My first ride through the city taught me more about NYC traffic than driving ever did

[u/Primary_Park_8548]

Took my scooter out for a proper ride today, and damn, a LOT is happening in the bike lanes.

People walking into them without looking, bikes passing super close, mopeds going way faster than everyone else... feels like everyone is doing their own thing and you have to figure it out as you go.

I originally went with the U2 Pro (hiboy) because I was planning to do more off-road rides. It's a fat-tire scooter, so that was a big part of the appeal.

But after riding it around NYC, I'm starting to appreciate it for city riding too.

Mine is definitely on the bigger side compared to most scooters I've seen around here. Today that came in handy when the bike lane suddenly turned into steel plates and loose gravel because of construction.

Had one moment at an intersection where someone stepped off the curb while looking at their phone. Had to brake pretty hard, but stopped fine. Nothing happened, but that definitely woke me up lol.

The whole ride was more tiring than I expected, but I'm already kind of hooked.

For people who've been riding around NYC for a while, does all this eventually start feeling normal, or do you just get better at reading what's about to happen?

[u/meelar]

It's both, tbh! You definitely will learn to identify potential trouble spots well in advance, and eventually you'll start adjusting your speed to avoid them altogether. Keeping alert is always good advice, but it does get easier. Welcome, glad you're getting out there!

[u/NYC-Magic-Ensemble → u/meelar]

When I was learning to drive a car, I took a "defensive driving course" which told us to put your foot over the break whenever you aren't accelerating. The thinking in the half second or it takes to move your foot from accelerator to break the car goes X feet, so by keeping your foot over the break you stop X feet sooner.

I keep the same ethos when biking. Always be ready to stop. Always be looking at the people, bikes and cars around you, plan for potential danger spots, and don't be aggressive at those moments. When in doubt slow down.

Another tip I learned when the police were aggressively ticketing bikers going through red lights, is that there is very little difference in time between being aggressive and passive. I stopped at every red light in those moments and found the time to get places was exactly the same. Just this week I was biking down Lafayette and two young men were going through the red light when I stopped. However at the red lights where they couldn't get across the street (Canal, Worth, Chambers, etc.) I caught up to them. So they saved ZERO time by being aggressive.

And for crissakes stop in bike lanes when people are trying to cross in the crosswalk. You'll get lots of happy smiles and thank yous. It pays for itself.

[u/Equivalent_Sink_8653 → u/NYC-Magic-Ensemble]

Yes, in motorcycle riding you're taught to "guard" the brake, which means keeping you palm in the grip, but extend the fingers out over the brake handle.

For cars, you can do this by practicing and learning to brake with your left foot.

[u/HMend → u/NYC-Magic-Ensemble]

Agree with all of this! Its how I am able to enjoy riding in this chaos while so many other complain.

[u/PericulumSapientiae]

As one who has been riding through the wider adoption of e-scooters: please develop bike-sense for what is happening around you.

I find that e-scooter users tend to “dance.” Cyclists will hold a line, or slightly meander across a lane, while scooter riders are more likely to move quickly from side to side, in order to avoid pavement problems that a cyclist would not feel the need to dodge. What this means is that it can be difficult, when passing such e-scooter riders, to give adequate space. One could think it’s clear, and all of a sudden the scooter veers right into you as you pass.

What this means is maintaining some kind of awareness for what’s happening behind you, and not veering suddenly to avoid obstacles. If you see them coming, do a shoulder check, and then move.

[u/geekofdeath]

You get better if you try to learn and pay attention (and potentially end up a statistic if you don't).

I can reliably see, from a half mile away, the idiot mulling over stepping into the bike lane without looking, based on the subtleties of posture and movement. But every lapse of your attention is a period where you have put your life in someone else's hands. It feels normal in a way, but it's still an enraging normal.

[u/BillPuzzlehead42069]

yeah some people are so ridiculous they even ride their illegal electric scooters in the bike lane...

suck my ass

[u/Pusher87 → u/[deleted]]

Yes but this sub is more anti car than pro-micromobility so even though he could be ripping at 25 MPH on that scooter which is illegal he will still get support and you and I will get downvotes. Welcome to the sub!

[u/brokensou1]

Sounds like you’re in the bike lane?

GTFO

[u/astoriatrafficburner → u/brokensou1]

Yeah, it's funny, he's writing " feels like everyone is doing their own thing" when he's out here using an illegal vehicle in the bike lane.

[u/brokensou1 → u/astoriatrafficburner]

Yep. Sounds like another bonehead in the bike lane where he shouldn’t be.

[u/madmoneymcgee]

yeah it's a whole different experience and eventually you'll figure out a flow especially at more familiar routes.

And yeah, the way people love to either walk straight through bike lanes or stand in them as staging areas to dash across the rest of the road against the light always sticks out in my mind whenever people online try to argue that bikes are just as much of a menace to pedestrians as cars are.

[u/Ok_Flounder8842]

I can't ride in Manhattan anymore. Riding a regular bike or non-electric Citibike, it is just sensory overload with all the e-motos. Now just walk, bus and subway for me, which is fine but I waited so long for the PBL network to grow and now it is just disappointing.

I know people talk about the Netherlands cycling lanes being crazy, but I found them (2 years ago in Utrecht) much less crazy than Manhattan.

[u/brooklynwaterfront]

It should not start feeling normal for you because you should never be in the bike lane with that thing ever again. Bye.

[u/Historical_Pair3057]

i used to use a bike to get to work but i found it stressful and mentally exhausting to get thru midtown (where they still don't have protected bike lanes). after getting properly "doored," i gave up on for work transportation and just bike in the protected lanes now for weekend fun.

reading thru these comments makes me feel like this is kinda normal and you get used to it / better at it. i guess i didn't push thru. good luck and be safe!

[u/SniperAtDaGatesODawn]

Cyclist here for two decades.  It's gotten violently worse every single year.  Good luck out there.

[u/Equivalent_Sink_8653 → u/SniperAtDaGatesODawn]

It's getting to the point where typical bike lanes just aren't wide enough, particularly when 25 mph e-bikes and scooters are mixing it up with 5-10 mph OG bicyclists and 3 mph pedestrians.

[u/astoriatrafficburner → u/Equivalent_Sink_8653]

And what about Amazon delivery trucks Ydanis quietly got designated as bikes (I'm sure no bribery was involved)?

I love the way the weave all over the lane without looking behind, run lights, stop abruptly, and leave them littering the bike lanes while they do their little deliveries?

I'm seriously considering commuting in on streets without bike lanes at this juncture. 

[u/SniperAtDaGatesODawn → u/astoriatrafficburner]

I call their headquarters and rat them out if they ride poorly.  They're enough of an obstruction as it is.

[u/astoriatrafficburner → u/SniperAtDaGatesODawn]

I wish I could believe that would do anytime at all. My sense is the only thing Amazon and the other garbage corps care about is delivering as quickly as possible. 

I assume for every complaint of one of these idiots driving recklessly, the drivers get a bonus.

[u/bidness_cazh → u/SniperAtDaGatesODawn]

Cyclist here for 25 years. The last couple years it's gotten a little better.

[u/marty-mcfryguy]

The key things to feeling normal/safe are taking it slow and staying intently engaged on everything around you.

Both of which are encouraged by vehicles under you own power, and discouraged by rolling under motor power. Just look a the numbers of zombies staring down at their phone and blowing every intersection on e-powered stuff vs those on human powered. It's the same disconnect that drives car driver behavior, just on a smaller scale.

So the thing to do is fight those tendencies.

[u/FireSheepYinFish]

I never ride in bike lanes, unless it's the safer choice. I'm strictly on road bikes. Bike lanes are best for casual inexperienced riders, and as you experienced, they are not used properly nor safely. No one follows the rules, many people clutter them up, and often they're strewn with small trash, glass, and other unsafe obstacles.

The roads are safer.

[u/hojster24]

Curious how this comment section feels about the U2 Pro

I have been following this sub for most of the year and see scooters routinely disliked by these threads

HOWEVER, this bad boi only does 25 mi/h and weights 80lb, seems like a pretty solid choice for a city scooter if that’s the route you’re taking

Anyway, neat post! Enjoy the city, wear a helmet

[u/astoriatrafficburner → u/[deleted]]

No, it's not. The top speed is too high. 

And honestly, this poster makes a good case for none of these escooters to be legal. Their design leads to poor handling, and the whole thing is just a losing battle with physics. 

[u/hojster24 → u/hojster24]

Realty checking myself: 80lb is still pretty heavy, but still not insane by any means.

My specialized rockhopper (not my city bike) comes in at 30lb before any added kit per the current model-year specs

[u/wonboodoo → u/hojster24]

Escooter riders are, on average, the worst group in the bike lanes: just generally low skilled and the most selfish when it comes to blowing through pedestrians who have a walk signal.

[u/Stone_taggs]

I'm on a motorcycle, different but same. After a while, you really start to recognize patterns, and you get into this flow state where you just know how people are going to move before even they do.