Albany Bicycle Coalition

Albany Bicycle Coalition ~ Bike Month 2011
May 2011 (Runs from 4/29/11 to 6/12/11)

April 29 Fri 5:15 PM – 9:00 PM
Critical Mass/Comm. Ride (Apr) “Albany Soldiers and Sailors Memorial, Washington Park at State St. & Henry Johnson Blvd., Albany”

May 1 Sun 9:00 AM  – 4:00 PM
“Bike Expo 2011 (Three rides – 10, 25, and 50 mile and events)” Corning Preserve – Boat Launch

May 2 Mon 8:00 PM – 10:00 PM
Movie #1 – AMERICA ON TWO WHEELS – Cross-Country Bicycle Trip (Slide Show) “Upstate Artists Guild, 247 Lark St., Donation”

May 3 Tue 5:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Tune Up Your Bike Night 15 Trinity Place

May 4 Wed 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM
ABC Community Bicycle Ride #1 “Albany Soldiers and Sailors Memorial, Washington Park at State St. & Henry Johnson Blvd.”

May 6 Fri 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM
1st Friday Gallery Spin “Albany Soldiers and Sailors Memorial, Washington Park at State St. & Henry Johnson Blvd.”

May 7 Sat 2:00 PM – 5:00 PM
Blessing of Bicycles and Ride “Our Lady of the Americas, Central & Lake”

May 9 Mon 7:00 PM – 10:00 PM
“Movie #2 – “”Ride The Divide””” “Upstate Artists Guild, 247 Lark St., Donation”

May 10 Tue 5:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Tune Up Your Bike Night 15 Trinity Place

May 11 Wed 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM
ABC Community Bicycle Ride #2 “Albany Soldiers and Sailors Memorial, Washington Park at State St. & Henry Johnson Blvd.”

May 15 Sun 10:30 AM – 3:00 PM
Historic Mansion Tour Albany Heritage Area Visitors Center

May 16 Mon 7:00 PM – 10:00 PM
Movie Night #3 “Upstate Artists Guild, 247 Lark St., Donation”

May 17 Tue 8:30 PM – 11:00 PM
Moonlight Ride (Full moon – 5/17) “Albany Soldiers and Sailors Memorial, Washington Park at State St. & Henry Johnson Blvd. and Corning Preserve Launch”

May 17 Tue 5:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Tune Up Your Bike Night 15 Trinity Place

May 18 Wed 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Ride of Silence (National) Corning Preserve Launch and NYSED

May 20 Fri 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM
ABC Community Bicycle Ride #3 (also National Bike-to-Work Day) “Albany Soldiers and Sailors Memorial, Washington Park at State St. & Henry Johnson Blvd.”

May 21 Sat 10:00 AM – 1:00 PM
PAL Bike Rodeo Corning Preserve – Boat Launch

May 24 Tue 5:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Tune Up Your Bike Night 15 Trinity Place

May 25 Wed 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM
ABC Community Bicycle Ride #4 “Albany Soldiers and Sailors Memorial, Washington Park at State St. & Henry Johnson Blvd. ”

May 27 Fri 5:15 PM – 9:00 PM
Critical Mass/Comm. Ride (May) “Albany Soldiers and Sailors Memorial, Washington Park at State St. & Henry Johnson Blvd.”

May 28 Sat 7:00 PM – 11:00 PM
Bike Month Alley Cat – Bike to China Charity “Albany Soldiers and Sailors Memorial, Washington Park at State St. & Henry Johnson Blvd. $5 Entry”

May 30 Mon 7:00 PM – 10:00 PM
Movie Night #4 “Upstate Artists Guild, 247 Lark St., Donation”

May 31 Tue 5:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Tune Up Your Bike Night 15 Trinity Place

June 3 Fri 5:00 PM – 12:00 AM
Camping – Day 1 Camping – Thompsons Lake State Park 1 (Reserve site by 5/1 at – reserveamerica.com)

June 4 Sat 12:01 AM – 12:00 AM
Camping – Day 2

June5 Sun 12:01 AM – 6:00 PM
Camping – Day 3

June 3 Fri 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM
1st Friday Gallery Spin (June) “Albany Soldiers and Sailors Memorial, Washington Park at State St. & Henry Johnson Blvd.”

June 12 Sun 2:00 PM – 5:00 PM
Geocaching Ride “Albany Soldiers and Sailors Memorial, Washington Park at State St. & Henry Johnson Blvd.”

A letter to the abc membership:

In a little less than two weeks ABC will host a region wide bike expo, the first in our
area. It is a great opportunity to begin a process of cooperation with various local
organizations all promoting similar lifestyles. And to have some fun too.

We didnʼt anticipate the permit process would take so long, but it did. We submitted the
permit application on Jan 18 and received the permit by letter on April 7. It wasnʼt until
then that we could begin to secure the insurance policy, solicit sponsors, vendors,
donations, etc and consequently we have to scale back our expectations for the “event”
part of the expo. There are still three excellent rides being offered by the Mohawk
Hudson Cycling Club, the New York Bicycling Coalition and the ABC and we have the
Downtube Bike Shop offering help at the event. That is a TREMENDOUS BEGINNING
to hosting this inaugural bicycle event. I am appealing to anyone that wants to help build
on whatʼs already in place. If you would like to volunteer for any position listed below,
please call me.

WE NEED:
1) To post fliers around town. Call for specifics.
2) Help on the abc ride, “ride guides”, a sweep, rest stop personnel.
3) To come up with ideas for our info booth, membership drive?
4) Merchandise for giveaways or resale.
5) An ABC banner
6) We are also in need of a coffee/ snack vendor for morning, a lunch vendor for
afternoon although “The Barge” is scheduled to be open for business by April 29. Any
ideas would be gratefully accepted.

This is also a learning process, and mistakes and misunderstandings may occur.
Letʼs keep it positive and come out and enjoy an opportunity to ride and to socialize with
like-minded people and as our mission states “to bring together the Albany area
community for a family-friendly celebration of spring, the Hudson River waterfront and
bicycing.

Sincerely,
John Vendetti ABC
hardworkinjohn@aol.com
518-225-4209

Written by John Vendetti

I first heard of this show from this post by the bike snob. Triple Rush is a show on the Travel Channel that focus on bike messengers in NYC. After watching all the clips they had on YouTube I don’t know how to feel about this show or the bike messenger profession in general. On the one hand they are providing a useful service that, let’s face it, in NYC is vital to delivering things on time. On the other hand they are making us all look bad.

The fact is that these people need to get where they are going as fast as they can so the laws are more guidelines to them. Granted they never specifically say on the show, “Yeah, I run red lights,” but in the clips they are doing just that and weaving in and out of cars going both ways. It would be nice if someone saw that and thought to them self that that was just the behavior of bike messengers. Instead the attitude seems to be that that is standard bicycle behavior for everyone in general.

If I get the travel channel will I check out an episode? Maybe.

Written by Chris Belsole

In a recent article on Active.com they went over “9 Tips for Beginner Cyclists.” In this run of getting back to the basics of bicycling articles we have been on recently it is important even for people who have been out there for years to get a recap. Before I post the tips and blatantly steal content from another website I would like to add a few myself.

10. Keep hydrated: This is going to become more important as the weather gets warmer, but always carry a bottle of water with you because passing out from heat stroke is going to make whatever fun ride you planed turn into a ride to the hospital.

11. Wear layered clothing: Especially in this time of the year where the temperature will go up and down by 30 degrees every day it is important to wear clothing that you can take off if you need to and store in a backpack or something. Myself, I carry two pairs of gloves every day. One for the morning when the temperature is below freezing and another for the afternoon when it is up to 60 degrees. Thank you temperate climate.

12. Carry around a flat tire repair kit: Trust me. I know the pain of being [explicative deleted] out of luck on the road when you have a flat. That is why I always carry around tools, a patch kit, and a pump for just such an occasion. It hasn’t happened since thank God, but if it does I will be prepared next time.

Now that I am done with my 2 cents here is the list from Active.com:

“1. Protect your head. Head injuries are the cause of 60 percent of all cycling deaths in the U. S. every year. Many of these deaths could be avoided if everyone wore a helmet while cycling. Always wear a helmet when riding and make sure your kids do as well. Many states have bike helmet laws, but you should always wear one even if you don’t have too.

2. Don’t pedal in high gear for extended periods of time. You want to try and keep your cadence between 70 and 90 rpm’s. When you pedal in a high gear it puts added strain on you knees.

3. Use your gears. When climbing hills shift into a gear that will keep your cadence in the right range of rpm’s so you can make it up the hill without putting undue stress on your knees.

4. Get a proper bike fit. Having your bike set up to fit your body will make riding much easier, more efficient and cause you much less pain and soreness during and after the ride.

5. Get the right saddle. Getting the right saddle will make a huge difference when riding. Don’t think the thickest padding will give you the most comfortable ride. A longer seat with a cutout will generally be the best type of saddle. Read reviews online and find out what others like, then test ride a few.

6. Change position while riding. Move your hands around on the bars, and move your rear end around on the saddle. This will keep your hands, arms and rear from getting numb due to prolonged time in a given position.

7. Don’t ride with headphones on. It can be extremely dangerous if you don’t hear an emergency vehicle or other commotions behind you or off to the side. If you have to have music, get a small clip-on radio with a speaker that you can attach to your jersey.

8. Know the rules. Ride with traffic and obey all road signs. Closely watch all cars in front of you so you can try to anticipate what they are going to do.

9. Keep your head up. Look out in front far enough ahead so you can react to any obstacles in the road or on the shoulder in front of you.  Things like storm drain grates are very bad for skinny road bike tires.”