NYC Bicycle Commute

Sep 1, 2006 By RL Policar Posted in The Archives Tagged with Commute by Bike

C’mon Nick, we’d love to see your commute posted!

0 thoughts on “NYC Bicycle Commute”

Johnny5 says:

September 1, 2006 at 3:35 pm

Man, with maneuvers like that it’s no wonder so many NY’ers dislike cyclists! The longer I watched it, the more I realized that this dude is that guy on the freeway that speeds as far as he can into the closed ahead lane and cuts everyone off who’s been in line waiting. He’s the guy in the hummer that cuts around cars on the shoulder endangering cyclists and other pedestrians. He epitomizes the cyclists version of the jerk driver.

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Steve says:

September 2, 2006 at 9:16 am

I was thinking about the same thing as Johnny5. It’s a pretty compelling vidoe though. I’d publish a video of my commute but it would be pretty boring with all the biking on the right of traffic, waiting out red lights, stopping for pedestrians, etc.

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Nick says:

September 2, 2006 at 11:31 am

I’ve been meaning to, RL – I’ll film it next week.

You two Dudley Do-Rights don’t know what you’re talking about. Come to my city and ride with me, and maybe then I’ll listen to what you have to say about riding in real traffic.

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Steve says:

September 3, 2006 at 3:36 pm

Nick, I admit it. I’m a square. A BIG SQUARE. Areas of Chicago can be everybit as congested and crazy as midtown Manhattan. That is why I avoid them as well as avoid being a jack-ass like the rider in the video. To me, urban biking isn’t about proving myself or getting where I need to go, as fast as I can, no matter who I piss off nor how close I come to getting crunched (I can’t afford to get mangled. I’ve got a wife and two boys who’ve already spent my paycheck). It’s about my getting from point A to point B as efficiently and as safely as possible.

But I’d love to see your commute posted as well. Despite my preachiness, the NY You Tube videos still make for some good watching…So be safe you big jerk.

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eddy says:

September 3, 2006 at 4:58 pm

I have to agree with Nick. Riding in traffic is intense and Zen-like. Simply one of the best things, ever. There have been times when I’ve been in such an intense groove, I’ve gone 20 blocks past my destination. I should admit that when I tell non-bikers this, they look at me like I’m insane.
In spite of this, I usually take the Hudson River path so I can avoid this great feeling and show up and work with relatively clean clothes and not completely soaked in sweat.

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Nick says:

September 3, 2006 at 6:01 pm

Steve: It’s about my getting from point A to point B as efficiently and as safely as possible.

Most NY bikers would agree with you 100% on that, but the terms are different here. Safe to you might mean riding to the far right and stopping with traffic, but in city traffic, riding to the right will get you doored, and stopping with traffic will put you under the cab driver who’s only looking at the bumper in front of him. Efficient to me means slowing without stopping.

The only way to ride safely in the city is to be like water. Flow. Find a space, take it, let nothing stop you cold, and be gone as quickly as you came.

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Jeff says:

September 3, 2006 at 11:35 pm

Stop and go is not traffic flow. The bicyclist in the video is the much more efficient traveler. If being safe means acting like a car, but on a bike, then why not just take an electric car, or some other non-polluting vehicle? Being on a bike is a completely different way of traveling; this video demonstrates that very well. With enough “civil disobedience” perhaps someday our traveling routes will be designed within the parameters of bicycling instead of car travel. Until then, how effective bicycling “looks” amongst cars traveling (esp. those wallowing in the dysfunction of midtown traffic) is especially striking.

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jim says:

September 15, 2006 at 12:25 pm

I have a problem too with the glorification of dangerous riding, but I don’t really see that in this video. The rider’s not cutting in front of any pedestrians that I see. In NYC, like Nick said, you have to think about a lot of factors. Doors – speeding cabs and trucks, jaywalkers. The middle of the street is the safest place. My strategy i to ride very safely,but try to convince the cars coming up on me that I don’t know what I’m doing, so they’ll slow down or at least pay attention.

Just my 2 cents.

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September’s Re-cap at Commute by Bike says:

October 2, 2006 at 4:03 pm

[…] NYC Bike Commute Nice Video of a NY bike commuter […]

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NYC Bicycle Commute

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