Wednesday, August 30, 2006

videos from Velocity

A couple of videos me and siji edited and wanted to share from the VeloCity Tour this weekend at the Kissena track in Queens.

This was the 200m sprint where riders race the clock for the fastest time in one lap around the track.



Then it was the match sprints...Watch Hugo's crash.

Josh Whitesnakes tips for the NACCC

Here is Josh Whitesnakes of mess nyc with tips if you're going to the NACCC.

1. Bring a bike. Even if you don't plan on racing. Last year I gat ran over the week before the NACCC and had cool steel pins holding my arm together until after the CMWC. Cabs and subways suck when everyone else is out riding. Plus, the SEPTA (Philly mass transit) is effin' gross. Upholstered seats and carpeted floors is the worst possible thing you can do to mass transit.


2. Drink Beer. It's cool and refreshing. The more you drink, the cooler you'll look, be, and feel! Everything and everyone is better when they're totally shit-faced. Chances are, you won't have to face these people for another year.

Or don't drink, if that's your preference. No peer pressure here.

3. Bring stuff to trade. People seem to do this less and less. But I like having all sorts of cool stuff from places I've never even been to. That way, when someone's like "Oh wow! You were at _________ in __________?" You can say "Look buddy, I got the T-shirt to prove it."

Don't even think about asking me for my New Jack City shirt or my Star Track shirt.

4. Bring a bag. It will make carrying stuff to trade and beer easier. Chances are you'll want to change your clothes at some point. It also doubles as a pillow if you ever go to sleep.

5. Sleep is for rookies. There will be party going on at all times. Even when most the rest of the world is asleep. You're closest to death in your sleep. Try not to miss a moment.

Personally, I'm getting old, and will likely try to sleep in your hotel room in the late am hours.(If I can sleep in your hotel room, please email whitesnake@messnyc.net)

6. Do the main race. It's always a lot of fun, and a lot of people miss out cause they get too wasted to ride. You need to be able to stand up, and being able to ride the bike is helpful too. If the officials can see that you are drunk, then you are too drunk to race, even if they're too drunk to really make that decision. Remember to bring a helmet, or a friend that has head sweat you don't mind sharing.

7. Don't talk about your bike, you gear ratio, or how you clean your drivetrain with your tongue. Most people tire of this type of conversation quickly when they're not talking about their stuff. Here are some other suggested topics of conversation:

-Are you in a band? What type and speed of punk rock or heavy metal do you play?

-Did someone do something stupid at the last alleycat? It's not a messenger event until someone is unconscious. Did they pee themselves? Did anyone draw on them or light them on fire? Do you have photos you'd like to contribute to the website? (email me photos at whitesnake@messnyc.net)

-Is there something really cool about where you work? Where's the park with the crackheads? Or the junkies? Where do the kids drink beer in the alley? Ever get busy with a client in the supply locker?

-Oh, you're an artist? Author? Poet-Laureate of Illinois? That's pretty fucking interesting. Maybe you should share that.

8. Be friendly to strangers at that these things. Buy someone you don't know a beer, offer them a hit of whatever, let em watch your mom in the shower. It's a really big family. I've worked in a few cities and this job is a pretty similar experience anywhere. Of course every city has it's own thing, but if you carry packages from one place to another, it's the same job.

9. Bring a towel. You'll want to shower at some point. There will be bike riding and the like, you'll work up a sweat. Time and time again all weekend. You'll smell great, really, please shower, and bring your own towel. Drying off with a dirty t-shirt is self-defeating.

I almost never remember to bring my towel, and I've learned that a lot of messengers only own one. Remember yours. You don't want to use someone else's dirty wet towel after them. Or maybe you do. (If you want to borrow my dirty, wet towel email me at whitesnake@messnyc.net)

10. Leave your drama at home. Unless your from Philly, in which case you should put your drama somewhere else for the weekend. This is our annual family reunion, we're here for the same purpose: To get wasted, ride bikes, and try to get laid.

So, Ladies, Gentlemen, here's to the pursuit of happiness, have a great and safe time this weekend.

Tuesday, August 29, 2006

Besty Speaks


New York City Public Advocate, Besty Gotbaum speaks out about new parade rule attempt.
Besty's speaks

North Americans is almost here


The Nation is coming to Philadelphia for the 2006 North American Cycle Courier Championships. Should be an awesome weekend starting Friday September 1st-4th.

Here is the website

Here is the schedule:

Friday, Sept. 1st

12:00pm(noon) Registration.
Begins at Tattooed Mom's, 530 South Street lasting until 9pm.

6:00pm Art Crawl.
A ride to venues throughout Philly displaying Messenger art during the
"First Friday" events. Ends at Tattooed Mom's 530 South Street.

8:00pm Welcome to Philly Ride
See what out city has to offer as Aylen from Baltimore takes you by
all the tourist hotspots included in our city's bicycle maps. Ends at
the Welcome Party 2020 N. Hancock St.

9:00pm to 2:00am Welcome to Philly Party
This is the place to be on Friday. $1 Pabst for registered
competitors, Live DJ's, GoldSprints Qualifiers, and on going
registration until 2:00am. Holler!

----------------------------------------
Saturday, Sept. 2nd

9:00am to 4:00pm Main Race Qualifiers
Memorial Hall @ 41st & Girard.

10:00am to 2:00pm Sprints Qualifiers
Memorial Hall @ 41st & Girard.

9:00pm to 2:00am After Party
2020 N. Hancock St. $1 Pabst for registered competitors, Live DJ's,
and GoldSprints Finals until 2:00am.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Sunday, Sept. 3rd

9:00am to 10:00am Open Forum
Location to Be Announced. Discuss next years NACCC among other things.

10:00am to 1:00pm Main Race Finals
Memorial Hall @ 41st & Girard. May the best messenger win!

1:00pm Cargo Race
1:00pm to 2:00pm Sprints Finals
Let's finish this up good. Memorial Hall @ 41st & Girard.

2:00pm to 4:00pm Skids & Track Stands
Memorial Hall @ 41st & Girard. Sure to be a crowd pleaser.

6:00pm to 7:00pm Group Photo
We'll take one to show our grandkids. Meet at
the Philadelphia Art Museum. You know… the place Rocky ran up the
stairs.

8:00pm to 2:00am AFTER PARTY & AWARDS
2020 N. Hancock St. Awards start at 9:00pm
· 1st Place Men's and Women's Main Race receives a complete
Raleigh track bike and a custom R.E.load bag.
-----------------------------------------------
Monday, Sept. 4th

12:00pm(noon) Farewell BBQ
@Tip Top Park, Front and Allen St.
Too RAW to mention here.


LEAVE WHEN YOU WANT… IF YOU WANT. Philly Loves You.

Monday, August 28, 2006

Rumble Thru the Bronx is on line!!

Check it out. The long awaited Rumble Thru the Bronx 3 video is now on-line at the newly created: Play in Traffic productions. This was a major collaborative effort featuring multiple helmet cams including the skills of none other than Lucas Brunelle. Thanks to all who came out for this now famous race, thanks to all who helped with the race and those that helped make this video possible. This video is dedicated to Bronx John, who was tragically taken from us.

Please let us know what you think of the video and we will see you at the NACCC in Philly!

More ridiculous ticketing at Critical Mass


Will from On Ny Turf, got a ticket at the last critical mass for not being to far over to the right...while stopped at a red light. Check out the full description of what happened.

"Hard to imagine I might ever hear those worlds given some of my views, but that is what NYPD Officer 757 told me as he gave me a ticket friday night while I was waiting at a red light. My penance for riding Critical Mass this month."
---------------
Also Chia had this happen to her on Friday morning

Hey, g'morning.

I was riding over the Williamsburg Bridge this morning, as usual. I've noticed, along with everybody else, the recent presence of a lot of cops on the bridge lately. Especially the ones that sit in their 3-wheeler carts right in the middle of the bike path. I will admit that I tend to yell at the ones that block traffic as I go by. I try to let them know that I don't appreciate their presence, and that they're making things more dangerous for everybody. Today was no different.

There was a cop parked on the right (uphill) lane of the Brooklyn side, clogging things up, and I let him know that as I went by. Within 20 seconds, he was behind me, beeping to get past me. I didn't move aside at all, so he had to wait until the downhill side was clear, then he buzzed by me up the bridge. I caught up to him again almost at the top of the bridge, where he had parked again in the right (uphill) lane. I saw him check me out coming up behind him, and so I let him know he was still in the way. On the way down the bridge, I noticed that this guy was now following me down the bridge in his little cart. Close to the bottom of the bridge, he passed me by again on the left, only to stop short and park again on the right (now downhill) side, almost at the very bottom of the Manhattan side. I had to pass this guy again on the left, and as I did I observed him checking me out and talking into his radio. As I got off the bridge and popped onto Delancey, I noticed a police car pull out into traffic right behind me. This guy then proceeded to TAIL me for about four blocks, until I think I ended up losing him in traffic around Chrystie St. Nothing more really happened, and the rest of my commute was relatively smooth.

So that's my story. Nothing too dramatic, unless police harassment counts. It really sucks to say, though, that police intimidation is pretty routine now in this city.

But I figured that I should pass along this story to you, and whomever else you see fit to spread it along to. (Feel free to spread, by the way). Especially with tonight being the Mass - be aware that the cops are already out in force. And it seems like they're itching for a fight.

chia basinger.

Sunday, August 27, 2006

Wet and wild weekend at the track


Puma has been hosting a track series in three different cities. It started in LA, then Chicago and finally ended in NYC. The idea of the events, which was mostly created by Squid (Team PUMA nyc) and John Campo, was to give messengers a chance to win tickets to the 2006 Cycle Messenger World Championships in Sydney Australia. Airfare alone to this event would cost upwards of $1,700 a piece so this was a huge prize to win. The VeloCity Tour was created. This weekend was a chance for NYC's hardest to show their stuff at the Kissena Park velodrome where lots of urban riders have been racing over the summer. The competition was tough featuring 4916 of which Alex took home a ticket in LA. Also Godspeed Messengers from Boston, Puma, Trackstar and some hotshots out there on their own.

Full standings will probably be available soon on the velocity tour website.

For now, here are some pictures on my flickr page from Day 1.

More pictures and video to come including the last minute 6 pack race which decided the best team of the competition.

Chicago VeloCity group shot.


Here is a photo page from Onesixfive from the VeloCity tour in Chicago-July 29th & 30th

Some good pictures on NYC indymedia

Picture by: Jen Yuson


Times Up hosted a victory ride on Wednesday the 23rd to celebrate the NYPD backing down on parade regulations.

More pictures at: NYC indymedia pictures

Catchin up--Critical Mass and New Jack City Alley Cat

Wow...This is hard...So many things going on.

Friday night was NYC critical mass on the heels of the NYPD backing down on enforcing new rules on parading. This did not stop a large police presence of scooter cops and ticketing, continuing the harassment of cyclists. There is also evidence that police stopped a videographer and knocked his camera to the ground...so much for free speech.

Of course, I missed another Critical Mass and instead went to the King Kog hosted: New Jack City Alley Cat.


We got to play drug dealer and the object of the race was to sell as much: "Crack" as you could in an hour and a half. Kind of like that first PDA video game we all wasted time with: Drug Dealer. The race started around 8:00pm in front of King Kog bike shop on Hope St. in the Willy B. This is where you registered and got a spoke card of an UZI and phat t-shirt that Team Screen designed with the slogan: "Crack Kills." Then Bill from Messnyc, announced the rules of the game and gave the first location of the "Carter House" (From the movie New Jack City). The race worked like this. You go to the Carter house to get Crack and a manifest which has the location of 3 places to sell the crack and get your manifest marked with a green sharpie. Every sell is one mark, per checkpoint, until you fill up the manifest and thus...need to get some MO CRACK. So you ride back to the Carter house, get new viles and a new manifest...the one who sells the most...WINS. But there was a snafu...Cause crime don't always pay and the Man is out there to bust you. 2 people were randomly selected to be cops, they were competing to see who could make the most busts. Armed with a red and blue sharpie if they caught you at a checkpoint (where a deal was going down) you got busted and recieved a red or blue mark on the manifest and 0 points. The cops looked like other riders and would hang out at the checkpoints to spoil your game.

We got some good video of this race but my helmet cam somehow turned off after a half hour and we didn't get the great footage of "officer" Ken taking his role of the undercover cop...to the extreme.

I believe Sean won this race. More details will soon be posted...probably by Ken on the NYBMA website.

Thursday, August 24, 2006

We're Back.

So the police decided to back off on their parade facsi---I mean parade regulations. They obviously didn't want to make a big fuss when me and Samantha were away on our Honeymoon. Good move on their part cause we were gonna give them hell!

But we all know the fight is far from over.

Here is an upcoming free screening from Transportation Alternatives of the documentary..."contested streets."

Transportation Alternatives

EXPERTS DISCUSS NYC’S TRAFFIC CONGESTION AND SCREEN CONTESTED STREETS: BREAKING NYC GRIDLOCK AS PART OF SOLAR ONE’S SOLAR-POWERED FILM SERIES

New York, New York (August 22, 2006) – A new survey released by the Tri-State Transportation Campaign this summer shows that more than three-fourths of New Yorkers (79%) consider traffic jams on city streets to be a problem, including 53% who consider it a “major problem.” The same survey finds that 59% of New Yorkers say the mayor is doing only a “fair” to “poor” job of reducing traffic jams and delays on city streets, highways and bridges

This stands in stark contrast to cities around the world like London, Paris and Copenhagen that are fighting back against traffic congestion, in part by switching trips to mass transit, cycling and walking.

Leaders in New York are taking notice, both of this problem and the solutions posed in a new film, co-produced by Transportation Alternatives, called Contested Streets: Breaking NYC Gridlock. The film has been screened for business leaders and at the NYC City Council.

Now Transportation Alternatives is working to take the film to audiences across the city. A free public screening will take place on Saturday, August 26th at Solar 1 in Stuyvesant Cove Park (E. 23rd Street and the East River) as part of their Solar Powered Film Series.

At 8 pm there will be a panel discussion about NYC’s traffic problem and what groups around the city and around the world are doing to fight traffic. The panel will feature:
Alexis Perrotta: Senior Policy Analyst, Regional Plan Association
Ethan Kent: Vice President, Project for Public Spaces
Glenn McAnanama: Founder, Upper Green Side and blogger featured on The Oil Drum and StreetsBlog
Matthew Roth: Director, NYC Streets Renaissance Campaign
Moderator: Dani Simons: Deputy Director, Transportation Alternatives

At 9 pm there will be a screening of Contested Streets. The screening is free and open to the public. Guests can enjoy delicious refreshments generously donated by the Birdbath Bakery, the city’s first sustainably built and managed bakery; as well organic wine, Brooklyn Brewery beer and other choice treats.

Monday, August 14, 2006

For some good news...

Congratulations to us. Samantha and I had an amazing wedding up at the Full Moon Resort in Big Indian NY. We had a short but symbolic bike ride on Saturday morning and then me and my sweetie rode off on our new tandem after the beautiful ceremony. Thanks to all our friends and family who came out and celebrated this amazing weekend with us.

Forget it

There is just too much damn shit going on in the world of bikes to put bikeblog on hold. I will be out of town till August 23rd in Mexico for my Honeymoon.

Meanwhile...John Neese, otherwise known as "Bronx" John has passed away. Here are the details from the NYBMA website, which includes information on a memorial ride tomorrow for John.

Bronx John WILL be missed....
On the morning of Saturday August 12th, John Neese - more well known as "Bronx John" - was pronounced dead and taken off of the life support that had been keeping him alive since his accident on Wednesday night. His mother has been contacted, and was at Belleview when the announcement was made. John was a beloved, long time member of the messenger community, and will be greatly missed. There will be a memorial ride for him and Darren Lewis, who died Thursday morning, on Tuesday, August 15th. It is scheduled to start at 8pm in the plaza across from the Javits Center on 11th Avenue between 35th and 36th street (where Cranksgiving starts). The ride will pass the locations of Darren and John's accidents, and end in Williamsburg. We will then go to Rock Star bar (S. 5th & Kent) where people will have a chance to say some words about both of them.-NYBMA

Also King Kog, track bike shop in Williamsburg, posted the same information and gave this quote:

John was the HOMIE!...The nicest guy, always laughing and having a good time...He had my back just as he did everyone else's...

Friday, August 11, 2006

Ok one more...

I said this was it for August...but this is important. One of our own, a veteran of the messenger community is in a coma after an accident on his bike Wednesday night. It happened on South 4th and Roebling in Williamsburg Brooklyn. The guys name is "Bronx" John and his is in critical condition at Bellevue Hospital. John is a real solid, nice and friendly guy. My prayers are with you John...get well soon.

Friday, August 04, 2006

Bike Blog takes a...BREAK.


What? How can this be? In an ideal world I would spend my entire day mining the internet for wacky new bicycle innovations; reporting on alleycats and other messenger related events and posting all of your rants and observations on the NYPD's jihad against our two wheeled warriors...wait a minute...that is what I do all day. Well I have to take a bit of a break because I am burnt out and I am getting married next week to the amazing Samantha Lobis who somehow tolerates my pretense for internet viewing and published rantings. Then we are off to Mexico for a brief honeymoon in a country that doesn't just sit idle when their elections are being contested but rather march 2 million people in the streets to shut down the downtown area. Although we will be on the beach sipping margaritas and hopefully not being too despised by the locals who are innodated with fat clueless tourists who spend their money in mega-resorts and not into the local economy. We will tell them we are from Canada..eh and Dos Cervezas Por Favor. Then I come back on the day of the public hearing and its off the 2006 North American Cycle Courier Championships. As you can see my plate is a little full right now. I know what your thinking...How can I get through my day without your important compilation of bike related material? It will be difficult...Especially in this harsh political climate against bikes as record breaking globally warm heatwaves plague us and thousands of innocent civilians get laser guided missiles dropped on them so our Hummers can get groceries at Walmart 10 blocks from our homes built with old growth lumber. All I can say is channel your fustrations against that damn blogger stopping his rants to go and marry the state into ACTION. Write your city council members and tell them they are being left out of the process of parade definitions because the crybaby police are tired of riding their little scooters into us and writing tickets with code violations that don't exist. Tell them to represent you and to tell Bloomberg, Kelly and Smolka that the police are supposed to enforce the laws...not make them up.

Bike Blog will return to your regularly scheduled bike culture news in September...Bigger and Better on into the year 3000. (and maybe even figure out how to use html code)

Now let us all join in the words of the great spiritual hym...Still We Ride, Still We Ride...Thank God Almighty...Still We Ride!

Thursday, August 03, 2006

Finally...we have some video up from a ride.

I was beginning to think I had to do it all myself.
This is a great video of the NYC July critical mass. So timely and it show how clueless the NYPD really are...so pay close attention folks.

Wednesday, August 02, 2006

Eye Witness of the NYPD's campaign to harass cyclists.

Central park is all part of the Master Plan, to harass cyclists and discourage our ridership...How else can you explain cops now ticketing cyclists in Central Park? Why now is this an issue? The cops say it is because someone got hurt by a bike rider. Weather this is true or not...DId you hear anything about this? As a blogger I am pretty tuned into events involving bikes. But hey, If I'm wrong...send me the article.



Meanwhile, Alex reports on what is going on in Central Park...what a sham. Thanks Alex for the photo and the report:

I wanted to give you and your readers a heads up about recent ticketing tactics being employed by the park police in Central Park. This morning I watched the park police (green and white uniformed officers) writing tickets to two different cyclist on the park loop road near Delacorte Theatre. Additionally, I talked to a third cyclist who was also stopped by the officers. The third cyclist ultimately became tired of waiting for the officers to finish with the other two cyclists. So, she casually rode off. As an aside, I saw her ride past the officers about a half hour later without incident. I was only able to talk to one of the other cyclists who said he thought he was being cited for "running a red light", but he wasn't sure.
I run daily on the Bridle Path in Central Park. I usually finish my runs around 7am. Since I returned from vacation around July 20th, I have noticed the park police setting up a barricade on the park loop. The barricade is situated between the Delacorte Theater and the Marionet Puppet Theatre. The park police place one officer in the bike lane at the light immediately downhill from the Delacorte bathrooms and have a couple more officers and vehicles on the bike path adjacent to the Marionet Puppet Theatre. In addition, near the second set of officers, there is a barricade set up so as to narrow down the vehicle traffic on the loop from 2 to 1 lane. The whole set-up looks identical to a sobriety checkpoint (if only it were...). The first officer tries to act as a traffic cop of sorts. When the light turns red for traffic, he then stands in (or on the grass adjacent to) the bike lane and holds out his hand for bikes to stop. I am assuming the cyclists being ticketed did not see this first officer and rode past him, only to be stopped about 200 feet down the road/bike lane by the barricade and several more officers.
Being the naive citizen that I am, when I first saw this barricade set up around 7am July 20th, I thought, "Awesome, they are slowing down the taxi drivers who treat the C.P. loop like a nascar track." I casually observed the set up of this barricade at about 7am nearly everyday for the past 2 weeks, and always conjured up the same praise of the park police to myself each time.
Obviously, I am a dummy. Indeed the barricade is meant to slow down the speeding nascar-taxis of Manhattan, but not with the intended consequence of protecting the public. Nay, the officers appear to be creating the buffer in an effort to make their work environment safer, such that they can ticket cyclists without fear of being hit by a speeding yellow bullet (or SUV).
Anyways, this is the first major and consistent effort at ticketing on the UWS I have seen in the past two years. In short, I watched several cyclists get ticketed for riding their bikes in the bike lane of the Central Park loop. The only reason I observed the ticketing today is because I started my run after 7am instead of much earlier. So, as a warning, the park police have been setting this barricade up consistently for the past 2 weeks. It would be a safe bet to assume that they have been nabbing about 10-15 cyclists (lowball estimate for sure) per morning at this "checkpoint".
I have attached a picture of the situation below.
Be careful out there.
Feel free to pass my email on to anyone who has questions.

alex (alex@marine.rutgers.edu)


"Man's humanity to man is not only perpetrated by the vitriolic actions of those who are bad, it is also perpetrated by the vitiating inaction of those who are good."
-- Rev. Martin L. King Jr.

What you can do about the new "Parade Rules"


You know when you break a vase in the house by playing nerf football and your parents make a RULE about not playing football anymore in the living room...Well the NYPD is trying to make new rules about parading.

This roughly translates into: The NYPD have been unsuccessful in stopping the critical mass bike ride since the RNC in 2004. No matter what they have tried, stealing bikes, arresting people, using orange netting, infiltrating the ride with undercovers, using domestic spying, ramming us with their scooters, tackling us off our bikes, dooring us with their squad cars, handing out false information that the ride is illegal, using thousands of dollars of our tax resources to scare us by their massive presence, using emergency vehicles to try and prove we don't pull over when we do, raiding our fundraisers, smashing our video cameras, ticketing us on our regular commute, lying to us about helmet laws and the speed of our bikes, ticketing us in Central park and illegal bicycle inspections. STILL WE RIDE. The police have lost in court, they had no argument against critical mass so now in a desperate final messusre they are trying to come up with a RULES so we can't play nerf football in the house.

If you think this is a ton of BS and not an appropriate response for the NYPD to be taken against Freedom loving bike riders who should be rewarded with bike lanes and encouraged to ride...Then TELL THE CITY WHAT YOU THINK....

TIMES UP SUGGESTS THE FOLLOWING ACTIONS:

+++TAKE ACTION AGAINST NYPD'S PROPOSED PARADE RULE!+++

NYPD has issued a proposed rule that would dictate how many people could legally ride their bikes or walk down the sidewalk together without a permit. The rule would actively discouraging cycling and make it more difficult for cyclists to ride together for safety. See the full text of the rule

Actions you can take to oppose the rule include:

1. Testify at the August 23 public hearing and attend the rally outside Police Plaza in opposition to the changes. Send notice of your intent to testify to:

Assistant Deputy Commissioner Thomas P. Doepfner
New York City Police Department
1 Police Plaza, Room 1406
New York, NY 10038

2. Attend a People's Public Forum on the proposed rule change. Thursday, August 17 at St. Mark's Church (2nd Avenue and 10th Street) at 7 p.m.

3. If you are involved with these groups, tell them about the proposed changes and urge them to attend the August 23rd hearing.

4. Write Mayor Bloomberg and ask him to withdraw the proposed rule. (City Hall/New York, NY 10007/Fax (212) 788-2460/ email: http://www.nyc.gov/html/mail/html/mayor.html)

5. Urge your councilmember to testify against the rule at the public hearing and at the People's Public Forum. (Find your councilmember at http://www.nyccouncil.info/constituent/contact_member.cfm.

6. Pass along this information
---------------------------------------------------
We must use our representation and our voices and stop this from happening. Forget the War in Iraq or the Massacre of the Lebanese people in the name of OIL...the war is here at home! If we can't even defend our own constitution...forget about what is happening in the bigger front.

This is not just about a bunch of bike riders who are having their fun spoiled...This is the OIL EMPIRE tightening its grip!

Tuesday, August 01, 2006

July Critical Mass report...



Will, of Onnyturf.com, has a report on the last NYC critical mass...

"The ride started brilliantly. A few hundred cyclists, 250 to 300 had gathered at the north end of Union Square. Rather than starting by heading south down Park Ave to Broadway, the ride broke out at the North West corner, heading across 17th street toward 5th Ave. It was about 8pm. 20 Police scooters had lined themselves up on the West Side of the park, and they were a little slow getting to 17th street.---

*read whole the whole story here

*Blog note:

Please read carefully, this is a great detailed description about how the NYPD effectively creates more blocked traffic than the people do and then lie to us about how the bikers are the real problem to motor vehciles and the general flow of the streets.

Check out the sideways bike


My good friend and incredible video editor Dan Katz , who surfs the internet all day looking for bicycle related oddities sent this link to the sidewaysbike

Michael Killian has invented a new style of bicycle which operates with left and right balancing. Its a lot like skiing and allows the rider to drift from side to side. This might work great on evading moped cops or we can say to them..."I'm not riding two abreast...I'm riding sideways."

Check out this video