YAY BICYCLING AROUND NEW YORK CITY!

I tried a Citibike last weekend and rode in the 1st Ave bike lane from St Marks Place to Central Park. The bike rides like a tank because it's heavy, sturdy, and had responsive brakes.  The tough tires and the 3 gears made it an easy ride.  The lowest gear would have worked even on the hills of San Francisco!  The front LED and back red lights charge and blink when you pedal, which is a nice feature.  The bike is free under 45 minutes if you're a member and free under 30 minutes of you've gotten 24-hour access.  

The only thing that sucked was returning the bike.  When we went to put the bike back into its slot unit, the slot did not lock up the bike.  Since there's typically a station every 2 blocks in Manhattan, we rode around 7th Ave & 59th St to find other functioning stations.  Unfortunately, this process took 20 minutes.  Five different stations later, one finally took the bike.  

After several phone calls, it turns out numerous stations across the city faced similar problems, and the Citi Bike people were working on fixing the issues.  They also did not charge us extra for the time we spent looking for a locking slot. 

Still lots of kinks to work out, but overall, it's awesome that NYC has a bike share program at all. Hopefully this encourages locals to bike more, which not only provides exercise but is fun as well!

(Image source: Wikipedia Commons)

Awesome "floating" bicycle traffic circle! Its underside lights up at night to further dramatize the floating effect! 

This 24-cable suspended traffic circle for bicycles is named Hovenring; it is a new landmark in the city of Eindhoven, The Neitherlands. Prior to its construction, the automobile traffic circle was a dangerous place for bicyclists- the Hovenring (hovering ring) provides cyclists, especially children riding to and from school, a safe passage. Hooray for the Dutch! Sounds like they have their priorities straight! If only Honolulu (ranked #1 Worst Traffic in the US in 2011) could pick up on some of this progressive thinking! 

Full article here. 

Walnut Studiolo makes these classy leather bike handles to make lifting bikes easier! I love it! No more greasy/dirty hands! 

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For more information, visit:
http://robinhoodtax.org.uk/