Category Archives: Article

by | June 4, 2013 · 10:43 am

MeetUp at the Daily Grind

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A small group “met up” on a soon-to-be-sizzling Saturday at 9 AM in Washington Park to ride the Mohawk-Hudson Bike-Hike Trail to Troy’s outstanding Farmers Market. After cruising around the wide selection of goodies and groceries, a couple of us stopped in at the Fence Show at the Arts Center of the Capital Region to see the 555 entries. Don’t wait – the salon style show will end on 6/16 to be followed with the chosen 50 pieces to be exhibited in the “Fence Select.” While the “select” show is nice, seeing all the varied entries in many media displayed wall to wall and ceiling to floor is a real treat.

Following our visit to the Famers Market, we rode a couple blocks over to the Troy Daily Grind to present a framed photograph of last year’s Daily Grind-Daily Grind ride (see photo from 2012). The owner, Barrye, our host in years past and again for the to-be-announced 2013 ride, graciously asked the on-duty counter staff to pose for the presentation with ride leader Keith and rider Roberta. The “5th Annual” 2012 ride was a family first with young participants Indiana (pictured) and Theo (aged two at the time) who met up with us in Troy.
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The 2013 Daily Grind ride will be in early-mid August.

We had a nice cruise back to Albany on a shady bicycle trail followed by a slow climb up the hill to Washington Park.
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Filed under Comings and Goings, Local Bike Rides, Rides

by | May 28, 2013 · 2:58 pm

Finally! Bike Share Live in NYC!

After Sandy wiped out much of the equipment and with much complaining about the placement of the pick-up/drop-off stations, New York City’s bicycle share is off to a good start with thousands already signed up. Initially, there are to be 10,000 bicycle and 600 stations located in Manhattan, Queens, and Brooklyn.

Every cyclist’s heroine, Janette Sadik-Khan, transportation commissioner, stated for the NY Times, “We have the A train, and we have yellow cabs, and we have the Staten Island Ferry, and today, Citi Bike joins the ranks of the transportation icon family in New York City” (see the article for some good photos of Day #1).

NYC’s program is easily the largest in the country and undoubtedly will enhance the city’s chances of moving up in the bicycle friendly community standings. It is currently designated by the League of American Bicyclists as “silver” (with “gold” and platinum” as next steps). While Albany is in the “honorable mention” bicycle friendly community category (and there may be others in the state at this level), the only other city in NYS in the official list is Rochester.

If you haven’t heard enough already, check out the “commuter challenge” conducted by the NY Times on Monday.

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by | May 18, 2013 · 10:49 am

My New Bicycle

My New Bicycle 5-14-13

It is always nice to hear that someone is so happy with a new bicycle that she wants to share the news with others. We here have the latest sent in by a young professional who is balancing her two children (one also quite “new”), a career, bicycle advocacy, and, hopefully, some ride time.

So watch for this new purple cruiser and give a wave!

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by | May 6, 2013 · 10:16 am

Bike Share in NYC and Albanys’ 3rd Annual Bicycle EXPO 2013 + Bicycle Friendly Communities

BicingBarcelonaweb Providentially, the Times Union chose Sunday, May 5, the day of Albany’s 3rd Annual Bicycle EXPO 2013 to run an AP story on NYC’s long awaited (and Sandy delayed) bike share program. Scheduled to begin this month, the scheme will feature 6,000 3-speed bicycles and 330 docking stations. Planned growth will be to 10,000 cycles with 600 stations.

According to the report, there are 534 bike share programs worldwide. Follow the link to red more . . .

On the home front at the Bicycle EXPO, Albany’s own Kate Lawrence from the Mayor’s Office of Energy and Sustainability appeared in a Times Union (5/6/13) photo story. Cyclists are shown being briefed on Albany’s Bicycle Master Plan (see Map 1, pg. 5).

The Mayor’s Office of Energy and Sustainability was responsible for applying for and receiving designation in 2012 of Albany as a bicycle friendly community by the League of American Bicyclists. While Albany, with an honorable mention, does not appear in LAB’s current bronze-silver-gold-platinum listings, it is still in an elite group as there are only two cities, NYC and Rochester, in the rankings. This leaves NYS as a dismal 43 out of 50 states with only one way to go – up.

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Filed under Editorial, Feature, Support the Cause

by | May 3, 2013 · 11:34 am

Downtube Bicycle Works Again Promotes Bicycle EXPO 2013

DT Metro Ad 5-2-13 001

For a second year running, the Downtube Bicycle Works has sponsored a nice big Bicycle EXPO ad in the 5/2/13 Metroland.  In addition to ad sponsorship, the Downtube will celebrate its third year at the EXPO with a booth featuring its products and maintenance services.

Come to Bicycle EXPO 2013 in Washington Park on Sunday, 5/5/13 from 10-4 to visit with the Downtube and the 30+ other vendors.

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