Monday, June 18, 2012

The Indignity of Commuting by Bicycle: It's My Blog And I'll Opine If I Want To


Over the past few years, I've been this close [indicates tiny distance with fingers] to moving someplace else.  I don't mean someplace else like Park Slope or Jackson Heights or even Massapequa, either.  I mean like away.

Recently though, my resolve to leave has begin to disintegrate, like a crabon fiber bicycle in the sun.  (Hopefully that last sentence causes Lennard Zinn to be deluged with more paranoid emails.)  In fact, I'd even go so far as to say that I've fallen in love with New York all over again.  This is largely due to my recent book tour, during which I effectively "window shopped " the rest of the country by visiting city after city in rapid succession.  And while I loved what I saw (except for Boulder obviously, I mean what a slum), what I realized is that there's really no better feeling than the one I get when I return.  There I'd be, scrunched into a sub-economy seat on Craptastic Airlines, and we'd begin our descent into JFK.  Looking out the window, I could see every place I'd ever lived, and all my favorite landmarks, and even the diner on Rockaway Turnpike where we used to hang out in high school.  "How could I ever dream of leaving this place?," I'd turn and ask the person sitting next to me, a single tear running down my cheek as they poked desperately at the flight attendant call button.


Indeed, as the Wicked Scarecrow from "That Wizard of Ahhhs" famously said, "There is no other place like your home.  Now hit those ugly ass shoes together a few times and let's get the fuck out of here."

Occasionally, I get emails from people who tell me they are visiting New York City for the first time and want to know which bike shops they should visit.  My advice is always the same, which is that if you're coming to New York, don't waste your time going to bike shops.  This is not to say that we don't have some very wonderful ones.  It's just that, in the context of all the amazing sights and experiences New York City has to offer, honing in on the bike shops during your brief stay is like visiting a strip club just for the all-you-can-eat buffet.  Sure, if you're going to visit Portland I suppose you should check out the bike shops, since "bike culture" is all they have.  (In fact, I'm pretty sure the only reason they need a bicycle infrastructure in Portland is so people can ride to and from bike shops.)  And sure, if you're staying here for a long time you should certainly go check them out.  But if you're just in town for a short while, you're much better off going to a museum or visiting an interesting neighborhood.  This is the cultural capital of the United States and probably the most diverse city on Earth.  Even something as seemingly corny as going to the top of the Empire State Building can be a transcendent experience.  Don't drag your incredibly disappointed spouse or life partner into some bike shop to breathe in tire smell, dork out with the shop rats, and stare at a bunch of hats.

All of this is to say that I don't live here for the cycling.  Nevertheless, the riding can be amazing.  Indeed, it's amazing precisely because New York isn't about cycling, which allows the cycling to sort of run in the background and do its job.  Commuter cycling in New York City is amazing for precisely the same reason that the subway is amazing--not because it's anything like riding in a utility cycling paradise like Amsterdam (it isn't), but because it serves to connect all types of people with their incredibly dynamic lives.  Road riding and mountain biking is amazing in and around New York City not because it's anything like riding in Northern California (it isn't), but because even in a densely-populated place where people lead the most intensely demanding professional lives on the planet it's still possible to escape by bicycle and revel in something resembling nature.  (Obviously my professional life is not even remotely demanding, but it is true of other people.)  New York City cycling is like a Manhattan terrace.  There's nothing inherently special about a few measly feet of outdoor space, but when you factor in all that's going on beneath your feet suddenly it's worth a million dollars.

This weekend I enjoyed one of those million-dollar cycling weekends.  Anyone living in a recreational cycling paradise would scoff at my exploits, and there's not a Rapha photographer skilled enough in the use of black and white to make any of my cycling exploits seem even remotely "epic."  Nevertheless, there are few things more amazing than crossing a bridge on a clear day and seeing the entire city laid out before you, or riding from neighborhood to neighborhood and from borough to borough and experiencing the entire history of American immigration and urban development.  I was still feeling blissed out from it all yesterday evening when I fired up the old Internet and saw this:



As usual, there is "no criminality suspected" in this cyclist's death, even though the driver broke the law:

Section 1214.  Opening and closing vehicle doors.  No person shall open the door of a motor vehicle on the side available to moving traffic unless and until it is reasonable safe to do so, and can be done without interfering with the movement of other traffic, nor shall any person leave a door open on the side of the vehicle available to moving traffic for a period of time longer than necessary to load or unload passengers.


"No criminality suspected" is the mantra of the police whenever a cyclist or a pedestrian is killed by a driver, even if the driver has clearly broken the law, as in the case above.  By the way, do you know what the New York Post calls it when a driver flings a door open without looking and kills somebody? They call it a "freak accident:"


They also make it sound like it was somehow the cyclist's fault, and then they drive the point home by spelling "pedaled" wrong:


The man, in his early 30s, peddled into the driver’s-side door of a parked Toyota Camry on Union Turnpike Fresh Meadows at around 8:10 p.m., police said.

Morons.

It really challenges your love for and loyalty to your home when you know that, in the event of your demise at the hands of a lawbreaker, the incident will be shrugged off as a "freak accident."  It's also bewildering that the police will work proactively to ensure my safety by subjecting people to constant "stop and frisks," yet they won't even work retroactively when someone runs down someone else and then drives away.


After a pleasant afternoon in the park this past weekend, my family and I were returning home by bicycle on a one-way street.  As we rode, a driver in a Zipcar turned onto the street and began "salmoning" right at us.  I waved wildly at him and he came to a stop and lowered the window.  I told him he was going the wrong way and he replied exasperatedly, "I know."  Then, instead of pulling into the driveway that was right next to us and turning around, he reversed right back down the block and into the intersection from which he had come.  It's good to know that, had things turned out more tragically for either us or the people in the crosswalk into which he reversed, that no criminality would have been suspected of him either, and that any potential recriminations would have ben focussed on whether or not we were wearing our helmets.

Anyway, it's all rather upsetting, especially for a Monday, and so I turned to His Holiness the Dalai Lama for some guidance--but unfortunately he was too busy partying with Russell Brand:


On these streets and in this incarnation I guess it's just every man for himself.

121 comments:

theEel said...

WEED!

theEel said...

plus one.

theEel said...

PODIUM FULL.

Big Charlie said...

Cyclist attacked by man swinging sausages.

http://www.wset.com/story/18813912/mass-cyclist-attacked-by-man-swinging-sausages

Billy said...

Top 10!

RANTWICK said...

I liked that post. I know you wait expectantly for my opinion, so there it is.

recumbent conspiracy theorist said...

Top 10.

Nebraska Bike Commuter (non DWI edition) said...

Top Ten!

Anonymous said...

amen to that. it's depressing, isn't it.

meanwhile, my summons for riding outside of the [truck parked in] bike lane was dismissed in court today. small victory.

Anonymous said...

Balls

Anonymous said...

11 is ok on a monday.

cycle

Isolation Helmet said...

I left NYC five years ago and have never wanted to return.

Buffalo Bill said...

Russell looks to be in a spot of bother there. His hohlyness has him in the dreaded beardlock.

singlespeedwaster said...

Top 15! Weakness

Anonymous said...

Hey Snobby - check out this story about a triathlete who drowned during his swim.

http://msn.foxsports.com/other/story/illinois-man-doug-witmer-drowns-during-high-cliff-triathlon-wisconsin-061712

OutSpoke'N said...

Wat da fak?

Anonymous said...

That triathlete guy probably wasn't wearing a helmet.

Anonymous said...

Crap!! top twenty, must get a life.

mr. wookie said...

scranus!

Larry the "wonder sausage" said...

stand back while I wips dis out

JB said...

"pulling tubes with Russ Brand. lol"

mr. wookie said...

Whats also fun is when the guy running you off the road is a retired DC cop


http://m.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/jun/2/dc-vehicle-owner-wanted-connection-bike-collision-/

I am a denver engine said...

You did not like boulder?

It is the world headquarters of smug.

Anonymous said...

Uh, you misspelled "helment"

Anonymous said...

Panties!

Anonymous said...

Gefilte fish!

Anonymous said...

So these crabby fiber bikes are like, what, for vampires? So they don't get sun on them and dissolve into smoky ashes?

Henny Douche'man said...

Russell Brand is a comedian?

You could have fooled me.

Johan Douche' UCI guy said...

-Attention theEel-

Please report to the UCI pee-pee testing booth immediately.

And quit palping the podium girls!

Anonymous said...

attempted comedian - a different kettle of gefilte
wle

Anonymous said...

attempted comedian - a different kettle of gefilte
wle

Stupid Name said...

http://grist.org/list/the-best-fastest-craziest-urban-cyclists-in-the-world/

Why do guys like this not die a painful death, not that I would want death for anyone.

Anonymous said...

Did you let Vito write this one? NYC is "a densely-populated place where people lead the most intensely demanding professional lives on the planet"? Exactly why the very idea of the place scares the crap out of me! That phrase is another way of saying it's full of money-grubbing asshole who'll do anything for another dollar! Where's the sarcasm and satire for people whose priorities are so misplaced?

wishiwasmerckx said...

So the Dali Lama walks into a pizzeria and says"Can you make me one with everything?"

Russell Brand said...

No, I'll make you two with everyt'ing!

Liz Hatch said...

More boobies! If Nyc is so great, how come you didn't mention my boobs?

DerZoots said...

@LIZ HATCH
If you're real let's have visual confirmationz.
A pair of confirmationz.
Thanks.

Anonymous said...

anon @1:00PM,

I'm not sure what cave you live in, but to generalize the entire 8 million plus population of NYC as a bunch of "money-grubbing assholes" is basically an advertisment for your ignorance of the city and its inhabitants. what are your priorities by the way? If they are remaining isolated and as culturally clueless as possible, then congrats you seem to be doing a good job at that.

Anonymous said...

Dude, I was quoting Snob. He ought to know what he's talking about. You're beef is with him. My priorities include not arguing with smug snobs like you.

"I'm not sure what cave you live in, but to generalize the entire 8 million plus population of NYC as a bunch of "money-grubbing assholes" is basically an advertisment for your ignorance of the city and its inhabitants. what are your priorities by the way? If they are remaining isolated and as culturally clueless as possible, then congrats you seem to be doing a good job at that."

Paul said...

"This is the cultural capital of the United States and probably the most diverse city on Earth."

Sorry. If you are talking ethnic diveristy, NYC is not even the most diverse in the U.S. Houston is.

But alas, no one bothers to come here to talk about their cycling books.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous 1:15--P.S. That cave comment is fucking hilarious. I do live in a cave, but I won't say which one. People like you would want to come visit.

Anonymous said...

gefilte fish panties!

Jed said...

For fathers day, I gifted myself a big box of justice. If anyone walks free after wrongfully killing or maiming me, my family knows exactly what to do and how to do it.

WHAT?! said...

Salvador Dali Lama

Invisible Man said...

Snob,

I very much enjoyed your description of cycling in New York. It's similar to how I feel about cycling round London and discovering it (as I describe here - http://invisiblevisibleman.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/what-have-romans-ever-done-for-us-well.html ).

That said, I and my family are all about to move to New York and bring all our bicycles, of which there are many, so we're going to need to know about at least some bike shops. We're going to live somewhere in Brooklyn (yes, probably somewhere in hipster, browstone Brooklyn - so sue me). So recommendations on bike shops are welcome too.

All the best,

Invisible.

Anonymous said...

I used to ride in the door zone, but I took a handlebar to the jugular.

Anonymous said...

New York. The City of Assholes.

Maury Khaffukkski Agency said...

Mr. Bike Snob NYC

Do you do public restroom book signing gigs?

If yes I've got some work for you.

Anonymous said...

I can see Leonard Zinn's house from here and, so far, it looks typically nonplussed. I'll post an update if anything changes.

Hold on, wait...

Nope, never mind, still nonplussed.

Marinis Hopperllini said...

Don't forget to eat some pussy on the Hoppers table.

McFly said...

Well.....WE'RE you wearing helmets?

leroy said...

Well I'll bet McFly is going to feel awfully silly when he realizes that he never noticed the all you can eat free buffet at those clubs.

leroy said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Jimboner said...

You obviously didn't spend enough time in Portland as you didn't notice that there are way more strip clubs than bike shops. Wish I could tele-port myself back to the Magic Garden circa 1996 right about now.

Marcel Da Chump said...

Here's hoping the Dalai Lama gives Russell Brand total unconsciousness.

McFly said...

After spending a week there I contend that Disneyworld is the most ethnic diverse city in the universe. It's also peppered with assholes. Peppered Asshole...mmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

Swingin' dick said...

Hey man, those weren't sausages!

leroy said...

I got dropped in the Clinton Street bike lane this morning by a blissed out guy on a Big Dummy. I didn't get a look at his face, but he was softly singing to himself. I thought, "Nah, that can't be him. I never notice celebrities."


Anon 11:40 AM --

My dog wants to know if you discussed that ticket with another cyclist last week while at a stop light waiting to cross the West Side Highway before heading towards the Brooklyn Bridge.

If yes, he asks whether you can confirm that, for a fat person, I don't sweat much. Honestly, sometimes he's such a jerk.

Anonymous said...

What a load of self satisfied, smug codswallop! Like all personalities of the moment, you are rapidly becoming a caricature of yourself. "Oh, I'm a cheeky little devil ain't I, better insult someone today"!

Anonymous said...

Oh, Snob, just when I thought you were becoming a champeen of slackers everywhere, you praise people for being "professional." How disappointing!

Anonymous said...

This is a great post snob. I dig the sincerity, and it's a spot-on description of what makes cycling in NYC so, so great. I'm with you 100% on this one.

Anonymous said...

In other news, the Penny Farthing craze has reached Northampton, Mass. where this morning I saw a man riding one while wearing (of course) a suit coat and bowler. When he passed by me he was grinning weirdly, like a toddler holding his penis, waiting for me to praise him.

I ignored him.

BikeSnobNYC said...

Anonymous 2:25pm,

If you think I'm a "personality" of this or any other moment you really ought to watch more TV.

--Wildcat Rock Machine

Anonymous said...

Okay, I'll say it: diversity, shmiversity. I know NYC is the Greatest City in the World, 'cause the announcer on Letterman tells me so every night, and we all know that telling anything but the straight-up unvarnished truth would get him kicked out of the Late Night Comedy-Talk Show Workers' Union, otherwise known as the LNCTSWU, but NYC ain't any more diverse than the rest of the country. Here in rural Kentucky (yes, we have Internet connections, not to mention shoes and bikes with more than one gear), I can find people whose heritage hails from half a dozen or more nationalities and ethnicities without leaving the county (which you Yankees call a borough, as I understand it, though around here talk of a borough will be mistaken for a reference to a burrow, which is where groundhogs live). None of the ethnicities wear it on their sleeve as a virtue, except for the asshole who blasts his music way, way to freakin' loud when he goes down the road and annoys everybody within two miles. If diversity is so great, better get used to the Hasids and their hatred of sexy girls!

Mike in Dallas said...

What's so funny about Peace, Love, and Understanding?

WCRM is a New Yorker calling to my higher level of being when I'm commuting. What's so self satisfied or smug about that? I'm holding back calling people "Cocksucker!" here and choking on it, so don't be a hater!

Anonymous said...

Fuck it, I'm leasing a pedal-powered Hummer with solar-electric assist!

Anonymous said...

You two folks going back and forth about NYC

Can we talk about. . .

how some little kid left some big plastic toy in the middle of the street,

how I then ran over it--I wasn't looking at the road--with my front tire as I turned gently to move next to the curb

how I crashed--I'm fine, thanks--and my bike sustained a broken derailleur, derailleur hangar, and ultimately chain, costing a paltry $120+ to repair

how people outside of bars and in cars asked if I were "OK"

how my poor mechanical skills are struggling to fine tune the shifting on the now repaired cycle, to decipher the cause of the strange clicking that remains

bikesgonewild said...

...so - big charlie sez...

..."Cyclist attacked by man swinging sausage(s)..."...

...sounds like 'cipo' at a chicks bike race...

le Correcteur said...

WRM,
Strangely schizoid post today. Starts out sounding like a chamber of commerce advert for NYC; then turns into the more usual rant (but seemingly with irony lacking) over the fate of cyclists at the hands of drivers in said NYC.

What's up? A hard one to write today?

leroy said...

Anon 2:48 --

That's all well and good, but have any of your neighbors opened a restaurant offering their native cuisine?

That's one of the things that makes NYC worth the effort it takes to live here.

(That and indoor bathrooms, according to my dog. Which is odd because he's never been particular about where he whizzes.)

Anonymous said...

@anon3:02pm(2):

I'd rather not talk about that.

Dooth said...

We love you, Snob..."cuz you got...personality..."

Anonymous said...

@Paul1:20pm:

You're right about Houston. They've got both kinds of music: country AND western.

Though as a lifetime New Yorker I want to clear up the confusion: it is awful here.

bikesgonewild said...

...leroy...your dog is a perfect example of why i don't care to have a canine companion...

...sure, he rides & comments & you can have fun making 'my dog - pee pee jokes' but 'pour moi', the truth is that i refuse to cater to any creature that thinks it's smart enough to have me follow it around to "...clean up it's mess..." whether it be on a street corner OR the internet...

...not only that but i'm expected to buy it's food too ???...

...whoa !!!...somebody better revisit the phrase "...hook, line & sinker..."...

Anonymous said...

I don't think you're a personality at all. But it's obvious you're beginning to think so.Let's just change the name to NYC Snob and be done with it.Bikes are becoming merely the intro to snide comments about "the other".

Balotelli said...

New York was better when it sucked. Now that it's clean, it stinks.

Salty and Sore said...

OMG! Where have I been?

More than half the city of New York has been wiped out, and it has not even made a blip of news out here on the West Coast!

Anon 1pm-ish is in a snit about "the entire 8 million plus population of NYC", but last I heard, New York City's recent population (a congenial lot from my experience) was ......well... almost 20 million?!

(And this was before the Kardashians moved in, as I recall.)

Maybe they're referring to what the city was like back in 1914-ish? Maybe current New York's ancestors were a rougher sort. Does this explain current-day Florida?

Anyway, back then, cyclists were getting killed by velodromes. My condolences to the recent fallen.

As scary as this is, biking is still safer than walking, though.

Sad.

Wish I could use this gratuitous HREF today.

mikeweb said...

I wonder if the car door opener will check first all the time now after witnessing "blood spurting like a fire hydrant" due to their negligence.

Probably not. Eventhough there's a law against it, apparently the authorities here care more if you park in front of a fire hydrant than if your carelessness causes someone else's blood to spurt out of their neck like one.

Ah, so great as a cyclist to be classified barely above a house pet when it comes to being negligently killed or maimed.

bikesgonewild said...

...what's kinda sad here is that when these anonymous types show up with their little dick comments opining on bsnyc/rtms/wcrm posting & criticizing what THEY think is or isn't relative, mr wiess is generally nice enough to offer them back some form of creative & disarming nonchalance...

...me ???...i'd just say "...well now, how about you just go fuck yourself !!!..."...

...so hey, critical anonymouses - please feel free to apply as necessary...

bikesgonewild said...

...well, mikeweb...as i referred to above, 'some' house pets are pretty damn smart...

ken e. said...

second the BGW comment.

leroy said...

Oh come on now mikeweb, cyclists aren't even above house pets in the carnival of carnage.

Most folks will swerve to avoid hitting a dog.

And if memory serves, the New York Post reported that it was just a freak accident when another cyclist was doored and killed on Sixth Avenue a little while back.

I think the Post just recycles its stories. Any day now, we should see the annual cyclists are crazed law breakers op ed.

Anonymous said...

Zinn makes a breakaway stem. That doesn't sound expensive and unnecessary at all.

mikeweb said...

leroy,

All valid points. Though pigeons are fair game also I hear.

leroy said...

Dear Mr. Anon 4:24 --

Are you sure you didn't confuse personality with this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAElCfeu9Gs

Don't feel bad. Anyone could make that mistake.

Anonymous said...

Don't confuse criminality with "against the law". Section 1214 is part of the Rules of the Road, violation of which is defined, unless otherwise indicated in the particular section (it isn't in this case), as an infraction - i.e. not a felony or a misdemeanor (crimes), just an infraction (vioaltion of a law). Violation of this particular law has had implications for civil liability, but the cops are right in this case: this is not defined as a crime.

While that doesn't make it a "freak" accident (except in the sense that the victim's status as a circus employee evidently leaves him open to tasteless post-mortem mockery), it does mean that the law views the death as accidental. The driver was careless, and may be civilly liable for having been careless, but the driver is not a criminal.

Dooth said...

The "rub" with the freak accident is accepting that the driver acted carelessly based solely on his testimony...why not interrogate him/her? They may have deliberately doored the cyclist. I'm not a legal expert, but isn't hearsay pure bullshit in court?

gabriel said...

wow! bikesgonewild is some kind of tough guy! he's got his knickers all in a twist cause someone dared to make snide comments about a guy that makes a living making snide comments and has decided to ride to the rescue!!

McFly said...

Dogs. Check this shit out. This kid I work with tripped and fell running with a shot gun when he was a teenager and BLEW HIS CALVE OFF and his dog pick it up, ran off, hid and ate it. True Story. Dogs...you got to love them.

Anonymous said...

Ben Focused

...was here

Alexander Graham Douche' said...

I'm a retiree. I worked at a large corporation that did business over most of the northeastern USofA. I dealt with many people from NYC. I have to say that NYC sumg types had that extra air of smugness due to the fact that they worked in NYC and lived in the immediate vicinity.

This type of greatest of all smugness I like to refer to as 'Turbo Smugness'

Anonymous said...

Anonymous 7:04 makes the important point that it is not criminal to open a car door carelessly, because it is merely an infraction. An infraction, unlike a crime, only exposes the perp to civil liability, not criminal punishment.

Extending the point a bit, we see the folly for cyclists of assuming motorists would never open a door incautiously. After all, it is merely an infraction. Instead, cyclists SHOULD NEVER RIDE IN A DOOR ZONE.

If you stay out of the door zone, that is going make you a de facto vehicular cyclist on many streets, because riding outside the door zone places you in the middle of the lane.

Putting two and two together, I think Snob's earlier dismissal of vehicular cycling is of a piece with his exaggeration of the unlawfulness of a careless door opening. He wants to regard dooring as criminal because it is so threatening, but it is only threatening to those who ride in door zones. The law expects cyclists to stay out of door zones, so it doesn't regard dooring as threatening enough to be a crime.

gabriel said...

Mr. Turbo,I'm betting that if you had to pretend you enjoyed living in an overcrowded, filthy insane asylum you would overcompensate with turbo smugness as well.

Anonymous said...

Bloomberg sent his goons to rough you up if you don't talk nice about the City? Only explanation for the miraculous shift from "The City is a shitty hellhole I can't wait to get out of" to "Gee, I double-heart NY--no, make that triple!"

McFly said...

What mysteries lie beyond such sweet lace lining....

Let your fingers do the pining...

Why you argue about your marginal door line.....

I will frolick knuckledeep in the vaginal shoreline.....

Thank you. Good Night.

Anonymous said...

The Ultimate disembodied photo!
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Mens-Mountain-Bike-Shorts-Padded-Cycling-Short-M-L-XL-/270762456657?pt=UK_Cycling_Clothing&var=&hash=item84b7f5e0f3#ht_2667wt_1156

Cutty said...

Those who sing NewYork's praises didn't grow up in the city. They were never mugged at gun/knife point. They never witnessed extremely prejudiced violence. They never feared total strangers. They move to the city and live among their kind. And move back to the suburbs because they can.

Captain Hardbread said...

#99 Bad weekend in NYC
cycle safe & smart
late doors

Optimus Maximus said...

Cth

bikesgonewild said...

...new here, gabriel ???...either way you certainly sound like a rookie when all you're really saying is "...blah, blah, blah..."{...

Lao Tzudouche' said...

Some imagine NYC ...

The Big Apple ...

to be the Center of the Universe.


In Reality ...

my navel is ...

the center of the universe.

Lao Tzudouche' said...

Some imagine NYC ...

The Big Apple ...

to be the Center of the Universe.


In Reality ...

my navel is ...

the center of the universe.

bikesgonewild said...

...@ lao tzudouche'...where (in reality) is your 2nd navel ???...

gabriel said...

Yeah I'm new here mr bikesworld. And i must say i enjoy the the smug nonsense you project. Perhaps after I've been here a long long time like yourself, I too will turn into a pompous, self-satisfied "old hand" who sneers at those unfortunate enough to live somewhere besides your "rotten apple". Can I count on you as a mentor?

bikesgonewild said...

...my "...rotten apple..." ???...

...son...i live on the left coast...

...& i think it interesting that you'd find me "...pompous & self-satisfied..." wherein i was simply defending the creative & entertaining musings of someone i find to have a finger on the pulse of cyclings oddball lifestyle...

...the real sneer (& smear) was what i was defending against, ya ???...

...mentor ???...hell, i don't even want a dog or a cat, never mind a 'people'...they all fall into the category of things that "...bite the hand that feeds them..."...

...just sayin'...

Philip Williamson said...

Whoa. So... Almost 2000 people PER DAY were stopped last year in NYC just for the fuck of it, and A THOUSAND PEOPLE A DAY were searched without a warrant.
And I hear about it on a bike blog.

Anonymous said...

I believe diverstiy was discussed above.

Few spoke of the diversity that is San Francisco: We have both whites and asians, in such diverse industries as software, finance, biotech, and. . . .

Anonymous said...

"Greatest City in the World"
"Greatest Nation on Earth"

Oh, America. How glad I am I left you.

Frenchie Bug said...

America is the greatest in all matters (that's what they say). It also boasts the greatest assholes ever (but this has yet to be proved). Be glad to leave it but be well prepared to face something very similar elsewhere. Assholery is already a great international brotherhood. With cute cultural and ethnological differences...

McFly said...

BGW? NYC? No way man, not nearly enough hills.

Not that there's anything wrong with flat.....

paulb said...

Born NYers who stay by choice exist every moment with so many conflicting attitudes about the city--it's a highlight of any good writing about NYC. (Spoken as a born NYer who still lives here and has, sadly, been accosted by strangers wielding frightening weapons.)

Freddd Fredddrickson said...

SNOB!

11:29 AM?

Where are you?

Step Away from the Bong Man!

gabriel said...

If snob can dish it, he better be prepared to field it. it seems it's bikesworld that doesnt "get" it!

Steve Hays said...

Mr the Snob, out here in sunny Silicon Valley CA, we had a recent case where the driver of a hit and run on a cyclist was sentenced to prison and his license revoked forever. The driver of the car was 72 years old, and according to the judge, showed no remorse for his actions. He and his lawyer was stunned that the judge would give him this sentence. What an asshat.

Cmdr Codine & his lost planitoid airmen said...

earth to bike snob ...

eath to bike snob ...

come in bike snob

Robert said...

"No criminality suspected"

I hope that "suspected" part means something and they'll actually look into it.

Unknown said...

The Dalai Lama goes into a pizza shop and asks if they can make him one with everything.

Cat Silverman said...

I loved this! Just became a blogger about biking in NYC- you can be sure I'll be referring to this post (and the others on this blog) in the coming months.

Pedal Power Work Bikes said...

Love the site....tons of cool info........

Hey guys and gals, Pedal Power Work Bikes is going to Costa Rica, and we need your help......check out my page on Indigogo, and see if you can help us reach our fundraising goals to create a Work Bike service for an impoverished area of Central America....http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/130884?a=747671

Please send this to all your friends to try to help our mission reach our goal!!! Even if you can only give a dollar and you link us to 100 of your friends, we will be grateful for your help. I also can answer any questions in regards to the program and the parties involved. (All donations are tax deductible through Paypal)

Thank You,

James Simpson
Founder and Owner,
Pedal Power Work Bikes

Anonymous said...

Helmets OR bike share.
I live in Melbourne Australia where bike helmets have been compulsory for 20 years and we've had a bike share scheme for a few years. Today I saw two people on share bikes FOR THE FIRST TIME THIS YEAR.

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