Not that anyone's signed up yet, but if yer thinkin' about signing up or contemplating showing up at the last minute...

I'm getting conflicting advice (sic) from the weather predictions I usually consult, so I have no idea what's happening tomorrow. Dry roads & less-than-35% chance of precipitation = Ride Is On. Wet pavement in my neighborhood or greater-than-40% chance of rain = Stay In Bed.

Check this message board around 5:30AM if in doubt.

TA is sending around this alert and invitation to be part of an email campaign to block James Vacca's foolish bill to sacrifice bike lanes and safety for street parking. Here, in TA's words...

"Last month, Council Member James Vacca introduced the Safety Last Bill (Int 0627-2011). If passed, this bill would put New Yorkers in harm's way by requiring city officials to put parking first and safety last when they plan the installation of bicycle lanes. In effect, the Safety Last Bill will give the most parking-obsessed City Council Members the authority to veto safe street designs and disregard community requests."

Here is link to the easy to use email petition. 

Has anyone used this company before?  It is NOT VBT.  It's "Bike Vermont," and the website is http://www.bikevt.com/tours/details.php?tid=3.  I'd love feedback anyone may have.

Be careful everyone!

New York Daily News, Aug. 2, 2011

'His Skull Was Crushed'

A bicyclist was fatally hit by a delivery truck in East Williamsburg Monday morning (8/1/11), police and witnesses said.

The truck driver was turning right off of Metropolitan Ave. onto Gardner Ave. about 8:30 a.m. when the bicyclist tried to squeeze by him, witnesses said. The truck's front bumper clipped the bike and the cyclist, a young man, tumbled under the truck and was killed instantly, witnesses said.

"The bike was flying along and tried to cheat around the truck," said a witness who declined to give his name. "His skull was crushed."

http://roysbikes.com/articles/contact-us-pg236.htm

from Roy's Sheepshead Cycle Shop

We need a few good people to keep things shipshape out at Oakland Beach on August 14.

Help with bike parking, help keep the food organized, make sure no one wades in with their cleats on!

If you bike up, we figure this will work if you project arrival between noon and 1.

One hour of your time is what we need.

And we need your committment now so we can create a schedule.

Your reward will be the gratitude of many.....and free beach admission(a $ 10 value!).

contact me: [email protected]

thanks!

Ellen

Be advised: It's long, very long. And very much not about bike racing. But start it and see if you're pulled in by it.

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2011/07/11/110711fa_fact_gourevitch?currentPage=all

Late add-on rather than add a post: Yes, Carol (below), the Rwandan Cycling Team

It seems to me the interest of our membership is so heavily tilted towards cycling as sport and recreation as to be exceedingly slight for cycling as "mere" transportation. Nevertheless, I post this, which I just came across this from three days ago. I'm delighted to see the Times give space to such as this (seemingly in opposition to the NY Post, Daily News, and dependably hysterical Marcia "Calamity" Kramer who, one wishes, could undergo a thought-lift to match her face lift).

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/31/opinion/sunday/the-dutch-way-bicycles-and-fresh-bread.html?src=recg

Watch out anyone using Riverside Drive. I got pushed off my bike as I was riding Southbound at about 15mph right the bridge (above Dinosaur's) ends and the park starts.

As I came up alongside a guy standing in the street, he shouldered me and sent me crashing to the ground. He was waiting there with 2 accomplices for a cyclist to ride by and steal his/her bike. They left, with the bike, towards Broadway. The police canvased the area but couldn't find them. Description: skinny, shirtless, short hair, African-American, early twenties, males. I only suffered abrasions and contusions on my right side. I shudder to think what would have happened had I not worn a helmet. It would seem they have no qualms putting someone in a coma to get a bike.