Salmoning

This week my daughter Danielle is in a summer art camp. We scooter there together in the morning, so I’m not using CitiBike. Which has given me an interesting view into which is better, biking or scootering.

In general, biking is the clear winner. Faster and more comfortable.

But Brooklyn, and Dumbo in particular, have some characteristics that make biking tricky. Lots of one way streets, cobblestone and some hairy intersections traffic-wise. The advantage of the scooter is that you can ride in a bike lane when that is convenient, or move to the sidewalk when that is more convenient. I’ll also go the wrong way on a one way street when that is more convenient (not like I can hurt anyone with my scooter).

So I was amused to see this article in Gothamist, “In Defense of Cyclist Salmoning”. I didn’t even realize riding a bike the wrong way on a one way street had a name. The examples he gives are my exact issues riding to and from work. Point A in this map is the CitiBike rack right outside my office.

This one, right behind my office, is an even better example. There is no biker on the planet who goes from A to B legally in this case:

And while I rarely have to get to this point B, I often scooter that exact route through the park. But I don’t bike it which forces me several blocks out of my way.

So sometimes scootering is more convenient than biking.