Hot Mic Moment
Leg Day's first podcast appearance, a second sanctioned way through the middle of Prospect Park, and climbing up a tree to make a cup of coffee
Leg Day is a newsletter about the pursuit of joy as a city cyclist. I write about the mundane oddities one encounters while moving around on two wheels, the infrastructure we rely on to stay safe in our car-addicted society, inspiring cyclists I’ve met, and bike events you simply must attend.
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The best thing about the New York City cycling community is the New York City cycling community. Most of the people I’ve met through the hobby have amazed me with their capacity for generosity, curiosity, and glee. I’m not sure if its our shared orientation toward this particularly joy-inducing form of transportation that makes us this way, but I’m certain biking helps me access the most gentle, creative parts of myself.
Bike people honestly just inspire me. The way KK and Jordan build routes for non binary bike club always reveal hidden ways through the city I never knew existed. Les’s commitment to building Angels NYC CC, a WTFNB cycling team that emphasizes values alignment and culture over race results, has made me want to work harder to support and promote a more progressive version of our scene. And the fact that Matt has managed to publish a long-form, written-through profile of a cool city cyclist on his newsletter Spokes Stack almost every Sunday since last July has been a good kick in the pants keep me accountable to my own publishing schedule.
When Matt told me he would be starting a NYC cycling podcast with Stuart, who hosts a bi-weekly radio show for cyclists on Desire Path Radio, and Anurag, a graphic designer and producer, I had no doubt he had the follow through to actually make it happen. When he told me the podcast was going to be called “SpokesCast,” I immediately became less confident. It didn’t help that, after inviting me to be the guest on its first episode, I had a front row seat to watch him stumble over the name over and over and over. You can hear my reaction to one of those line reads in the first seconds of the episode, which dropped on podcast feeds earlier this week (here’s a link for Apple and Spotify, but you can find it on whatever player you use). The episode will also air on Stuart’s show Saturday morning.
The conversation was a blast. I really enjoyed the chance to reflect on my reasons for starting this newsletter, why I will never stop trying to make “Jalopy Pace” happen, and how cars make people more violent. It was also nice to have some time to relive some of the more fun rides we’ve done over the last few years, including the Half Century I planned with Les and the Dawn Patrol crew. I also wanted to share some links to some of the other outlets I mentioned in the piece, including Escape Collective and In the Draft. Listen to the pod, then check them out!
Also Amma, if you’re reading this, I’m sorry for swearing so much. Once you start, it’s hard to stop!
I have spent hours scanning the digital copy of the 2025 New York City Bike Map1. A fruitful activity that has provided plenty of insight on better routes to travel between my favorite destinations as well as new places I should try and get myself to without taking the train. But it was only this week when I really looked at the map’s rendering of the place I probably biked the most last year, Prospect Park. How many ways exist to get around a loop?
Apparently, more than I knew! After pulling up the map to discuss the “Zohramp” last week, I noticed something in the Prospect Park map I had actually never seen before. Reader, are you aware that there are TWO bike-able arteries through the center of the park? I’ve used the one to the north a bunch of times—my friend Adam introduced me to it as a way to maximize elevation game on shorter workouts—but I don’t believe I’ve ever biked along the road that follows the top of Prospect Park lake. I know I’ve walked over there before, but I had genuinely never thought to try biking on it. Have you? Maybe the next Leg Day ride has to involve all three loops of the park in one go…
Speaking of great places to ride your bike, how about the English suburbs? I really enjoyed Probably Riding’s dispatch from his Christmas Break. Most of his videos are adventures through the streets of Seoul, but he’s no stranger to rides that involve a wide range of terrain. These forest paths look absolutely lovely, but I was most jealous of all these narrow dirt footpaths between fields he found. It is so soothing to the soul to watch someone riding in an area completely free of cars.
Of course, the real highlight of the video is when Marcus climbs into a tree to make a cup of coffee. Take notes all, this is what peak performance looks like.
Loose Links
Cold weather can’t stop New York City cyclists. “Department of Transportation automatic bike counters picked up plenty of two-wheeled action in the more than two weeks since snow and cold slammed the five boroughs 191,868 cyclists passed by DOT’s 18 bike counters between Sunday, Jan. 25, the day of the snowstorm, and Monday, Feb. 9 — representing just a fraction of the total bike trips in the city.” Less than usual, but c’mon! It was really cold outside.
Uber, Instacart, and GrubHub used the big game to make themselves seem like the good guys. Streetsblog reporter Sophia Lebowitz wrote about how the companies spent millions of dollars on Super Bowl ads that directly oppose the livable streets agenda. Uber thanked Kathy Hochul for make cyclists and pedestrians have to pay more when they’re injured by drivers. Instacart attempted to distract from the fact it only only stopped randomly charging different people different prices on grocery items last month. And GrubHub did a whole thing on how orders of over $50 were not longer going to be subject to extra fees. You know, the fees that it made up in the first place.
The Iowa State Legislature is trying to kill RAGBRAI. It has proposed legislation that would make using a bike on any road where the speed limit is above 25 mph illegal, basically every single country road in the state. File it as the latest example of politicians pushing an abstinence-only approach to bike safety: the only way to avoid death by a car is by not biking at all!
At least the Soudal-Quick Step pros look like they are having fun. Each year, the team’s riders spent a chunk of their pre-season training camp doing a pillow fight for a photoshoot. The shots are hilarious.
A big-time proponent of Zone 2 training is all over the Epstein files. Sami of Snake America dove into the relationship between the child sex trafficker and Petter Attia, a “longevity expert” for the rich and famous and omnipresent podcast guest. The relationship came to light just days after he was hired as a contributor to Bari Weiss’ CBS News. Depressingly, he will keep the job. No cancel culture for pedophile whisperers either, I guess.
This tote has a feature that ever bike bag should. I’ve written about how I think all sling-style bags for bikers should have a third, supportive strap. Well, I’ve since found a lot more bags that do, including the new Magic Tote from Outer Shell ($135). I really dig the very berry color. Anyone tried anything else from this brand? Maybe the Magic Musette ($45)?
This event in Arkansas almost killed me last year. But the other journalist who attended just published a lovely recap from the perspective of a more experienced (read: stronger) mountain biker.
Is the self-storage industry evil? Extra Space certainly seems to be. “Bills allegedly spiked from $120 to $320 in a single month or rose nearly that far within the first 30 days of moving in. People who did pay — or thought their checks were being processed — said they sometimes learned too late their units were being cleared out. Others learned only by happenstance.”
In case you’re wondering, the new one for each year usually publishes in May. It’ll be interesting to see whether it includes any new infrastructure changes from the Mamdani administration.