Al's Blog-o-Sphere

Last June, a fellow decided to ride a bike across America to lose weight, get his life together, and impress his estranged wife that he loved her.

Eric Hites – Fat Guy on a Bike

I heard about it very early on and followed him on Facebook and his website. It was an interesting idea and I wanted to cheer him on. After all, doing something like that has been one of my ambitions as well.

I checked daily to see how he was doing at first. I expected updates to see where he was and where he was headed. Initially, his plan was to begin in Massachusetts and travel west across the country. I wanted to know where he might pass by here and maybe go out and ride with him for a day. His plans were not very organized, but he initially thought he would pass through Pennsylvania. Okay, I could travel that far. Continue Reading…

I recently spent a week on vacation in Washington DC. I am fortunate to have an Aunt who lives there and my wife and I were her guests for the week. We did all the usual touristy things, museums, the Zoo, monuments and restaurants. But I had one day where my wife wanted to go shopping and that gave me an opportunity to do something else that she didn’t want to do.

She was shopping at Union Station and there happens to be a bicycle tour and rental place there called Bike and Roll. I used the opportunity to rent a bike and ride around the Mall area of DC.

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I recently went on a group ride called “Slow Roll” in Buffalo. It’s a weekly ride that begins at a different point each week and goes through varying parts of the city. The Buffalo ride goes on Monday evenings.

I heard about the rides earlier this summer, but it didn’t hold a lot of appeal to me. I was surprised to read later that one of the rides had attracted over 1300 riders. Hard to keep something that big quiet.

This is what their website says they are about:

Founded in Detroit, Slow Roll is a group bicycle ride that meets every Monday night and has expanded into a Global network of community rides. Each week we meet at different venues and take a unique route throughout the city, including all the major and minor neighborhoods that we are so proud of. Slow Roll is for everyone; all ages, all skill levels and every type of bike is welcome. Bicycle through Buffalo with 500 of your new best friends! Our slow pace keeps the group safe and gives riders a unique perspective of our great city and its neighborhoods. Minors under 18 must be accompanied by a parent/guardian.

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You’ve probably seen the “Share The Road” signs alongside streets and roads and probably didn’t give them much thought. But what do they mean? What do people think they mean? Do they have the intended effect?

In New York State, you’ll see the diamond sign with just the bicycle and the “SHARE THE ROAD” message in a rectangular sign below it. Newer signs have the words “IN LANE” and the Share the Road signs are no longer used.

Although nationally, the MUTCD provides a better sign, the white “BICYCLES MAY USE FULL LANE” sign, New York does not allow it’s use, fearing it may mislead inexperienced bicycle riders into using an inappropriate lane position.

New York State is unable to fully commit to acknowledging cyclists as equal users of the road with cars!

So, why has Share the Road fallen out of favor? Isn’t it good for cyclists? Well, actually not. At face value, you’d think it meant that motor vehicles should share the road with bicycles and move over and give them room. Continue Reading…