrounding, but I fear the time has come. That's sad, funny and completely true. People have lost all common sense.
January 23, 201015 yr This evening I came within less than a foot of running down a cyclist with my car. It was after dark and I was waiting for a traffic signal at a one-way cross street. When the light turned green I checked to make sure all cross traffic was stopped/stopping and checked for pedestrians before proceeding. Just as I entered the intersection, a cyclist appeared in front of me, riding the wrong way on the cross street and running the stoplight. He had a light, but it was no brighter than he was; it wasn't sufficient to attract my attention, especially considering that he was in an unexpected place and probably wasn't in my field of vision when I checked the intersection. I avoided hitting him, but I wish my reflexes had been quick enough to give him a blast of my horn to hopefully send him home for a change of underwear. Even though he clearly was in the wrong, it would have been a traumatic experience for me if I had injured him.
January 25, 201015 yr Bikes, pedestrians and cars need to make a commitment to mutual awareness. While biking, running and driving I've had oblivious pedestrians step into my path while engrossed in a texting session, fiddling with an mp3 player, or just looking everywhere but where they're walking and who's around them, as if the world around them were just a great big TV show. In fact, crossing Hubbard near High on foot last Saturday night, no fewer than three cars came within feet of mowing me down (I should worry about that maybe) all because of the driver's lack of awareness and/or some sort pants-wetting level of excitement about being in the Short North. I've griped about it a million times, I know. It's sad that we'd ever reach a point where we would need to launch a campaign to encourage a general awareness of ones' surrounding, but I fear the time has come. I remember an ad in a magazine not long ago (trying to remember who the ad was for). It featured a young male riding a fixed gear bicycle on a city sidewalk looking at his cell phone. Now that would be a disaster waiting to happen!
January 25, 201015 yr BTW, this weather has been such a nice break. I have been able to enjoy my commute and the beautiful clear roads. Hey Rob, do you ever ride tubulars? I have been eyeballing the Vittoria rallys or the cheaper Gomitalias. At $25.00 they seem like a good deal but I don't know if cheap is such a good idea with tubulars.
January 25, 201015 yr ,,, Hey Rob, do you ever ride tubulars? I have been eyeballing the Vittoria rallys or the cheaper Gomitalias. At $25.00 they seem like a good deal but I don't know if cheap is such a good idea with tubulars. My PX10 came with tubulars, and within a few months I restrung the wheels for clinchers. I liked the responsiveness that came with the very light tubular rim/tire combination, but Fort Wayne streets and bike paths were, and to some extent still are, excessively rich with broken glass and other sharp debris. I experienced punctures too often and repairing tubulars is along the road is a PITA; usually I'd walk home from any distance < 3 miles and fix it there. I saved the sweet Normandy Competition high-flange hubs and swapped the rims to to Super Champion Gentleman. Now the wheels are on my black Eisentraut-frame road bike, with Specialized Transition Armadillo 27 x 1 1/8 (115psi) clinchers. They roll nicely and I 've only had one puncture, a result of vandalism on the greenway. My unsatisfying experience with tubulars was 40 years ago. Now, there are Kevlar-lined versions more puncture resistant and better suited to road use, but I suspect that on-the-road repairs still are just as bothersome.
January 25, 201015 yr BTW, this weather has been such a nice break. I have been able to enjoy my commute and the beautiful clear roads. I got out Saturday for a fairly epic leisure ride: From Italian Village to downtown, through German Village, over to Whittier Peninsula, picking up the Olentangy trail and taking at all the way to its terminus up in Powell. I then turned around to face a steady headwind all the way back, cutting through OSU campus, Harrison West, Victorian Village, and the Short North to back home in Italian Village. 2 hours and 32 miles of wobbly-legged goodness!
February 1, 201015 yr Just a reminder that if you have a bad feeling about what's up ahead in an iffy neighborhood it's best to have an alternate route handy. Bicyclist Recounts Being Attacked, Beaten During Ride Home Thursday, January 14, 2010 7:05 AM COLUMBUS, Ohio — Jason Wilson doesn't own a car, so he bicycles everywhere he needs to go. But Wilson issued a warning Wednesday after he was brutally attacked last week by a group of people on the city's east side. Each day, Wilson rides a bike to The Ohio State University, where he's attending graduate school. Then he rides to his job in Grandview, and back to his home in East Columbus. http://www.10tv.com/live/content/local/stories/2010/01/14/story-columbus-bicycle-attack-jason-wilson.html?sid=102
February 1, 201015 yr Last year my roommate, who was Chinese and had been in the US all of two weeks, was sucker punched while riding a bike over to Xavier University. He said some teenagers waved him over like they were going to ask him a question and then decked him.
February 1, 201015 yr ,,, Hey Rob, do you ever ride tubulars? I have been eyeballing the Vittoria rallys or the cheaper Gomitalias. At $25.00 they seem like a good deal but I don't know if cheap is such a good idea with tubulars. My PX10 came with tubulars, and within a few months I restrung the wheels for clinchers. I liked the responsiveness that came with the very light tubular rim/tire combination, but Fort Wayne streets and bike paths were, and to some extent still are, excessively rich with broken glass and other sharp debris. I experienced punctures too often and repairing tubulars is along the road is a PITA; usually I'd walk home from any distance < 3 miles and fix it there. I saved the sweet Normandy Competition high-flange hubs and swapped the rims to to Super Champion Gentleman. Now the wheels are on my black Eisentraut-frame road bike, with Specialized Transition Armadillo 27 x 1 1/8 (115psi) clinchers. They roll nicely and I 've only had one puncture, a result of vandalism on the greenway. My unsatisfying experience with tubulars was 40 years ago. Now, there are Kevlar-lined versions more puncture resistant and better suited to road use, but I suspect that on-the-road repairs still are just as bothersome. Thanks for the insight Rob. I got a deal on these tubular rims I couldn't pass on. The rims are Mavic GP-40 36 hole, which I understand to be the heavy duty version. The hubs are some suntour hub that I hadn't seen before, they have sealed cartridge bearings and this funky shaped cone. They are insanely smooth hubs, as nice as any Campy hub I have owned. I bought a couple low-end Vittoria Rally tubulars, they should be fine for what I need. They do have a kevlar belt which will be nice, the clinchers I normally use do not have a belt.
February 1, 201015 yr I forgot one thing Rob. A guy on bike forums asked me about Franklin Frames paint jobs and I mentioned your experience with the Eisentraut. I told him he could find you here.
February 21, 201015 yr Very nice! My bicycle has a 1980s steel Schwinn frame. Why is it that there are still so many good frames around from 25-35 years ago? 80's Asian imported Schwinn frames are great! They made some real winners during that time... well I guess Giant and Panasonic made them for them. Most people would say that steel frames have lasted 25-30 years because it's some kind of extra durable wonder bike material. I have a feeling that the real reason is most bikes are bought and parked in the garage for 25-30 years. Don't get me wrong, I love steel frames. I think old bikes are built to be more durable. Not so much the frame (steel is probably steel regardless) but other parts. Maybe since most people buy them in Department stores now, there's more pressure these days to build bikes well enough to last a short while after market research shows most people keep theirs in the garage more than anything. I would take an old-school Schwinn over a new one, anyday. Doesn't matter much to me because when I ride , I plan on tearing the bike up like it's a rental car with insurance. I ride like a maniac. I have an old '90s dept store mountain bike and I'm perfectly fine with it for now. I'll ride it 'til the wheels fall off.
February 21, 201015 yr Old BMX bikes of the non-Kmart variety are really tough to find and expensive. There's always lots of old road bikes at the resale shops but never any BMXs.
February 22, 201015 yr I rode huge distances on a Schwinn dirt bike when I was a kid. 25 miles on a single-speed dirt bike with big knobby tires is like 50 on a bike with any gear shifting whatsoever.
March 2, 201015 yr Greetings all I haven't purchased a bicycle since 1993. My Schwinn mountain bike was retired last summer. The girlfriend and I are each looking for recommendations on street bikes. Price limit is $500. Any opinions out there?! "It's just fate, as usual, keeping its bargain and screwing us in the fine print..." - John Crichton
March 2, 201015 yr I'm looking to buy this Trek 7.1 FX over the summer. It's a great hybrid bike and it's within the $500 price range.
March 2, 201015 yr I watched a video touting the "ergo grips". Those things might help sell bikes when people tool around the shop's parking lot but in real riding I think they're fairly dangerous. I've hit potholes or whatever going downhill and had a hand slip off that style grip.
March 2, 201015 yr My wife and I bought bikes last summer. Both are Raleigh's and we have been pleased with the purchases. I might of made the decision based a bit off of nostalgia as I used to have a Raleigh Racer when I was a kid. We bought them from a place on Taylor Rd in CH called Fitness Cycle or Cycle Fitness (can't remember). I think they cost just under $300.00. Mine is a 21-speed hybrid road/mountain bike. The tread on the tires is good enough to take off-road, but not too bumpy to ride on the street. Hers is a 7-speed "comfort" bike, sort of like what we used to call a "beach cruiser". Her tread is much more smooth and her handle bars are placed higher for much more of an upright sitting position. Mine has shocks on the front and hers has shocks under the seat. They ride very differently but both are great bikes from what I can tell. The place I bought them from also does free adjustments within 90 days of purchase. All that said, I am no bike eficianado by any means. I know there are other posters who are much more in to this kind of thing. The only caveat I would add is that I really highly recommend a hybrid bike if you are only going to own one. That way, you can get your road bike exercise and still have fun in the dirt.
March 2, 201015 yr I haven't purchased a bicycle since 1993. My Schwinn mountain bike was retired last summer. The girlfriend and I are each looking for recommendations on street bikes. Price limit is $500. I was in your shoes just a few years ago. Check out Century Cycles, they were very helpful and have three locations around Cleveland. I ended up buying a Surly Cross-Check -- great bike but I spent closer to $1,000. http://centurycycles.com/
March 3, 201015 yr +1 to Century Cycles, the staff there is really fantastic. I think you will probably find something nice from any of the big brands like Trek, Specialized, Surly, Raleigh. I personally have had a very good experience with Trek. They have excellent customer service and they have stood behind anything I purchased from them. If you plan on riding solely in the street I would consider tires without the knobby tread, as they will roll with much less resistance.
March 3, 201015 yr Thanks for all the suggestions so far! Unfortunately, a trip to Cleveland would add on to the overall price tag... ;-) Any Nati location suggestions? "It's just fate, as usual, keeping its bargain and screwing us in the fine print..." - John Crichton
March 3, 201015 yr Haha, that will teach us for assuming! I'll ask over on bikeforums and see if I come up with any suggestions.
March 6, 201015 yr Thanks for all the suggestions so far! Unfortunately, a trip to Cleveland would add on to the overall price tag... ;-) Any Nati location suggestions? There is a place on Colerain that sells Schwinn & Trek & more. Reser has a good rep & the folks at Oakley have been pretty good to me. I would avoid Campus Cyclery at all costs.
March 10, 201015 yr Google adds bike routes to online maps By John D. Sutter, CNN (CNN) -- Peter Smith was riding his bike down a particularly busy road in Austin, Texas, when, amid a frightening blur of big-truck traffic, a thought hit him: Why wasn't there a way to find safe bike routes online? "It was kind of terrible, because there's a lot of big trucks down there in Austin, and I was getting passed by these big Ford F-150s or whatever," he recalled. "And I was like, 'this is crazy!' " So, like any good rabble-rouser, Smith, now 36, started a petition prodding Google to add biking directions to Google Maps. Find this article at: http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/03/10/biking.google.maps/index.html?hpt=T2
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