I know, the weather out side is frightful but the fire is so delightful . I’d been off riding while repairing vandalism to my road bike (an old Schwinn) and now some of my pants feel tight. Repairs, however, a break in the weather Saturday morning and a steady stream of emails from some favorite cycling organization have got me going again. Here are four mass rides I plan to help put on. They all cost money to go on. And they are very different. Consider coming with.

Bike New York has already opened registration for the TD Bank 5 Boro Bike Tour . This 42-mile ride brings out tens of thousands of riders because it is truly closed cell. Vehicle traffic is completely shut down along the route. As a result, parents and children turn out in huge numbers. (The kids seems always to ride faster than their parents.) On Sunday May 3, it starts at the Battery in lower Manhattan and ends at Fort Wadsworth in Staten Island. Because I ride toward the end, fixing flats, handing out water & snacks, I plan to eat dinner in SI. Any suggested places?  read more »

Last Sunday 5:30 AM found me biking to the Battery where, with a few hundred others, I helped put on BikeNY’s Five Borough Bike Tour. My main job was to ride very slowly, fix flats, gears & chains, hand out water, snacks and encouragement to 30,000 riders. In a previous post I suggested low-key NYC rides you can still go on. Below, I suggest somewhat more adventuresome multi-day rides in order of their physical demands.

When I was a very young teen, I rode on multi-day bike trips organized by the 92nd Street Y and American Youth Hostels. We carried our gear and food; rode 30 or so miles a day on fairly unforgiving 3-speed English touring bikes. I loved it. Heavy duty exercise, lots of unsupervised time on the road for making out, group meals. My dream – never achieved – was to lead those trips.

Fifty years later, in the course of courting, I’ve been getting my wish. On a dare, a couple of years ago I signed up to help put on a multi-day bike ride in the Adirondack Mountains. I practiced and practiced until I could get up the steepest hill in Central Park without collapsing. (Of course, in the Adirondacks, most every hill was steeper and longer than those in Central Park.). Since then, I’ve been on a number of multi-day rides and I want to invite you along.

The following three rides – sponsored by non-profits --, in order of increasing difficulty,  read more »

It's spring, the weather has been perfect and May (which starts Thursday) is Bike Month. Middle-aged folk like me (and Room 8's Larry Littlefield ) are looking for exercise, cheap transport and global warming solutions. Bike messengers, Critical Mass riders (like my Council Member Rosie Mendez), edgy fixed-gear fanatics and teens are already out there. Join us. (For a full list of Bike Month events, click here (For Jennifer 8 Lee's NYT Bike Month Round-up, including NYC DOT plans, click here ).

It's already too late to sign up for the biggest NYC pleasure ride the Five Boro Bike Tour on Sunday May 4 which filled up at the beginning of April. The 42-mile car-free ride through NYC's streets parks and highways is an odd mob scene with a cast of tens of thousands, lots of snacks, flat tires and sweat. Because the whole ride is done with no cars, you get a little of the feeling about what a car-free-NYC might be like. Pedaling on auto-free highways is a revelation. It is definitely not for those who want to be alone. If you're going, look for me there.

Three still-open May bike rides:

The 6th Annual Brooklyn Greenway Bike Tour on Saturday May 3, 2008  read more »

Protest Saturday September 8, 10AM As part of the ongoing demands that New York and Federal authorities fund appropriate health monitoring and treatment for responders to September 11, NYC's Central Labor Council has asked people to turn out Saturday 10 AM.

HONOR, SUPPORT AND RESPECT
the contributions and sacrifices of all workers

WHEN: Saturday, September 8, 2007 at 10:00 A.M.

WHERE: West Broadway between Vesey and Barclay Streets

Sponsored by:

NYC Central Labor Council
NYS AFL-CIO
Building & Construction Trades Council

The strong positions taken by Mt. Sinai's Irving J. Selikoff Center For Occupational & Environmental Medicine on behalf on injured and ill September 11th responders has subjected them to a hail of criticism which ironically is more or less identical to that leveled at Dr. Selikoff himself when he began campaigning against reckless exposure of workers and citizens to asbestos. I've been treated by the Selikoff Center for job injuries and I've used their expertise in asbestos litigation. See you Saturday Morning.  read more »

Helping to put on the Hudson Valley Pedal, a week long mass (150) bicycle tour from Albany to the Battery (-- well, actually to the Seaport) was an eye-opener. I did chores like cutting fruit, helping to pitch tents and rescuing tired riders. I knew the route well from a car, but seeing the Hudson and its countryside at bike-level was brand new. We visited mansions and farms (ripening apples & ripe corn), talked to farmers who hated Bush’s immigration rules which threaten the harvest (See an interesting NY Times report on this here.). We saw the Clearwater, climbed Bear Mountain, toured West Point (great breakfast at the Thayer Hotel).

Since you can’t go on that trip ‘til next year and may hate biking and camping, consider driving to Scenic Hudson’s Day Long Festival this Saturday, August 25, 2007. Free food, music and fun . It’s in three widely separated parks, so a car would be handy. Do try to RSVP, so they’ll know how much food and drink to bring.  read more »