Many will call it dangerous, yet there’s no doubt that cycling fast, almost racing, in New York City traffic is quite the thrill. It’s one thing to go against another bicyclist – and they are out there, too – but quite another to go against cars and trucks and buses and motorcycles.

Of course, one does not exactly go against motorized vehicles. You’ll find no racing strategies for that. It isn’t even a contest. But part from the thrill of riding in heavy traffic comes from the illusion of passing them by. For in heavy traffic, cars cannot go too fast, relatively speaking – relative not just to their true potential but in addition, more importantly, to their actual customary practice.

And so the bold cyclist (for it still demands quite a set of nerves) will probably be able to keep up with them, oftentimes, and taking advantage of lights to bypass car after car after car when cross-traffic allows it. It’s not actually real racing, nonetheless it sure feels like it to the cyclist! It is about the only time anyone will ever be able to pass car after car after car….

You will even be able to weave in and out of traffic, too, if your handling skills are good. Situational awareness is also a must. And since it’s rush hour, people are arguably much more attentive: so many cars, so many witnesses….

Of course, the streets of Manhattan are fun without cars, too, such as early on a Sunday morning or, even, late at night when even the revelers have gone home to bed. New York being New York, there will probably still be motorized traffic on the streets, but at such times, while you cannot exactly “race” cars, there is still just the sheer joy in having the streets seemingly all to yourself, relatively speaking.

This entry was posted on October 10, 2010 at 12:00 am. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.

Posted in fun by No Comments Yet