New York - Part 1

Sorry for the lull in posts, but I have been in New York for work for the past week, and will be here until next Thursday.Yesterday was my first chance to get out and explore, and let's just say that pedaling the city did not disappoint.

I rented a city hybrid, helmet, and lock for $40 flat from a bike shop near Bryant Park and headed out. The choice of where to rent was based on being located in the middle of the city and getting me up to Central Park, down Broadway and Times Square, and then looping back up the Hudson River Bike Path. In my 4 hour ride I covered about 50 miles and saw more of the city than I ever would have been able to on foot.

The facilities and riding styles in this city vary and are as wild as anyone can imagine. There are bike lanes on most of the streets and many of them are at least 6 foot wide and have a 3' striped buffer zone. They also have green painted intersection crossings and have bike stop lights on their larger streets, so that bikes get a few second jump on the traffic behind them that may be trying to turn.

The comfort level of riding here is surprisingly high, from what I think that many would perceive it to be. Bikes are highly respected by the cabs, buses, and other traffic, because bikes are everywhere. The majority of the riders are bike delivery and messenger people, but there are many people out riding for commuting, touring the city, and just for fun. Riding in NYC is just like riding anywhere else, don't do erratic/unpredictable moves, use hand signals to show lane changes, and keep your head on a swivel for possible conflicts that can be prevented.

I will break down more of what I saw and did out there in future posts.