5 on a bike

I saw a man with four kids on his bike today here in Amsterdam. Three in the front cargo space of his bakfiets. One in a backpack-like kid carrier. I wanted to get a picture, but he was biking too fast.

Bike parking article

In the New York Times

Run Red Lights, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!

This was just left in a comment. It got me so riled up I thought I'd reprint it here.

Jamie writes:

A woman on a bike who didn't stop for a red light almost hit me and my dog while we were crossing the street. We had a walk sign. There was no option for us but to literally jump out of the way because she was going so fast. Bikes that don't obey the traffic laws do pose a serious danger to pedestrians!

No, Jamie. You're wrong. Assholes who don't yield to pedestrians with the right of way pose a serious danger to pedestrians.

Traffic lights are there for motorized vehicles that weigh thousands of pounds and kill pedestrians and bikes. For non-motorized traffic and pedestrians, traffic lights should be seen as a safety guide and an indicators of intersection right-of-way.

I must have run more than a dozen red lights today. I also biked the wrong way down two one-block stretches. I went on the sidewalk twice, but I would not have done so had there been a pedestrian nearby. I scared no pedestrians. I posed no more to risk to myself or anybody than had I been a pedestrian doing the same thing. And I did stop for a school bus with flashing red lights.

What's more, like it or not, I'm not going to stop running red lights. Nor am I going to stop walking against don't walk sign. Condemn me if you want. But them's the facts.

So now, that I've got that out the way, what are we going to do about it? Encourage a civil society rather than a mindless rule-based society. The problem isn't bikes running red lights. The problem is bikes going too fast in front of pedestrians crossing with the light (which also happens when bikes turn with the light, by the way).

What does "yield to pedestrians" mean? Can I cross the same crosswalk that a pedestrian is in? Of course. But should I zoom right in front of a pedestrian even if there's no contact. No. That makes you an asshole.

In too many bikers' minds, the comfort zone of pedestrians gets no consideration. That might be safe, but it's not right.

Bicyclists need to realize that pedestrians want and deserve a little more distance than is absolutely necessary for physical safety. It might be safe to zoom one foot in front of a walking person. But it's rude. Startling pedestrians is wrong. And as a bicyclist, I make a point to never startle a pedestrian that is in the right.

We should encourage bicyclists to be respectful. Don't cross right in front of pedestrians no matter what. Right is right. Running red lights has nothing to do with it.

And I just have to mention that pedestrians who run red lights pose serious danger to bicyclists and themselves. But I don't want to start a non-jaywalking campaign. I just want pedestrians to not walk in front of me when I have the green light.

Missed Connections

Just last week I was in the bike store on 28th Ave (not my normal store, but being able to drink at the Rover while getting a flat fixed is a big plus). A beautiful young woman was looking at bikes saying she'd never biked in the city before. Or something like that. Though she wasn't actually talking to me, I couldn't get over just how damn attractive she was. Somehow I resisted the urge to push the salesman and tell her she's be perfect on a tandem. And then gracefully swoop her onto the rear seat of our new bike. Then we'd bike off together into the glorious sunset and roll romantically around in the first fresh field of flowers we saw.

I did manage to tell her that this blog might have something useful for new bikers in the city. I wanted to tell her much more, but I am (alas) happily married.

Well, my beautiful... and hell, I guess any other person who kind of wants to bike in New York but has apprehensions, read Bikesnob and surmount your obstacles to biking.

Drunken Bicycling in NYC

Drunken Bicycling in NYC?! I'm all for it! And I've been guilty of it more than once. Now there's drunk and in charge, a blog.

What's your problem?

The New York Times is soliciting bike questions for Joshua Benson, the bicycle program coordinator for NYC's Department of Transportation.

I already got mine in about my issues with Queensburo Bridge access. I hope he answers it!

So I was letting the air out of a tire of a car stopped at a red light...

I asked a half dozen or so NYPD about my bit of street justice. Get this: not one of them could think of any crime I committed!

A few other items of note:

1) If I were on private property, they could definitely get me for something. But I wasn't.

2) They too mentioned that I may have made the situation more dangerous. I'm not convinced I did, nor that that this makes my actions wrong.

3) A retired cop said he would get me for petty larceny if I took the valve cap. But I didn't. I pointed out I did in fact litter. But next time I could put the valve cap back on. And I could have been cited for not having a bell on my bike, but I didn't tell him this.

4) One officer said he would cite me for harassment. But he admitted this would be a bullshit charge that wouldn't stick. But as this is the only concrete criminal charge that anybody could come up with, I looked it up. I might have been guilty of "harassment in the second degree," a violation. Like littering. A non-arrestable offense if not committed in an officer’s presence. If you "repeat" the behavior (like doing two tires, I suppose), it goes up to "harrassment in the first degree," a misdemeanor. Here's the violation of harassment in the second degree:

A person is guilty... when, with intent to harass, annoy or alarm another person... He or she engages in a course of conduct... which alarm or seriously annoy such other person and which serve no legitimate purpose.

I, of course, plead my conduct was legitimate. But a judge might not agree.

A still have a feeling that there's something on the books that I violated. But nothing that anybody can think of.

So while I'm not saying it's legal or good to let the air out of a car tire while the car is stopped at a red light. And I'm not saying it would be worth a night in jail on some B.S. charge. But I still think I did the right thing. And I'm just sayin' it doesn't seem to be illegal. I'm just sayin'...

Even more Vigilantism

There's a not too great article in the Times about cars parking in bike lanes.

But what is great is that a group of vigilantes have started to spay paint no car stencils in bike lanes.

Power to the people.

I wish there were a single bike lane I rode on. Then I could complain it about, too.

Queensplaza proposal

Speaking of DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan [smile], I think I will send her my no-brainer proposal for Queensplaza.

I and other bikers find it dangerous to bike against traffic heading back into Queens off the Bridge. But we do, because we have to. It's stupid because there are already two lanes we could be biking on. One, the perfect one, is simply barriered off. There's no downside to turning this into a one-block bike lane except the cost of one more traffic lights for the Crescent St intersection.

The other lane, now used for illegal parked cars, would require nothing more than a line of paint. The best part (if you have a sense of irony) is that there's enough room for cars to continue to park illegal, right next to the new bike lane. Just slide 'em over 5 feet. That's all.

Come on, Janette, give us some love!

Don't tell my wife...

...but I think I'm in love with DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan. You can watch a video of her speaking on Streetsblog. She says all the right things [swoon].

More Vigilante Justice

A friend of mine, well versed in debating the nuances of ethical matters, writes:

Let air out of her tire! You're my hero. I am going to visit you in the hospital every day. And bring cake.

So says my heart. But my head says, no, I don't think we get to disable the cars of people we think are driving dangerously -- even if they are. This kind of vigilante action will end in tears, no? How about taking a quick photo of yacking driver and license plate?

But back to my heart. I've long thought the way to deal with cars in Central Park -- legal or not -- was to calmly ride along side them, pull out a can of orange dayglo spray paint, run a stripe along their side, smile, and glide away: no angry words, no confrontation. They won't even know it happened. But gradually, the word will get out that this is what happens if you drive in a park.

I am of course to chicken to actually to this, but you clearly are the guy to launch it.

I like your spray paint idea! The truth is, it could be done without even actually spray painting a car. We just need to start an urban legend! Everybody reading this needs to work the following into a conversation once a day: "...you know how you just can't drive through the park these days without some roving band of jerks spray painting your car... "

But no, I don't think it is bad to disable cars that are driving dangerously. Any more than than it's bad for the State of New York to ban cars that fail a safety inspection. Why is it different than grounding a plane? Danger is danger, sez I.

Why is giving a flat tire any different than keeping a drunk driver from driving? And while any given drunk driver may not actually be dangerous. I knew this woman was dangerous. Specifically to me.

Since when do people have a right to drive both dangerously and illegally?

And what would a photo do? Besides, call me a Luddite, but I commute to work without a camera.

And I wonder if there is any law against letting the air out of tire. If I were still a cop, I'd be very flummoxed as to what to charge myself with.

p.s. I'll try and get taken to a hospital near you, to make it easier to visit. I like vanilla cake with store-bought canned frosting.

Vigilante Justice?

I was biking home tonight, approaching the Queensburo Bridge, and "noticed" an expensive car driving erratically: taking up two lanes, sliding between two lanes, and otherwise making me very nervous.

At a red light, I pulled up to the car and confronted a young woman, not at all surprisingly, gabbing on her cell phone. Not only is this illegal, it's dangerous.

[I would add that since the hand-held cell phone ban, drivers have gotten noticeably less erratic.]

I loudly (her window was up) but not really rudely yelled at her to stop talking on her phone because she was obviously distracted and could kill somebody like me.

She smiled at me and gave me the thumbs up and continued to talk. I insisted she stop talking on her phone. She put her cell phone on her lap and I started to bike away. But I knew she hadn't hung up. So I came back to her window and of course she was still on the phone. I again asked her to stop. She gently waved and even kissy-kissied me, but refused to hang up.

At this point, in a moment I would call inspired genius, I leaned over, took the cap off her front left tire, and proceeded to release the air. To be honest, deep down I've always wanted to do this, but that's not really the point.

I figured if she has too oblivious to notice I was letting the air out of her tires, she really shouldn't be driving. Before all the air was out, the light changed and she gently rolled away. She could still drive on the tire, unfortunately. But it definitely needed air.

While the Indian limo driver behind her gave me a stern nod of disapproval, I believe I did the right thing, like trying to take the keys out of the hands of a drunk driver. Or am I just an asshole?

I am interested in your comments.

Chicago Gets New York’s Congestion Money

Here's the story.

Ouch, Indeed.

Bike sharing program in D.C.

The New York Times reports on this.

Seems useful for a place like NYC, where many people don't bike because they have nowhere to keep a bike.

We'll see if it works. I always feel it's best to let another try these things out first, to work out the kinks.

Pete of Dishwasher Fame

And his lovely wife, Amy.

You may know Pete Jordan as author of Dishwasher (and infamous Dave Letterman no-show). I went up to their bike store in the North of Amsterdam to meet them, drop off a copy of my book, and get an Egyptian bike bell put on my bike.

Peter wasn't in. But the bike store is great. And Amy is a gem. Best of all, she let me work on my own bike while she had to attend to other customers (she made clear that this is not their standard operating procedure). I wish I had had more time so that we could have had a few drinks and chat longer, but I had to get back into town for a 4pm meeting.

Amsterdam (3)

Approaching a bike parking barge of the River IJ (pronounced "eye")
The entrance to the bike parking.
Mural on the bike parking barge.
The lighting on this bike path going over a canal and under train tracks is so nice. And it could so easily be so ugly. What could be a scary place, is actually quite beautiful.
The famous multi-level bike parking garage by Centraal Station.
Bike parking on a barge on the Single near the Muntplein.

Amsterdam (2)

I'm in Amsterdam, trying to remember to take some pictures. There are so many sights that seem unremarkable to people who live here. But I've been gone for a while so things like this stand out. These pictures are from parts of town you won't see on postcards.

Here's an average Dutch street with an average Dutch bike path. Nice.

When they do construction (and they always do construction here, and it can take years), they set up a "temporary" bike lane. Note that it's still physically separated from car traffic. That's my brother, posing. I have to apologize for his stupid mountain bike. There's nowhere in the world a mountain bike is less appropriate than in the streets of Amsterdam. But it's not his bike. Really. He just wanted to test ride what he thought was a "nice bike." I mocked him.

A typical line of bike racks.
And finally, one of the many pedicabs you see here (or at least in the center). It's not clear if this will become a normal mode of transit for some of just a tourist gimmick. My brother claims they're pricing themselves out of the "normal" market.
They're kind of complicated machines. I haven't figured all the parts out yet.

Amsterdam (1)

I arrived in Amsterdam today. I'm staying on a houseboat where I used to live. Being on the water is good for the soul.

I've been away for more than a year, which is the longest I've ever been away. I was very happy to find my lovely Batavus Barcelona waiting for me. A little dusty, yes. But just a little air in her tires and she was ready to ride. That's always a great feeling.

Yes, it is a beautiful city. Yes, it is in many ways a bikers' paradise. But still, it's amazing how cars (and there aren't that many in the city center) manage to make everything worse.

Biking to Newark?

Does anybody know how to bike from NYC to Newark? I figure taking across a ferry across the Hudson. But can one get from Jersey City area to Newark without going on a freeway?

What's the second choice? Staten Island and up? Or George Washington Bridge and down? I doesn't have to be a pretty ride, besides, I like going through industrial areas.

Brooklyn!

I biked to Cobble Hill the other day. Has it been that long since I’ve been that way? There are minor but significant changes everywhere. New buildings. New pavement. New painted bikes on streets.

Maybe I should leave my borough more.

Coming from Astoria, it seemed like whole new city, and a more bike friendly city at that. But also lots of wasted opportunity. Why don’t all these new painted bike lines actually connect point A to point B?

Why isn’t there a proper way to get back from Flushing Ave. to Kent St. without having to cross the freeway twice or ride on a sidewalk with high curbs?

Why isn’t there a dedicated bike lane on the wide and just redone part of Kent St, where it hits Williamburg St. W., where a lot of people actually bike?

Coming back, on Tillary St—not very bike friendly, but what *is the best way for a bike to cross Flatbush Ave and get to Flushing Ave?—a charming young woman on a charming old bike asked me how to get to Kent St. I told her to follow me through the mess to Park Ave. and then to Flushing Ave.

It was her first day biking on her new (used) bike and her first day biking in New York at all! Almost made me cry little joyish tears of emotion. She was fresh out of San Francisco. I was happy to help.

Sure I felt a little old when she asked me if I was married. Granted, I am married. And maybe I’m not 21 anymore, but am I really too old to just have a girlfriend? No matter, we ended up having a wonderful little talk all the way to Greenpoint, chatting about bikes, and life, and the sights on the way. I love bikes!