Albany Social Cycling and Albany Bike Valet are two incredible additions to Albany. OK, Albany Social Cycling has been around a couple years, but more and more people are just discovering it. ASC started with a small group of riders connected with Matt McGowan and his Freewheel Bike Shop meeting up Thursday evenings in Washington Park. These free Thursday rides have become the place to be for people of all ages and riding abilities, with all kinds of bikes.
Albany Social Cycling meets by the Washington Park Playhouse at 6:30 pm. For the remainder of the season bring well charged bike lights. Its casual. You don’t need to deck out in spandex.The ride routes are well planned. They are leisurely and social. Nobody is racing. Newcomers are made to feel welcome. Many rides visit local businesses, for hot dogs, ice cream and the like.
Albany Bike Valet saw its debut at the Upper Madison Street Fair. It is the brainchild of Albanian Brook Caro. Members of Albany Bicycle Coalition, Walkable Albany and Capital Streets chipped in time to help with this great new free service. The service offers a secure, monitored parking for cyclists at Albany events. Like a coat check service for bikes. Forget about finding a parking space for your car. Enjoy biking to an event and leave your bike with Brook and friends. You won’t even need bike locks and cables.
The Bike Valet’s first gig exceeded expectations, with 47 bikes safely parked. Anne Savage of New York Bicycling Coalition and the folks organizing the Upper Madison Street Fair were a big help making the Bike Valet debut so successful. We heard many folks without bikes say what a great idea it was. Many of them will be looking for the bike valet service when they leave their cars home for the next event.
On October 2nd I joined about 60 other riders on a well planned Park-to-Park Social Cycling route around the City. I was especially glad to see several new Albanians found and joined the ride. A recent arrival from Oklahoma remarked how much she is “enjoying Albany”. City leaders take note of those magic words! If you want to bring and keep people in Albany, support services and activities like the Bike Valet and Albany Social Cycling.
Albany Bicycle Coalition 