Originally published at: Extreme urban cycling: Manhattan's fearless bike couriers - Boing Boing
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I don’t think I’ve ever sweat so much sitting perfectly still. And while I watch this and shout “nononono” at the screen and don’t feel the least bit tempted to copy what I’m watching myself,
While the cyclists shout “yo yo YO!” as they approach a crowded crosswalk where they don’t have the right of way but are taking it anyhow.
I watched one of these the other day. It’s thrilling and an unusual video tour of Manhattan. But all I could think of was the arsehole bike messengers and teenage boys who almost plowed down me and other pedestrians when I lived there.
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I used to work in mid-town Manhattan, and when I watch this kind of video I think of all the bike messengers and couriers I saw lying in a pool of blood waiting for an ambulance, or no longer needing to wait for anything at all, ever. Call it half a dozen over three years. You could always tell when it had happened, there’s soon be a crowd at the windows overlooking the incident, and cow-orkers speculating as to their status.
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How is NYC not sending these guys a giant stack of moving violations? I mean, it’s fun to watch, but blowing through red light after red light and posting the evidence on YouTube seems like… not a great idea?
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Whatever you do, please don’t ride like these selfish jackasses
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Via Natalie Dressed!
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I guess fuck red lights and pedestrian crossings? Plus it being impossible for some of those cars to have any idea you’re coming up to the side.
I dunno - people like this is why people hate cyclists.
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When you see the occassional asshole driver that is similarly dangerous and selfish, do you think “this is why I hate drivers”? Or do you identify with drivers and not extrapolate their worst to be how you think of the whole group?
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Most cyclists aren’t like this…
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The sheer disregard of others is enraging.
The artistry, wow. Almost soothing.
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What really strikes me is how much faster these folks are moving through the city than anyone in a car.
A bike’s my main transport, and it’s interesting to look at the things they’re doing that I’m not:
- riding in the center lanesplit vs. the right shoulder: nobody’s gonna door you, much less chance of anyone turning through the space you are about to inhabit (note that they mostly do this between cars, not trucks - there’s one moment in the NYC link where the cameraman lane-splits two trucks and I could feel my shoulders pulling in to avoid those rear-view mirrors)
- hitting the proper speed to get almost every green light: when I’m on a bike trail down a big grassy median on a busy street and get in synch with that it’s pretty damn nice
- assuming they are much more immortal than my fifty-something ass ever can, I can see the shape of their tactics for quickly crossing red lights with spaced-out city traffic but I don’t think I’m willing to take that risk
- the little abrupt skid-stops are interesting, they can quickly shed a ton of speed that way instead of hitting something, they make it look casual but I bet there is a lot of practice in emptier places behind that
- their no-hands riding is super impressively stable, and that definitely contributes to their control, I really need to find the groove of no-hands on my current bike. I had it on the previous one but Falcor I got stolen and I have just not quite been able to find it on Falcor II, he wants to lean way to the left… there might be some mechanical tuning and balancing that needs to be done. Riding no-hands really makes you learn to drive the bike with your ass instead of your hands, and that enables much more fluid motion.
Come to think of it there was that day I consecrated Falcor I in the name of Mercury and found myself riding much more in the style of these guys before pulling back some, maybe I should do that to Falcor II…
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As someone who has been almost knocked off their feet by a cyclist charging through a red light, I wish a hearty fuck you to everyone involved in these videos.
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As a (small) city cyclist, I appreciated this. I think the camera makes it look like there’s less space than there is, but there were a couple really uncomfortable moments when he went through the intersection with a large vehicle blinding him.
New Yorkers seem to use their turn signals much more reliably than where I live and also seem to be prepared for cyclists shooting by or in front of them. None of the drivers were driving with half their vehicle in the real bike lanes, or doing 50 in a 35 mph zone.
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I think there are too many asshole drivers on the road as well.
I don’t have a problem with cyclists, but I am not exposed to them that often, and when I do, it isn’t anything like this NYC jaunt.
I am exposed to more asshole sport bike riders who blow by you like you’re standing still while you are already doing 10 over the limit. And while I am sure that is a minority of sport bike riders, it doesn’t even surprise me anymore to see one scream through traffic. Though I still get surprised when one pops a wheelie. Holy cow!
Of course.
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i remember pulling nearly all of these stunts as a bike messenger in Seattle some 30+ years ago. definitely would split middle lanes down 2nd ave, from Denny to Jackson without stopping - and certainly faster than car traffic. or, on the uphill from 1st ave, going up Pine St, “skitching” a ride by grabbing on to the electric trolley bus to Broadway.
the messenger rules of the road went something like this:
you come to an intersection going northbound on a one way street which is intersected by a one way street going east. which direction should you look first?
over your shoulder to see if there is a cop behind you as you blow the stop sign.
good times!
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I just want to give him a helmet.
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It’s Rendezvous (1976) except on two wheels and in NYC.
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Yeah, I was a messenger in NYC for a bit and was always the fastest thing in the city (except for faster messengers). Manhattan traffic has a scary reputation, but the reality is unless you’re on the FDR drive, you’re really never going more than 10 mph. And 7th ave is basically a massive bike lane. Let’s see them do this on 3rd Ave above 30th. You’d never get that close to a bus again.
Also; slowing for crosswalks doesn’t lose you any time, especially if you’re timing the lights right. I once raced my girlfriend from the 72nd St subway to 14th st., except she was on the train. I got there so much earlier than her I started to worry that I had missed her and something bad had happened. I generally found that obeying most traffic laws is actually faster than fighting them because you’re moving with the flow of traffic, just faster. I would still run reds, but after clearing for all pedestrians.
You’d think, but that’s exactly where I got doored the most. People hop out of cabs when they find themselves waiting at a light half a block from their destination and since everything is stand-still, why not just pay and jump out? You learn to look into the windows and rear view mirrors of cabs to see if someone is about to leave, but it’s still risky when all the lanes are full (which is one of the things that makes 7th easier; it’s a lot more clear, especially below Penn Station).
And deadly. NYC has a lot of street paint and doing this on a wet, painted surface can put you underneath a bus quickly. The street in front of Macy’s is a death trap in the winter due to the ever-present parade paint.
This guy is an exceptional asshole, but the biggest danger since I left (a long, long time ago) are the bike lanes and all of the motorized and electric bikes ruining them. They’re limited to 25 mph, but 25 may as well be 100 mph to a pedestrian or traditional cyclist.
I think lane splitting is fine. The biggest danger is to the cyclist (car doors, busses and turns from interior lanes), assuming they’re approaching crosswalks with caution. It looks scary to everyone in a car, but by the time they see you, you’re already ahead of them.
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It sure looks to me like some sort of drone camera. The angle is higher than most car/van tops. It can’t be on some sort of pole sticking up from a bicycle unless there’s some major stabilization on the camera. I wonder who’s operating it.
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