Category Archives: Article

by | October 31, 2010 · 1:00 pm

A Short Bus Story

I try to write posts for this blog once a day to keep up the post count. Lately I have been in a slump with not a whole lot of original ideas for articles. Something happened to me today though that I thought I’d share.

After my brief appearance in the critical mass ride I left to catch the MegaBus with my folding bike. Something I have done in the past. On arriving all I can think is that I should have gotten here sooner because there was a long line waiting to get on the bus. All I could think was I hope they did not oversell this bus like they do the china town bus. When I get up to the driver to give him my ticket he looks at me, looks at my bike, and then looks back up at me. I knew there was going to be trouble.

He says to me, “We don’t allow bikes on the bus.” Now, admittedly, I knew this. Heck, I wrote that whole article on it. I could not however leave my bike there all weekend, and not catching this bus was not an option. I had to bring on the tears.

I understand his position, “The policy is that bike are not allowed on the bus, folding or otherwise,” but every time I took my bike on the MegaBus no driver has ever had a problem, but this guy, for some reason, was different then all the rest.

Eventually he let me on the bus to stay warm and I left my bike outside, so he’s a nice guy. He came up to look for me and called his supervisor to check if a folding bike was alright, no go. So he brings me outside and I ponder my fate as I mutter something like, “This is just more bike discrimination.” When I get out there he explains his position to me again and I apologize profusely. At the time of writing this I am sitting on the bus heading down to NYC so you can guess what happened next.

Wish me luck on the ride back.

Written by Chris Belsole

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by | October 30, 2010 · 1:00 pm

Has city riding come to this?

There is a reason people refer to cities as concrete jungles. They are crazy, hectic, and people are animals especially on the road. What is the answer? Are we supposed to join in the insanity and act like we are taking our lives in our own hands and do whatever it takes to come out ahead?

Sorry for all the dramatics, but I just got through reading the article 10 Rules For Urban Commuting by Josh King over at Commute By Bike, and I can not as a responsible cyclist, although don’t ask me how my bike is doing right now, agree with a lot of these rules that he is putting forward. City riding has always been a little troublesome and, dare I say it, dangerous, but the answer to this cannot be to not signal and not obey traffic rules. Granted he has a few rules in there that are good like wear a helmet and don’t be to close behind other bikes, but we can’t be advocating breaking the law. Running red lights and rolling through stop signs is fine in certain circumstances, I would never claim to be the perfect cyclist, but I would never tell someone to do this. Nor would I try to do this on an official ABC ride where we are trying to set the example for cyclists in Albany.

Heated, yes I am. We can not write things like this as a guide for people to follow because people will, and when they get hit by a car because they were being aggressive who going to get hurt, the writer or the cyclist? I understand that Albany and cities like New York and Seattle are different. In my opinion a rider needs to judge his or her own comfort level on the road. Are you okay with blowing through a red light? Fine. This should not be the standard though.

As always read the comments after the article. They make some good points.

Written by Chris Belsole

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by | October 29, 2010 · 1:00 pm

An Exercise in Utility

How much do you spend on your daily commute every day? Do you know? Do you even want to know? Well, here is an interesting site that can tell you how big that number is. Go to this page and see how much it is costing you to get around. There is a form there that you fill out and based on the national average for gas mileage and other factors it will tell you how much you are spending on your daily commute. It could be your daily commute back and forth to work or a day going to the gym.

For me, I am saving 3.96 dollars a day riding to work. This works out to an annual savings of 2221.56 in a year. Oh man, if I knew this before I would have bought a better bike to commute in!

How Much Can I Save Bicycling to Work?

Written by Chris Belsole

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by | October 28, 2010 · 1:00 pm

What to do with streets?

I read an intresting article called The Great Debate: Vehicular vs. Segregated Cycling by Stacey Moses which introduces the debate over what to do with streets. Is it better to integrate bicycles by treating them the same as cars for the purposes of position in the street, or would it be better for the bicycles to separate them with special lanes or a physical separation like concrete? I wonder.

The official stance of ABC, I believe, is to follow what was laid out in the Albany Bicycle Master Plan which advocates for bike lanes from the physically separated to the integrated.

Most bikers will tell you, especially the ones that are just starting to ride in traffic, that they prefer bike lanes to riding in the same lanes as cars. For most cases I would say, at least for me, that this is true. When I am riding down Central Ave. I say a prayer the entire way that some car does not side swipe me onto the sidewalk, and believe me this almost happened a few times. Although there have been time where I have found it easier to ride in front of cars on a four lane road then take to the sidewalk.

I have talked to many people about this, drivers and cyclists alike, and from a driver’s prospective the most prevalent and pervasive comment is that, “Bicycles should not be in the road anyway” to which spawn a twenty minuet “your wrong” fest in which no side really makes any headway.

So are bike lanes the answer, or is that admitting to the drivers out they that, “Yeah we don’t belong on the road. So we have to change the road to accommodate ourselves?” Maybe riding with traffic is the way to go to say to motorists that we do belong in the road and we are here weather you like it or not, something the Critical Mass event seems to be trying to do.

Who knows? If we had the answer it would not be a debate. All we can do is look at what other people have done and try to emulate what works. I encourage you to read the article and decide for yourself. Also, check out the comments at the bottom. Some of the people make good points.

If you have something to say pleas feel free to leave a comment.

Written by Chris Belsole

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by | October 27, 2010 · 1:00 pm

Cyclists Pay For Our Roads, Too!

One argument that seems to pop up with the anti-bike crowd is that cyclists don’t pay their fair share of the costs associated with road maintenance and construction. While intuition should tell you that the costs of cyclists on our roadways is minimal, due to the small amount of wear that bicycles cause on our roads, many use it as an excuse for not supporting projects for bicycle related infrastructure (bikeways, signs, trails, lanes, etc).

As it turns out, cyclists not only pay their fair share: they often subsidize cars.

From the article:

Trier, like a lot of misinformed folks, seems to believe the only road taxes we pay are motor vehicle licensing fees and fuel taxes. But the truth is that those fees largely pay for state and federal highways, and even then only a portion of them. The rest of the costs of those roadways are borne by all taxpayers generally, including bicyclists, through local, property and sales taxes. Local roads, where you find most cyclists, are another story altogether.

Indeed, most bicyclists in fact also own cars, so they’re also paying the licensing fees and gas taxes as well. But by using their bikes in place of cars, the wear and tear (and subsequent maintenance costs) they inflict is exponentially less than that caused by cars and trucks.

A 1995 study titled “Whose Roads?” by cycling advocate Todd Litman laid all this out in detail. The study estimated that automobile users pay an average of 2.3 cents per mile in user fees, including fuel taxes and vehicle registration fees, while they actually impose 6.5 cents per mile in road service costs. Who pays the difference? It’s picked up by general taxes and property assessments. So while bicyclists pay an equal share of those taxes, they impose costs averaging only 0.2 cents per mile in road service costs.

The amount bicyclists overpay leaps out when you look at the costs of local roads, the roads cyclists use most. Litman found that only a third of the funds for their construction and maintenance comes from vehicle user charges; local property, income and sales taxes pay the rest. Automobile user fees contribute only about 1 cent per mile toward the costs of local roads but simultaneously impose costs more than six times that amount.

Beyond that, cyclists reduce pollution, reduce traffic congestion, and lower healthcare costs by living healthier lifestyles.

So, we should all feel entitled to safer streets that make room for us. We’re paying for it!

You can read the full column by David Neiwert here.

Here is a PDF of the traffic study this is taken from.

Written by Ken Burford

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