101 Things We Miss About #BikeNYC
Really, we miss everything.
3 min readApr 13, 2020
- Headwinds
- Tailwinds
- Venting your anger on drivers in the bike lane
- Speeding past cars stuck in traffic
- An undeniable sense of moral superiority
- Rolled-up pant leg chic
- Helmet hair style
- Cool U-lock fashion
- The pannier as handbag
- A bit mussed up but not minding
- Being late to work and not being able to blame the subway, just your legs
- Arriving at work sooooooo thirsty
- Never missing the train
- The bemused looks on the faces of bus riders
- Commuting is the best part of your day
- Privacy in public space on the Hudson River Greenway
- The clack of the planks on the Brooklyn Bridge
- Bombing down Broadway late at night
- Sneaking in a few laps in Central Park
- Racing strangers over the Manhattan Bridge
- Free parking
- A sense of camaraderie with strangers, just because they are on a bike
- Righteous anger at terrible planning decisions
- Complaining about Robert Moses
- The dinky adorable bike bell
- Counting how many blocks you can go without putting your foot down
- That moment of weightlessness at the top of the hill, just when you start downhill
- The sense of strength you feel pushing your body forward
- Fresh pavement
- Singing as loud as you want
- Seeing all of the in-between places
- Cursing like a New Yorker
- Knowing where all of the potholes are
- Checking out the other peoples’ rides at the stoplight
- Being able to pop into shops along the way
- Cranking up your portable speaker
- Ignoring your phone
- A bottle cage full of bodega coffee
- Pasta for lunch, pasta for dinner. No regrets.
- “You rode your BIKE? Badass!”
- Work Out + Commute = Multitasking
- That first day of good weather
- The view from any bridge
- Watching all of the cars stuck in traffic as you speed past
- TAKING. THE. LANE.
- People on bikes listening to music who let you draft
- People on bikes taking their kids to school
- People on bikes who get mad on your behalf when a driver comes too close
- Other people
- Bike dogs
- Sunshine
- Coasting downhill
- How you feel faster in spandex
- How you judge people in spandex
- How when you unzip your coat it flies back like a superhero
- Getting the last Citi Bike
- Getting to pick from a full dock of Citi Bikes
- Docking your Citi Bike in the last empty spot
- Electric Citi Bikes
- Alec Baldwin on a Citi Bike
- Stopping to warn people before a ticket trap
- Sharing legal advice with people after a ticket trap
- Letting pedestrians go first
- The surprised reaction when you let pedestrians go first
- Sometimes even letting cars go first
- Recognizing a friend’s bike in the wild
- Seeing friends in the bike lane
- Seeing the same strangers every day in the bike lane
- Being able to hit multiple parties / meetings / shows in one night
- Carrying everything
- Not paying for the subway
- Not waiting for the bus
- Not caring what trains are delayed
- Always having a seat
- Smugness
- River sunsets
- Spotting a hawk
- Moving too fast for mosquitoes
- Unintentionally terrorizing slow pigeons
- Smelling the flowers without needing to stop
- Light rain
- Heavy rain
- Being unprepared for a summer deluge
- Catching a green wave
- Realizing that New York City suddenly feels small
- Rolling stops
- Breaking the rules
- Critical Mass circa 2004
- Ride Outs circa 2019
- Suddenly following all the traffic rules because you see a little kid watching
- Coasting
- Climbing
- The feeling that you could just keep going and going and going
- Realizing that biking is like meditation
- Remembering that endorphins are a helluva drug
- Open streets
- Summer Streets
- Post-Marathon streets
- Bike lanes
- Protected bike lanes
- Riding in a protected bike lane that you fought for, and knowing “I did this.”
The fight for protected bike lanes is not on pause just because we are stuck at home. Learn how you can be an advocate for bike-friendly streets and more during COVID-19.
