Further to yesterdays post, one of the big draws of the TD Five Boro Bike Tour is that it takes riders over the Verrazzano, the big-ass bridge between Brooklyn and Staten Island that is completely closed to bikes every other day of the year:The upshot of this is that theres no way to ride a bike directly between Staten Island and any other part of the city. Of course you can take your bike on the free Staten Island Ferry, though thats no good if youre prone to sea sickness and/or impatience. I mean who the hell wants to stop riding and wait for a boat? Not waiting for stuff is the entire point of riding a bicycle:Except for red lights. Always stop at those red lights, kids:Well, the MTA understands how important the Verrazzano is to the ride, because apparently theyre trying to shake Bike New York down for more money to use it:I guess first they tried to extort the New York City marathon, and that didnt work, so now theyre targeting those wimpy bikers:Hey, Im not naive; I know Bike New York isnt some babe in the woods. Theyve got the biggest ride going, plus a phalanx of free laborers like Esteemed Commenter Leroy, and Im sure theyre making out pretty damn good. In fact pretty much everyone is making hay: Bike New York, the City of New York, the MTA, the NYPD, the porta-potty rental operations, the murderous cartels who control the global banana industry. So Im sure its all part of an elaborate dance in which the MTA tries to fleece Bike New York for a little more money, then Bike New York tells the New York Post who are always up for a little controversy in which they can quote an indignant firefighter, and then the porta-potty vendor jacks up its rates because global warming is resulting in overripe and consequently less binding bananas, which means more porta-potty cleanup, and its all part of the endless whining and kvetching that we New Yorkers call negotiating:Nevertheless, the MTAs claim that they must compensate for lost revenue bears further examination. Okay, I dont know what Bike New York paid to use the bridge this year, but last year Bike New York paid $90,000:Presumably that doesnt account for the lost toll revenue while the bridge is closed to motorists, which seems to be what the MTA is complaining about. Now the bridge is closed for like half a day. On a Sunday. Meanwhile, the MTA is also on the cusp of introducing congestion pricing, the stated goal of which is to reduce traffic:Yes, its not the only goal, its also supposed to fund transit improvements, but this is the one people cite most often and as you can see above its the first thing the MTA mentions on the congestion pricing page. I must say Ive always been highly suspicious of this claim. The MTA needs money, badly. Do we really think theyre introducing another toll because theyre hoping people wont pay it? The best way to reduce traffic in Manhattan would be to close more and more streets to motor vehicles, which would not only reduce traffic but increase transit ridership, and allow buses to move more quickly, which would benefit the MTA in terms of both increased fare collection and more efficient operation, and then flowers will bloom and birds will sing and well all hold hands and sing songs as we skip through the streets of Manhattan.But instead, the same agency thats telling us theyre introducing a toll they hope people wont pay is telling us that a freaking bike tour needs to give them more money because theyre not collecting tolls on a single bridge for a few hours one a year.Something doesnt add up.To be clear, I have no problem with congestion pricing, at least in theory. For one thing, it doesnt affect me in the slightest, as I drive The Car That I Own into what will soon be the congestion zone virtually never. They could charge you $200 to drive into Manhattan below 60th Street or whatever it is and it wouldnt mean shit to me. For another, of course drivers should pay their fair share (whatever that is), and there are too many of them, and we need better transit, and safer streets, and all of that stuff. Mostly, its just that I dont think any of this is going to happen, and while Im happy to be proven wrong, Im willing to make a gentlemens bet that, assuming it goes through, in a year or two well see headlines in the New York Times like this:Congestion Pricing Was Supposed To Reduce Traffic And Improve Transit. It Hasnt. What Happened?So why do I think this? Well for one thing, I live in New York, and Im alive and sentient. For another, were always told that New York City drivers are profoundly entitled, and that congestion pricing has been a success in places like Stockholm, and London. So what does congestion pricing look like in those places? Heres the deal in Stockholm: Its a maximum of 135 SEK, which is like twelve American Fun Tickets.Meanwhile, heres London:Fifteen Pounds Sterling is like Eighteen American Fun Tickets, which is a lot less than it was last time I was over there, when that money would have bought you a house in Jersey.Meanwhile, what other tolls are the drivers of London and Stockholm subjected to? As far as I can tell, virtually none. As I understand it, theres like one other toll somewhere in the London area, and the whole UK has like 23 tolls. As for Sweden, I dont think they have any tolled roads at all.Heres what New York City looks like:These are just the tolled crossings that go in and out of the city itself. Of course, this is New York (and New Jersey), so naturally different bridges and tunnels are tolled by different bloated agencies. Here are the tolls on the light purple crossings:And here are the tolls on the dark purple crossings:Keep in mind this does not include the tolled highways outside of the city such as the New England Thruway, the New York State Thruway, and the New Jersey Turnpike, or any of the other tolled crossings in the region. And yes, you can theoretically drive anywhere in the city (except Staten Island) and avoid paying a toll, but in most cases its so circuitous that its not worth it. (Or you can just use a bullshit fake or obscured license plate, which is a whole other problem.)Im not saying Wont someone think of the poor motorists?, but I am saying the idea that the drivers of the New York City metropolitan area are cruising around for free while their dutiful counterparts overseas are paying their way like good, penitent citizens is far from accurate. More than that, Im also saying that there is an absolute fuckload of tolls around hereand yet people drive anyway, more and more every single year. The city alone probably has more toll roads than many of the worlds countries, and somehow this one is gonna fix everything?Sure it is.In any case, if you express skepticism over our version of congestion pricing, which according to the advocates will solve traffic, fix the subways and buses, cure climate change, and reverse male-pattern baldness, you will be branded a NIMBY and all sorts of other acronyms. However, I think this is odd, when its such a disingenuous way of accomplishing something you could do in a few weeks by pedestrianizing more Manhattan streets. If anybody, youd think it would be the advocates who would be most critical.But what do I know?

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CyclistThe fascinating history of the maglia rosaOn Friday 21st May 1971, the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera ran a picture of the Salvarani team standing proudly on a staircase in their Brindisi hotel, after the team rode to victory on the opening stage of the Giro dItalia the previous day.As team photos go it was typically awkward but unremarkable, yet a second look reveals something strange: instead of Salvaranis usual baby blue jerseys, all ten men were wearing pink. Related Posts Pretty in pink: 10 incredible maglia rosa looks ranked How to watch the Giro dItalia 2024 The Tifosi: Heroes of the Giro Giro dItalia 2024: Route, how to watch, start list and everything you need to know History of the Tour de France jerseys and how they got their colours Pinker than everStarting in Lecce and finishing 62km later in Brindisi, the first day of racing in 1971 had been a stage with a difference. Vincenzo Torriani, the director of the Giro since the late 1940s, and who would continue in the post until 1992, had hit on an innovative idea.Rather than a regular prologue or a routine team time-trial, the 1971 race would start with a team relay, with a single rider from each team starting at two-minute intervals.Each rider rode for 6km with a baton, the former Salvarani rider Pietro Guerra told author Herbie Sykes for his Giro 100 book. Then he passed the baton to the next guy, and so on and so forth. It was just like an athletics relay, but on bikes, and as a time-trial.Salvaranis effort was led by Felice Gimondi, who took the opening leg over Herman van Springel by three seconds, a margin that each Salvarani rider would preserve to the end.Thus while the recorded times didnt count towards the overall classification, the result meant that every Salvarani rider got to wear pink the following day.Danny BirdSo it was that the races first stage proper saw no fewer than 10 pink jersey-wearing riders on the road. They are already happy for a day not just the old champions who have conquered the pink jersey in the past like Gimondi but also the wingmen who would never have hoped to wear the jersey, reported the Corriere della Sera. Their dream came true thanks to the original formula of this time-trial.I guess it was a nice idea, Guerra reflected more than 40 years later. The public seemed to enjoy it. Yet Salvaranis success at the 1971 Giro was short-lived.Moltenis Marino Basso took over the maglia rosa the next day, and no Salvarani rider would wear pink again that year, with Swedens Gsta Pettersson of Ferretti winning the GC.Why is themaglia rosa pink?The pink jersey was introduced for the leader of the race by the Giro organisation in 1931, finally following in the wake of the Tour de France, where leaders had worn yellow since 1919.However, here was a complication for Armando Cougnet and Emilio Colombo (director of the Giro and the organising newspaper, La Gazzetta dello Sport, respectively), which the Tour didnt have.Tour director Henri Desgrange and his sponsoring newspaper, LAuto, were free to choose for their race, but to instigate a jersey colour change at the Giro, Cougnet and Colombo needed the approval of the State one Benito Mussolini and his National Fascist Party.Danny BirdDespite Mussolini reportedly being unimpressed with the effeminate colour of the jersey, La Gazzetta had been printed on pink paper since 1899 so a pink jersey was really the only choice.Il Duce eventually relented, provided the jersey also carried the symbol of fascism. And so it was that the Giros first pink jersey included front-centre an image of the fasces a bundle of wooden rods bound together around an axe.The pink curse?The first rider to wear the jersey was Italys national champion, Learco Guerra, who was one of the favourites for the overall win thanks to a suspiciously flat route that played to his strengths. He duly won the opening sprint into Mantua, beating the then four-time champion Alfredo Binda.Guerra was now obliged to swap his national champions jersey for that of the Giros, and not everyone was impressed. It is pale pink in colour, like a womans garment! reported La Stampa. Dressed with the tricolore, Guerra is more masculine: how to say it more of a flag for Italian cycling.But female underwear or not, two days later Guerra lost the jersey to Binda after bonking, and he finished the stage in tears.At the time Binda was regarded as the best rider in the world, so good that the previous year Giro organisers had paid him to stay away from the race for fear of his dominance, and five stages in those fears seemed well-founded.But in the sixth Binda crashed heavily, and though he struggled to the line he was later forced to abandon. Guerra won the next two stages and was back in prime position, the Italian fans overjoyed.Yet that joy would prove catastrophic as a large group celebrated by running alongside the pink jersey-wearing Guerra during the stage to Genoa, only for one to fall and bring down the Italian champion.Danny BirdGuerras race was over. The combined fates of Binda and Guerra, both crashing out of the race while in pink, led to mass speculation that the jersey was cursed.It was left to relative newcomer Francesco Camusso to save the 1931 race and rescue the jersey from a cloud of superstition. A storming ride over Sestrire and into Turin including a deftly timed rear sprocket change saw the 23-year-old outwit his rivals to take the race lead. By Milan, Camussos win was being applauded warmly.Camusso has always been among the first on the climbs, among the quickest and most effective in escape attempts and pursuits, was the verdict of the Corriere della Sera. Today, with sincere joy, we salute the success of a young man, wrote Vittorio Varale in La Stampa.Today, tales of such remarkable exploits in pursuit of pink are legion. Fausto Coppi embarking on a five mountain-pass masterclass in 1949 to turn a 43-second deficit into a 23-minute lead; Andy Hampsten surviving the freezing Gavia in 1988 to claim the jersey on the day the big men cried.Or Chris Froomes daring dash over the Colle delle Finestre to turn fourth into first in 2018 the list goes on. But what unites each Giro dItalia edition, each act of derring-do, is one mans unrelenting desire to be seen in pink.The jersey featured here was supplied by Prendas Ciclismo. Related Posts Pretty in pink: 10 incredible maglia rosa looks ranked How to watch the Giro dItalia 2024 The Tifosi: Heroes of the Giro Giro dItalia 2024: Route, how to watch, start list and everything you need to know History of the Tour de France jerseys and how they got their colours The post The fascinating history of the maglia rosa appeared first on Cyclist.

Just minutes after Benjamin Thomas gave Cofidis men's team their first win of 2024, Hannah Ludwig has triumphed for Cofidis womens' team at the 2024 Navarra Women's Classic.With Thomas taking his win from the breakaway by holding off the peloton, Ludwig too held for the win after an attack with just...