Bite My Crankset: the thread for bicycle-style conveyances

[YojimboMonkey]

The thing that *I* love about biking in DC is that I have a bell on my bike now and I'm like RINGRINGRINGRINGRINGRINGRINGRINGRING

AND PEOPLE DO NOT FUCKING GET IT

I also ring my bell every time I am coming up on somebody and nobody ever responds at all. I blame ipods.

I do not have a bell, I just holler at people.

People know when I am hollering at them, iPod or no.

[milesofsparks]

my new bell is on the way:


whoo!

[ellaguru]

I have a bell, but it's just for show. I don't really like bothering people, and I have yet to be in a situation where a bell seems like a smarter choice than brakes or turning.

[Greg Nog]

Yeah, I don't have a bell either.  I find the only time I really need one is when people are walking two-across on the Pulaski bridge, blocking the whole path, and then I say just say, "Excuse me, passing on your left!" and the person on the left steps to the side.

[elpollodiablo]

I noticed that a favored alternative to the bell in the EV seems to be screaming "HEY HEY HEY HEY" and then looking like a sourfaced jerk at the person who just threw him or herself out of the way.

[Bernard]

I had my first bike rage episode this morning. Some stupid jerk was not only pedestrianing on the bike path, which I can live with, and not walking single file when people tried to pass, which is more annoying because the path's not that broad, but then started doing some weird sideways leaping exercise right as two clumps of cyclists tried to pass in opposing directions. I yelled 'PEOPLE ARE TRYING TO PASS' but omitted the string of obscenities that very nearly escaped my teeth's barrier. Am trying to remember I'm a mom.

I saw a beefy blond on the world's most girly cycle with hot pink rims ... as she passed me like I was standing still. By the time I made it to the breakwater she was already out in the water with her rowing team, hauling serious ass.
I also saw a beautiful seal being all playful. Just gorgeous.

[donblood]

I am pro-yell, anti-bell.  Something about the bell seems passive-aggressive to me, like "I can't bring myself to speak to other people, so I have a button that makes a noise."  Then again I don't even really yell that much;  I just hover silently until someone sees me and gets freaked out.

[milesofsparks]

seriously?  bells are fantastic and friendly.  I love them, and I don't mind other people belling at me.  sometimes I say things, but other timesI can't form the correct words quickly enough, and the bell is easier.  also, it was awesome riding with the tweed ride people, everyone dinging their bells like a flock of chirpy birds.

[YojimboMonkey]

Just mapped this morning's commute, 21.6 miles, tried a different route which was quick but most of it was on shitty fast 4 lane roads where cars were doing 40-50 mph and I was definitely the interloper.  Motorists were surprisingly conscientious toward me but still, I don't think I'll be going that particular way again.

[DCDave]

I fell in love with bells in Amsterdam where the bell is very much a "MOVE YOU GODDAMN FUCKING TOURIST," thing. 

It replaces "STUPID FUCKING FOREIGNER, BIKES HAVE THE RIGHT OF WAY AT ALL TIMES."

[Ignatius]

I would mount an airhorn on the handlebars.

I rode a bike today for real, though. Up and down along and across a big old reservoir (your very own municipal water supply, NYC dwellers  [a young man died in there recently, remember him well when you sip]) for a good two hours. The only moment approaching bike rage was an encounter with a mom or caretaker and two young children who were treating the path as a playground rather than a surfaced strip where people move in one of two directions at varying speeds.

I am pleased that less than a mile from this house, there is access to a bike path which runs up and down the length of the county. I should get a bike, though, so I don't have to use my dad's girlfriend's pink and white piece, nice as it is.

Alternatively, there is a serious business mountain biking park quite literally in my back yard but that seems like a major thing to get into casually. Not good to do on my own, anyhow.

Whatever, talkin' about stuff I won't do woo!

[Bernard]

I would mount an airhorn on the handlebars.

I kept thinking about that this morning!

[The_Tourist]

http://www.amazon.com/Delta-Airzound-Bike-Horn/dp/B000ACAMJC

sits in your bottle cage and refills with your pump.

[Good Intentions]

It replaces "STUPID FUCKING FOREIGNER, BIKES HAVE THE RIGHT OF WAY AT ALL TIMES."

Verdomde buitenlander, fietsen hebben altijd het recht op doorgang!

How's that, alex (or Bubbachops, or nicoinfurs)?

[Bernard]

http://www.amazon.com/Delta-Airzound-Bike-Horn/dp/B000ACAMJC

sits in your bottle cage and refills with your pump.

And drinks your fucking milkshake! That's what I'm talking about!

[alex]

It replaces "STUPID FUCKING FOREIGNER, BIKES HAVE THE RIGHT OF WAY AT ALL TIMES."

Verdomde buitenlander, fietsen hebben altijd het recht op doorgang!

How's that, alex (or Bubbachops, or nicoinfurs)?

That sounds about right to me! Though I guess I'd probably translate "right of way" as "voorrang": "doorgang" really just means that they are allowed to pass, but not that they are to be given priority, per se.

[Bernard]

Mixed it up today with the asshole who was running in the street, against traffic, in the bike lane, and wouldn't budge from my right as a truck passed me on the left. She was running in front of me, again in the bike lane, so I rang my bell as I came up behind her. No reaction, so I yelled (and it was pretty magnificent and rang out, if I say so myself) "ON YOUR LEFT". Holy shit! She started chewing me out, 'You don't have to yell!' I yelled back over my shoulder, 'You didn't act like you could hear the bell.' She kept going, 'There's plenty of room!' I gave a final 'That's why I passed you' and just kept going. What a douche! I thought about it on the ride back and had my response prepared if I saw her again. Having carefully considered her sour face and general miserable demeanor, the best way to utterly ruin her day would be, I decided, to give a huge smile and a thumbs up and yell 'Have a great day!'

In un-douche news, I saw the stylish mom & kid again today. They wear coordinating outfits every day! Today they were in red jerseys and black vests. So awesome! I love biking.

[YojimboMonkey]

salmoning in the bike lane is never cool, whether you're on wheels or nikes

[Bernard]

Bike report of the day:

Didn't ride yesterday and was kind of jonesing for it.

Bike shorts with the gel crotch feel like you have the world's most enormous labia.

Bike rage: dude in LandRover who decided to make a right instead of go straight through the light, so reversed into me (forcing me to stop short and skid, glad there was nobody on my right). Gave him some grade-A stinkeye, he held up his hand in apology. Dude riding a motorcycle in the bike lane. Not the bike lane on the edge of the street -- the big cement ribbon on the beach, separated from any kind of street by many yards of sand. Not a scooter, either, a full-on crotch rocket. To be honest, I didn't feel rage so much as amazement. He seriously rode a huge motorcycle that far along, through all the strollers and joggers and everything?

Sights of the day: Woman pulling several dogs in a little red wagon, beached sailboat covered in graffiti, man on a recumbent so steeply angled that his feet were up by his nose. Don't know how he could see anything. Rowing crew with a separate little flat boat for the coach floating alongside it, with the coach standing and shouting through a big cone, while an assistant sat in comfy-looking chair and read the paper.

Longest ride yet, about 45 min - 1 hr. My butt's ok but my groins are squashed.

[elpollodiablo]

Just finished my morning reading, gonna go for a ride myself!

[dumbfish]

... Having carefully considered her sour face and general miserable demeanor, the best way to utterly ruin her day would be, I decided, to give a huge smile and a thumbs up and yell 'Have a great day!'

After years of trying cutting nasty comments, I've settled on this approach. Ideal because it steams the people who deserve scorn, and placates the ones that don't.

[donblood]

I rode aimlessly around my neighborhood yesterday at sunset, especially the industrial zone near the entrance to Riker's Island.  I was looking for the rooster I'd seen on an earlier ride.  I didn't find him, but I added to my achievements and inventory of treasures for that 10-block stretch:

* a man welding the back half of a pickup truck - the front half was unaccounted for
* an older guy in a brown suit and fat brown tie, waving and laughing as he exited the spaghetti sauce factory
* a guy in a small sedan who, having watched me slalom across the roadway, did the same with his car as he passed me.  This was not an aggressive gesture.  He smiled and waved at me.
* I rode the entirety of 19th Ave no-hands without stopping - potholes and everything.


Previously-discovered treasures of the industrial zone:

* the factory where they make Steinway pianos, which explained why one of the major streets in my neighborhood is called Steinway
* the rooster
* the bizarre house where the rooster lives, which looks nothing like the rest of the area and appears to have been airlifted from South Carolina
* a guy who took a picture of me from a crouching stance at 2am. When I saw him I slowed down; he stood and waved.
* a limousine revving its engine
* kids freestyle skating at the entrance to the Con Ed plant
* a burned-out SUV with no hood and bricks laid on the engine

Zosimus of Flaming Tusk, who posts here once in a great while, has encountered hookers between the prison and the bowling alley.  Here it is on a map:

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=19th+ave+%26+43rd+St,+astoria,+ny&sll=40.777357,-73.895116&sspn=0.020279,0.043602&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=43rd+St+%26+19th+Ave,+Queens,+New+York+11105&z=16

[Bernard]

Cool bike report! Hope you find the rooster again.

[Doctor Bob]

don (or anyone else)- do you ever map your routes?  I used to do it on paper, but there are lots of sites out there (bikeroutetoaster, mapmyride, ridewithgps, etc.) that are pretty handy.

This was my journey on Saturday night, from home in the bottom right corner to a party in the top left corner- a round trip of 26.9 km. (on, yes, my trusty Dutch 3-speed):


This was my journey yesterday, from home to an exhibition in town (north) to a trendy market (east) to a street party (suth west) and back home:


ridewithgps (best of the lot, imo) is mainly meant for sports/touring cyclists and motorcyclists - lots of interactivity and gps-compatible functionality - but I enjoy using it just for basic route tracing, and gps isn't required, despite the name.

I still intend to transfer the online routes to paper at some stage (on-going artsy project), but this is a handy quick-fix to record them.

[YojimboMonkey]

I've only tried mapmyride.com but I'm definitely not 100% sold on it, it's kind of a pain in my ass, I mostly just use it to figure out mileage.  If there's a better one I'll give it a shot.