Author Archives: Christopher

You can all thank Bert for this one.

In a study recently published by the University Transportation Research Center entitled an “Analysis of Bicycling Trends and Policies in Large North American Cities: Lessons for New York” they take a look at what strides different cities have made in terms of cycling infrastructure and how it has effected each respective population. In contrast to these cities they compare what NYC has done and the quirks that it has due to factors outside of bicycling infrastructure. Here is an excerpt from the study, and I encourage everyone to read the summary if not the entire study:

We analyze aggregate national data as well as cityspecificcase study data for nine large cities (Chicago, Minneapolis, Montréal, New York,Portland, San Francisco, Toronto, Vancouver, and Washington). The number of bike commutersin the USA rose by 64% from 1990 to 2009, and the bike share of commuters rose from 0.4% to0.6%. Over the shorter period from 1996 to 2006, the number of bike commuters in Canada roseby 42%, and the bike share of commuters rose from 1.1% to 1.3%. From 1988 to 2008, cyclingfatalities fell by 66% in Canada and by 21% in the USA; serious injuries fell by 40% in Canadaand by 31% in the USA.

…

New York is a special case. Not only is New York by far the largest of the case studycities, but it has the most mixed record on cycling policies and accomplishments. Althoughcycling has almost doubled in New York City since 1990, it lags far behind the other case studycities in almost every respect.

Written by Chris Belsole

I know I am breaking my rule of one post a day, but this info is so hot I just can’t hold on to it.

I just got done talking to a great guy named Bill Anslow who is the Project Manager for Albany County. He filled me in on the current construction going on on Fuller Rd.

Currently we are in Phase 2 of the construction project which spans the length between I-90 and Central Ave. This phase is going to last 15 weeks and should be done by the end of September. Going north there are going to be two lanes and going south there is going to be one lane with a turning lane in between them.

When I asked about the bike lanes he said that they were not putting them in. Rather they are opting for a situation much like on Western where the lanes are just a bit wider to accommodated both bikes and cars at the same time. He called it “Shared Travel.” Weather this option is better or not is for you to decide, and maybe for a future article, right now it is just good to be informed.

Thanks again to Bill Anslow for the information and for returning my call so swiftly.

Written by Chris Belsole

Okay, vacation over. Time to start churning out some content.

While my dream of taking a bike tour around Europe may be a ways into the future it never hurts to plan for it now. For this reason I have chosen my first stop on my grand cycling adventure, the Madonna del Ghisallo.

“According to the legend, the Medieval count Ghisallo was being attacked by bandits when he saw an image of Virgin Mary at a shrine. He ran to it and was saved from the robbers. The apparition became known as the Madonna del Ghisallo, and she became a patroness of local travellers. In later times, Madonna del Ghisallo (the hill) was made part of the Giro di Lombardia bicycle race.

A local priest, Father Ermelindo Vigano, proposed that Madonna del Ghisallo (the apparition) be declared the patroness of cyclists. This was confirmed by Pope Pius XII. Nowadays the shrine of Madonna del Ghisallo contains a small cycling museum with photos and artifacts from the sport. There also burns an eternal flame for cyclists who have died. One particularly notable artifact is the crumpled bicycle that Fabio Casartelli, a native of the region, rode on the day that he died in a crash in the Tour de France.”

–Wikipedia

Written by Chris Belsole