Boulevards of Death Alleycat...Sept 25th

This is a set route through Queen's fastest, widest , and meanest streets it has to offer. Starts @ Myrtle Avenue and Woodhaven Blvd @ 3PM. Checkpoint must be done in order, If you don't know your way around Queens, then no need to worry because the manifest is the map. Few Minor details might still change, so if anything changes Ill update it. Brought to you by stoned tone and Raf.

Finish @ 57th st and Flushing Ave (entering through grand ave)

Register @ 3PM
Race @ 4PM
Finis
Awards Ceremony @ the WreckRoom (940 Flushing Ave) @ 7PM
After Party Onwards


Email me rafneg aT gmail dotcom

Let the left turners....turn.

I usually slow down for left turning drivers on two way streets despite me having the right of way. The left turner has pressure from the cars behind him who are honking and egging him on to make his turn and they also have to convince the drivers in the opposite direction going straight to slow down as to let him pass. When they make their turn, they have to be committed to it because they have oncoming car traffic going at them at full speed. I feel bad for the cyclist who is going straight as he is making the turn because he wont slow down for him. Because he rather hit the cyclist then be hit by the oncoming car. Its not on purpose (it might be in the case of some angry drivers) Its just that hes more scared of the 3000 lb car coming at him than he is of the "puny" guy on the bike. Even though you have the right of way if you find yourself in that position, either slow down and give em the right of way or get ready to dodge that car.

Also know that if you see a car waiting to make a left turn and you're the only oncoming traffic he has to face...the driver will try to intimidate you to slow down or get out of his way. Because for the most part drivers do no consider us regular traffic. This is one of the cases where the laws of the road will be broken time after time. So just be aware that left turners are very dangerous.

I know it seems like I'm backing down when I am in the right, but this is an issue where Im willing to be flexible on. Id rather be flexible and alive to keep riding then be with a broken bike or bone paying to get either fixed.

Rant on bicycle lanes part II.

Why I don’t like the separated bike lanes
.. instead of cars we have to deal with pedestrians who consider them extended sidewalks.
..Id rather deal with car drivers any day than pedestrians
..I enjoy going faster than 15mph
.. Cars are easier to spot, less erratic than oblivious pedestrians who are usually zoned out on their cellphones.
... Instead of bike lanes we should just have expanded shoulders or
... the city should promote better riding skills and driver awareness instead of wasting their money on bike lanes.
.. The main skill any urban cyclist needs is to be able to shift in and out of the shoulders to avoid obstacles. The shuffle. If most cyclist new how to do that there wouldn’t be a need for bike lanes.
... now how do we teach that skill on a large scale? I don’t know, I dont work for transportation alternatives. Maybe add the shuffle

Doors

Working as a messenger doors are my biggest fear. "They come out of nowhere" we say, how can you prevent something you have no chance of avoiding. I've been doored about 4-6 times, and they've all been bad. It seems to be at a rate of one door per 6 months. I know I WILL get doored again all i can do is trust in myself that when I do get doored that my super reflexes that I'm known for will kick in and all I come out with is a bruised elbow and not in a hospital. They cost money, more money than I have for one and I just hate that helpless feeling I get when I'm waiting for people to help me.

Shit happens, you don't need to be there when it does.

Doors will open into cyclist's paths, the question is, are you going to be the one who's there when it does. The last time I was doored I sort of blamed myself. Because If I hadn't gotten complacent I would have given myself more space that wold have bought me some milliseconds to act, or get out of the way . Usually when I ride in stalled traffic in between cars I ride slow and my eyes are scanning from car to car to try to spot the signs of door openings. But no, I was in a residential neighborhood, well and far away from the bustle of midtown and I let my guard down.

One thing I learned as a messenger is that there are zones in space which are dangerous to be due to the likely hood of someting bad happening there. Overtime you learn to spot these zones and also to not get greedy and put yourself in these zones because you don't want to slow down. I have slowed down alot from the time that I was a fresh green rookie three years ago and I hope that I will keep slowing down even more to avoid getting hurt. I don't ride like a madman in the side streets because there is no flow to the traffic there. Cars are always pulling in or out, pedestrians are jaywalking, cars slow down to look for parking and sometimes even speeding up catch the yellow light. Hit me up on an avenue though with green and I'll bet your ass Im trying to haul exactly that... ass.


Remember, doors will open but you don't have to be there when they do and if you have to be there go slow enough so you can react to it in a way that doesn't involve you going to the hospital.

Where and when car doors open mostly..
In stalled traffic - motorist and passengers are concerned about their own personal safety, not yours. So when they look outside the car to see if they can open the door they look to see if traffic is in motion, if there is not traffic in motion they sense no danger therefore dont think to look behind them to see specifically if theres anybody in the path of the door.

Do we really Need Bike Lanes?

I don’t like bikelanes, I think they give inexperienced cyclists a false sense of security that makes them complacent and entitled as opposed to being defensive and flexible. DOT thinks that by adding more bike lanes that they will make cycling safer. No, in reality they are just another two lines that can be crossed by any car and constrains you in an area where you are going to be doored and right hooked. It does encourage cycling in the city, which in general raises awareness of us in the minds of cars and pedestrians. Manhattan is safer than the outer boroughs for cycling only because there are so many of us, so SOME drivers are going to look for us before they make that turn, open their doors or pull out of a parking spot. But that’s a direct result of our numbers , not the bike lanes. Go out to queens and ride in a bike lane and get ready to for some old fashioned dooring and sideswiping.
A good urban cyclist is flexible, she knows that just because there is a bike lane doesn’t mean that the car that’s wants to pullout/in in front of here is going to look for her when she rides, therefore she is prepared to ride out of the shoulder and into the car lane at any moment to save herself. When I first started riding I thought that just because I was in the right...that I shouldn’t ride defensively. It was the drivers responsibility to look out for me and if they didn’t they were wrong and, they SHOULD stop before hitting me. That mentality got me into many scary and expensive collisions and scary moments. Just because someone is supposed to do something doesn’t mean they will, that’s why we have this word called "irresponsible" I think bike lanes encourage that sense of entitlement that many inexperienced (and sadly also some experienced cyclists) seem to have. "I’m entitled to be here therefore YOU WILL STOP YOUR CAR"... and then Wham! These are the people I see stopping to argue with drivers to try to persuade them that they are in the wrong. Can anybody say Futility?

Complacency is another behavior that bike lanes encourage. Apart from bicycle lights, helmets, high vis clothing, etc, the greatest safety mechanism is a brain on full alert. There are times when I'm riding where I open my eyes wide open beyond what’s normal, just to remind myself to be extra alert.

Don’t even ask me about pedestrian plazas/ extended sidewalks....oops I mean separated bike lanes. Disasters if your ask me.

No matter which way you put it Urban Cycling is dangerous, just as urban driving is. The only way to remain safe is to be aware and flexible. Pushing bike lanes thinking that it promotes cycling safety is an exercise in futility.

I treat bike lanes as an expanded shoulder. That’s all.

I went to queens copurt to answer a summons ticket I received two weeks ago. Just to be told I need to come back 30 days later because the ticket is not even in the court systems yet. I dont really like being in the subways, and since I didnt have my bike I decided to walk back home through forest hills and flushing meadow park into my neighborhood of flushing.

I love the apartment buildings of forest hills, they're so humble but yet still beautiful without the arrogance projected out by these new fandangled glass tower condominiums.

I know this is the old bell telephone company grate, but I've never seen this pattern before. I wish I could carry around a tire Iron so i could just explore every manhole I see in the park. You know without beeing looked at like some guy whos about to kill somebody. Maybe theres an easier and smaller tool I can use to open these babies up. I remember trying to open a cap about a few years ago in flushing meadows and the undercover cops didnt seem to apreciate it one bit. Ever since 9/11 theres no such thing as innocent exploration of this city. One of the reasons I wish I was younger is that I could explore areas of the city where I dont belong without being looked at like some criminal or terrorist as opposed to just some scrawny kid with too much curiosity. The consequences for the former are handcuffs and an interrogation , while the latter they'll just tell me to scram.


This is the park I spend most of my time exploring.

When the waters of the meadow lake overflow into the asphalt paths and end stagnate all the oil particles clump up together in these really cool and nasty grease patterns.

There are so many parts of FMP that are pretty much just let to be, like this area was used before for taking mulch and letting it ?compost? but now it was just abandoned, I think all these little hidden areas including their deterioration add to the mystery that is FMP.

This I think is part of the flushing river that still flows through its original path. This river has been altered beyond its original path many times over. And from what I hear they plan to get rid of the Fountain of planets in the park and "moonlight" the river. Which means redivert the river into its original course after they diverted it underneath the fountain of planets.

Harness Shmarness

Who Needs a Harness? Me and my brother were riding around in far east queens when we found this obstacle course in Alleypond park. I always wanted to find and Adult playground type course without having to join the military or have to hand over a money to try one out. The sign on the wall said something about no trespassing and that climbers should be supervised and wear a harness at all times. The first time I made up my brother gave me a boost up. I did not make it to the top because my forearms just started giving out. I could have tried to make it to the top but I was afraid that at the highest point my arms would give and I would fall 20 feet to some really hurt ankles. Or even if I did make it to the top, that I wouldnt have the strength to climb back down to the bottom. But I always wanted to learn to climb but I didnt want to have to join a gym or be supervised by other people trying to make sure I have as little fun as possible beceause they have to cover their liabilities. Now I got to learn how to increase my grip and the endurance of my forearms, because after this, I couldnt even throw a frisbee. My forearms felt like theyr were full of fluid and about to burst. Scary and fun, scary because I know how to fall and put all the downward energy of my "measly" 180 pounds into forward roll but I cant do it if I fall facing the wall. Or maybe I should just practice a reverse roll. Anyway I have a new skill to acquire, once I learn this I'm going to try actual boulders.

Watch out for the dreaded pre-turn.

A car that wants to turn will sometimes steer his car toward the opposite direction that they want to turn in order to gain more clearance. It can be tricky, because if you react to the first “pre-turn” by passing on the opposite side thinking that the driver is going in that direction, you can be in for a nasty surprise when all of a sudden he turns right into your path and BUMP! Also when they do a preturn, they have already made a decision to turn, they will not look again after they have made their preturn. This can happen at intersections when they want to turn either left or right, or when they want to pull into a parking garage. I had to learn about the preturn the hard way, my advice is to judge for yourself where the car is really going to turn, just by thinking like the driver and intuit where they would want to go. Easier said than done, but it all comes with experience.

Using arms and legs:

You can stick out your arms or legs in order to let your presences known to nearby drivers who are getting to close to you. Its hard to see a cyclist because we are so narrow, drivers are usually looking for wide objects and when you extend either your arm or legs toward the drivers view they are more likely to see you.
You can also use your arm to tap or put your hand on the car, that will definitely get the drivers attention, usually I do this when there’s no time and I need that driver to recognize I’m there or I’m toast. Word of advice… don’t hit that car side, many drivers will not like it and react to you aggressively and you will end up getting hit or scared shitless. Sometimes when you want to get someone’s attention you tap them in the shoulder, you don’t smack them in the head. Unless you really have to. LOL.
Or if you don’t have enough time to signal your presence to car you can use your hands as a buffer to keep the car from knocking you off your bike. Push your hands against the car to guide yourself away from the car. The mirrors work best for this. This can work pretty good when you are getting hooked by a driver on an intersection. In this case go with car’s turn, and use your hands if it’s to close to you.

Obviously if you are on a fixed gear using a leg is out of the option. That’s why I enjoy my road bike, because a leg is bigger and thicker than an arm, so it’s easier to spot. And I can still be able turn my bike pretty good while I do so.

Using jaywalkers to feel out the intersection,

When you are at a red light at an intersection and for whatever reason your view of crossing traffic is blocked. You can either inch little by little to the intersection until you can see and risk your front wheel getting clipped. Or you can use peds who are crossing on the red to see if there are any cars coming and you can join in on the law breaking. Peds will always drift towards the intersection to see if there are any cars to cross, since they don’t have a front wheel to watch out for and can accelerate to 5 mph faster than we can. Its more safe to do it when more than one ped crosses the intersection, the trick is to wait to see till they are in the middle of the intersection. If you just go, when one ped starts to cross, he could easily be one of these guys who are not paying attention and hell either jump back in or sprint across the intersection with the car still coming through at full speed. Since you cant accelerate as fast as a ped can your stuck in the middle of the intersection with a car coming in at full speed. The clueless leading the clueless. But, if you wait for the pedestrian to be in the middle of crossing and he doesn’t look alarmed and keeps at his leisurely pace, than that means that there are no cars coming and you can go. If a whole group of peds are in the middle of crossing an intersection than you can go, because even if there is a car coming it will stop and slow down for the group to pass. So use them as a shield and just cross the light.

The Bread and Butter of an Urban Cyclist

Dealing with Obstacles on the shoulder…

Being able to weave in and out of the shoulder lane and into traffic is one of the most basic and important skills you need to learn in order to ride in the city. New York City is full of double parked cars, trucks loading and unloading, construction workers, people trying to hail a taxi, etc. This is the bread and butter of any urban rider’s skill-set.
There will be many times when you are riding in the shoulder when there’s going to be a double parked car that’s going to push you further into car traffic. Of course try to look back to see what’s going on in traffic behind you, not just for yourself, but so that traffic behind see you looking back at them. When they see you that they will (hopefully) realize that you are about to move into their lane. The question is , do you let the car behind you pass by the double parked car first and wait or do you take their lane before they pass that parked car? Indecision here can cause you to get hurt, hit from behind, or being squeezed between a moving and a parked car. If you see that you will reach the parked car at your present speed first, then by all means take the lane (try to signal if you have the time), pass the obstacle and go on your merry riding. If on the other hand, the car at its present speed will get there first, do yourself and the car behind you a favor and let it pass the parked car first. Wait for it to pass and as soon as it does go right behind it to pass the parked car. If you go first , the car behind you has to either slow down and pump the brakes. Some drivers will just get pissed off and keep going. You don’t want to engender any ill-will from other drivers, remember they are stronger than you and can kill you.
Do it with no fuss and you'll get home safe and fast. Try to get too greedy and you’ll come home with many close encounters, and sooner or later you’ll get caught and get fucked up.
One of my rules is to let the traffic flow, you don’t want to slow down car traffic unless you have to.

Traffic Prediction Tip

Predicting what the driver in front of you will do by looking through their rear windshield. There are times when you have very little visibility but are stuck behind a vehicle, because you have no space to pass it. The faster you and the car are going the farther away you should be from its bumper, for the obvious reason of not wanting your face to smash their wind shield. But if you can see the same thing that the driver in front of you, then you can think like the driver and know when this person will want to change a lane, speed up or slow down. I usually do this when I can’t see the overall traffic conditions ahead of me…

Not so useful tip: Ride Fast

This will not work for everyone because not everybody feels like hitting it hard every day and every moment that they are on their bike. But the easiest way to ride in traffic with the least amount of trouble is to ride at a slightly slower pace than the car traffic around you. If you are flowing in traffic, there are fewer obstacles that present themselves. If you are going way slower than the traffic, just the speed difference is enough to make drivers think of you as an obstacle that has to be passed as opposed as something to drive along with. I rather ride along traffic as opposed to slowing it down. If I’m riding in the yellow lines and I see that I can’t keep the pace of traffic I will move over to the shoulder, where cars go a bit slower and where I’m allowed to be slow.
When you are being passed by traffic you have to be on the defensive, you got to make sure that every car that is passing behind you is not trying to make a turn in your path or pull in to a parking spot. Its nerve-wracking to be on the defensive all the time. I would rather be in neutral (riding like 2-3 mph slower than traffic), where drivers will wait for you before they pull out, change lanes, or make that turn. Either that or be on the offensive, where you are riding a bit faster or at the same speed of traffic. Because of your speed you get to choose whether to give the right of way to other cars. And if you remember what I said about momentum, the faster you go ,the more of it you have and the more respect you command, especially at the intersections.

Quick Tips 2

Someone is hailing a cab…now this takes a bit of a trained eye, but look back to see if there is cab behind you and look to see if there are any passengers in the back. If there isn’t any get ready to either get out of the area near the cab hailer, or get ready to be on the defensive using your voice, arms or legs to stop them from hitting or overtaking you. Because a cabbie pulling to pick up a passenger is a dangerous person, their mind becomes one tracked into just pulling over, no matter who or what is in the way. It’s better to just get out of there in my opinion but if you have to stay in the area for whatever reason be prepared to be very loud and aggressive to snap them out of it.
If a cabbie has just stopped for a passenger and that passenger is a woman with a lot of luggage, watch out…that cabbie will open the door and probably without looking so get out of there.

Quick Tips

Left turners on two way streets… don’t test your luck with them. Simply put, they rather hit a cyclist than hit a car. Though you might be going straight through the intersection and you have the right of way, if that drivers starts to turn and traffic is busy, believe me he will keep going in that turn. Because if the driver stops for you any car going straight through the intersection as well is going to be coming at him at full speed. The intention is not to hit you or cut you off, the fear of being hit by another 10 ton vehicle is less than the fear of hitting a 200lb cyclist. For your own safety give them the right of way, even though their supposed to give it to you.
There are many accidents that I have been through that occurred because I did not react defensively thinking that I shouldn’t have too because I’m in the right. But as we know what should happen, doesn’t happen. The end result is you or your bike being fucked up regardless of in you were in the right. Little by little, the more you ride in traffic the less you care about who should be doing what, who was in the right and learn to start reacting to reality. You learn to detach emotionally from the street and just ride. I still get mad at people who don’t signal their turns. And I still leave myself in awkward and unsafe situations because I feel that the driver isn’t doing the right thing and I expect it him to right him/her self.

Beware of Voids in Traffic

A void is simply a large enough space where a car can fit and is surrounded by other cars. Its psychological, when a driver is in heavy traffic and sees a space (void) where he can fit, he will move into it without thought , they probably think, that it’s a spot with their name on it, and they deserve it. This is an example of the physics law, “following the path of least resistance”, like water will rush in to fill en empty space in a vessel. It happens automatically. If a void presents itself on traffic, either totally get out of there before another car takes it. Or you can act preemptive and move right into the middle of it, effectively filling up the space. I usually don’t stay in the voids for too long after I take them because I don’t want to ride in a car lane. I want to ride between them. And also I feel it’s a bit greedy of a cyclist taking all that space when he can easily ride between the cars. Being greedy in traffic is an easy way for drivers to overtake you simply out of spite.

Momentum Reigns Supreme

It is the most important concept to understand. Because even though there are official rules to the road, all that goes to shit when you have a 30 Ton truck coming at you at 35 miles per hour. Momentum is the product of mass and speed. The more you have of it, whether it’s either in speed or mass, the more respect you command on the road. This applies to all traffic, not just cycling. This explains why people respect Trucks and treat cyclist like shit. We cyclist have very little momentum in the game of traffic, we will never get the respect we want from drivers, that’s why we have to ride 10 times more defensively and aggressive than car drivers.

Momentum also determines how you ride, the more speed you have the less you want to stop. Well this also applies to car drivers. At intersections even though cars are supposed to give the right of way, they don’t because they carry this momentum they don’t want to give up. For us Cyclists this affects us even more, because the momentum we have when we ride is not easy to build up, it takes effort to get up to 20 miles per hour, a car driver just has to press a lever with his foot, we have to push down on our pedals with our own muscles.

If you can learn to read the momentum of cars you will be able to predict whether a driver will run a red light, make a quick reckless lane-change, will make a right turn without looking, etc. Its psychological, a car who wants to make a left turn and is going at a fast speed is not going to stop for a cyclist who is in the right, simply because he knows he has more momentum than you have and you should yield to him even though by the rules of the road he should yield to you. So even though you know all the traffic rules in your area, know that momentum reigns supreme.

In the scheme of traffic we cyclist are flies, we are invisible for the most part. We have to ride very aggressive and “loud” in order to get out due notice.