Bikes, e-bikes, e-scooters, e-skateboards, motor scooters, e-Citi Bikes, app-based food delivery, yadda yadda and so forth… Yes, cars remain the most dangerous thing out there, as the advocates will incessantly remind you, but only the most obstinate New Yorkers refuse to acknowledge that all of the aforementioned things have made walking around the city more fraught in recent years. Advocates say it’s because cars take up too much space which results in conflict, cranks say it’s because bikes should be registered and their riders licensed, but fortunately one city councilmember has a surefire solution that requires none of that–a new PSA:
The “Slow Your Roll, Respect The Stroll” campaign is already off to a fantastic start:
Not only does it rhyme, but various advocacy groups are behind it:
By the way, unlike the “Slow Your Roll…” campaign, the delivery worker minimum pay rate hike he refers to above is actually promising, because the idea here is that the more the delivery workers are paid the less they’ll have to hustle, which will ultimately allow them to ride more safely. It’s only been a few weeks or something, but true to form Streetsblog is already calling it a success:
I daresay it’s just a little bit premature to announce victory at this point, but perhaps with enough incentives for food delivery people in the form of financial incentives and benefits we can eventually eliminate all urgency from the profession altogether and induce USPS-level lethargy and apathy, thereby completely neutralizing the threat. (And please don’t bring up postal shootings, there hasn’t been one of those since at least 2022.)
As for PSAs, I’m far less optimistic, and you’d think nobody in city government remembers the Don’t Be A Jerk debacle of 2011:
Despite harnessing the star power and comedy stylings of John Leguizamo, this campaign did not succeed, and in the ensuing years there’s been a documented 468% increase in jerky cyclist behavior.
Alas, the city never learns, and in February 2020 they went all in on puns when they introduced the “Billy Never Idles” campaign:
This was forgotten in a matter of weeks as everyone started freaking out over the coronavirus and idling in their cars for hours on end as they lined up for nasal swabs. Nevertheless, city officials maintained they were merely one musical artist-themed play on words away from ending all the world’s problems, and in April of 2023 they created a new anti-dooring PSA involving Chubby Checker’s 1960 rendition of “The Twist:”
Was it merely the convenience of the title? Did data indicate that the demographic responsible for the dooring are old enough to remember the song? If the latter, it was a particularly misguided idea, since nobody old enough to have danced to “The Twist” is still physically able to turn their head while opening a car door. Regardless, the campaign was such a failure that I didn’t even know about it until I started writing this post–though it was extremely successful in that it made me realize that Chubby Checker is still alive, something I had not known previously. In fact you can see him this month at Niagara Falls:
Good for him. May he live long enough to one day door a cyclist in New York City, which would obviously be horrible, though it would also be the ultimate in irony, and even fair game for laughter if the cyclist were to come out of it unscathed.
Moving on, while I may be obsessing over the Jones, I’m also spending a lot of quality time with the Homer, though you can see I’m sort of having winter road bike withdrawal as I’ve removed the rear rack:
Also, I can’t be sure, but I think the bars may now be a tiny bit lower than the saddle. In Rivendell terms, that’s tantamount to a slammed stem, in the same way that in Victorian times this was basically pornography:
[NSFW…assuming you work as a 19th century scrivener.]
I love that bike. Between the Jones and the Homer this winter is no match for me.
Speaking of Rivendells, there’s one in this video:
I don’t mean to pick on Party Pace Russ, but I was deeply traumatized by his attempt to remove his grips without an air compressor:
At which he ultimately gave up and went to a bike shop:
Most of you know more about bikes than me and it’s rare that I’m able to help, but please note that if you ever need to remove grips from a bicycle, all you have to do is the following:
- Stick something really thin between the grip and the handlebar. (He’s trying to use zip ties but it’s much easier if you use something that doesn’t bend. I use a very small Allen key.)
- Once you’ve got whatever it is in there, just lean the bike over and pour in some rubbing alcohol
- Give it a few seconds then start twisting (hat tip Chubby Checker) and I promise it’ll come right off
You’re welcome. Now that’ll be $100.
Also, I had barely recovered from that trauma when I saw he was using a threadless stem adaptor on a Rivendell:
Look, I know people should use whatever works for them. Practically speaking, there’s no reason not to use a threadless stem adapter if it yields the end result you want. However–and this is just my own personal hang-up–threadless stem adaptors make me extremely uncomfortable, and they make me trebly so on a Rivendell. Again, this is just me being a total weenie, and I know I sound like a typical Internet commenter doofus, but I’m just being honest, and to me it’s like feeding a cat dog food.
I said what I said.