This week marks the return of The New York Times‘ “Year In Pictures” feature which takes over the Sunday Review this time of year so that we don’t have to read “humorous” pieces complaining about the color blue. Inspired by the old gray lady and hoping to cash in on some of the year-end fever for listicles of pictures (pisticles?), here’s the CarFree in PVD 2013 Picture Round-up. I promise it won’t be as depressing as the NYT’s pictures of disasters and wars from around the world. Unless you’re like me and you get depressed by pictures of poorly-designed bike racks.
Let’s start things off right with a picture of a bike rack I use all too often, the Whole Foods Market on Waterman Street in Providence:
So, what are we going to do with all of the snow in this parking lot? I know, let’s just dump it in front of the bike rack, no one will know the difference. I shouldn’t complain since it’s only the spots on the end of the rack that are useful at all. This reminds me, back in August, this particular Whole Foods proudly announced some new picnic tables they were installing:
Additional #outdoor seating in the works! pic.twitter.com/heJpTzWbWC
— Whole Foods Waterman (@WholeFoodsProv) August 9, 2013
To which I responded with:
Maybe add a decent bike rack while you’re at it? RT@WholeFoodsProv Additional #outdoor seating in the works! pic.twitter.com/89a40eL6r1
— Car Free in PVD (@carfreepvd) August 9, 2013
And they were all like:
.@carfreepvd Funny you should ask! The handicap spot is moving over and 2 NEW bike racks are going in that first spot! Can we get a woohoo?
— Whole Foods Waterman (@WholeFoodsProv) August 9, 2013
I only gave them a “favorite” and a “retweet” but I refused to give them a woo-hoo for I only give woo-hoos to successfully installed bike racks. I’m still holding onto that woohoo, because it’s 5 months later and still no sign of a new bike rack. And now I feel dirty for giving them that “favorite.” They used me.
Enough griping (for now, more griping to follow). Here’s a pic from a solo ride I took in February up into the wooded hills to the northwest of Providence:
Just an example of one of the beautiful places you can ride to in our little state.
We had a serious blizzard later that month, fortunately, I was ready for it with a pair of metal-studded tires on Spouse’s old MTB.
When getting ready to bike in a blizzard, one must not only prepare one’s bike, one must also prepare oneself:
Looking at the rainy streets right now, It’s kind of hard to imagine that they looked like this almost a year ago:
I took a trip to Austin in March where I found that they have some pretty good bike infrastructure. However, they also have things like this marked as a “bike path” on their official bike map:
To give them credit, sometimes I’d prefer to ford a small stream than deal with Rhode Island drivers. Maybe bike paths like these are just a way of encouraging Texas cyclists to pull themselves up by they bootstraps (or their granny gears, as the case may be):
Now that’s some bicycle infrastructure, Texas-style!
(to be fair, Austin has created more and better bike infrastructure in recent years than Providence has).
In other bike-parking news, The Hope Artiste Village installed this bike rack early in the year:
Another example of what is marketed as a “9-bike rack” but really, there are only two spots where someone can properly lock the frame of the bike. I used to think that people installed this type of bike rack because they were cheaper than the alternative, but a quick search will bring you to a much better rack for the same amount (or less).
How about some good bike parking? Rhode Island Public Radio held a discussion on the state of cycling in Providence. It was hosted by the excellent Providence Athenaeum with bike valet service provided by Recycle-A-Bike.
Local bicycle celebrities included Susan Mocarski, from Cleverhood, makers of a fine rain cape for city cycling.
That’s a Recycle-A-Bike board member on the left, and Susan Mocarski on the right and Susan’s super-sweet Alternative Needs Transportation basket bike in the middle.
Here’s another example of good bike parking. I found this in New Haven, not far from Yale.
Note how a cyclist can lock both the frame and the wheel to the bike rack, thus providing an additional level of security.
Are you ready from some smugness? How about a bicycle pannier stuffed full of kale purchased at the farmers’ market?
yeah, that’s a garage door opener in the mesh pocket of my right-hand pannier, thus mitigating the smugness
I spent several days in Seattle this year. AND IT WAS SUNNY THE WHOLE TIME! Spouse and I rented bikes for a day (but neglected to take any pictures). If you are visiting Seattle and looking to rent a passable road bike, I’d recommend Recycled Cycles where you can pick up an aluminum late-model Raleigh with a Shimano 105 group for $30/day. Or you can hang out at a coffee shop early in the morning and wait for this guy to show up with his custom Vanilla:
Yep, that’s a hand-built, highly sought after custom bicycle, casually left unlocked while the guy buys his hand-brewed, single-origin coffee. And when I say highly sought-after, I’m not kidding around. The waiting list to get a Vanilla currently stands at 5 years.
Oh wait, I’m sorry, the waiting list was over 5 years long in June 2011, the last time Sacha White bothered to update this webpage! So, go ahead, leave that bike unlocked, no big whoop.
In more good news, I took two century rides this year. The first one was to Plymouth and back. To prove to you that I rode my bike the whole way there, here’s a picture of Plymouth:
And here’s a picture of my cyclometer after completing the ride (plus 8.28 bonus miles)
I also took part in the Narragansett Bay Wheelmen’s The Flattest Century in the East. I have to say, TFCE seemed significantly less flat than the Plymouth Century. I’m glad I did though. TFCE had three, well-staffed rest breaks and a rest area at the end. Plus there’s something about going on a long ride with about 3,000 other riders. It’s a very well-run event and I hope I can do it every year.
So that was two 100-plus mile rides with hardly any pictures to show for it. I also went on a long solo ride to Killingly, CT and back.
I’m considering printing up a small batch of “This Bike Climbed Jerimoth Hill” top-tube stickers. Who’s in?
I recently discovered that there’s a new section of the Woonasquatucket Bike Path. Somehow I missed when it was introduced – guess that’s what I get for skipping the Woonie Ride this year. It’s a short section, but it’s nice and it helps cyclists avoid a little more of the city streets.
The new section runs behind Rising Sun Mills, and there’s event a little bit of left over old mill stuff lying about.
Back in October, I came upon this bike casually parked on Steeple Street.
What’s this?!? It’s the same bike as mine! Although it is a little smaller, and it has a very ugly bottle holder, and it appears to have almost all of its original components which means its owner isn’t riding enough. This is a 2005 Cannondale Road Warrior 400 (although it doesn’t say “Road Warrior” anywhere on the bike – it does say “Cannondale” six times). Since I bought mine in 2005 I have replaced the following:
- Tires (multiple times)
- Pedals (upgraded to clipless/platform flip/flops)
- Rear Wheel (original freewheel failed – irreparable)
- Front Wheel (wore through the braking surface and blew out the rim)
- Cassette (multiple times, now with lower gearing)
- Chain (mutliple times)
- Small and middle chainring (big ring still going strong!)
- Saddle (for more comfort)
- Stem (to provide a longer reach)
- Handlebars (wanted something with a little bit of a sweep-back)
- Brake pads (Hah! Replaced too many times to count)
- Front brake caliper (worn out)
- Cables
- Rear shifter (worn out)
- Rear Derailleur (worn out, replaced with longer-cage to accommodate lower gearing)
- I think that’s it
It’s a good old bike, still does just about everything I need it to do.
It will even haul a Christmas tree.
One last item: The Providence Bicycle Plan was released this fall and I never got to write about it (although James over at Transport PVD has covered the topic pretty well). It was a busy period at work, blah blah blah. It’s one of those things where I feel like I could spend a long time taking down the bike plan point-by-point, but I don’t think that will really accomplish much. Plus, I didn’t get to attend much on the presentations of it due to other work-related reasons. So, my very simple analysis of the Providence Bike Plan: there’s not much there. Nothing ambitious, nothing that’s really going to change much of anything, nothing exciting. Cities across the country have started to realize that they need to make a serious investment in cycling infrastructure, but what do we get in Providence? Just some sharrows here and there, maybe a few more bike lanes. We have a good selection of bike racks in downtown Providence, but no commitment to bike parking in the other retail sectors of our city. For example, you can ride the entire length of Atwells Avenue and not see a single bike rack (although you’ll see several restaurants providing valet parking for their car-driving customers).
Meanwhile, in a fictional universe where you can grab any car off the street and drive it as fast as you like, slamming into cars and running over pedestrians without consequence…
… you’ll find ample, well-designed bike racks.
Car-Free in PVD 