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| Central Park Reservoir, NYC |
I'm loving how NYC became so bike friendly over the last few years that I have been away from the city. When I was leaving NYC, one could only spot take-out food guys on the bikes and casual biking crowds at the Central Park. There were hardly any other people biking in the city-city, while now - [to my greatest pleasant surprise] - so many people venture to bike on a daily basis in the city itself.
I was very happy to see students bike around F.I.T. (Fashion Institute of Technology) and NYU (New York University) schools - [recalling the times I biked on campus and Europe] - as well as seeing young professionals commuting by bikes to and from work. That's very refreshing! I've been hoping it would happen at some point.
Of course, NYC would never become a bike city as, for example, Washington DC, Boston, MA and Seattle, WA are, but it got as close to it as it would have been possible for one of the busiest metro cities in the world, which is known for one of the heaviest traffics.
So, why should you bike? Just, cause. You should... Yes, I'm being very subjective. I don't recall myself NOT biking, even in Los Angeles - the most unfriendly city for walkers and bikers in the USA - I managed to bike at the expense of my own life. And as it seemed, I was the ONLY one biking in LA, except for a few folks who biked at the special designated areas near the beaches.
In NYC, though, what I've been seeing since I've been back is that bike stops are popping up. Bike stores are now more widely available and dispersed all over the city. Bike gear and bike smartphone applications - [see below for the list of cool Apps] - for NYC alone are already attractive enough to start biking... Besides, according to the physicians, biking is less 'harmful' for your body than the running is.
That's said, I'm starting to miss my bike that I've left in the storage to wait for the Spring time in NYC. How would I know that biking is no longer a 'privilege' in NYC? I had no idea that the city became so bike friendly while I was gone. I especially miss my bike when I go on my daily runs in the park, where I see all kinds of the bikers: from serious/hard-core ones to the family biking groups...
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| A serious biker, Central Park/NYC |
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| A serious biker, Central Park/NYC |
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| Co-existing: runners & bikers, Central Park/NYC |
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| Counting the wheels, blades and pedals - to everyone's taste, Central Park/NYC |
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| Resting up, Central Park/NYC |
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| Coexisting on Upper East Side, NYC |
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| Can't help myself from not posing next to a bike, Soho/NYC |
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| Cabs are no longer the only transportation in NYC |
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| To every taste...Mini-me, West Village/NYC |
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| A family-friendly bike, Soho/NYC |
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| Union Square/NYC |
Top 10 Bike Apps For Your iPad or iPhone
Bike Repair HD
This app contains 38 step by step guides and more than 50 bicycles problems explained, which includes over 150 studio quality photos of bike parts. There is a also a section on common possible causes for frequent aches and pains while on your bicycle. $1.99/Download
Bike Doctor
Bike Doctor is helping 1000′s of cyclists like yourself do bicycle repairs and maintenance. It is like having a little bike mechanic in your pocket at all times ready to save the day! $4.99/Download
iBiker
Track your cardio workouts indoors & out with access to over 80 ultra-low power ANT+ fitness and health sensors (see Screenshot #1 and #2 for heart monitor example). Integrate a heart monitor belt, foot pod,speed, etc.; cadence sensor, or power meter. Digifit can use Location Services (GPS) to map your routes and provide pace, distance, and speed without sensors.
Additional Hardware is required to function with fitness sensors. Digift Connect (purchased separately) is a 30-pin connector that communicates with over 80 ANT+ sensors, and plugs into the bottom of your iPhone, iPod, or iPad. Visit www.digifit.com to purchase a Digifit Connect, heart belt, or other fitness sensors. $14.99/Download
Bicycle Gear Head
Calculate your ENTIRE DRIVETRAIN at once. See results for all chainrings and sprockets at the same time. Results are updated in REAL TIME, allowing you to quickly find the perfect combination. Both metric and US units! $2.99/Download
Bicycle Gear Calculator — Bike Gears
Designed by a cyclist, for cyclists, Bike Gears is the premier Bicycle Gear Calculator for the iPhone/iPod Touch. Calculate Gear Ratios, Gear Inches, Development and Gain Ratios using your bike’s measurements. The app now has over 200 preset tire sizes and also lets you enter your own custom tire size for personalized measurements. $4.99/Download
The Bike Computer
In addition to being the world’s most beautiful and easy to use cyclocomputer, the bike computer is also a GPS tracking application, which means it records and uploads a track of your bike ride. Our website, www.everytrail.com, helps you visualize and annotate your ride, and to share it with your friends, family, and our fast growing community from over 130 countries. Free/Download
Cyclemeter GPS Bike Computer for Road & Mountain Biking
Cyclemeter turns your iPhone into a powerful GPS stopwatch, giving you feedback and motivation to go farther, be healthier, and live longer. Supports iOS 4 and POWERED ENTIRELY BY YOUR IPHONE 3G, IPHONE 3GS, OR IPHONE 4. Cyclemeter is an iPhone-centric solution fo multitasking r tracking your workouts on your iPhone. It can be used for cycling, running, walking, skiing, skating, and more. $4.99/Download
TRACK
Cyclemeter continually records your time, location, distance, elevation, and speed – years of workouts only take up the space of a few songs. Stop and start recording on-screen or with your earphone remote.
VISUALIZE
See your results on maps, graphs, and a calendar, and organized by routes and activities. Summarize your statistics by day, week, month, year, and overall.
HEAR
Monitor your progress with up to 25 configurable announcements including distance, time, speed, elevation, and more. Announcements may be heard automatically at time or distance intervals, or on-demand with your earphone remote. High quality voices may be downloaded through In App Purchase for hearing replies from Twitter, Facebook, and dailymile.
RACE
Compete against your previous workouts along a route, or import and compete against other people’s workouts. See your virtual competition on a map and in graphs. Hear announcements of how far you are ahead of or behind your competition.
SHARE
Use Facebook, Twitter, dailymile, and email to share Google Maps of your workouts, automatically updated every few minutes. Have emails automatically sent to keep family and friends notified of your location and progress. During your workout, hear replies from family, coaches, and friends spoken using text-to-speech technology. (Requires In App Purchase.)
Cycle Tracker Pro – SprintGPS Cycling Computer for Mountain & Road Bikes
Whether you are cycling for leisure or training for a race Cycle Tracker Pro will track your route and help boost your performance. As you exercise you can see your time, pace, speed, calories burned, training intervals, splits, view map in real time, take photos, listen to music and receive audio feedback.
When you have finished your activity you can view your activity history with stats, route map and splits. View cumulative graphs for distance and calories burned. View your personal best. View your photos and share your activity with friends on the Cycle Tracker Pro Website
There are no subscriptions fees or advertising and no hidden extras. Plus there’s excellent support via the website blog, forum and contact features.
Get Cycle Tracker Pro and enjoy the benefits of a professional cycle computer on your iPhone.
cyctastic GPS cycle computer for racing, road
cyctastic iPhone App – your personal sports and health assistant for all kinds of exercises (cycling, mountain bike, running and many others). $5.99/Download
Spokes NYC
Spokes NYC is a bicycle routing application designed to generate ideal bike routes with turn by turn directions for New York City cyclists. Other features include a bike rack locator, a bike shop locator, and the ability to report thefts from a given bike rack or location. Future features will include personalized routes and a list of suggested rides (for leisure). Free/Download
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