Author Archives: Christopher

After being passed from the senate to the assembly the Complete Streets Bill is finally on the desk of the Governor of New York State for him to sign into law. This bill would provide for each project in NYS that receives state or federal funding to consider the complete streets design which is subject to the Department of Transportation’s oversight.

All in all this bill does not guarantee complete streets in New York. It does however ensure that project managers have to at least consider them which is a step in the right direction.

For those of you not familiar with the concept complete streets are ones which provide for all modes of transportation including but not limited to driving, walking, and bicycling. This is essential to moving towards not a car free future, but a sustainable future in which we do not spend $50 at the pump every week. Imagine filling up every two weeks instead. That’s an average of $1300 a year, and that is for only one car. We are very lucky to live where we do. Albany is very accessible by bicycle and your trips to the grocery store, the pharmacy, pretty much everything under five miles could be done by bicycle.

Lastly please stop buying mountain bikes for road usage. You will be amazed how easy it is to ride a bike when you have the one that is built for the surface you are riding on.

Written by Chris Belsole

I am super excited while writing this so bear with me if I go off on a tangent. I’ll try to keep a cool head on this one.

So last Saturday I rode myself down to CK’s Cycles up on Central Ave. to order the Masi Speciale CX. For those of you who don’t know I’ve been searching for a new bike for a while that I can ride/commute long distances while still being able to carry stuff. The choice came down to two bikes; either the Surly Cross Check or the Masi Speciale CX. I won’t bore you with the details, but you can guess which one I went with. Anyway bike is ordered and on its way here from Asia as we speak.

The sweet thing is that as I was browsing the 350+ articles I missed during my sabbatical I found the perfect fenders to go on this beauty. Introducing MK Fenders, Tell me what you guys think:

(As I was looking for pictures of the fenders I came across someone who apparently had the same idea.)

Written by Chris Belsole

I recieced this e-mail yesterday from PeopleForBikes.org, an organization dedicated to advocating for bicycles and making it easier for people to ride, about bike funding in America.

“This is Urgent!

Federal funding for bicycling and walking is in jeopardy. We need you to send a short email today to your members of Congress.

Today, Congressman John Mica of Florida, Chairman of the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee, outlined his plans for the new transportation bill and called for the elimination of dedicated funding for biking and walking programs, which he suggested, “do not serve a federal purpose.”

In the Senate, James Inhofe of Oklahoma is leading a similar attack. Inhofe, a senior member of the Environment and Public Works Committee, said that one of his top-three priorities for the next multi-year federal transportation bill is to eliminate “frivolous spending for bike trails.”

If Representative Mica and Senator Inhofe get their way, dedicated funding for three crucial programs — Safe Routes to School, Transportation Enhancements, and Recreational Trails — will be eliminated. The cost-effective federal investment in bicycling that is making our nation better will shrink dramatically. We can’t allow this to happen.

That’s why we are asking you to reach out to the two U.S. Senators and the U.S. Representative who represent you in Congress. Ask them to support ongoing, dedicated funding for biking and walking in the next transportation bill. (You can find your representatives and send your note directly from our website. Click here to review clear, basic, suggested text for your email. Feel free to customize it and/or add a personal story.)

Your simple messages will make a difference. You can help refute Representative Mica’s and Senator Inhofe’s unreasonable, counterproductive cuts. You can help assure that progress will continue in all 50 states to make bicycling safer and better for people of all ages.

At peopleforbikes.org, our goal is to unify support for bicycling and celebrate all the great things that happen when people ride bikes. Occasionally, we need to stand strong together to keep bicycling on track. This is one of those times!

Thanks for your support and your quick response to this call to action.

Tim Blumenthal
Director, Peopleforbikes.org”

So what can you do to help? It’s really easy. Just click on the link and fill out the form letter to e-mail to your federal government office. It takes about ten seconds in all and will go a long way to getting the word to Capital Hill about this issue. Thanks for being good people.

Written by Chris Belsole

Burnout, no not the car racing game in which side-swiping and crashing into your competition is not just fun but encouraged. After around 225 articles I needed a break from it all. Did I know it? No, but it felt good not having to come up with things to say every day. To be completely honest, our view numbers did not fall that much to indicate that anyone reads this stuff anyway, but whether they do or not I enjoy bringing our little corner of the internet a little knowledge every day.

Let me say this, anyone absolutely anyone is free to write a guest blog. If you have an opinion about bicycling in Albany or in general send it to us via the comment form or e-mail us at AlbanyBicycleCoalition@gmail.com. Who knows, you could change the way people think about riding.

Today will be a double post because in the week or so that I wasn’t writing articles some big things happened, and I can’t wait to tell you guys about them.

Written by Chris Belsole

Two days ago Lorenz, you know the  big, burly, president material kind of guy, sent an e-mail out to the listserve notifying us of the permit by the City of Albany to install thirteen new bike racks between S. Main and Allen on Western and Madison Avenues. Here is the original e-mail:

“Cyclists,

Attached is the “permit” (and location descriptions at the end) form the City of Albany for installation of the 13 new racks between S. Main and Allen on Western and Madison Avenues. There will be a ribbon cutting after some or all of the installation is complete – hope you’ll come!

LW
(PS – Before you lock up your bicycle [here or anywhere else], have you recorded its serial number in a safe place?“

At first I was happy because I love when they put bike racks anywhere. The ones they put all over Lark St are a great improvement to the area and for making cycling a more accessible form of transportation. Because who is going to ride somewhere if they don’t have a safe place to lock up their bike. This being the area of Albany I am most familiar with, because that’s where I live, when I gave it more thought I was a little taken a back because we already have bike racks in the area. So I wrote this e-mail back to Lorenz:

“Why are they putting 13 bike racks so close together and in this area? The places they mentioned are not five feet from one another. Furthermore there are already ample bike racks on that entire stretch of road. You can go to the library, the police station, price chopper, CVS, Tiera (the coffee house), or the movie theater and find a rack right now. I know it’s already too late, but why not put them where they are needed; like on Delaware Ave. West Central Ave, New Scotland Ave. (past the hospital), at Walmart or BJ’s, at the Colonie Center, or any of the other locations around Albany that don’t have bike racks? I smell an article in this.”

This, I still think, is a valid point, but now because of Loren’s response to this email clarification was brought forth and understanding ensued:

“Chris,

Pine Hills NA through its “BUMP” effort – Beautify Upper Madison Project” requested the racks – so they naturally put them all in their area of concern.  That’s the explanation.

They did really need the racks however – esp. at Bruegers and the bars at Allen (currently no racks), at CVS (the CVS rack on Main is going), at Steamer 10 (currently no racks) and at all the business from the Tierra Coffee to Allen (currently no racks).

LW”

So what can we take out of this whole thing? For everyone in the area, that means you are going to have new places to park your bike. For all of the business owners that means bicyclists will be more inclined to visit your shops. For local blog writers it is a lesson to read more into a topic before responding to it.

Written by Chris Belsole