On Wednesday the 23rd I had a big presentation in the morning so I took the subway to work so I wouldn’t be panting and sweaty during the presentation. Thank God, the presentation went well, and since I’d gone to work at 5 AM that morning I decided to leave the office earlier, around 4 PM. Of course there were plenty of bikes available at all the docks.

Feeling a little adventurous, I decided to go east again and picked up a bike at 48th and 3rd. The ride south was not bad at all from a traffic perspective–the lanes are wider, cars and trucks generally stay out of your way, and pedestrians seem generally more well-behaved. The one downside is that Third is a LOT hillier than I thought. It felt I was really giving my thighs and legs a real workout.

Still, the roads were pretty clear and it was neat having a new vantage point. I got to ride by the UN and other east side sights, and then hung a right on 33rd. I gently rode my bike right into the dock, and it clicked and locked instantly.

On Thursday the 24th I had to go to work early again for a morning meeting. I wanted desperately to head out early again, but I was so busy I didn’t get out until around 6. I opened the Citi Bike map at my desk starting at about 4:00 and watched helplessly as bikes started disappearing one by one and stations started emptying. I saw there were 8 bikes left at 47th and Park so I walked briskly there to find there was two bikes left without a red light on. As you guessed, the first one I tried didn’t undock. But the second one did.

But as soon as I got on the second one, something seemed weird.

If you look carefully you’ll seee that somehow the handle of this bike had bent downward so that it felt more like one of those tiny bicycles that clowns ride. I tried using my strength to turn the handlebars back to their original position, but it wouldn’t budge. But I was desperate and prepared to ride this defective bike all the way to Penn Station.

But luckily, as I was heading one someone rode in and returned his perfectly fine bike. I docked mine and took his. Citi Bike logged the first ride as a 2 minute and 52 second ride, and the real one as a 15 minute and 21 second ride.

This time I rode down 6th, and boy, was today like Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride. The offenders today were those guys riding the bicycle rickshaws. Seems like they think they own 6th, so they (mostly empty) kept hogging the bike lanes. There were a few times there’d be room for me to squeeze in between cars, but the bicycle rickshaw guy would zip in front of me and block my way, even though there’s no way his gigantic ricksaw would fit through that narrow space.

And then there are the pedestrians, randomly crossing the streets everywhere without looking and ignoring my little ding-a-ling. On a narrow street westward, a bus came at me from behind and squeezed me to the point where it was about 3 inches from me. Ironically, the cars were the only ones acting somewhat civil and not so self-absorbed.

But I got to the same dock near Penn as yesterday.

95/24.5=$3.87/ride
Stress level=7/10
Aggravation level=6/10

For my morning commute I picked up a Citi Bike and immediately my seat sank to the bottom. I guess there are still some people who don’t know how to adjust a bike seat. Here’s a refresher for those who need one.

1. To the left side there’s a wheel and to the right there’s a lever. Pull the lever up and turn the wheel clockwise to loosen. You want to loosen it to the point where you can move the bike seat up and down to your desired height. This is really a matter of preference, but I like to put my seat high enough that my toes are just touching the ground.
   
   
2. Once you get the seat to the right height, you’ll want to tighten the wheel by turning it counter-clockwise, to the point where you feel resistance when you push the lever back down. You don’t want it to be too tight that the lever doesn’t go down, but you don’t want it to be too loose (as the guy who had this bike before me did).
3. Push the lever in to “lock” the seat in place. Congratulations, you have a perfectly-fitted Citi Bike.
   
4. On at least some of the bikes there’ll be markings so you can remember what number (or between what numbers) the best seat height for you is. 

I thought I’d try the East Side to see if the ride were any more pleasant than 8th (where the bike land abruptly ends at Port Authority, 6th (where what bike lane there is is for “suggestion only”), or Madison (where if the construction won’t get you in the beginning, the buses on the right and the cars turning on the left will). I rode all the way to Third on 29th and took a left to get on.

Bad choice. Almost right away, there’s the deafening rat-a-tat-tat of workers tearing up the street. And of course, traffic is horrendous. Now you’d think that someone on a bike could weave in and out of cars and avoid the traffic jam, but these cars were leaving about 6 inches between them and the next car. And that left me sitting on my bike, literally stuck in the middle of traffic. What a country!

Once I cleared one awful traffic jam, two blocks later there was more construction that was blocking off traffic. So again, you have parked cars, double-parked cars, trucks, and cars all trying to fill up about two and a half lanes on the road.

I did get a nice view of the Chrysler Building, though, something you don’t get on the West side.

I finally got to the office at about 10:00. An aggravating way to start the morning,; my average speed is usually anywhere from 8 to 12 MPH, but this time it was about 6 MPH; a jogger could have gone faster than me. But at least for once the aggravation wasn’t Citi Bike’s fault.

That evening I had to get to a Yankee game. Now tonight was Derek Jeter figurine night, so I wanted to get there early as I figured there’d be mad rush of people trying to be the first 18,000. But someone at work scheduled a 4:30 PM meeting, which meant I wasn’t getting there at 5 PM when the gates open as I’d hoped.

So the instant the clock turns 5:00, I rush out of my meeting and out of the office. I’ve walked to the D train before and have been burned by waiting anywhere from 20-40 minutes for it. The only other option was the 4 train. Getting to the 4 train from midtown has always been a dilemma to me; on the map it looks like a pretty short walk but it always feels like I’m walking forever to get to Lexington. So this time I walk to the Citi Bike station at 51st and Lex (still plenty of bikes at this time), get a bike, ride up Park (to avoid going against traffic) and then park at 58th and 3rd to the 59th Street 4 train. I was surprised that Kinetic reported it as a 1.17 mile ride, given that a New York City block is only 1/20th of a mile and I’d only gone nine blocks, but I guess all that turning from Park to Lexington takes a chunk of distance as well.

Oh yes, I did get my figurine, and I did see the Yankees take the field–and get my cheesy Derek Jeter figurine before all those poor folks who were still waiting for the D train.

This was the first time I took Citi Bike for “convenience” to help me do something quick I needed to do in the City as opposed to a long ride or commute, and I have say it worked out well.

Cost per ride: 95/22.5=$4.22 / ride
Aggravation Level: 6 of 10
Stress Level: 6 of 10

You ALMOST had me, Citi Bike, you ALMOST did.

I got off the train this morning to an absolutely gorgeous day. Beautiful blue skies over Eighth Avenue and not a cloud in the sky. The temperature was in the 70’s and there was a cool breeze blowing. It’s the kind of day that makes you happy to be alive (or specifically for city bike commuters, still alive).

Amazingly, I went to the docks, and the first bike unlocked without a hitch. I couldn’t believe it.

Seeing a ton of bikers in the bike lane and feeling a little more confident than before, I decided to try biking up Eighth again. Smooth sailing until the dreaded spot where the bike lane ends and merges with the taxi lane in front of Port Authority Bus Terminal. But even then, despite a few tight squeezes, I made it up to 52nd, where I rode east to 52nd and 5th.

I was making record time and was having the time of my life doing it. But then, of course, I find that EVERY dock on 52nd and 5th is full.

Seething, I make my way to 51st and Lexington. The docks look ominously full here, and I was pretty much out of options after that–the next nearest station would be about a 15 minute walk to work.

Lo and behold, I saw someone picking up a bike, so we exchanged pleasantries and I took his dock. Okay, gently push. Yellow light. Try again. Yellow light. Try again. Yellow light. SLAM it. Yellow light. Try again. Yellow light.

I finally see one more free dock on the other end of the bikes, and try it. Miraculously, this one docked.

In the afternoon, I skipped out of the office a little early, at 5:45. I lost my bearings a little and wandered around trying to find the bike station at 51st and Lexington again. I got a sick feeling as I saw one Citi Bike after another riding past me; I imagined me walking up to the dock just as the last one was being taken. But no, I ended up getting one of the last ones. I don’t know if Citi Bike really wants to be reinforcing the lesson that slackers who leave work early get the best stuff in life, but that’s exactly what it feels like.

I rode west on 51st and then hung a left on Broadway. I took a right on 47th where the bike path ends and then went the rest of the way on 9th, gingerly going back to 8th by way of 31st. I found one of the last docks in front of Penn. Total trip was 2.73 miles going at an average clip of 10.97 miles per hour, making the total trip in a little less than 15 minutes, which was wonderful and pretty darned close to a personal best (I can generally ride faster than 11 MPH, just not in New York City).

Again, for the second day in a row, a very, very pleasant ride coming and going, although the docks by midtown are still keeping my aggravation level elevated.

Cost per ride: 95/20.5 = $4.63
Stress level: 2 of 10
Aggravation level: 6 of 10

Well, it’s July 15, 2014. All day long I’ve been getting these “Emergency Alert” messages on my iPhone that all go something like this:

I really wish they’d use a sound other than the Emergency Alert System tone that those of us over 40 have been conditioned to freak out at every time we hear it (and breathe a sigh of relief every time we hear “this is only a test”). But that’s a subject for another blog.

Because of the pending monsoons I decided not to bring my helmet to work today and just subway it like old times. I have to admit, after a week of Citi Biking, there was something really nice about getting on the subway this morning instead of biking. The irony is–I love biking. My dream is to pull a Forrest Gump one day and take nothing but a Mastercard and a bike from the East Coast to the West Coast. But the problems with Citi Bike–the broken docks, the empty stations that should be full, the full stations that should be empty–those are the things that hurt the most.

The torrential rain came and went, but by 5:30 not only did the rain stop, the weather was beautiful with blue skies and a nice breeze.

I walked over to 52nd and 5th. I saw something I never saw before and will likely never see again–a dock full of bikes. The time was 5:32. Evidently the rain had scared off the usual cavalcade of bikers that swarm over that station around that time.

I didn’t have my helmet with me so I was extra careful. I rode gingerly up 52nd, took a right on 6th, and then rode up 53rd to connect to 9th. Like I said, it turned out to be a beautiful afternoon for biking–there were puddles on the road but nothing too bad, and there were fewer cars and bikes than normal.

My plan almost backfired when I got to Penn and–you guessed, it–all the docks were full. Looks like the rebalancers took the afternoon off because of the rain too. But I got the last dock and amazingly it actually worked the first try.

I went into Penn Station and caught the 5:50 PM train. The door to door about an 18 minute trip, which is much shorter than waklking and even shorter than taking the subway, given the amount of time I have to walk to and from the subway stop.

If only every day were like this, I and probably hundreds of other people would be Citi Biking. If only.

Cost per ride: 95/18.5 = $5.14
Stress level: 2 of 10
Aggravation level: 4 of 10

I had to be in the office early today, so I took the early train in (well, the 7:47 AM train which for most people is the normal train, but as you’ve seen from my posts I tend to come in later and leave later).

The train rolled into Penn around 8:15 AM. I went to the usual bike station and there were plenty of bikes available, and rebalancers were riding in constantly. I know I complain a lot (for good reason), but I need to give credit where credit is due–these rebalancers do a good job in the morning.

It actually rained last night so I was a little concerned about the conditions. But happily the roads were dry and with the exception of one or two bikes, so were the Citi Bike seats.

I got my bike on the first try (which sadly is the exception vs. the norm) and rode. I decided to ride up 8th to 40th. As you recall, this was the street with the narrow path where I almost got sandwiched between two buses before. I don’t know if I’m just more experienced now of it there was just less traffic at this hour, but this time it wasn’t bad at all.

I passed Bryant Park and decided to just keep going to Park. I’d forgotten that there’s big ol’ Grand Central Station in the way, so I took a little obstacle course. I decided to head back up to Madison and then dock at 52nd and 5th.

There were only two docks left. In my best Clint Eastwood, I asked myself, “do you feel lucky, punk? Well, do ya?”.

You guessed it. Both docks were locked up. Now in a recent Citi Bike blog post, they explained the reason why this happens–they call it “being pinned”. You see, sometimes the “locking mechanism” engages so the lock will close even if there’s not a bike in there. The solution is simple–get a Citi Bike key that hasn’t been used yet to open up the dock. They even have a nice animation to show you what they mean. Isn’t it pretty?

As the Citi Bike email exclaims, “Look how easy it is!” Except for one thing. EVERYONE WHO IS THERE IS TRYING TO RETURN A BIKE AND NO ONE HAS A $*@$^%! CITI BIKE KEY THAT HASN’T BEEN USED!! And even if they did, would you like to explain to them that they’re not going to be charged to unpinning a dock for you?

Of course if these docks weren’t pinned, chances are they’d have been completely filled a long time ago. At 8:40 AM. At the peak of morning rush hour.

So I ride to 53rd and Madison. Yep, same thing. Two open docks, both pinned. The same Citi Bike email exclaims “DO NOT SLAM your Citi Bike into a dock”. I’m sorry, but when you send me on a scavenger hunt when I’m dripping with sweat and late for my early meeting at work, doing that is a lot cheaper than paying for a therapist.

Finally, I ride all the way down to 51st and Park. My Kinectic map is starting to look like a bowl of noodles.

So…because there were two stations with completely full bikes (remember I took the early train), I ended up riding over three miles. And getting to my “early meeting” late.

I didn’t even try to get a bike in the evening, as I had to catch a 6:42 PM train to make a 7:00 PM dinner appointment. But my subway experience was a reminder of why maybe I shouldn’t complain too much about Citi Bike.

First, I was shoved into a packed E train car by this dude.

And then for the rest of my journey I had these lovely views.

  

Let’s face it. Our city truly sucks at rush hour.

Per ride cost: 95/17.5 = $5.43
Aggravation level: 9 of 10
Stress level: 5 of 10

Another frustrating day with Citi Bike. Ironically it’s Friday so I expected the day to go a lot smoother.

I got into the City on the normal train and got to the bike racks by Penn. There were plenty of bikes available. Only problem is, none, and I mean NONE of the docks worked. I’d put in my key, and half the time nothing would happen, while the other half of the time the light would turn yellow and then red. Just like my face was turning red.

I soon noticed at least half a dozen fellow bikers swarming around the docks like bees going from flower to flower (or did I use that analogy already?) Every now and again you’d hear a grunt or an expletive.

A bike rebalancer saw my frustration and was kind enough to give me a bike. I figure this was a risky thing for him to do, as there was nothing to stop me from riding off into the sunset with this $1200 bike. But the honor system got the better of me and I made my ride down to 30th and then all the way up 6th. It’s hard to tell which is the more pleasant ride up, 6th or Madison, as they both have their share of treachery. But since 6th has a designated bike lane I think I’d give the edge to that…that is, once idiots in their SUVs and delivery trucks stop using the bike lane as their personal parking spot.

I was able to dock the bike at 53rd and Madison, a rarity since that station is usually all filled.

As I guessed would happen one day, I logged on to my Citi Bike account after the ride and saw an entry for that morning, which completely didn’t match the actual ride I took (since the bike rebalancer gave me a bike, there’s technically no way they could have known where I’d started from.

Which means that one of the umpteen times I swiped my key and the light didn’t go on–the light did turn on eventually, maybe minutes, maybe hours later, and someone took the bike (probably after swiping his or her key and assuming it was theirs that unlocked it.

You see the problem here. Let’s say Mr. or Ms. 12311328 decided to take their own sweet time getting to their destination and took more than 45 minutes. Or decided to ride off across state lines. Well, I’d be getting a bill for $1200. In fact, judging from Citi Bike’s Facebook posts I see this happens quite a bit.

So, it goes back to how awful these docks are. Luckily I haven’t been burned yet to the degree of having to write a thousand-dollar check, but I’m sure if the docks continue to perform this poorly that day will come.

I got out of the office relatively early, right before 5, and I had to catch a 5:29 train. Sadly, I’ve learned not to count on Citi Bike if I ever need to get anywhere in a hurry. Sure enough, when I got back to 53rd and Madison, all the bikes were long gone and no there were no rebalancers in sight.

Oh, that lone bike? Yes, it had a red light.

And so not having time to fritter away today, I went across the street to take the E train on a beautiful summer afternoon when I could have had a lovely bike ride to Penn. I ask you again, Citi Bike, what good is it if all of midtown has just 20-40 bikes to share between thousands and thousands of people?

Curse you again Citi Bike.

Per ride cost: 95/16.5 = $5.76
Aggravation level: 9 of 10
Stress level: 3 of 10

Well as hard as it is to believe, after a week of Citi Biking, it’s actually starting to feel a bit–dare I say it–routine.

I took the late train in and got to Penn around 9:20 AM. The weather was gorgeous, still a little humid but overall a balmy 72 degrees with a nice breeze.

I got my bike at about 9:24 AM. There were plenty at the end of the station but I decided to wait while a young lady rode in and docked her bike..once…twice…third time was the charm.

I went backwards to hook onto 30th, hung a Louie onto 6th until I was past the construction on Madison, hung a Ralphie into 40th past the construction there, and then had a straight shot down Madison to 52nd and 5th, where there were actually docks. Okay, one reason it was so easy was because most companies outside of mine are letting their employees take three day workweeks. But hey, if the ride is this nice each time I wouldn’t mind.

Going home was a different story of course. I worked late and didn’t get out of the office until about 8. I checked the web site and of course there were no bikes anywhere near my office. But there were a bunch at 44th and 5th…which would save me about half the walk. As I got there I saw people staring westward, where there was an absolutely stunning sunset perfectly positioned between the streets. The sun was a gorgeous tint of red and pink. Like everyone else I grabbed my phone to snap a picture and like everyone else my picture didn’t come close to capturing how pretty this was.

Although the sunset meant something else..linger too long and I’ll be riding a bike in the pitch black darkness, something I wasn’t too eager to experience. So I beelined it up to 45th, through the morass of tourists, and into 9th. The ride down 9th was remarkably clear, with the exception of one idiot biker who made a quick blind turn into the bike lane going against traffic—and right at me without even pausing.

The sun had just set by now, so I got to enjoy a lovely view of the Empire State Building riding to the dock.

Got to Penn with plenty of docks, and for the first time in I don’t know how long mine docked the first time. Granted, I had to get to work late and leave really, really late–and there are still no bikes within a few blocks of my workplace–but this was a day I enjoyed.

Per cost ride: 95/15.5=$6.13
Stress level: 4 of 10
Aggravation level: 4 of 10

So far a lark, I decide to monitor the Citi Bike map for stations with bikes near my office during rush hour. Here’s how it went.

4:50 PM

• 49th and 5th: Still out of service
• 52nd and 5th: 16 of 39 available
• 53rd and Madison: 17 of 34 available
• 47th and Park: EMPTY (oh, those bankers with their bankers’ hours)
• 51st and 6th: 30 of 50 available

5:03 PM

• 49th and 5th: Still out of service
• 52nd and 5th: 14 of 39 available
• 53rd and Madison: 14 of 34 available
• 47th and Park: 5 of 48 available
• 51st and 6th: 23 of 50 available

5:15 PM

• 49th and 5th: Still out of service
• 52nd and 5th: 5 of 39 available
• 53rd and Madison: 7 of 34 available
• 47th and Park: 27 of 48 available (looks like the rebalancers are doing their thing)
• 51st and 6th: 16 of 50 available

5:26 PM

• 49th and 5th: Still out of service
• 52nd and 5th: EMPTY
• 53rd and Madison: 2 of 34 available
• 47th and Park: 19 of 48 available
• 51st and 6th: 11 of 50 available

5:45 PM

• 49th and 5th: Still out of service
• 52nd and 5th: EMPTY
• 53rd and Madison: EMPTY
• 47th and Park: 9 of 53 available (not sure how they added five new docks, those rebalancers are better than I thought)
• 51st and 6th: EMPTY

Okay, so now I’m thinking we’re not even at the close of business for most companies, and hundreds of Citi Bike riders about to get off work are going to have to duke it out for fewer bikes than you can count on two hands.

5:55 PM

• 49th and 5th: Still out of service
• 52nd and 5th: EMPTY
• 53rd and Madison: EMPTY
• 47th and Park: 8 of 53 available
• 51st and 6th: EMPTY

6:00 PM

• 49th and 5th: Still out of service
• 52nd and 5th: EMPTY
• 53rd and Madison: EMPTY
• 47th and Park: EMPTY
• 51st and 6th: EMPTY

And so at quitting time there are NO Citi Bikes within a 5-block walk of my office. From the map it looks like the nearest station with more than 2 bikes available to the north is Central Park South, to the east is 2nd Ave, to the west is 9th Ave, and going south is 42nd Ave (and that dock is quickly losing bikes, the next dock south is ).

Where are the bike re-balancers?

6:07 PM

• 49th and 5th: Still out of service
• 52nd and 5th: EMPTY
• 53rd and Madison: EMPTY
• 47th and Park: EMPTY
• 51st and 6th: EMPTY

Something else that’s kind of odd–while stations around Penn Station and Port Authority are filling up, the stations around Grand Central Terminal are less than half full. Is this a case of people who work on the east side and who live in Connecticut and Westchester County being too rich to use Citi Bikes?

 6:14 PM

• 49th and 5th: Still out of service
• 52nd and 5th: EMPTY
• 53rd and Madison: EMPTY
• 47th and Park: EMPTY
• 51st and 6th: EMPTY

This is the time that I *wanted* to leave the office, but I felt handcuffed because I was committed to riding a bike today. I hate you Citi Bike. I hate you with the fire of ten thousand burning suns.

 6:25PM

• 49th and 5th: Still out of service
• 52nd and 5th: 1 of 39 available.
• 53rd and Madison: EMPTY
• 47th and Park: EMPTY
• 51st and 6th: EMPTY

Looks like someone actually returned a bike to 52nd and 5th, so one lucky person will get one (it’ll be gone by the time I run out of the office, up two blocks, and over one block).

6;30 PM

• 49th and 5th: Still out of service
• 52nd and 5th: EMPTY (told ya)
• 53rd and Madison: EMPTY
• 47th and Park: EMPTY
• 51st and 6th: EMPTY

So now I have two options. Be stubborn and wait until some random person returns a bike at one of these empty bike stations, walk like a zombie from one empty bike station to another, or give up on Citi Bike for yet another afternoon commute.

6:40 PM

• 49th and 5th: Still out of service
• 52nd and 5th: EMPTY
• 53rd and Madison: EMPTY
• 47th and Park: EMPTY
• 51st and 6th: EMPTY

What I love is that the way Citi Bike is set up, it rewards those who leave work early and punishes those who leave late.

Anyway, around 7:05 PM–an hour after I WANTED to leave work–I ended up seeing that all of a sudden, there were a bunch of bikes at 51st and 6th. It was two avenues and one block away, but still not horrible. So I started walking.

Sure enough, it looks like a rebalancer finally made his way to at least one of the bike stations. I panicked as I stood at the light to cross 6th because I saw a woman taking what I thought was the last bike, but it turns out there were a bunch still available.

I grabbed a bike, rode west to 9th, and down to Penn Station. The ride was only 12 minutes and 36 seconds, so I made it in time for the 7:27 PM train.

So I got home an hour later than I would have liked, but at least I got home before dark.

Cost per ride: 95/14=$6.79 (again, only considering today “half” a ride”)
Aggravation level: 7 of 10
Stress level: 5 of 10