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Almost got into an accident twice in NYC today...


eddiemoy

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I had a chance to ride about ~6 miles to training in NYC each way today.  In the morning, I rode it up 1st Ave, someone in a BMW X5 almost ran me over when he tried to make a light to turn left.  He came to screeching halt and I had to push away from him with both hands on his driver door.  But I didn't fall amazingly and just did a slalom around him.  I was riding in the bike lane.  Lots of people riding bikes to work.  I followed behind them.  I found my legs were not all that steady today probably too nervous, like spaghetti.  Most people didn't even bat an eye when they saw I was riding.  I like that most NYC folks don't care.  LOL.  Had some trouble going cross town on 42nd Street.  There was no bike lane.  I was able to follow a biker to Lex, then I was all alone trying to cross to 5th Ave.  I rode on the sidewalk a little bit, but it was so crowded.

The second time was when I was coming back down from midtown on 2nd Ave.  Towards the midtown tunnel, the bike lane becomes a turning lane.  Another car came inches to hitting me.  Again, I was in the bike lane all the way down, following bikers.  I got a few looks from bikers going the other way.  A few kids screamed out it was so cool.  A guy tried to ask me something as I blasted by.  

It was a fun, but dangerous ride.  Now I know what bicyclist face everyday in NYC.  12 miles and still 70% battery left.  Pretty cool!

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I found those vests at Harbor Freight today for under $6.  I was thinking about getting one, but I got distracted.  They have a lot of cool stuff, so I'll be back.  Between all my gear and that vest, I'm gonna win the "dork of the year" award!

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MaxLinux uses one.  I guess it really depends on where you are riding.  I don't like riding near a lot of traffic myself so I just have reflectors on my wheel and use a flashing rear 3M light.  In high traffic situations you really need to stand out unless you're an East Coast Muthafu.... er... fast healing, carefree spirited New York rider.  :whistling:

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Nice!, welcome to NYC EUC commuting~

If going long stretches (like greater than 20 blocks), or traveling anywhere near the Hudson or East Rivers, I'd highly recommend avoiding the city streets altogether and taking the equivalent of our bike/EUC highways:

West Side: Hudson River Greenway (YouTube)

  • stretches from Battery Park all the way up to the GWB Bridge

East Side: East River Bikeway (YouTube 1 / 2)

  • stretches from Battery Park all the way up to 125th street
  • however, not as well defined as the Greenway and seemingly the path disappears for stretches of Midtown East in the 40's

 

51 minutes ago, eddiemoy said:

Had some trouble going cross town on 42nd Street.  There was no bike lane.  I was able to follow a biker to Lex, then I was all alone trying to cross to 5th Ave.  I rode on the sidewalk a little bit, but it was so crowded.

42nd St is a narrow clusterf**k of big buses and tourists, with no widened lanes; not ideal for going fully cross-town. 

34th St is waaaayyy better to go cross-town because there is an extra 3rd Bus lane, along with shoulder space.  

As long as no buses are present (which is the majority of time), you can cruise down, without worrying about car traffic, especially since many of the 34th street intersections do not allow traffic to make turns.

 

NYC riding requires constant anticipation, but when you get the hang, it's not as dangerous as you might think.

Remember, you (on EUC) are much more mobile and agile than a car that has to stop for traffic lights and lumber in big block-by-block spaces within traffic.

 

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Thanks @houseofjob for the tips.  I was thinking of doing the east or west side but figure I try out what it is like to go up and ride with traffic.  I did enjoy the ride much more when I was stuck behind all the bike traffic.  It allowed me to go at a slower pace and to enjoy the ride a little more.  

I missed the group ride you guys had a few weeks ago.  You guys having another group ride anytime soon?

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5 minutes ago, eddiemoy said:

I missed the group ride you guys had a few weeks ago.  You guys having another group ride anytime soon?

Possibly this Sunday, since there is no rain in the forecast (will be posted all over).

If not, at the very least, we'll probably try to organize one for the upcoming Citi Summer Streets in August.

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Does anyone watch Cassey Niestat - probably spelt that wrong? He seems to wiz around NYC on an electric skateboard, weaving in and out of the traffic, amazes me he hasn't been run over. 

He did try a wheel (forget which one) on one of his blogs but never mastered it. Id love to sail past him on a wheel one day. 

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21 minutes ago, nute said:

Does anyone watch Cassey Niestat - probably spelt that wrong? He seems to wiz around NYC on an electric skateboard, weaving in and out of the traffic, amazes me he hasn't been run over. 

He did try a wheel (forget which one) on one of his blogs but never mastered it. Id love to sail past him on a wheel one day. 

I think Jason sent him that wheel ! It was a while back.

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26 minutes ago, nute said:

Does anyone watch Cassey Niestat - probably spelt that wrong? He seems to wiz around NYC on an electric skateboard, weaving in and out of the traffic, amazes me he hasn't been run over. 

He did try a wheel (forget which one) on one of his blogs but never mastered it. Id love to sail past him on a wheel one day. 

He was moderately injured on his BoostedBoard when the front wheel caught on, for us, a minor ridge in the pavement. The board could not make it over. Apparently he didn't even know he was in danger until he was bouncing along the ground, damaging himself, his watch, and his phone.

I was looking into buying a BoostedBoard (or something similar), got a longboard instead, and while I enjoyed it I also kept running off it when I'd go over something but the board could not. Skateboard wheels are highly inappropriate for urban areas. Even tiny things like twigs stopped my longboard cold.

Why are BoostedBoards and its ilk so popular? I see them around my neighborhood; they are slow and the riders look terrified all the time. As they should as my neighborhood is full of trees dropping twigs and those round spiky seeds the size of ping-pong balls.

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17 minutes ago, LanghamP said:

those round spiky seeds the size of ping-pong balls

That's a sweetgum tree and yeah, those even scare me on the wheel when there are a lot on the pavement. Those must be giant boulders to people on Boosted boards or hoverboards. Oh well, gotta get that faceplant practice somewhere.

 

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On 7/18/2017 at 3:02 PM, nute said:

He did try a wheel (forget which one) on one of his blogs but never mastered it. Id love to sail past him on a wheel one day. 

FYI Casey owns an SBU (EUC with a seat) and and what looks to be an Airwheel X3 in the black colorway.

Jason sent him a KS14C, which he tried, then gave away.

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43 minutes ago, houseofjob said:

FYI Casey owns an SBU (EUC with a seat) and and what looks to be an Airwheel X3 in the black colorway.

Jason sent him a KS14C, which he tried, then gave away.

He doesn't know what he's missing. 

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On 7/18/2017 at 2:39 PM, LanghamP said:

He was moderately injured on his BoostedBoard when the front wheel caught on, for us, a minor ridge in the pavement. The board could not make it over. Apparently he didn't even know he was in danger until he was bouncing along the ground, damaging himself, his watch, and his phone.

I was looking into buying a BoostedBoard (or something similar), got a longboard instead, and while I enjoyed it I also kept running off it when I'd go over something but the board could not. Skateboard wheels are highly inappropriate for urban areas. Even tiny things like twigs stopped my longboard cold.

Why are BoostedBoards and its ilk so popular? I see them around my neighborhood; they are slow and the riders look terrified all the time. As they should as my neighborhood is full of trees dropping twigs and those round spiky seeds the size of ping-pong balls.

Boosted and other electric skateboards are more popular than EUCs mainly because of marketing and exposure. All of the youtube vloggers either ride Boosted or at least do comprehensive reviews on all electric skateboards. It also helps that regular skateboarding is a lot more popular  than regular unicycling, which translates directly into the electric versions. The only way for Casey and the like to really see what they are missing out on is for them to go head-to-head with an EUC. And not just any EUC, but a high end EUC like a Kingsong or Gotway. Because the EUCs that Casey has seen so far have been the low end spec models like the Airwheel and SBU. The Kingsong KS-14C is a nice upgrade but unfortunately he never seriously rode it. 

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32 minutes ago, Kimosabi said:

He doesn't know what he's missing. 

The thought goes through my head every now and then to organize some sort of Challenge to all other types of electric ridables. Invite some 3rd party tech site like Wired, CNET, Gizmodo, The verge, ect to conduct the challenge and also invite the best riders for the respective wheels. Have an obstacle course set up the truly simulates the real world that includes pavement, bumps, cracks, ramps, wet road, grass, rail road tracks, tight turns, ect and see who can be the best on handling the course. No doubt a EUC would win especially a Gotway or Kingsong. The closest I've seen of something like this is what Wired did over a year ago. But having hosts who can barely ride an EUC obviously does not show what an EUC can do.

 

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