Many country riders will debate the merits and risks of trail braking, but for city riders, it's a constant fact of life. For the layman, trail braking is the act of braking before the turn, and slowly releasing the brake through the turn. This differs from what most formal riding courses teach beginners; that the ideal is to brake, release completely, and then turn.
In theory, avoiding the front brakes into the turn is ideal, since excessive pressure can force a lockup, or make the front lose traction. However, a controlled release on the front brake can actually give you more control, since the weight of the bike remains on the front tire.
Most racing courses will teach that 90 degree turns require trail braking for as much as 25 percent of the turn. Of course, all city intersections are right angles, so this means that a controlled turn means releasing the front brake for a quarter of the turn. In most cases, this translates into braking all the way up to the side street turn, and then releasing the brake slowly until the front tire is a few meters from the white pedestrian line. Incidentally, this also frees up the most traction as you approach the white paint, which is a well-known grip killer.
Sunday, January 28, 2007
Saturday, January 27, 2007
Personal winter riding record!
This past week saw the coldest day of the year so far... 20F degrees with high winds. Highway riding likely brought this down to the low teens, maybe even 10F degrees.
But I was warm and toasty with my new winter gear. For the first time, I tried my new Widder heated gloves. Combined with my wind-stopper glove liners, and heated hand grip wraps, my hands have never been warmer. The greatest part about the gloves is that they heat the outside of my hands, effectively cancelling out the windchill effect, and leaving my hands feeling like they would on a warm summer day. I once considered my hands the weakest link in my ability to ride through the winters, but now I'm pleased to announce my feet have gained the title.
Combined with my heated Widder vest, my upper body is quite warm, and able to generate enough heat to circulate around to the rest of my body. Previously, I tried on a number of occassions to ride out of the city, on I95 up to CT or down to NJ, but could never get farther than about 10 miles before my pinky and ring fingers would be frozen stiff (they were so cold, I had to pull over to the road to shake the circulation back into them, and then ride with my wrists bent over completely to sheild my fingers from the wind).
My new dilemma, however, is my feet. I currently wear white summer race boots with perforations. Although I wear wool socks and a wind liner over them, enough air gets in to make my feet feel cold. I've found a temporary solution in pointing my toes closer to the body of the bike, near the exhaust, but it's only a temporary solution. I've been meaning to get a second pair of boots, so I think I'll grab a nice set of white race boots soon...
But I was warm and toasty with my new winter gear. For the first time, I tried my new Widder heated gloves. Combined with my wind-stopper glove liners, and heated hand grip wraps, my hands have never been warmer. The greatest part about the gloves is that they heat the outside of my hands, effectively cancelling out the windchill effect, and leaving my hands feeling like they would on a warm summer day. I once considered my hands the weakest link in my ability to ride through the winters, but now I'm pleased to announce my feet have gained the title.
Combined with my heated Widder vest, my upper body is quite warm, and able to generate enough heat to circulate around to the rest of my body. Previously, I tried on a number of occassions to ride out of the city, on I95 up to CT or down to NJ, but could never get farther than about 10 miles before my pinky and ring fingers would be frozen stiff (they were so cold, I had to pull over to the road to shake the circulation back into them, and then ride with my wrists bent over completely to sheild my fingers from the wind).
My new dilemma, however, is my feet. I currently wear white summer race boots with perforations. Although I wear wool socks and a wind liner over them, enough air gets in to make my feet feel cold. I've found a temporary solution in pointing my toes closer to the body of the bike, near the exhaust, but it's only a temporary solution. I've been meaning to get a second pair of boots, so I think I'll grab a nice set of white race boots soon...
Thursday, January 25, 2007
Riding hazards series: Sharing the road with cabs
I don't have to tell anyone who's ridden more than a day in NYC about how to drive around cab drivers. But for the uninitiated, here are a few tips and rules:
-Above all, look out for cabs with their center light lit on their roof - they're looking for pedestrians, and will cut over to the side of the road at any intersection. To play it safe, always ride outside a cab looking for passengers (ride closer to the middle lane if a cab is driving either to the right or left side of the street). If an available cab is driving down the middle lane, *get out of the way*!
-Cabs with all lights off on top are carrying passengers. Beware around intersections. These cabs will often rapidly decelerate to drop off near an intersection. If you see brake lights, expect a full stop is coming. Furthermore, be careful as they approach intersections, since they may be asked by their passengers to drop on the extreme opposite side of the road. If that's the case, they'll drive straight across, often swerving at the last minute.
-Look out for long lines of cabs, especially in waiting lines near hotels or train stations. Often, cabs toward the back of the line will give up on the wait, and quickly dart out of the line, back into traffic.
-Cabs stuck in stop and go traffic will quickly dart to the left or right as traffic starts to move, so avoid lane splitting anywhere near them. They're not unpredictable - in fact, they're very predictable... just assume they'll always dart randomly.
-Be as aware as cab drivers are... look out for groups of people clustered around corners and intersections. Even if they don't have their hands waved, cab drivers know they might raise when they see a cab with its light on. Look out for cabs swerving over, or cut out from behind another car into your lane
-Above all, look out for cabs with their center light lit on their roof - they're looking for pedestrians, and will cut over to the side of the road at any intersection. To play it safe, always ride outside a cab looking for passengers (ride closer to the middle lane if a cab is driving either to the right or left side of the street). If an available cab is driving down the middle lane, *get out of the way*!
-Cabs with all lights off on top are carrying passengers. Beware around intersections. These cabs will often rapidly decelerate to drop off near an intersection. If you see brake lights, expect a full stop is coming. Furthermore, be careful as they approach intersections, since they may be asked by their passengers to drop on the extreme opposite side of the road. If that's the case, they'll drive straight across, often swerving at the last minute.
-Look out for long lines of cabs, especially in waiting lines near hotels or train stations. Often, cabs toward the back of the line will give up on the wait, and quickly dart out of the line, back into traffic.
-Cabs stuck in stop and go traffic will quickly dart to the left or right as traffic starts to move, so avoid lane splitting anywhere near them. They're not unpredictable - in fact, they're very predictable... just assume they'll always dart randomly.
-Be as aware as cab drivers are... look out for groups of people clustered around corners and intersections. Even if they don't have their hands waved, cab drivers know they might raise when they see a cab with its light on. Look out for cabs swerving over, or cut out from behind another car into your lane
Friday, January 19, 2007
NYC Javits Center Motorcycle Convention
For all those thinking about attending, there's plenty of motorcycle parking on the far right side of the Javits center - easily 50 other riders were parked there when I showed up at about 3pm.
So I rode over to the Javit's center, and walked around all the exhibits to sit on the other motorcycles. On the far right, there were all the choppers, in the back the stunters and squid bikes, and down the middle the Italian and English bikes... every stereotype rider got his own section.
But I learned something about myself today. I hate sport bikes. Their leaned over seat position makes it incredibly painful to sustain a view of the road ahead. In fact, every single sportbike I tried gave me cramps in my neck while trying to look at a height that I'm used to on my Buell XB12Ss. In fact, the only bikes that came close to the same comfort (with acceptable styling) were the BMW K1200R, and the Ducati Sport, which says a lot about my preferences in bikes. The problem, though, is the size and poor handling of the BMW and the jumpiness, lower power, and high maitenance required of the Ducati. Until I move out of NYC, I don't expect to change my bike any time soon.
I didn't buy much today - in fact, though I was tempted by the LED light bars they sold, I only bought anti-fog lens fluid. The problem was that most of the vendors were only giving a maximum discount of 10% on their merchandise - which is downright skimpy compared to your average discount or deal you can find online. But it was fun checking out those lights, and I'm convinced now about buying wireless brake-light activated LED kits... which I'll review on the site shortly.
I got quite a few compliments about my Axio hard bag with reflective tape, and a number of people told me my white leather jacket made me visible from half-way across the Javits floor. All of these comments were music to my ears, and a confirmation that I'm visible on the streets.
So I rode over to the Javit's center, and walked around all the exhibits to sit on the other motorcycles. On the far right, there were all the choppers, in the back the stunters and squid bikes, and down the middle the Italian and English bikes... every stereotype rider got his own section.
But I learned something about myself today. I hate sport bikes. Their leaned over seat position makes it incredibly painful to sustain a view of the road ahead. In fact, every single sportbike I tried gave me cramps in my neck while trying to look at a height that I'm used to on my Buell XB12Ss. In fact, the only bikes that came close to the same comfort (with acceptable styling) were the BMW K1200R, and the Ducati Sport, which says a lot about my preferences in bikes. The problem, though, is the size and poor handling of the BMW and the jumpiness, lower power, and high maitenance required of the Ducati. Until I move out of NYC, I don't expect to change my bike any time soon.
I didn't buy much today - in fact, though I was tempted by the LED light bars they sold, I only bought anti-fog lens fluid. The problem was that most of the vendors were only giving a maximum discount of 10% on their merchandise - which is downright skimpy compared to your average discount or deal you can find online. But it was fun checking out those lights, and I'm convinced now about buying wireless brake-light activated LED kits... which I'll review on the site shortly.
I got quite a few compliments about my Axio hard bag with reflective tape, and a number of people told me my white leather jacket made me visible from half-way across the Javits floor. All of these comments were music to my ears, and a confirmation that I'm visible on the streets.
Thursday, January 18, 2007
How you know it's no good to ride
I was walking home from the office today, and I noticed it had just started to drizzle out. Last night and this morning were below freezing, so the surface of the ground was clearly frozen. My typical tell - water puddles at intersection corners - indicated it was a risky day to begin with. But what really put the icing on the cake (almost literally) was the slightly warmer atmosphere, light rain cover, *and* frozen ground.
In fact, just to test things out, I tried scuffing the soles of my shoes in the middle of the street, while crossing at the crosswalk. Normally there's enough resistance to make me feel uncomfortable about ruining my shoes, but today the ground was as slick as ice. There was no grip whatsoever. Meanwhile, the sidewalks were still coarse enough to grip - I suspect this is because of the more porous concrete used on sidewalks throughout Manhattan. But I don't think I'll be riding around, sidewalk hopping any time soon.
Of course, the weather turned for the "worse" and the drizzle turned to rain in the late afternoon. After about an hour of rain, around 7pm, I tried my test again. The rain had thawed the ground surface enough to make scuffing possible - despite the rain. Lesson learned:
If it's warm enough to rain, and
It's been raining for at least an hour, and
The temperature is on its way up, ...
...then it's safe to ride in NYC.
In fact, just to test things out, I tried scuffing the soles of my shoes in the middle of the street, while crossing at the crosswalk. Normally there's enough resistance to make me feel uncomfortable about ruining my shoes, but today the ground was as slick as ice. There was no grip whatsoever. Meanwhile, the sidewalks were still coarse enough to grip - I suspect this is because of the more porous concrete used on sidewalks throughout Manhattan. But I don't think I'll be riding around, sidewalk hopping any time soon.
Of course, the weather turned for the "worse" and the drizzle turned to rain in the late afternoon. After about an hour of rain, around 7pm, I tried my test again. The rain had thawed the ground surface enough to make scuffing possible - despite the rain. Lesson learned:
If it's warm enough to rain, and
It's been raining for at least an hour, and
The temperature is on its way up, ...
...then it's safe to ride in NYC.
The universe is about to end...
Today, I saw one of the most terrifying sights. A Vespa... with a custom racing stripe down the middle of its body and seat. Now what on earth is that supposed to imply? I mean really. I've gotten a couple of emails from Vespa riders... you know who you are, so I'm not going to join the standard Vespa-knocking that goes on these days. But is it really going to do any good trying to regain your masculinity with a racing stripe, when your vehicle is already 100% chic? I don't think so.
While we're on the topic of scooters, the city is clearly overrun with them. I think that's great, but I fear for their safety. I see far too many scooters flying around in all-black attire, or riders wearing only dress slacks and a button-down shirt. In fact, I saw one of the most disturbing sights last Friday. I man was riding a woman he clearly picked up at a bar. She was riding in back, straddling him, with... only... fishnet stockings. Let's step back for one second, and imagine what she was thinking. Clearly, nothing coherent. Did she think her fishnets would protect her from the NYC pavement for 1 inch or 2? Or did she think it would look sexy to have charred fishnet lace burned into her flesh, only to be picked out by scalpel in the ER later? Either way, I cringed when I saw it. Not cool. Not chic. And definitely not hot.
While we're on the topic of scooters, the city is clearly overrun with them. I think that's great, but I fear for their safety. I see far too many scooters flying around in all-black attire, or riders wearing only dress slacks and a button-down shirt. In fact, I saw one of the most disturbing sights last Friday. I man was riding a woman he clearly picked up at a bar. She was riding in back, straddling him, with... only... fishnet stockings. Let's step back for one second, and imagine what she was thinking. Clearly, nothing coherent. Did she think her fishnets would protect her from the NYC pavement for 1 inch or 2? Or did she think it would look sexy to have charred fishnet lace burned into her flesh, only to be picked out by scalpel in the ER later? Either way, I cringed when I saw it. Not cool. Not chic. And definitely not hot.
Riding hazards series: Sunken manhole covers
You see them everywhere - manhole covers in the middle of the street, usually on the avenues. The problem comes on those avenues that have had multiple layers of paving, without the full prerequisite stripping of the original road layers. Examples of this are midtown Lexington and 7th avenue. For some reason, there are tons of covers that are at least 3 or 4 inches deep, which are as bad as the worst potholes you'll find anywhere.
The trick to avoiding these is to ride on the sides of the avenues - never right up the middle. This is a good idea anyway, since you'll avoid being fodder for riders cutting you off from both sides.
The trick to avoiding these is to ride on the sides of the avenues - never right up the middle. This is a good idea anyway, since you'll avoid being fodder for riders cutting you off from both sides.
Sunday, January 14, 2007
NYC's most dangerous intersections
I was browsing around the blog entitled New York Hack when I stumbled upon a list of the most dangerous intersections. Although the list is published for cab drivers, it's a great list to know for any motorcyclist to know.
Without further ado, here's the list, in order decreasing from most accident injuries to fewest:
1. E 33rd St and Park Ave
2. 34th St and 7th Ave
3. Essex and Delancy St
4. W 14 st and Ave of the Americas
5. 145th St and 7th Ave
6. W 42nd St and 8th Ave
7. E 42nd St and 3rd Ave
8. w34th and 8th Ave
9. E 14th St and 3rd Ave
10. E 14th St and 1st Ave
I took this morning to visit each one, just so you don't have to - though I honestly don't know that I'd recommend *that* to anyone as a tour of Manhattan. Here's another interpretation of the list above that's easier to remember to avoid / beware while riding:
-The entrance to the Park Avenue tunnel, heading north (drivers are always deciding to cut in at the last minute)
-Anywhere around Penn Station (cabs darting everywhere)
-A block west of Times Square (there's always tons of Jersey traffic here, and lots of illegal U-turners)
-Wherever you see tons of white stripe paint checkered across the intersection (e.g. 42nd & 3rd)
-Whenever you find yourself on a two-way street with no physical divider (e.g. all of 14th street, 7th Avenue above the Central Park, and Delancey Street right off the Williamsburg bridge)
Without further ado, here's the list, in order decreasing from most accident injuries to fewest:
1. E 33rd St and Park Ave
2. 34th St and 7th Ave
3. Essex and Delancy St
4. W 14 st and Ave of the Americas
5. 145th St and 7th Ave
6. W 42nd St and 8th Ave
7. E 42nd St and 3rd Ave
8. w34th and 8th Ave
9. E 14th St and 3rd Ave
10. E 14th St and 1st Ave
I took this morning to visit each one, just so you don't have to - though I honestly don't know that I'd recommend *that* to anyone as a tour of Manhattan. Here's another interpretation of the list above that's easier to remember to avoid / beware while riding:
-The entrance to the Park Avenue tunnel, heading north (drivers are always deciding to cut in at the last minute)
-Anywhere around Penn Station (cabs darting everywhere)
-A block west of Times Square (there's always tons of Jersey traffic here, and lots of illegal U-turners)
-Wherever you see tons of white stripe paint checkered across the intersection (e.g. 42nd & 3rd)
-Whenever you find yourself on a two-way street with no physical divider (e.g. all of 14th street, 7th Avenue above the Central Park, and Delancey Street right off the Williamsburg bridge)
I hate weather.com
This morning was supposed to be like yesterday. Weather.com's hour-by-hour forecast said rain for each hour this morning. So I ditched my plan to explore the far end of Fire Island, out in Long Island. However, I woke up to see an overcast, but dry day. Again, I checked weather.com, and they said yes, it was overcast and foggy, but it would begin raining in the next hour. This happened for each of 5 hours, until I finally gave up and got dressed for a ride around 1pm. Believe it or not, I got a full hour of riding in before the intense fog around midtown got me thinking the rain must be coming soon. But for the past hour, nothing. In fact, I got so frustrated that I clicked on the 300-mile doppler map to see where the precipitation was. Apparently, it's nowhere near the city yet, and it probably won't come for another two hours.
Lesson learned? weather.com's hour by hour is useless, and I can do a better job estimating ride-time from the raw map. This will never happen again - ugh. I could have had a full morning /day or riding!
Lesson learned? weather.com's hour by hour is useless, and I can do a better job estimating ride-time from the raw map. This will never happen again - ugh. I could have had a full morning /day or riding!
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Island review: Randalls-Wards Island
The best part about Randalls-Wards island - at least in the Winter time - is that there's no one there. The south side of the island has a great set of small paved paths that wind around, and make for great solitary touring, not to mention amazing views of the East Side, Harlem, and Astoria.
But there's a catch. The island's rather tricky to get to, and I always feel a little too uncomfortable trying to get there from the Triboroguh Bridge. The problem is that the traffic across the bridge is always extremely reckless, and the ramps to exit the bridge and spiral down to the island are from the extreme right lanes. That's normally not a problem if you're coming from Manhattan up the FDR, but if you try to get off the bridge going westbound, the exit is 50 meters after the toll booth, and route 278 merges and forces you to the far left of the toll plaza, which means that right after the toll, you have to zip across to the far right lane, cutting across 8-10 lanes of traffic. Not safe. Rider beware.
But let's assume you make it safely, perhaps because you came from the FDR. The first thing you notice upon winding down the spiral ramp is that the island is covered with ambiguous concrete buildings, often unlabeled, and always decripit. They're clearly municipal buildings and storage facilities, as you will often find cranes and road repairing equipment/vehicles strewn about the island (in fact, in the mid-south of the island is huge parking lot full of crows-nest cranes). As you wind around the north side of the island where you start, beware of the potholes - they're 6-9 inches deep in some areas!
As you make your way south, you'll pass the NYC Fire Department training facility, the mental hospital, and some auxilliary buildings - again, concrete, and ambiguous. Then, you'll come to Icann stadium, which isn't much to see from a biker's perspective, but can be fun to drive by once or twice just to say you saw it. Continuing south, you'll pass some more buildings, and then the island just opens up, the buildings disappear, and the only structure remaining is the massive, curving, elevated Triborough bridge ramp. Now we come to my favorite part of the island.
The southern-most tip of the island, called Ward's Island Park, is home to a number of baseball diamonds that stretch across the south-east shore. The east side of the island is slightly more elevated than the souther tip, and so there are a few fun, steep hills to climb. On the south-west shore, there is nothing. Just a mass of mauled earth from what looks to be an abandoned attempt to create a park, and a few bull dozers lying around. At this time of the year, the ground is just cold enough that you can ride without fear of sinking across the entire area. It's a lot like a miniature off-road adventure. But a really tame one that even a city-bred Buell can ride over. If you can make it out here in the middle of the day, you can easily occupy a couple of hours navigating the interesting terrain, and honing your slow-maneuvering off-road skills.
If you haven't been there yet, it's worth the ride once. Unfortunately, there's not much to do here, so aside from the serene south shore, there's limited reason to return. All in all, I give Randalls-Wards island a 3 star rating out of 5.
Randalls-Wards Islan: *** 3/5 stars
But there's a catch. The island's rather tricky to get to, and I always feel a little too uncomfortable trying to get there from the Triboroguh Bridge. The problem is that the traffic across the bridge is always extremely reckless, and the ramps to exit the bridge and spiral down to the island are from the extreme right lanes. That's normally not a problem if you're coming from Manhattan up the FDR, but if you try to get off the bridge going westbound, the exit is 50 meters after the toll booth, and route 278 merges and forces you to the far left of the toll plaza, which means that right after the toll, you have to zip across to the far right lane, cutting across 8-10 lanes of traffic. Not safe. Rider beware.
But let's assume you make it safely, perhaps because you came from the FDR. The first thing you notice upon winding down the spiral ramp is that the island is covered with ambiguous concrete buildings, often unlabeled, and always decripit. They're clearly municipal buildings and storage facilities, as you will often find cranes and road repairing equipment/vehicles strewn about the island (in fact, in the mid-south of the island is huge parking lot full of crows-nest cranes). As you wind around the north side of the island where you start, beware of the potholes - they're 6-9 inches deep in some areas!
As you make your way south, you'll pass the NYC Fire Department training facility, the mental hospital, and some auxilliary buildings - again, concrete, and ambiguous. Then, you'll come to Icann stadium, which isn't much to see from a biker's perspective, but can be fun to drive by once or twice just to say you saw it. Continuing south, you'll pass some more buildings, and then the island just opens up, the buildings disappear, and the only structure remaining is the massive, curving, elevated Triborough bridge ramp. Now we come to my favorite part of the island.
The southern-most tip of the island, called Ward's Island Park, is home to a number of baseball diamonds that stretch across the south-east shore. The east side of the island is slightly more elevated than the souther tip, and so there are a few fun, steep hills to climb. On the south-west shore, there is nothing. Just a mass of mauled earth from what looks to be an abandoned attempt to create a park, and a few bull dozers lying around. At this time of the year, the ground is just cold enough that you can ride without fear of sinking across the entire area. It's a lot like a miniature off-road adventure. But a really tame one that even a city-bred Buell can ride over. If you can make it out here in the middle of the day, you can easily occupy a couple of hours navigating the interesting terrain, and honing your slow-maneuvering off-road skills.
If you haven't been there yet, it's worth the ride once. Unfortunately, there's not much to do here, so aside from the serene south shore, there's limited reason to return. All in all, I give Randalls-Wards island a 3 star rating out of 5.
Randalls-Wards Islan: *** 3/5 stars
Tuesday, January 9, 2007
Winter limits?
First off, let me just say that contrary to widespread opinion, there's nothing better than riding in the middle of winter. On a typical summer day, wearing the appropriate protective gear means coming home a sweaty, nasty mess after a long day's ride. Not so in January! After a 3 hour trip today, I came home and felt perfectly comfortable - no sweat anywhere in site. My only check before riding was a quick scan around the street corners for puddles of water. Water pools can be found near many intersections, and seeing a few at different corners is a sure sign that the ground is above freezing. It helps, but doesn't guarentee against finding dreaded black ice.
I did, however, discover a (temporary) limit of riding on my new bike. In fact, on a few occassions today, my index and little fingers felt so cold it was hard to bend them, and I had to shake my hand to get the circulation going again. It was so cold, I had to turn back, and didn't get to complete my planned trip out to CT, to the Triumph dealership that supposedly has a great stock of riding apparel.
But I have a theory. Somehow, running the heated vest at full blast draws too much power, and the heated hand grips drop in temperature enough to make riding at 70 mph too cold. I suspect this will be easy to fix, however, since I've been riding without my leather jacket lining for some time now (figuring the heated vest would be sufficient). Next time, I'll zipper it back in, which should contain heat better and allow me to run the vest at a lower setting. That will allow the hand grips to get warmer, which is the critical threshold/weakest link to overcome at this point.
So what's the limit?
Well, today was 36 degree Farenheit, and I found myself unable to sustain speeds of 65-70 mph on I-95 for extended periods of time due to my frozen fingers. Including windchill, that meant the cold limit was around 18-20 degrees, or well below freezing. Interestingly, converting 18-20 degrees of highway windchill into city riding at lower speeds means a comparable rider experience when the weather forecast predicts between 25-28 degrees Farenheit. This is also below freezing, but the ground in NYC is usually several degrees warmer than the air, so there's a better chance of making it through the day without navigating black ice.
I did, however, discover a (temporary) limit of riding on my new bike. In fact, on a few occassions today, my index and little fingers felt so cold it was hard to bend them, and I had to shake my hand to get the circulation going again. It was so cold, I had to turn back, and didn't get to complete my planned trip out to CT, to the Triumph dealership that supposedly has a great stock of riding apparel.
But I have a theory. Somehow, running the heated vest at full blast draws too much power, and the heated hand grips drop in temperature enough to make riding at 70 mph too cold. I suspect this will be easy to fix, however, since I've been riding without my leather jacket lining for some time now (figuring the heated vest would be sufficient). Next time, I'll zipper it back in, which should contain heat better and allow me to run the vest at a lower setting. That will allow the hand grips to get warmer, which is the critical threshold/weakest link to overcome at this point.
So what's the limit?
Well, today was 36 degree Farenheit, and I found myself unable to sustain speeds of 65-70 mph on I-95 for extended periods of time due to my frozen fingers. Including windchill, that meant the cold limit was around 18-20 degrees, or well below freezing. Interestingly, converting 18-20 degrees of highway windchill into city riding at lower speeds means a comparable rider experience when the weather forecast predicts between 25-28 degrees Farenheit. This is also below freezing, but the ground in NYC is usually several degrees warmer than the air, so there's a better chance of making it through the day without navigating black ice.
Monday, January 8, 2007
Long Island vs. Jersey Shore
This Sunday was a busy day. I rode out to my new-found spot out in Captree State Park first thing (though instead of the Belt, I just rode the mid-town tunnel and LIE 495 out to exit 53, then headed South until the road ran out - shaved my drive to 30 minutes). After a quick conversation, and pit stop, I tried my luck over in Fire Island - known by many to be a great getaway, and rumored to be an exclusive, hard to reach spot. Though I had used Google earth to zoom into the area, and saw that there was a road that ran up and down Fire Island, I didn't realize until I arrived there at 10 am that it was all National Park, and only inhabitants/permanent residents with special permits can ride past the Coast Guard watch gate. There was an oh-so-friendly sign indicating that it was a Federal crime to trespass with unauthorized vehicles, so I tried to play it nice and waited for another car to drive up to the gate before me (figuring I could use them as cover). I dismounted my bike around a hilly corner, and walked it up (engine off) to the gate. I was greeted by a not-so-friendly coast guard officer, who told me I couldn't go further, and that I was lucky I wasn't riding, since it would have been a crime. Wow. He was kind enough to let me ride it back out, though. How kind. I'll have to try coming at the island from the other causeway further east... maybe next weekend.
Anyway, I then headed back into the city, and cut through midtown, hopped on the Holland tunnel and took 95 to the Garden State, and then to the Jersey Shore (dun dun dun). I was greeted with two near accidents, half a dozen reckless BMW cagers, and a dozens more obnoxious 20-something Italian meatheads driving midrange autos in a way that would give squids a run for their money. The only thing worse was the ubiquitous minivans driven by middle aged mothers, with children in the sides and backs staring back at me, waving flashy, silvery, toys at me that reflected the sun right back into my eyes. It was a nightmare. I've never felt so scared for my life. I know I'm always greeted with shock and horror when I tell others I ride in NYC, but trust me on this one - it's far safer than rural Jersey.
But it got me thinking, especially since I had just come from what could have been considered a likewise, similar topology in Long Island. But why the drastic change in driver attitude? I can't say for sure, but I think it has something to do with the roadways in Long Island. It seems that every highway and street along the water is either a scenic, sparesly wooded highway, or a quaint beach-town 1.5-laner. Long Island's marshland and beaches are uninhabited, and so you often find yourself riding on highways in the middle of nowhere. Jersey, on the other hand, packs unplanned housing right up to the water front, and retro-actively tries to connect patches of communities together with roads that resemble industrial park back-roads. Don't get me wrong - you definitely get a view of the water - but it is punctuated with broken down bars, decrepit restaurants, and trashy, pot-holed roads. Ugly.
I suspect it takes a direct drive from one to the other to really appreciate the difference, but I can only hope this might save you the misery of experiencing the "trashy" Jersey shore. Me? I'll take the "quaint" Long Island shore over Jersey any day.
Anyway, I then headed back into the city, and cut through midtown, hopped on the Holland tunnel and took 95 to the Garden State, and then to the Jersey Shore (dun dun dun). I was greeted with two near accidents, half a dozen reckless BMW cagers, and a dozens more obnoxious 20-something Italian meatheads driving midrange autos in a way that would give squids a run for their money. The only thing worse was the ubiquitous minivans driven by middle aged mothers, with children in the sides and backs staring back at me, waving flashy, silvery, toys at me that reflected the sun right back into my eyes. It was a nightmare. I've never felt so scared for my life. I know I'm always greeted with shock and horror when I tell others I ride in NYC, but trust me on this one - it's far safer than rural Jersey.
But it got me thinking, especially since I had just come from what could have been considered a likewise, similar topology in Long Island. But why the drastic change in driver attitude? I can't say for sure, but I think it has something to do with the roadways in Long Island. It seems that every highway and street along the water is either a scenic, sparesly wooded highway, or a quaint beach-town 1.5-laner. Long Island's marshland and beaches are uninhabited, and so you often find yourself riding on highways in the middle of nowhere. Jersey, on the other hand, packs unplanned housing right up to the water front, and retro-actively tries to connect patches of communities together with roads that resemble industrial park back-roads. Don't get me wrong - you definitely get a view of the water - but it is punctuated with broken down bars, decrepit restaurants, and trashy, pot-holed roads. Ugly.
I suspect it takes a direct drive from one to the other to really appreciate the difference, but I can only hope this might save you the misery of experiencing the "trashy" Jersey shore. Me? I'll take the "quaint" Long Island shore over Jersey any day.
Ocean Parkway on the weekend
This weekend was abnormally warm, and I was pleasantly surprised to see tons of fellow riders out and about on Saturday and Sunday (moreso Saturday, when the temperature got to around 70, whereas Sunday was around 50).
I decided to make a trip out to one of the southern strips of beach on Long Island, down near Zachs Bay and Captree State Park. To be honest, I found the spot using Google maps, and it looked like a fine destination, with a long stretch of highway that runs parallel to the beach for miles.
So after 20 minutes of the belt parkway followed by 30 more minutes of rural back-route island hopping I arrived at Ocean Parkway, only to find... I wasn't alone. I've never seen so many motorcycles in this area before! There were hundreds of cruisers flying up and down the parkway, and at the far east end of the road, right at Captree State Park, is a restaurant, dock, and popular hangout on every weekend. I ran into some nice folks - mostly the beemer and Harley crowd - and learned that this is a popular destination every Sunday morning for hot-rodders and cruisers alike. It was quite fun to find such a lively group so close to home!
I decided to make a trip out to one of the southern strips of beach on Long Island, down near Zachs Bay and Captree State Park. To be honest, I found the spot using Google maps, and it looked like a fine destination, with a long stretch of highway that runs parallel to the beach for miles.
So after 20 minutes of the belt parkway followed by 30 more minutes of rural back-route island hopping I arrived at Ocean Parkway, only to find... I wasn't alone. I've never seen so many motorcycles in this area before! There were hundreds of cruisers flying up and down the parkway, and at the far east end of the road, right at Captree State Park, is a restaurant, dock, and popular hangout on every weekend. I ran into some nice folks - mostly the beemer and Harley crowd - and learned that this is a popular destination every Sunday morning for hot-rodders and cruisers alike. It was quite fun to find such a lively group so close to home!
A little slice of FDR paradise
It doesn't last long, but it sure is nice while it lasts. There's a little stretch of the FDR highway right after the Brooklyn bridge crosses overhead that is always quite, and cager-free. And you get a great view of the financial district to your right, and water to your left right before diving into the tunnel that takes you around the southern tip and spits you back to 9A. Somehow, it never gets old, and you're always sure to find another rider in that area.
Tuesday, January 2, 2007
The secret about NYC winter riding
It's been three weeks now since most fellow bikers I know outside the city have packed their bikes for the long winter. We were definitely lucky this year, as global warmer turns out to be a motorcyclist's best friend... in a very twisted way.
Alas, you still see many a scooter and biker on the streets of Manhattan. Why? It's a little secret held close and dear to many a city biker: with tall buildings serving as wind shields, max of 40 mph speeds reducing windchill, and warm gases rising out of every corner, the average NYC day *appears* 5-10F degrees warmer than the weather channel says it is.
This means that if the weatherman says it'll be a chilly 35F, you can expect it to *feel* like 40-45F easily. And with the average maximum daily temperatures for Jan-Mar running around 38F, you can darn well expect yourself a 12month riding season!
Alas, you still see many a scooter and biker on the streets of Manhattan. Why? It's a little secret held close and dear to many a city biker: with tall buildings serving as wind shields, max of 40 mph speeds reducing windchill, and warm gases rising out of every corner, the average NYC day *appears* 5-10F degrees warmer than the weather channel says it is.
This means that if the weatherman says it'll be a chilly 35F, you can expect it to *feel* like 40-45F easily. And with the average maximum daily temperatures for Jan-Mar running around 38F, you can darn well expect yourself a 12month riding season!
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