Bicycle Canticles

Days since threatened by idiot driver: 1

So, this is happening today: http://ridewithgps.com/routes/3425153

StreetPianos festival is finally in Boston and I’m on a mission to play them all in one day. http://streetpianos.com/boston2013/

Although, pretty sure I’m setting myself up for failure – not really interested in riding out to Logan.

We’ll see how it goes!

Came across this article from Eoin: http://rebelmetropolis.org/every-car-a-murder-every-bicycle-a-love-affair/

I tried to summarize it here but I think it’s best to ask you to read it. It’s excellent, short and has a collection of  incredible pictures.

This piece appeared on my radar a day after I heard about the launch of the Bay Area Bike Share program.  Earlier tonight  my brother the runner tells me he signed up for the Chicago bike share program because “honestly if I can save the three minutes on either end that it takes to lock up my bike..”

Hubway celebrated two-year anniversary with a fat list of impressive stats in late July. Two weeks later Citibikes blew those numbers out of the water, racking up 2 million rides in 76 days. I recalled Madison WI had their own bicycle program long before Boston/NYC/Chicago/San Fran installed their share systems, so I dug in to do a bit more reading only to find that the B-Cycle program is already available in a bunch of other towns including the super suburbia of South Florida near my mother’s house.

I don’t think I’m alone in feeling this shift. As a career pessimist I want more proof, but my gut tells me – I’m pretty sure

Students are all back now to the area and many are opting for two wheels. More and more cyclist hit the road and every year I see that the general behavior improving a wee by wee bit as we hit a critical mass of law-abiding riders. It’s nice. Also, it is possible that as I grow older and more exhausted, I care less.

So, what do you think? Are you seeing trends out there that give you a hopeful glow for bicycling future, like the light that’s growing in my cold-bitter heart of  a jaded cyclist?

Why Conservatives Hate Citi Bike So Much, in One Venn Diagram.

“It is a very slippery slope from sharing bikes to sharing everything.”

Haha.

CitiBikes launched. Wahoo!

I very much enjoyed this small UI touch: On the map, each pin is color-coded to show bikes/docks availability.  You can still click on each pin to read that same information (which is how Hubway’s map works.)

It has not yet expanded to parts of Brooklyn and Queens that I frequent, but the initial coverage is impressive!

Congratulations, NYC.

New Yorkers displayed their pent-up demand for a bike-sharing program, expected to roll out in May, when the earliest batch of keys sold out in less than two days.

Read more here.

With the birth of baby Vesper (who is related to me) a couple of weeks ago, I’m now more motivated than ever to head down to NY more often. This reminded me that I wanted to follow up on the NYC bike share system after they announced the delay last fall, so I did a bit of Googling to see how they’re doing.

The first bikes have arrived in Brooklyn! And look at all the promised stations!  They’re due to launch in May, so very soon!

No surprise to anyone, I’m sure, that it’s a hair more expensive as compared to Hubway.

Otherwise the structure is pretty similar:

• Pay for a certain membership/pass to get in to ride
• Both have annual membership.
• Both have 24-hour passes.
• CitiBikes offers a 7-day pass and Hubway has a 3-day pass.

Any additional charges come from rides over x minutes.

• Hubway: Extra charges by 30min increments, for both annual members and folks on passes.
• Citibikes: Annual members get 45min before the first fee. Additional fees at 30min increments. For riders on passes, all their fees are based on 30min increments.

(Double check my reading comprehension here and here.)

Pretty excited for NYC. Hubway has been wonderful for Greater Boston since its birth. Many of my non-cycling friends and colleagues are now expressing interest (well, they’re not all early adaptors, alright?) in getting a Hubway membership because “now that it’s everywhere. Might be fun to ride around town!” The stations resurfaced in the last couple of weeks after winter hibernation. Even though I’ve got my own ride, seeing them give me an boost of Feels Like Spring.

Can’t wait to see what CitiBikes does for NY. Lookin’ good so far!…except for the whole CitiBank paid for a bunch of it so their branding is all over everything and – Aaaanyway.

Hey, woman in sedan with MA plate 788 BR8:

• I can’t be in the bike lane if there’s a car in the bike lane. I and that car are both solid, we cannot occupy the same physical space.
• I signaled and left you plenty of room prior to merging into traffic. I was signaling to return to the bike lane when you got all honk-happy at me.
• I’ll stop yelling at you if you stop yelling at me with your horn.
• If you want to be aggressive with your car, don’t be a pussy: roll down your window all the way when I confront you.
• Hang up and drive.
• Put the pen and notebook down and drive. You don’t have enough hands left for your steering wheel, since you’re also on the phone.

During my commute to work this morning, a cyclist ahead of me was doored by a woman exiting a parked car just before the intersection of Beacon/Hampshire St and Cambridge St.

I didn’t stop as I rolled by (he got up just fine, no limping, said that he was ok when I asked), but saw that his front basket was knocked out of place and maybe something else was wonky with his handlebars. I did suggest that they maybe call the police since it was technically a car accident.

Here’s what troubled me: As I approached I heard the cyclist mumbling “…sorry…due to happen at some point…,” looking extremely apologetic.

Granted, I did not actually see the door-ing since I had my eye on another vehicle who was about to pull into my path just as the accident took place.  But I confirmed with the cyclist that he was indeed doored – and I just can’t think of any situation where it could possibly be the cyclist’s fault to be doored.

The woman in the car got out, looked slightly guilty but never apologized.

The whole thing was very odd.