In June of 2007 I first began biking in New York City. I had been living here for 5 years, and like most New Yorkers, was happily car free. At the time I was driving a horse and carriage from a stable at 38th and 11th avenue, and each day I would jump on the subway at w4th, have a short 15 minute ride to either 34th or 42nd st, and a 15 minute walk over to the west side. Door to door the commute was about a half an hour, so I had little to complain about. But in June my boss went out to Idaho for the summer and left me his bike. It was a $60 mountain bike from Kmart that I’m pretty sure was for children. Nearly every day that summer I rode that little sucker up from the West Village to Chelsea to Hell’s Kitchen and back. I am 6’4″ and that thing absolutely murdered my knees, but it changed forever the way I experienced New York. No longer was my commute underground, from point to point. No, instead I could soak up the world around me. Receive phone calls. Discover new restaurants or stores on the way to work. Suddenly, my commute was less about the destination, and more about the journey. And you know what? It was actually faster. My door to door commute dropped to under 20 minutes and was always predictable. No waiting for trains. No being held in the station. I loved the freedom of commuting without set schedules and routes. I could go anywhere anytime, and I felt like an 8 year old who just expanded his universe by getting his first Huffy. So of course at the end of the summer, I ditched that child’s bike, got a man-sized hybrid and made biking my mode of choice.
Many are afraid to bike in New York, and I’ll admit there are still dangers. But each year the DOT expands the network of lanes and each year there are more cyclists on the streets. I truly believe we are approaching a critical mass, and not just on one wild Friday night per month.
This site will be a forum for people already biking in New York, but will also provide information for curious straphangers sick of service cuts and price hikes. It will show who is biking in New York, and why they love it so much. It will also improve the world we bike in by calling attention to the many abandoned cycles, damaged racks, and insufficient parking opportunities. Most importantly this site will celebrate biking in New York; it will be less about anger and advocacy, and more about promoting the joys of cycling. I truly feel that if more people give it a chance, they will be quick to realize the many benefits, and quick to forget the few dangers and inconveniences.
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