You won't believe your eyes.

I accidentally photographed the Scintillating Grid Illusion. I was reviewing my photos and at first, I thought I had gone crazy.

You may not be able to see it here at this size, but if you look at the image at 1024 x 681, you'll see it. First take a look at the image by clicking on it below. Then follow the link at the end for another example. Oh, and I photographed this while riding across the Williamsburg Bridge on Sleipnir.

My friends tell me that this photo has a much stronger effect on me then on them. If you don't really see it flashing, check this out. this is what it looks like to me: Another example of the Scintillating Grid Illusion.

It's Finally Here!

Hub and Spokes reveals that IKEA has finally put in the bicycle parking. The parking for cyclists to visit the very first IKEA in New York City, a 346,000 square foot store (32,144 square meters). The parking for cyclists to visit the largest big box store in all of New York City. New York City, a city of over 8 million people. And here it is!

Photo: Hub & Spokes

Wait, really? Yes, really.

Wow, Thank you IKEA!! I don't know what to say. I"m speechless! six or maybe even TEN bicycles could park here! I knew this day would come... And, the best part, it's only about 300 feet away from the store, past the car parking lot...check out Hub and Spokes for more details.

Community Supported Agriculture

Our household invests in an organic farm here on Long Island. And in return, we get a share of the crops. Here's Jennifer and I picking up the first batch - we rode over to the pick-up on our lovely Velorbis bikes.

NYC IKEA Bicycle Parking Update

Hub and Spokes posts some photos of what you have to do if you want to park your bicycle at the newly opened first IKEA in New York City. It's pretty sad.

Downtown 'Free Bicycle' Rental Program

Via the Ride the City blog:

The Downtown Alliance (I shudder to think what kind of terrifying organization that is...) says they have a "free bicycle rental program" for downtown Manhattan. It's called "Bike Around Downtown." Sounds good...

"It's simple to register, reserve and ride! Just click on the link below to get started. Registrants must be 18 years of age or older and adults can reserve for a child. Children's bikes as well as tagalongs, wagons and bayseats are available free of charge.

Once you register, reserved bicycles may be picked up at Bike and Roll NYC, located at the South Street Seaport, under the FDR Drive at Fulton and South Streets.

There are 30 free bicycles available for each of the sessions below:

Monday through Friday:
• 9:00am-11:00am
• 11:30am-2:00pm
• 4:00pm-7:00pm

Saturday and Sunday:
• 9:00am-1:00pm
• 2:00pm-7:00pm"

Looks like the reality is that it's a bit limited, it's nothing like we should have, but it's a start and it could still be useful. NOTE: A credit card is required to register for the program. Check it out here.

More Space for Bicycles

Here's an appropriate response to bicycles crowding public transit. Make more room for bicycles. Not banning them as Lord High Autocrat Bloomberg has proposed.

"Commuters are lugging so many bicycles aboard FrontRunner trains the bikes are piling up, blocking doors and tipping over one another like dominoes. The Utah Transit Authority says it will have to dedicate more space inside train cars for bicycles. That could mean fewer seats." Read more...

A Gazelle in the Subway

Wildlife photography requires something faster than an iPhone.

Williamsburg/Greenpoint is the Center of the Universe

Anyone who has seen the number of bicycles along Bedford Ave. knows that cycling is very popular in Williamsburg. In fact, it wasn't too long ago that the city was cutting bike locks and removing bicycles from the L line Subway Station entrances on Bedford and Driggs. And now, there is an island of bicycle racks where car traffic used to be.

It makes sense, then, that the NYC DOT would confirm I live right in the center of the cycling universe in NYC. Hurrah!

From the Queens Ledger:

"According to Jon Orcutt, senior policy advisor for the Department of Transportation (DOT), Greenpoint and Williamsburg have the highest number of cyclists in New York City, and the city is responding to the popularity of the bicycle with several brand new cycling paths in the area.

“This neighborhood is the cycling epicenter of New York, and we want to achieve a synergy with riders and drivers to make cycling safer and bring more people out,” said Orcutt at a special meeting held last Wednesday by Community Board 1’s Transportation Committee."

Read more...

ABUS locks in the US

At the risk of having a conversation with myself, it seems I can answer my own question about where to get an ABUS lock in the US.

"The lockitt.com pany" sells motorcycle security products and carries the whole ABUS line:
http://www.lockitt.com

Cargo Bicycles

I can't help but re-post this because of the appearance of Henry from Henry WorkCycles! Via EcoVelo:

Fewer Traffic Signs, Better Safety?

Via Liz (via Simon):

"Imagine what would happen if you took down road signs and traffic signals. More accidents would surely result, or at least significant confusion and slower traffic. Or would it? The surprising thing is that a number of cities around the world have actually done this, and experienced dramatic declines in traffic accidents.

The idea is based on an urban design philosophy known as “shared space.” When drivers, pedestrians and bicyclists are forced to develop their own natural ways of interacting with each other, goes the thinking, they work out better social behaviors than the rule-driven behaviors dictated by professional traffic engineers. This does not mean an abandonment of design considerations, but rather a commitment to the larger public space designs instead of overly prescriptive traffic control devices such as traffic lights, signs and road markings.

The Dutch town of Drachten adopted this “unsafe is safe” approach in 2007 and found that casualties at one junction dropped from thirty-six over the previous four years to only two in the two years following the removal of traffic lights. Traffic jams no longer occur in the town’s main junction, which handles 22,000 cars a day."

Read more...

Craigslist Roundup

This is the kind of Rodeo that a vegan can support. The Craigslist Roundup. Shopping for a bike this weekend? Here's the best stock from the Craigslist Ranch.

Brooklyn, NY: "comes with big basket and new back tire back pedaling brake single speed is rusty but looks cool and drives smooth"

Montclair, NJ: "Hi, this little french bike would be good for cruising around the city or perfect for a summer beach house. It will fit people from 5' to around 6’ tall. The wheels are 20" (same size as bmx bikes) but it's adult sized. It has lots of updated parts and is ready to roll. The original paint has “patina” as they say on the antique bicycle road show. All in all, a cool little bike."


Brooklyn, NY: "It's very much the traditional bike - with a twist. There's the 18-inch frame size, 26-inch wheels, front and rear brakes plus seven-speed Shimano gears. But it's also got the looks of a vintage motorbike, right down to the mini 'petrol tank' panel and built-in headlight."


Brooklyn, NY: "Hi! I'm selling my very cute bike and throwing in the basket for a little extra! Good cruiser, but not good for long hauls, since there's just one gear. The brake cables need to be replaced as well, should be about 20 bucks, depending where you go."


Queens, NY: "This bike is cool. So cool that my neighbor was really into it, despite my pleadings that it was too tall. So we took it to the bike shop, where they put on a new seat, tires, cables and housings, and gave it a tuneup. You can figure out the rest. The bike is awesome...but too tall! It has fenders, upright bars, a great commute/bomb around town bike. It has a generator, that used to work and probably needs new bulbs. It even has a sturdy kickstand, the civilized way to park one's bike."


Find more used bicycles in NYC here...

Ugly-fy your bicycle?

Make magazine suggests we make our bicycles ugly to deter theft. The article is more amusing than anything else, especially when they make claims like:

"Start with the paint. A can of spray paint is a good start, but choose wisely. Black is out. We're talking ugly here, not cool. Think orange..."

What? Orange is ugly? Alex, please take over here, I just don't have the strength to deal with this kind of stupidity.

How about this to theft-proof your bike: Get a good lock. Secure removable parts. Replace your quick-release bolts. Lock to something strong. Get off-premises personal property coverage. And then enjoy your beautiful bike and leave the rust to Father Time...

And what did that bike look like before? Oh. Well, actually, I kind of prefer the 'ugly version'...

Summer (Winter)

, originally uploaded by escapehelicopter.

I managed to get Jenny's Orchid to bloom again... I trimmed off the original flower stem and waited and waited - and this little one has grown and now flowered... For an Orchid not living in ideal conditions, I'm impressed. Today is the first day of summer. To those north of the Equator: Happy Summer Solstice Day!

(For those south of the Equator: Happy Winter!)

City Sense

Bike Snob posts an amazing 'sense-o-meter' to explain his claim that the owner of a particular bike was likely in possession of more money than sense.

For use in the city - behold, the scale of sense:

So many Diners, so little time

Here's a little bit of NYC in the form of an interesting story you never knew you wanted to know - the history of the song Luka...

IKEA update

Streetsblog gives some updates on the IKEA mess. Commenters report that there are no bike racks - I repeat, NO BIKE RACKS at New York City's first IKEA. Perhaps you should call and ask why? 718-246-IKEA (4532)

After all, it turns out that IKEA promised bicycle parking in this interview on WNYC with Sam Schwartz, IKEA’s "traffic guru".

"SCHWARTZ: There will be free ferry service from Wall Street, Pier 11. Two bus lines have been extended to go into Ikea. In addition, Ikea is providing buses to the subway, it’s a free shuttle. Bike riders will have parking.

REPORTER: It’s a public transit experiment, and Schwartz isn’t particularly optimistc: he figures 85 to 90 percent of visitors will come by car. Eventually, he hopes, four in ten will come by bus, boat or bike."

Adjusting

I made some adjustments to my Churchill tonight. I raised the seat a little - raised the handlebar stem a lot and turned the handlebars up higher. These adjustments were based on my visit to the podiatrist the other day. Allow me to explain.

Tuesday I woke up with a swollen and sore foot. I stayed home and spent the day searching through my insurance company's impossible and totally counter-intuitive web site trying to find a doctor or something. In the process, I ran across a really cool MD in the neighborhood who is launching a new (for the US) concept in medicine.

Eventually I found a Podiatrist who wasn't too far away and called his office. His secretary answered and told me to come on down and that he would see me. Although I couldn't really walk, I could certainly ride. I hadn't really realized before that if for some reason you can't step on the bottom of your foot that you can always still ride your bicycle.

I plotted a course on Ride the City and headed into South Williamsburg. If you don't already know, South Williamsburg is primarily a Hasidic Jewish neighborhood. You can read more about the Hasidic sects of Judaism elsewhere, but in a nutshell it is a movement that originated in Eastern Europe and is distinctive because of their unique dress, culture and outward expressions of faith as opposed to a other more internal sects. Williamsburg Brooklyn is home to the largest Satmar Hasidic population in the world - tens of thousands of Satmar live just a few blocks south of the totally gentrified and hipsterized North Bedford Ave.

Personally, I love the community, the neighborhood and the people - every time I cross under the Williamsburg bridge, I feel like I've gone back in time to the 1940s - the women are all wearing hats, skirts and black shoes, there are children playing everywhere - and there is a great feeling of life on the streets as young men walk arm in arm, talking excitedly - an expression of friendship and camaraderie.

So, it turns out the podiatrist I found is right in the heart of the Hasidic neighborhood. I found his practice on the sub-ground floor of an apartment building on a residential street. There were several little boys playing out front. You have no idea how cute these kids are - in the summer the little boys all wear knickers and a button up short-sleeved shirt, they have a yarmulka on and adorable locks of curled hair in front of each ear (payot). These particular boys were very impressed with the Velorbis Churchill and gave me wide eyed smiles as I locked it up to the steel grate in front of the apartment. My favorite thing about the Hasidic kids is that they look at you like you're an alien - which I pretty much am from their perspective.

WILLIAMSBURG BROOKLYN, originally uploaded by lcrf.

Stepping down to the Doctors office, I found his sign - old, metal and hand painted in both English and Hebrew. Yes, this was definately going to be my podiatrist.

So it turns out I managed, somehow, to get a "massive infection" overnight in my foot. And my new Podiatrist said to me in his most dramatic and wonderful accent "If you hadn't come here today, my friend, you would have been in the Hospital tomorrow! The Hospital, I tell you."

He sent me to the corner pharmacy for my prescriptions (horse pill sized antibiotics and his "custom blend of creams, that I'm famous for - they call it Dr. Beinenfeld's special").

During this short ride which took me so far away, I realized my seat was a bit low and I wasn't sitting as upright as I would like to be - so I've corrected that - raised my seat, raised my handlebars even more - and I can't wait to test out the new position tomorrow. And my foot - it's much better.

'style' over speed

I really didn't mean to watch this movie, it just happened to be on - and suddenly there was a great scene where he passes a peloton on his upright bicycle. From Mr. Bean's Holiday.

9th Ave. Bicycle Path

On 9th Ave., the west side of Manhattan, a segregated bike lane has been constructed with temporary partitions. The city has put forward a plan to make it permanent. I rode over to take a look at the lane.

There are traffic lights for the bicycle lane, but mounted very high - so high in fact, that I didn't notice them at first - I hope the city decides to lower them.

The lane runs from around 23rd to 14th. It was good to ride in, but since there is no northbound lane, I ran into more cyclists (delivery riders mostly) who were going the wrong way on the lane.

In fact, on this night, I encountered at least 20-30 delivery riders who were riding the wrong way and almost hit me. None of them had bells or lights. Here's a typical delivery guy, as you can see he's riding the wrong way in the bike lane, on a one way street. They're everywhere and I've frequently seen them almost hit pedestrians.

Piers

West side of Manhattan, looking south. This is the walking path, but there is also a segregated bike path running along the whole river.

Sea

Crossing the Williamsburg Bridge on a misty evening. It's easy to forget that New York and Brooklyn are on islands, until the ocean weather comes in while you're crossing a bridge.

Café Vélo behind the scenes...

Café Vélo behind the scenes..., originally uploaded by limonaia.

There are no words to describe the coolness. Missing Portland today, obviously.

Rasberry Danes?

The Portland Mercury launches their 2008 Bike Issue with an unfortunate error. In the article "Bike to... the Future!" they identify Dane Svend Auken as "Dutch":

"In Amsterdam, there are hundreds of miles of bike lanes, over 40 percent of trips are by bike, there are enough bikes in the city for nearly every person, and fatality rates are incredibly low (1.6 deaths per hundred million trips, compared to the US's 21). In nearby Copenhagen, as Dutch politician Svend Auken told a ballroom full of Portland urban planning geeks at the June 6 Portland Plan kickoff, 40 percent of "business movement" is done by bike."

Now, this is a real pet peeve for Danes. And it's especially awful when you have the word Copenhagen and Dutch in the same sentence. (This fundamental lack of basic geography must be the fault of George W. Bush and the rest of the Canadian government in Washington D.C.)

Honestly though, I believe that US Americans do this frequently because the following goes through their heads:

"What's a person from Denmark called...? Danish? No, that can't be right, that's the name of a pastry.... it must be.... Dutch! Yes, that's it."

Well, I sent a note to the editor and hopefully they'll correct this error soon. In the meantime, enjoy The Bike Issue!

"Be Visible & Predictable"

Alex has a great post about biking in the city today. These two points in particular are very important for anyone riding in NYC who might only have experience say, riding when they were a kid or riding in a city like Portland. with more bike lanes.

I see this a lot. A cyclist is riding down the street and cars or busses come up behind them, so they move over really far to the right almost on top of the parked cars and weave in and out of the spaces between the parked cars. This is REALLY REALLY dangerous. You need to ride in a straight line, continue on your course and let the car figure out how to move around you. You have just as much right to be on the street as they do, and it's much safer if you remain predictable.

Thanks for writing this so well Alex!

"3. stop being ms. nice gal
oh, you are so polite. always ducking out of the way at the produce section, letting someone else get their grapes. that is truly admirable. seriously. however, i'm going to ask you to get comfortable with the thought that someone might think you are being rude and taking up too much space. they might even tell you to "use the bike lane" where there is none or to "get off the road". grab your helmet, find a mirror, and say, "i will ride a straight line." look yourself in the eyes. imagine horns blaring. "i will ride a straight line." thatta' gal.

you might think that by weaving in and out of parked cars or by riding really close to parked cars that you are being nice to those cars and trucks. however, we experienced bicyclists have one wish for you: "be visible and predictable." riding in and out of parked cars makes you hard to see and unpredictable. see those parked cars? move three feet away and ride straight ahead. keep going.

4. ignore the horns
cta bus drivers are trained to give a friendly toot of the horn to let bicyclists know that the bus is approaching. do not freak out. they will pass you safely as long as you are predictable. other drivers do this too: "i'm passing you and i'm nervous, so i'm going to let you know that i'm here." and then there's the loud, prolonged horn. yep, that is ima irritated. she wants you to get the hell outta' her way. do not start weaving. do not start freaking. stay your course. other cars will soon let her pass."

Read more...

I can't stress enough that if we want cars to obey the traffic laws and not race through red lights, we need to do the same. I beg those of you riding in New York to do five things:

1. Stop at all red lights and wait until they change.
2. Stop at all stop signs and look both ways.
3. Always ride the correct direction in a lane or street.
4. Ride in a straight line and outside of the door zone.
5. Watch for and yield to pedestrians.

Here's what NYC DOT has to say about riding in traffic.

The Bicycle League

We've started a new Facebook group. Join up!

Vegan Brooklyn

Reader Rachel says:

"Hello. I recently moved to Brooklyn, and I was wondering if you could maybe give me a list of any other good vegetarian/vegan restaurants for me to check out in the area. On that note, I have also been on the lookout for a nice coffee shop that actually has seating. Any tips?"

Rachel, did you ever ask the right person! Here are my favorite spots for a bite in Williamsburg:
Wild Ginger (all vegan Thai)
Foodswings (all vegan 'fast food')
Penny Licks (all vegan dessert)
Vinnie's Pizzeria (great vegan pizza and dessert)
Taco Chulo (good vegan options)
Falafel Chula (good vegan options)
LA Burrito (good vegan options)

And the best places to sit down and have skillfully prepared coffee in the hood:
Oslo (two locations)
El Beit

Check out my yelp reviews, you'll find other places around the city that I like.
And check out the Discerning Brute blog for updates, he lives in the hood and always blogs about the cool vegan joints that turn up.

Drunk and in charge at Tilburg University

I just found a group on Facebook called "I got drunk and fell off my bicycle while on exchange at Tilburg University." Amazing.

Here are some of the comments from members:

"I didn't just fall off, I flew off. Though I somehow managed to get away from it, with only a few bruises." - Marianne (Denmark)

"I can't even remember how many times I've fell of my bike until know being either drunk or stoned...nothing has happened to me yet...but as someone said before...driving in those conditions is art....cheers!" - Rodrigo (Peru)

"Come one, seriously, who didn't get drunk and fell off their bike while on Erasmus in Tilburg????! " - Pol (Belgium)

Car Free Street Planned for NYC

This is exactly what New York needs - a CAR FREE street running through Manhattan. Hat's off to the City Council for this idea. We can only hope that it will become permanent like Strøget in Copenhagen. The article includes a few business owners wining about it in typical US American fashion. Why don't they understand how great for business these kind of streets are? One of them does, and says "The car is obsolete in this town anyways." That's the spirit!

"A five-mile stretch of road running from Lower Manhattan to Central Park will be closed to automobiles for three days in August, as part of a city Department of Transportation program that, if successful, could lead to regular street closings.

The proposal, expected to be announced by Mr. Bloomberg at an event today, is intended to provide New Yorkers and visitors with a safe place to jog, stroll, and ride without the congestion normally associated with the city's streets. The car-free zone will run from the start of Centre Street in Lower Manhattan to 72nd Street on the Upper East Side by way of Lafayette Street, Fourth Avenue, and Park Avenue, and it will be closed between 7 a.m. and 1 p.m. on three consecutive Saturdays: August 9, August 16, and August 23." read more...

Strøget in Copenhagen, Denmark

How to Bike to IKEA

If IKEA won't provide bicycle directions - we will. With the help of Ride the City, here's how to get to NYC's first IKEA. Now, I'm not saying you should shop there, after all they're not promising that they'll have anywhere to lock up your bicycle. But perhaps you want to bicycle there so you can ask them where they expect you to put your bike...

Click on the route name or the image to go to the map with turn by turn directions and other options on Ride the City.

WILLIAMSBURG

Williamsburg -> IKEA

IKEA -> Williamsburg



PARK SLOPE

Park Slope -> IKEA

IKEA -> Park Slope



ASTORIA/QUEENS

Queens -> IKEA

IKEA -> Queens


MANHATTAN/DOWNTOWN

Manhattan -> IKEA

IKEA -> Manhattan

Weekend CycleBlog Roundup

Charlotte at Chic Cyclist is also getting an organic garden share.

Alex blogs about a bicycle cop. So does Bike Portland. One is about nice woman, the other a gang of thugs who tazered a cyclist for not having a headlight. (Maybe that's sign #19 that you have a bicycle culture?) Hmmmm... does NYC even have bicycle cops?

Speaking of Zakka, Copenhagen Cycle Chic posts more photos that can only be described as erotic... the slightly damp pavement from the always recent Danish rain, the stylish nordic fellows and gals, the bicycles with all those chain guards, baskets and lights, I can't take it.

Freewheeling Spirit blogs about his encounter with Tim Russert, whose hold-them-accountable-for-what-they've-said style of questioning will be missed.

Sigrid test rides a Skeppshult. Sadly she couldn't bring it home with her. But she can order one here and delivery is included in the price.

And, even though I followed all the rules, I lost Aaron's CPH Guide giveaway... I guess I'll survive. (If you haven't already, do check out his very cool blog - seeking inspiring music, design and observations? You'll find it on Something Rotten.)

Friday the 13th

Friday night was really lovely.

After work, I came home and checked out Brooklyn Vegan for all the free events going on that evening. I found that a film was showing outdoors in Tompkins Square Park - and so I plotted a route on Ride the City, and headed off for the Williamsburg Bridge.

The Williamsburg bridge is a great place to see parts of both Brooklyn and Manhattan from a slightly elevated perspective as the bridge crosses almost as much land as water.

The route was easy, I made it there much faster than I would have on the subway (due to cutting out all the walking) and the film had just only started. The evil fencing in the park, constructed as part of the crowd control measures that NYC is building into all public space, actually worked quite well as a bicycle rack - and one of the corporate cops who was protecting the free film screening from whatever-threat-someone-imagined even complimented me on a "lovely machine." I'm assuming he was talking about my beloved Vegan Churchill Classic by Velorbis.

I locked up the bicycle, took a seat on the ground and enjoyed a lighthearted flick, Zim & Co. It wasn't art, but it was entertaining. And the crowd was fun, many were picknicking, chatting in many languages and mostly watching the film. In NYC, especially in this summer of the mighty Euro, you're as likely to hear french, german, swedish, japanese or danish as english.

Zim and his amusing friends were... amusing. I had just watched several Gaël Morel films the other night and much prefer his exploration of multiculturalism and contemporary french youth for reasons that have as much to do with Stéphane Rideau (Chaud! Chaud! Chaud!) as with anything cinematographic or filmic...

After the film, I met up with David and we headed to Florent for dinner. Sadly, Florent is closing in less than 15 days - they're being pushed out by rent increases - the story of everything interesting in New York these days. We had a really fun dinner, and even a little food fight with some friends at another table in which some glasses were broken. Were we asked to leave? No - the waiter responded by offering to BUY us some more wine with a big smile. That's Florent and that's why we love it. It's a restaurant where life continues while you eat.

And the best part - with no other options in the Meat Packing District, I had locked up my bicycle to something (see below) I didn't really want to lock it to. So I checked on it twice during dinner. The second time, the doorman at Florent offered to keep an eye out for me. He looked like the incredible hulk, but had the heart of a puppy. Again, that's Florent and that's why we love it. (yes, that's a bike rack hiding back there - but it was too small for my lovely large wheels...)

After the food, we headed back to Brooklyn across the Williamsburg bridge. David wanted to test ride my Velorbis - I'm trying to convince him to get a normal bike. Reason #1: Only upright riding would allow David to eat his ice cream comfortably while cruising over the bridge. Cross your fingers.

EcoVelo

EcoVelo is a really lovely, well designed blog with serious attention to form and equal regard for function and content. Just a pleasure to read. And, they're Pashley riders... which makes them unique in our normal bicycle blogger community.