Really wild Bike n Brew ride tonight. Start at Union Square. Riot cops walk by, going to a Palestine/Israel protest. Then a group of Orthodox anti-Israel types. Meanwhile a big rally for parks. Fire trucks scream onto 17th. We pull out, pass the fire trucks, which then pass us back. Try to go up 6th Ave but for blocks we're in nothing but cop cars, for the Gaza protest. It was the weirdest group ride I've ever been on. Gaza protestors on the sidewalk, us on the street, cops nervous. #bikeNYC
Biking through Williamsburg, watching people in their oversized emotional-support SUVs barely fit in the streets. Like, what are you even doing here, dumbasses? #BikeNYC
@Andres4NY I was recently enjoying a coffee on the Berry Open Street, and wondering why so many people were driving down that block. Turns out that's the entrance to the garage for Whole Foods and Walgreens.
Why would anyone drive to a Whole Foods in the middle of Williamsburg? You want to live out your suburban fantasy, move to Paramus!
And you can't use "the pandemic" as an excuse while you're breathing down my neck at the Blue Bottle!
Our route to Prospect Park (from Forest Hills) will be an hour and a half (13mi) instead of an hour (10mi) because there's no fucking bike infrastructure south of us. At all. OSM routing directions are like, "just take Union Turnpike!". lol, no. #BikeNYC
An hour on the subway. 25 mins by car (45 mins now, because traffic, because OF COURSE there's traffic at 1pm on a Sunday because why would you choose to take 2-3x as long when you can just drive?)
It doesn't have to be like this. This is a choice by our awful politicians.
@Andres4NY I think I've mentioned this to you before, but there was money to make it easier to get from Queens to Brooklyn. Bob Moses spent it on the Belt Parkway and the BQE.
Bloomberg, de Blasio and Cuomo had a chance to improve transit and bike connections. Instead they decided to spend it rebuilding the Kosciuszko and the Belt so they'll be around for decades more. Sorry, no money for trains!
I was in the #QueensBlvdPBL with my (bakfiet) cargo bike, and some lady pulls her car about 20-30ft in front of me. Predicting what would happen next, I gave a wide berth as her passenger flung the door open just before I passed them.
I screamed "ASSHOLE" at the top of my lungs, scaring tf out of both of them. It felt good.
Here's an illegal 53 ft tractor trailer running over the curb protection to unload in the bike lane this morning. Coincidentally, this is where two DOT signs were snapped off at the base last week.
The supermarket has no loading zone. The 40-story residential building directly opposite also houses a CVS and a restaurant, but has no legal curb space at all.
This was my wife's #BikeNYC ride home last night across the Kosciuszko Bridge. Just a solid sheet of ice. The roads, meanwhile, had been clear since the early morning.
I should be demanding #NYC reimburse us for studded tires.
@Andres4NY Wow! You are well-prepared! I didn’t even attempt my HRG commute… and good thing because r/NYCbike has many posts about icing and wipeouts uptown there.
I really wish these bike friendly city ranking lists wouldn't count door-zone bike lanes or "protected" bike lanes that use plastic straws (and are clogged with parked cars/trucks) as bike infrastructure.
@Andres4NY Same goes for inaccessible cycle infrastructure. I've been arguing that we can't keep giving people awards just for being slightly less shitty than the average US city. It's a very low bar. #BikeTooter#UCAccessNow
I absolutely despise these rumble strips on the #QueensBlvdPBL. They're at everysingle intersection, every mid-block crossing, and every car merge*. Feels like they're like every 200 feet for miles, and they rattle my brain every time no matter what speed I go over them. I've never before wanted suspension on my bike..
Drivers? Go as fast as you want (despite having a stop sign). Bikes? Whoa, slow down there Speedy Gonzalez (despite technically having the right of way)!
Steve Vaccaro (not on here yet) has sued the NYPD and DMV for failing to uphold the LPI law that passed in 2019 (read: for ticketing and fining #bikenyc when they proceed on a walk signal, as instructed, while the traffic signal remains red).
Another working Raleigh Superbe / Sprite / Sports of #bikenyc! This one had its dynamo and headlight removed at some point. It's probably about 50 years old.
I got one of these (in burgundy) out of the trash on this same block and hope to restore it one day.
Lol. I got passed by an ambulance (lights flashing) about halfway on the skillman ave PBL. About 15 mins later, I passed the same ambulance on the queensboro bridge. It was completely stuck in traffic, not moving.
@Andres4NY I've had that happen when I was inline skating. On Sixth Ave in the 40s on a weekend afternoon, about this time of year. As I rolled past the ambulance I was thinking, that's the wail of someone dieing because NYC streets suck.
"This survey, conducted by the New York City Department of Transportation, seeks to understand how residents of NYC and people who live in the greater metro area (who either commute or are familiar with NYC) relate to cycling in the city. The survey contains twelve short questions and should take between 2-3 minutes to complete."
Y'know what's cool? When the parking garage is right at the entrance of the store (and carts can go freely through the garage), but the bike parking is 50 feet away from where the cart wheels automatically lock up. #BikeNYC
