Remember that trusting cyclist who let a complete stranger “try out” his KHS bike – only to watch him pedal away, never to return? The story has a (sort of) happy ending, as the victim, Michael Green, relates in a long post on his blog, which uses that eyesore ‘white text on black background’ format. To spare you the eyestrain, here’s the gist: While Green was out of town this weekend, a couple of his pals in the cycling community spotted his distinctive bike in Alphabet City, being pedaled by “a short Hispanic male, in a cameo thermal shirt who looked very awkward and did not possess the skills to ride a brakeless fixie.” more ›

Bike thieves in New York have been known to use everything from electric saws to Bic pen tops in order to separate bikes from pesky locks, but no method is more effective than convincing a cyclist to just hand over their ride. more ›

After a judge denied a preliminary injunction against the parade permit rules, the Radical Homosexual Agenda and Assemble for Rights NYC decided to challenge the recent parade-with-permit law by having a "Parade Without a Permit" rally Thursday evening. more ›

Last night's first Critical Mass ride in an era of the police parade rule that requires groups of 50 or more to apply for permits resulted in three people getting arrested, forty-four receiving tickets, and a few people getting summonses. Based on the NY Times and Newsday articles, the arrests were for disorderly conduct, obstructing government administration, and something to be determined. Newsday had this interesting account of one bicyclist's experience after the ride started:

Moments later, police stopped Kim Kalesti, 49, on Park Avenue South near 18th Street, confiscated her single-speed bike and put her in the back of a squad car. more ›

The Critical Mass "problem" for the Bloomberg administration is getting more and more critical. Each week it seems like the NYPD brass and Bloomie's folks have added more and more headaches for the city's bicyclists. In the middle of an energy crisis no less. For instance, last nights Critical Mass ride led to 27 tickets - better than arrests, right? And this on top of increased anti-cyclist ticketing on the city's bridges not to mention the apalling "clarification" of rules governing group events the NYPD is trying to push through (the hearing on them is August 23rd - at the same time as the city hearing on the Atlantic Yards project). more ›

In all the excitement of a three-day weekend we plum forgot that this past Friday was the last Friday of the month. And you know what that means don't you? Time for the police to go out and give tickets willy-nilly to every other person they see on a bicycle. Mike over at Bike Blog wasn't able to attend this months Critical Mass either, but he still managed to pull together a report on this months ride, and it looks like it was one of the worst ones yet. A few choice bits: more ›