Staten Island bike-shopping trip

                                                           Route map:

                                    pic. 1 - route map

Dedicated bike lane: 
about 40% of the route
Shared with auto traffic: 
about 60% of the route

As usually, my wife gave me a shopping list of about 30 items.
I borrowed a special "shopping bike" from my neighbor and hit the road for the first time in the last 15 years.
Surprisingly  the body automatically recalled childhood skills so I cycled away with a full faith in success of my bike adventure.

                                            pic. 2 - "cargo" bike

First , I went to Midland Avenue, which is the one of few streets on Staten Island that has got bike lanes. Though the lane is not physically separated by the barriers , it is distinctively marked by the signage and on the ground and is clearly visible by both auto drivers and bicyclists. Bike ride there is smooth and pleasant. Light traffic on the auto lane did not disturb me, I had a comfortably wide space for my bike. On the way I enjoyed nice views of the greenery , trees and neat houses on both sides of the road. No obstacles such as double parked or loading/unloading motor vehicles were observed on a bike lane in either direction. In fact, there is no need to park cars in double on Midland Ave. as there are enough spots for normal parking. The bike lane is well designed, the road surface is even, no large cracks, holes or parallel sewer grates on the way. This part of the route has got sufficient space for all traffic participants: motor vehicles, bikes and pedestrians on wide sidewalks. Thus there is no interference between the modes. Except watching out for possibly emerging autos turning to/from crossing streets onto Midland Ave. ,  I had no other worries.

                                            pic. 3 - Midland Ave. bike lane

Then I turned onto Hylan Boulevard, one of the busiest arterials on the island. This is when the horror started …Surprisingly, the pavement of this major road is much worse than that of the other streets. The right lane is designated for buses, no space for the bikes at all.

The traffic was moderately congested; some cars were passing by on my left side, just a few inches away. Pretty scary … With buses breathing down my neck,  I had no choice but to get over to the sidewalk. The space between the right side of the bus and the curb was less than a foot wide (see picture) with no space left for the bike to move in between.
Even though small part of Hylan boulevard (between Midland and Jefferson Ave.) is marked as having bike lane on the maps, in reality it means that bicyclists should use a bus lane. As stated above, sharing the road with buses may become an unpleasant experience.

                                              pic. 4 - Hylan blvd.
     

When I reached Hylan shopping plaza, I faced another problem as there are no facilities for bike parking. Finally I found some railing in front of the Pathmark so I hooked the bike onto it and locked it. When I entered the store, I was surprised to see that some people left their bikes in the store lobby unchained and not locked

                                             pic. 5 - bikes parked inside the store
After I was done with the shopping , I loaded the bike with the bags and cartons and started my journey home.

pic. 6 - volume to be loaded                pic. 7 - fully loaded "cargo" bike


It was harder to keep my balance riding a loaded bike than the unloaded one. With a few stops along the way to reset the bags, I finally arrived home. Surprisingly none of my stuff fell off or broke. Even eggs didn’t break despite the cracks and pits on the Hylan blvd. pavement and my sudden maneuvering on and off the sidewalk.

 The return part of my journey that fell on Midland Avenue, was about the same pleasant and safe as the outgoing ride on same portion of the route.

From the fitness point of view, I learned that I lost about 200 calories during the trip , according to NutriStrategy website.

Rider profile:

-         Bike ownership – no ( borrowed from neighbor)

-         How often do use a bike? – first time for the last 15 years

-         Route length – about 4 miles total

-         Total trip time – 2 hours

-         Biking time – 25 min.
-    Average speed - about 8mph

Route review:

-         Midland Ave. portion: biking is easy and pleasant on dedicated bike lane

-      Hylan Blvd. portion: biking is physically challenging due to uneven pavement surface, not safe due to auto-traffic interference.

Summary for bike-shopping: Using a bike for shopping could be useful and safe on dedicated bike lanes only, for light shopping and compact purchases.

Summary for biking in general:

Biking can be a primary means of transportation for the short distances, subject to above mentioned conditions and favorable weather. I think the average person can physically do up to 5-7 miles of biking each way on everyday basis.Such physical exercise would be a healthy start and end of the work day.

Vehicle size requirements comparison

A car takes half of my driveway (see picture)

A bike takes just a small area in the shed (see picture).

If I get rid of my car and permanently switch from driving to biking , I will get a lot of additional space for barbecuing :)

Unfortunately, it's not realistic as my average everyday trip is about 20-25 miles long , which can not made by the bike on a permanent basis.

                   versus:





pic. 8 - car takes half of driveway space                            pic.9 -little space needed for bike


Feliks Bogonovskiy