Albany Bicycle Coalition

Following yesterday’s article let’s talk more about NYC. People for Bikes, just one of the advocacy groups in NYC, wrote a blog entry recently talking about the state of bicycling in NYC today and how future politicians might impact it in the future.

It seems to me, an outsider, that bicycling has done nothing but good for they city. Accidents are down and the whole place seems for friendly to riding and walking. Why change all that? You always hear of the protesters who are trying to stop new bike lanes from getting made. It’s counterintuitive if you think about it. they want to drive their cars yet they don’t want to decrease the amount of cars on the road and replace them with bicycles. If I was them I would be promoting bicycling so I can get to where I am going faster.

I would say that the only thing they have to complain about is the bicyclists who are breaking the law and running lights. Sure people shouldn’t do this, but are you going to punish all pedestrians for jaywalking and start ripping up the sidewalks?

Written by Chris Belsole

Okay, let me just say that I sympathies with the NYPD for the most part. They are charged with keeping law and order in a city of eight Million people, but it’s got to be a slow day in crime when they pull a stunt like this.

On a Tuesday morning when Central Park was closed to cars and mostly used for people exercising the NYPD set up a speed trap to ticked bicyclists for going over 15 miles an hour. After they finished up and left the park was open to cars that were going faster then 15 miles an hour. Why not ticket them? According to the article the police were not to happy about it either so you have to give that to them, but someone higher up must have a grudge against cyclists to be ticketing them in one of the places people want them to be able to ride? If not ride in a park then where? People don’t want them on the streets? Maybe bikes should be removed from the city altogether.

For the full article click here.

Written by Chris Belsole

Lorenz pointed me to a post on bicycling in NYC. After reading it I thought I’d write a response because I had a lot to say and let’s face it I can.

Bicycling has existed in America for at least the last 80 years. Why are we surprised that it is despised so much? The answer to that question is three fold.

For one, we live in a country where we get to make decisions. How do you dress? What do you eat? Where do you live? As a nation we pride ourselves on the ability to make these decisions and the freedom to express them. Transportation is no different. If I wanted to drive a car I would, and I’d have every right to do so. The fact that I choose to ride a bicycle and am told on a daily basis that what I am doing is wrong and in some ways dangerous infuriates me sometimes. If it is so dangerous why is it not illegal to ride a bicycle and why is bicycling not regulated like driving cars, or our motorized cousins, motorcycles? The fact that someone tells me that I can not do something because it is dangerous when it is not is illogical and proliferates the promotion of ignorance.

The next two folds that comprise this monstrousness paper crane of a question deal with the benefits of bicycling.

We have seen time and time again that investing in bicycle infrastructure has been a boon to the economy. In the times that we are in I am surprised that more local, state, and federal governments are not taking advantage of this.

The final point I want to make is that cycling is good for you plain and simple. I don’t mean good for your soul, or that you become a better person by bicycling although that is probably true as well. I mean you become healthier. I am living proof that when you start bicycling you become more physically fit. Some people might argue that it is dangerous to ride bicycles because you have to wear helmets to do the activity. I would like to debunk that rumor now. We wear helmets for the same reason people wear seatbelts. It is not that bicycling is dangerous. It is that falling on concrete hurts. When you are in your car you are not thinking, “let me put on my seatbelt because I am more likely to die in a car then on any other form of transportation.” You are thinking, “I better wear my seatbelt in case I get into an accident.”

I have said for a long time that the biggest obstacle to overcome in terms of making our community a more bike friendly culture is not necessarily more bike lanes or more signs. It is the attitude of the citizenry that needs to change. The fact that people don’t think bikes should be on the road and the lack of knowledge people seem to possess when it comes to dealing with bicycles on the road is staggering and stagnating an already counterproductive situation.

When it comes to cyclists being the minority we are in full agreement. Yet weather it comes to slavery, the suffrage movement, physically or mentally disabled individuals, or civil rights in this country the government has always stepped in to defend the rights of the minority. I am not saying there weren’t any hiccups along the way, separate but equal, but when it comes down to it we are better off now because of government intervention. When it comes to the potential cost of cycling the benefits outweigh the risks.

The Albany Bicycle Coalition is not here to get more people to ride bicycles. Although that would be nice. We exist to make our small part of America more amicable when it comes to the idea of riding bicycles so that when people are making the decision they don’t automatically choose the car.

We love Streetfilms here at ABC, and what’s not to love. In the days of mass consumption where our media consumption must be fast and concise short videos have become an important way to consume information. So when they started a series called “Moving Beyond the Automobile,” especially here at ABC, you can’t help but check it out.

Moving Beyond the Automobile is a ten part video series which explores solutions to the problem of automobile dependency.  It’s a visual handbook that will help guide policy makers, advocacy organizations, teachers, students, and others into a world that values pedestrian plazas over parking lots and train tracks over highways.  Cars were then, and this is now.  Welcome to the future.

I know it says ten parts, but at last count there were eleven plus a trailer. Only six films have been released so far, and with titles like “Highway Removal” and “Road Diet” I can’t wait for them to come out with the rest. Luckily the bicycling one has been released. God knows they have enough stock footage to put it together.

Written by Chris Belsole