25 Comments

1. POSTED BY Nellie  |  May 27, 2009 @ 9:41 am

   He deos have a one-track mind, doesn’t he??
2. POSTED BY cathar  |  May 27, 2009 @ 10:13 am

   The Mayor does seem to have his pet concerns.
   What he doesn’t seem to have is any ability to oversee Montclair. Or to deal seriously with issues of taxation, education, etc. He teeters daily on the edge of buffoonery with his seemingly constant pre-occupation with bicycling.
   At the very least, perhaps it’s time for Baristanet poll on how local residents think Fried is doing? And if they’re both rueful they voted for him the last time and whether or no they’d vote for him again?
3. POSTED BY MellonBrush  |  May 27, 2009 @ 10:22 am

   Bicycling is a serious addiction, Cathar. I find myself daydreaming about upgrading my aluminum bike to a carbon one, all in the hopes of increasing my average speed from 14 to 15 or even, God help me, 16 mph over the rolling and slightly hilly Montclair terrain. Pumping furiously down Upper Mountain and rounding the last bend at 22 mph just before Presby is a rush and cranking it over Bradford gritting my teeth in discomfort as my legs scream at me in unmitigated pain is as glorius a physical sensation as I can imagine – short of dating Jessica Alba, of course.
   I salute Mayor Fried and hope that his campaigns create more ‘addicts’ and that one day all our cars will sit idle and the streets will be filled with smiling – or grimacing – cyclists, pumping their hearts and legs out.
4. POSTED BY banana split  |  May 27, 2009 @ 10:29 am

   Hope there’s enough lime green squiggly bike posts to go around!
5. POSTED BY cathar  |  May 27, 2009 @ 10:56 am

   It is not the Mayor’s “addiction” which bothers me, MellonBrush. But, rather, that even as he uses his mayoral position to try and turn others into fellow addicts, he seems so woebegone at what he’s really been elected to do, govern Montclair. He might be better off retired to that bicycle graveyard (or whatever it is) in the sky.
   Really, though, the garb that “serious” bicyclists wear is pretty silly-looking. Will certainly never replace Harley logos, oil-stained boots and club colors. I’d also rather live in a town where ’70 GTO’s, ’57 Fords and even Buick Reattas were far more common on the streets than, gasp!!!!, bloody bicycles.
   (And now back to much more personally fulfilling exercise, 500 meter sprints in less than two minutes, 6 such in 15 minutes total, on a newly purchased, gently used Concept2, and all in sensible-looking shorts and a t-shirt.)
6. POSTED BY Katie  |  May 27, 2009 @ 11:20 am

   Sometime in the 90′s in Keyport, NJ, there were a bunch of antique stores all within a few blocks of each other. It was a huge attraction and the town was always bustling. Now they’re mostly all gone, but that would have been a place you could pop in and out of antique shops on a skateboard.
   The silly garb those serious bicyclist wear serve a purpose, just like your leather jacket, helmet, gloves, boots, etc, serve a purpose when you’re on a motorcycle.
7. POSTED BY MellonBrush  |  May 27, 2009 @ 11:25 am

   Cathar,
   Serious bike clothing does look pretty dorky, but nothing can beat it for comfort and performance – anti-chafing, sweat control, temperature control, etc.
   500 meter sprints, 6 in 15 minutes in less than 2min per.. holy crap, that’s amazing! That fan must be pushing some big air. Keep up the good work!
8. POSTED BY Spectator  |  May 27, 2009 @ 11:27 am

   Mellon, or is it Bush?, certainly gets steamy about his bike ride.
   Incidentally, Cathar, biking clothing is actually quite sensible, e.g. prevents you from getting your shorts caught on the seat in an emergeny dismount.
9. POSTED BY jerseygurl  |  May 27, 2009 @ 11:29 am

   What do people have against bicycles?
10. POSTED BY walleroo  |  May 27, 2009 @ 11:34 am

    Nothing, jersey. It’s a fine thing for the mayor to be promoting bike riding while pressing problems fester.
11. POSTED BY MellonBrush  |  May 27, 2009 @ 11:35 am

    Whichever way a person wants to rock their endorphins is fine. But, as we all know, there is only one way to produce them – serious, concerted physical exertion. And now I going to do more sets of pull ups and push ups as the effect of my last iteration is starting to wear off.
12. POSTED BY MellonBrush  |  May 27, 2009 @ 11:37 am

    .. and serious pressing problems don’t seem so bad after a nice long bike ride – kind of like xanax without a prescription..
13. POSTED BY Right of Center™  |  May 27, 2009 @ 11:37 am

    I don’t know about anyone else, but concern for my level of endorphins is not what I consider to be part local governance.
14. POSTED BY banana split  |  May 27, 2009 @ 11:39 am

    Mellon, you just gave me the image of Kevin Spacey in American Beauty, smoking pot and lifting weights. I don’t think he kept his car in the garage, either
15. POSTED BY Right of Center™  |  May 27, 2009 @ 11:40 am

    and serious pressing problems don’t seem so addressed after the election of Fried – kind of like Ambien.
16. POSTED BY walleroo  |  May 27, 2009 @ 11:47 am

    Fried is going to need those endorphins and Ambien and Xanax to forget the shellacking he took from Hartnett at the last meeting.
17. POSTED BY Doc  |  May 27, 2009 @ 12:00 pm

    Hey gang. The Mayor may be a tool, I don’t know. He might be a bad mayor. No clue. He might have good ideas. Not sure. I don’t know the guy. He’s in a tough spot, governing a tough town in a really tough time. He’s got to contend with an overblown windbag former mayor who contributed to today’s problems screeching at him from the podium at council meetings. He’s got to deal with an arrogant Town Manager, who hasn’t proven himself in the years he’s already been working for the town. He’s got to deal with town employees who don’t want to give an inch or give up anything.
    He may prove to be terrible at this — as most people who go into local government in New Jersey are. He might prove to be OK at it.
    In the meantime, organizing a bike ride that takes advantage of a unique aspect of the town he governs? Pretty nice idea. Why not go join in and grill him in person on some of your questions or better yet, give him some of your ideas?
18. POSTED BY Right of Center™  |  May 27, 2009 @ 12:04 pm

    “might prove” dxr?
    How long, exactly, should we wait?
19. POSTED BY whatever  |  May 27, 2009 @ 12:50 pm

    How utterly predictable.
    Why doesn’t the mayor talk to the Art’s Council and have an exhibit in town that reflects cycling as it’s theme? Have the artwork in all the public building spaces…and/or take one of the many empty spaces on Bloomfield Ave and have the exhibit there?
20. POSTED BY Enough Already  |  May 27, 2009 @ 1:20 pm

    This is really insane. Our elected officials are so detached from reality. If the Mayor’s bike fetish isn’t evidence enough, I refer you to Renee Baskerville’s inane ode to Montclair recently published in the Montclair Times. These are not serious people. With few exceptions, they are woefully inexperienced, incompetent and continue to make a laughing stock out of the town in pursuit of a progressive agenda.
    Will the adults on the council please stand up??
21. POSTED BY Nellie  |  May 27, 2009 @ 1:55 pm

    Will the adults on the council please stand up??
    —————————————-
    Sadly, no one stood up.
22. POSTED BY Martin S  |  May 27, 2009 @ 3:49 pm

    Maybe if we all throw away the keys to our cars and ride our bicycles everywhere we will be so tired we won’t have the energy to think and worry about the rising taxes and diminishing services in Montclair! Ride, ride like the wind everyone!!!!
23. POSTED BY taxed to death  |  May 27, 2009 @ 9:23 pm

    Hey DR,
    Did you know that Mayor Bike Boy got the council to approve $700,000 in new Bike Lanes down Grove, and he wants to pay for it by asking Hartnett to fire some cops and fire.
    So when you have that heart attack, you can cycle over to Mountainside
    There is true leadership
24. POSTED BY jerseygurl  |  May 28, 2009 @ 7:13 am

    The money for the bike lanes is coming from a federal grant. It has to be used for traffic calming measures and street safety to make it easier for kids to walk and bike to school. Which will make the streets safer for all pedestrians.
    The fact that the Mayor was instrumental in getting the grant is a plus, not a negative. And no one on the police force or the fire department will lose a job because of this initiative.
    The town’s finances were a mess before the new council took charge, and getting a grant to make street improvements is not the problem.
25. POSTED BY taxed to death  |  May 28, 2009 @ 9:09 am

    Check your facts, the money for the bike lanes was town money, we had to pay the difference from the street improvements grant
    But that aside, you really want to let your kids bike to school on Grove

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