The "hill bombing" fixters riding out of control over the Williamsburg bridge these days is incredible. It's their descent of Ventoux. The chicanes on either side make for some hilariously dangerous games of chicken as they desperately attempt to skid out of the way of oncoming traffic.

You hear about the "zen ness" of brakeless fixie riding in the city. All I see is panicked circus bears spinning uncontrollably with the look of fear on their faces.

The best is when the chain breaks/drops and they try to go full Fred Flintstone. My commute needs drama!

Jeff Owens said:

The "hill bombing" fixters riding out of control over the Williamsburg bridge these days is incredible. It's their descent of Ventoux. The chicanes on either side make for some hilariously dangerous games of chicken as they desperately attempt to skid out of the way of oncoming traffic. You hear about the "zen ness" of brakeless fixie riding in the city. All I see is panicked circus bears spinning uncontrollably with the look of fear on their faces. The best is when the chain breaks/drops and they try to go full Fred Flintstone. My commute needs drama!

I learned my lesson for that back in 2002 when I broke by fixie chain going across the Manhattan bridge (yes I was a hipster fixie rider back then). Nothing as terrifying as a that feeling of suddenly spinning free, and no clear/safe runout.

I have heard stories of people dying because they end up under the wheels of a truck. Chain snaps and they careen into an intersection.  Track bikes have their place but in the city it's reckless to have only one way to stop your bike.  Darwin awards tells me evolution will take care of them.

cross-posting from the trash talk thread...

I like how the driver turned on his wipers to rid his windshield of that pesky cyclist.

Jeffrey White said:

I like how the driver turned on his wipers to rid his windshield of that pesky cyclist.

I can't believe he stuck the landing.

these are quite beautiful.  RIP.  http://gothamist.com/2014/08/05/nyc_vision_zero_art.php#photo-18

On my way up to the GWB around 9:15 on 55th street there were NY Dot workers with orange vests and slow/stop signs for bikers. 

I've seen those DOT workers around town for a few months now. Every so often they show up on my commuting route. 

I was coming up on the site of the recent bicycle/bus crash at the ferry terminal on west side bike path yesterday morning around 8:30. There was a police car parked in the southbound bike lane with its lights flashing. Officers sitting inside trolling their twitter/facebook accounts while cyclists piled up at the red light trying to obey the law.

I considered offering my consulting services to the officers to point out
a) that they were taking up valuable real estate by putting their car in the bike lane
b) that they were facing the wrong intersection if they were trying to address the recent bicycle/bus incident
c) that our stopping at the red lights was actually counter productive since the bus incident occurred when the both the cyclist and bus driver had a green light
d) that they would be most helpful if they stepped out of car and actually directed traffic

However, I elected to simply grumble to myself, keep my head down and ride on.

dstokes said:

However, I elected to simply grumble to myself, keep my head down and ride on.

Maybe the five year-old Noah had something to say to them.

I'll watch out for you when I'm walking around that area @kayt! (I work somewhat close there too).

Sorry I couldn't resist but I'm glad you're OK and the pedestrian too. I think it happens to the best of us. Sometimes we just forget how vulnerable we are and how deadly it could be riding around the city, especially when nothing bad has happened to us in a while.

I feel no sympathy with the pedestrian. They should stay on the sidewalk until the light turns.
That's the law.
Sorry to hear you were hurt.

My sympathy is for you Kayt, not the asshats.  People in this town feel entitled to rage on each other - but that doesn't mean they are.

Thank you all. Helps more than you know. 

It appears there might be a crackdown going on.  Lots of anecdotal evidence showing up.  A friend got ticketed at Morningside ave and 116 for riding a red.  The police told her there was a bike safety initiative going on.  And a workplace friend just tipped my wife off to the same thing.  The second person said the initiative lasts to the 26th of august.

I saw a couple of posts on FB as well, increased stops for riding the wrong way and running the red.

And here's a news article about it. Be careful out there, guys. I also hope they're done by the time I show up for a September visit. I'd like to get in a few rides without the NYPD homecoming committee. 

Gothamist has it, too.

Yeah, NY1 covered "Operation Safe Cycle this morning as well.  I wonder who comes up with these creative names?   How about "Operation Inconsistent And Irrational Enforcement?" 

Just another way the NYPD makes me feel safe. 

It's cool, Ryan. We can hop in a car and run some reds while doing 15 over the limit. We'll get out of the city just fine.

Thanks to a dingus on the Manhattan bridge, I'm the proud owner of a broken Garmin and some nice lil' scratches on my elbow and knee. Riding up the on ramp I was a bit over geared. I looked down, looked up, and saw a dude on a fixie facing me head on. Rather than ride around me -- no one was on either side -- he decided to make it a standoff. 

Adam,

Whoa -- good to know. Thanks, JP. I was going to try and DIY it, but that's pretty reasonable for the fix.

That the info can be of help to others is some succor.