Just setting up my cyclecomputer and putting new batteries in it. Before I erase last year’s data, I just want to record that the total milage from last year was 955.3 miles. FWIW.
How many speeds does that have?
The first question many people ask about a bicycle is “How many speeds does it have?”
I don’t think they realize that question really shows their ignorance about bicycles. I usually answer “Three in front and nine in back.” but what they really want to hear is “Twenty-seven.” I think in the future, I’ll just say “Infinite.”
Most bikes are driven by a gear that you turn with the pedals, connected to a gear at the back wheel by a chain. It’s a simple machine and the distance you travel when you turn the cranks – those things the pedals are attached to – depends on several things. Continue Reading…
A Tale of Two Commuters
Meet Joe and Bob. Both live in Suburbia, a nice bedroom community where they enjoy the amenities of suburban life. They both work at an office in Big City and commute each day to their jobs. Continue Reading…
Bike Route 517
I recently found more information about NY bike Route 517. Apparently, after a couple of years, they finally got around to adding it to their website.
State Bicycle Route 517 is a signed on-road bicycle route that extends 90 miles from the Pennsylvania State Line near Jamestown to the Hamlet of Olcott. This route connects with Pennsylvania State Bicycle Routes , the NYS Canalway Trail and the NYS Seaway Trail It also intersects with State Bicycle Routes 5 and 17.
You may have seen these signs around and wondered what they meant. Or not. They are easy to miss. The Bike Route 5 signs have been here for a long time along Route 31 in this area, and some information about them was found online, but the 517 and others were a mystery. I wrote here about it a while back.
So, having found some real, official information about this route, I decided to ride it the other day and see what kind of a bike route it was. I had already formed some opinion on it just from my own knowledge of some of the roads I had seen the markers on, but kept an open mind as I headed out from the northern end of BR 517 where it begins, in Lockport, about a block from where I live.
[Photos to be updated soon] Continue Reading…