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Coronavirus has caused a bicycling boom in New York City

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Re: Coronavirus has caused a bicycling boom in New York City

#141

Post by newtoday »

erikbye wrote: post #93
dmix wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I read N95 masks were basically useless when walking outside, they only mattered indoors and in confined spaces (like public transit). I’d imagine biking is even less transmission and wearing a mask with that is pretty unrealistic. It’s hard to find what is right on the internet though.

There is definitely a higher risk you inhale enough virus progeny indoors than outdoors, yes. We know from the flu that indoors the virus can stay suspended for many hours. Regular talking can project enough virus from an infected person for the air to become sufficiently contaminated, though shedding varies by individual. The more (longer) you breathe that air, the greater your chance of becoming infected. This migh…

Are you saying I could breathe in some, conveying a small amount of the virus, and not get infected? That seems to be the opposite of what highly contagious means.

Re: Coronavirus has caused a bicycling boom in New York City

#143

Post by lolc »

CedarMadness wrote: post #83
uk_programmer wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As someone that used to be an avid cyclist. Disc brakes are almost completely pointless for commuter bicycles. Don't get me wrong they are great when mountain biking (I have cable discs on my mountain bike). On a commuter bike they are mostly just overkill IMHO. But I wouldn't buy a carbon road bike either (All my bikes are steel framed).

I would get rim brakes over another set of cable disc brakes. I recently got a gravel bike as my "go anywhere" bike, and the cable disc brakes are absolute garbage, constantly going out of adjustment and rubbing, making noise, or just being ineffective. As a contrast, my hydraulics on my mountain bike are absolutely fine with minimal work, just a flush every year and changing the pads when they wear down.

I had shitty cable disc brakes before. With the same complaints. I Replaced them with TRP Spyke brakes and all of that went away. I'll never lose another perfectly good wheel to rim wear. But I can see how that is a secondary concern.

Re: Coronavirus has caused a bicycling boom in New York City

#144

Post by lolc »

Scoundreller wrote: post #81
xwdv wrote: post #13

Great. More cyclists.

I hate it when the seasonal cyclists steal the lock-points that I've been using all winter. I have squatters' rights dammit!

My understanding of squatters' rights is when you leave others can take it.

Re: Coronavirus has caused a bicycling boom in New York City

#145

Post by GrassFedAltCoin »

CydeWeys wrote: post #60
overlordalex wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Someone recently made an app here in Germany where you can take a photo of offending cars and the app automatically forwards the information to the authorities. Perhaps someone can do something like that for NY? Source in German: https://www.sueddeutsche.de/panorama/app-wegeheld-falschpark... Here's an English article: https://road.cc/content/news/258976-german-app-lets-cyclists...

We have this in NYC: https://reportedly.weebly.com/ But it only really does anything for Taxi & Licensing Commission-plated vehicles (taxis, rideshares, black car services, that kind of thing). For every other vehicle, it doesn't do shit, and the cops don't care. They largely don't even live in NYC and most of them commute to work in cars. There's a big culture of police not enforcing parking regulations on themselve…

Not being from New York, it was hard for me to comprehend how much political power the police union has there. Dating someone from there, and by extension taking a passing interest in the city's politics, it has been eye-opening to see how much influence their protests exert over the mayor's office/political process more broadly.

Re: Coronavirus has caused a bicycling boom in New York City

#146

Post by swiley »

cranekam wrote: post #101
zck wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I mean, by the time I'm gone from a citibike to a place where I can wash my hands, I've had to touch a lot of other things. It's not like there are sinks directly next to the citibike stands.

Then you should wash them at the first chance and avoid touching your face. The only way to be safe here is to seal yourself into a room and avoid all exposure. Since that’s probably not possible the next best thing is to just do the best you can.

I'm not saying it's a good idea but it's totally possible for a lot of us.

The company I work for has sent everyone home until next month and you can have groceries delivered over the internet here.

Re: Coronavirus has caused a bicycling boom in New York City

#147

Post by jeffadotio »

crazygringo wrote: post #138
jeffadotio wrote: post #112

> it was uncertain whether New Yorkers who aren’t used to cycling on the city’s inconsistent network of bike lanes —which are frequently clogged by parked or idling cars and trucks — would take the mayor’s advice The notion that New Yorkers use bike lanes is funny. I live on a major Manhattan avenue with a bike lane and there is at least three times as much bicycle traffic on the sidewalk right next to it. Even motor…

Honestly what you say doesn't make any sense. Major Manhattan avenues are thronged with people. Bicycling on the sidewalk is going to be way slower than using the bike lane. Plus sidewalks are bumpier with more obstacles... what cyclist is going to choose the sidewalk?! I use Citibike all the time in Manhattan. The only bicycles/scooters I see on the sidewalk are the ones pulling up to a building on that block. Every…

Most of Manhattan is north of 59th street and most of the day is not rush hour. It is so bizarre to me that I would be accused of lying about something like this. I hear complaints about cyclists from all kinds of New Yorkers, especially those who are cyclists and bother to follow the rules to the best of their ability.

Edit: I am abandoning this account. I was downvoted below for refusing to specify where I live. This community is not worth being a part of.

Re: Coronavirus has caused a bicycling boom in New York City

#148

Post by asdfasgasdgasdg »

MiroF wrote: post #124
asdfasgasdgasdg wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There has been barely any snow this year in New York. Certainly none was on the bridges before the corona thing. It hasn't regularly been freezing even for most of February. Which was mostly the same as last March. While it's probable that the warmer weather probably has had some effect, I doubt it can explain the whole increase.

I think you likely missed the part where it is a 50% increase compared to last years March , not February 2020.

I did miss that in my initial pass. But I'm also referring to how last March was warm too. https://www.accuweather.com/en/us/new-york/10007/march-weath...

Re: Coronavirus has caused a bicycling boom in New York City

#149

Post by shartshooter »

Silver lining in the epidemic that more folks might get used to biking to work over the next few months due to social distancing, so that becomes more normal and cities start to adapt even further.

General city traffic will be way down and bikers will have a lot more freedom, so it feels safer, so more people adopt, etc

Could be a positive step in making the cities more liveable

Re: Coronavirus has caused a bicycling boom in New York City

#150

Post by adrianN »

mikestew wrote: post #51
uk_programmer wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As someone that used to be an avid cyclist. Disc brakes are almost completely pointless for commuter bicycles. Don't get me wrong they are great when mountain biking (I have cable discs on my mountain bike). On a commuter bike they are mostly just overkill IMHO. But I wouldn't buy a carbon road bike either (All my bikes are steel framed).

Disc brakes are almost completely pointless for commuter bicycles Ignore this comment. Year-round commuting is the prime reason to buy a bike with disc brakes. Is it overkill not to burn through a set of rims each winter? Is it overkill to have decreased stopping distance in the rain? Anyone want to go back to drum brakes on their “commuter” car? Yeah, didn’t think so.

I commute year round in Germany and never had to replace my rims because of wear. They last years until I hit a curb too hard with barely any wear. Maybe it's different in other climates?
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