Headpost

My work took me to Forest Hills in Queens, New York today, where all of the streets I encountered looked like nightmares for cyclists. I didn't see a single bike lane there (it turns out they basically don't have any), but they do have this:



I guess they're so proud they gave up a little real estate for a bike rack that they wanted to flaunt it? Or maybe it's because they were worried that otherwise people wouldn't know what those weird metal rings bolted into the sidewalk are for?

livedarklions

You obviously have missed one of the delightful experiences of urban biking, which is looking up and down the block for somewhere to lock up your bike, struggling with a road sign trying not to scratch the bike, then coming upon bike racks after you walk away from your locked up bike. Bike racks are generally low enough that they can't be seen from more than about half a block away. I could see that sign from a lot further away, and I'd appreciate it if there were more of them.

79pmooney

Is that storm grate in front of the SUV really one of the bicycle death traps? This is 2017 for crying out load. The city has had 50 years to get that corrected. (I was cycling the streets of the equally old city up the road then. Boston.)

Ben

bakerjw

I thought the LOL was for the chained up huffy up front.

rumrunn6

baby steps

BobbyG

Good eye. A true urban cyclist.

BTW: What's with the rusty, pedalless front chain ring with the rusty chain hanging off it right there in front?

I-Like-To-Bike

Can't tell for sure due to the lack of focus on it in the picture, but the storm grate may have sufficient cross hatch bars at 90ş from the longitudinal bars making the grate safe enough for cyclists who ride next to the curb.

livedarklions

Worse than that, it's actually 2019.

Gawd, I forgot about those grates. I actually had a wheel sink into one decades ago, but fortunately was not going fast enough to completely flip the bike. The sudden stop still hurt, though.

MMACH 5

I wondered the same thing. I think it's a bicycle that is flipped upside down--probably locked to the rack with a loose cable lock. If you look to the left of the chain ring, you'll see the wheelless fork sticking up.

livedarklions

Nailed it. Another example of the joys of urban bicycle racks.

Headpost

Yes, and the rain protection--for the lucky bike owners who get a place under the glass--is nice too. Just thought it was funny in such an otherwise-bike-unfriendly place.

Here is a detail of the uncropped photo, for those who were wondering:




Here is an article I found about them, from 2013.

https://qns.com/story/2013/07/14/dot...-forest-hills/

And I didn't notice the gratings. Wouldn't surprise me at all if they were deadly to bicycles. Really seemed like the kind of place where people would honk at you for riding in the street.

genec

Oh man... BIKE DOWN... dead bike!!!

Gonna take me all day to get that picture outta my mind.

I-Like-To-Bike

Streets without bike lanes? Oh the horror, what is a cyclist to do in such a nightmare?

Seems like a lot of guesswork and speculation about what might/or might not be true about cycling in a place a poster "encountered." That, and derision for the city for providing a covered bicycle parking area for those cyclists daring enough to ride on a street without bike lanes.

Perfect stuff for the A&S list.

mr_bill

My work took me? Did you actually *RIDE* in your "nightmare?"

BTW, a few blocks away.


-mr. bill

mr_bill

No.

-mr. bill

mr_bill

There are many urban bicycle racks with abandoned and intact nice bicycles that have slowly rusting chains. Other than the abandoned bike takes up a parking space, usually a great sign that you can lock up your bike nearby with less worry. (Often wonder why they were abandoned though.)

After a time DPW will remove the bike and eventually it will find its way to places like Bikes not Bombs.


(BTW, another thing I've also wondered. With the "pride" that some Amsterdamers take in riding while drunk, how many "stolen" Dutch bikes are the result of parking while drunk and simply forgetting where they left their bike?)

-mr. bill

livedarklions

The other racks with tons of abandoned bikes are ones on campuses, especially near dorms. Visiting my son at UMass Amherst, I was amused by how many had a confiscation warning attached to them for well over a month.

Headpost

No, I didn't ride that day. I ride as much as I can, but I had my reasons; I took the subway, sheesh.

And sorry, but now that Manhattan and Brooklyn have bike lanes--some much better than others--I've really come to detest places where there isn't even a skinny little shoulder for cyclists. I'm just so sick of nearly getting run over every five minutes.

The A&S list?



Here is Google Maps with the bike lane overlay of the area. I stand by my statement that they basically don't have any.




Meanies.

mr_bill

What an amazing crop. The MAJOR bike lane that you’ve cropped out would take you to the 59th Street Bridge.

Feelin’ Groovy.

-mr. bill

Headpost

Yes, it is a MAJOR bike lane, and I do appreciate it, I've ridden on it many times, but it ends right at FOREST HILLS, WHICH IS THE PLACE I WAS TALKING ABOUT!



Good fun if you're just trolling me. Otherwise . . .

mr_bill

The subway ends in Jamaica, Queens. Horrors! What is your point?

BTW, while YOU wouldn't ride your bike to the Forest Hills station, it looks like she might.

I don't think she laughs at the bike parking. But what do I know.

-mr. bill

I-Like-To-Bike

The A&S List is the Advocacy & Safety list, ya know, the place where you posted your lol guesswork and speculation about what might/or might not be true about cycling in a location you "encountered" without bike lanes. How you transported yourself to this "nightmare" location is immaterial.

livedarklions

How dare we not be amused by your ridicule of a small infrastructure amenity because they haven't blanketed the area with bike lanes!

I ride in urban areas that don't have bike lanes all the time. They're pretty much the rule, not the exception. Honestly, I don't find bike lanes to be safer than most street lanes, and less safe when they've been crammed into a narrow street as an afterthought.

mr_bill

But this barrel storage facility is "funny."

-mr. bill

livedarklions

Obviously, those barrels are just there to protect the bikes. LOL