from Paul Ambry on bicigaga:
_Postcard From New York_
A dense, packed city where millions of people both live and work in an
area only a few kilometres wide and about 20 kilometres long. It's
built on dead flat land with a grid of streets that run north/south and
east/west. There are lots of streets in New York - some of the blocks
are only one building in width. It's so easy to nagivate.
You'd think it would be an ideal place to encourage cycling. But no,
not a single bike lane and not a single bike path. I reckon you'd need
to be slightly crazy to ride on the roads here. Nonetheless, there are
a few commuters, and rather suprisingly, every other commuter rides a
fixie - as do the majority of the couriers (there's even a bike shop -
Trackstar - which sells and services fixies exclusively). Of course,
the couriers don't have brakes. And most of them don't wear helmets.
They way they ride is consistent with practice across the world. That
is to say, like organ donors on two wheels. New York is infamous in
this regard as it runs an annual courier race. There's an article on
fixed.org.au by an Australian rider (known as 'track cnut' - you may
have seen him on the streets in Melbourne) who seems to win it more
often than not. Why New Yorkers love fixies I cannot say, especially
given there's only 1 velodrome for the entire city - not on the island
of Manhattan and an outside one at that (we have 11 in metropolitan
Melbourne - two of them indoors).
New York does have the ecquivalent of Beach Road, albeit a pale
shadow. It's the closed-to-traffic road around Central Park which I
guess is about 8 to 10 kilometres long. Lads and ladies ride roadbikes
in full club/team regalia, and curiosly, these 'serious' rides all wear
helmets. There are no packs though. The biggest group was about six
in strength.
It is such a shame the city doesn't accomodate cycling - the weather is
quite superb (at this time of the year - I think it would be hideous in
the depths of winter with ice and snow on the ground). I just couldn't
see myself living on Manhattan island, having to content myself with
small fixes around Central Park. How fortunate we are in Melbourne.
May God bless Beach Road, the Boulie, the velodromes, the Dandenongs,
King Lake and the hundreds (thousands?) of kilometres of bikes tracks
and bikes lanes - all accessible by riding from your shed ('studio'😉
door. And may God bless BV (with three huzzas to 'our man' on the
Board, Dutchie).
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And three hazzahs to Melbourne!
--
TimC
"The thing I love most about deadlines is the wonderful WHOOSHing sound
they make as they go past" - DNA