Ninth Avenue

North–south avenue on the West Side of Manhattan. In Bicycle Diaries its new protected bike lane is David Byrne’s proof that safe design changes how riding feels.

At a glance

Source	Author	Role	In one line
Bicycle Diaries	David Byrne	subject	On the curb-protected lane “I instantly feel as if a weight has been lifted”: proof that design, not heroism, brings riders.

Bicycle Diaries — David Byrne (2009)

Source: Original · Readwise highlight

When I head downtown on the new Ninth Avenue bike lanes, as I do fairly often, I notice the difference. I instantly feel as if a weight has been lifted.

• Role: subject
• In the book: Byrne contrasts painted lanes that drivers swerve into with the new lanes on Ninth Avenue, Broadway and Grand Street, protected by a curb or by a lane of parked cars. On Ninth he no longer feels paranoid, his “adrenalized state” almost dissipates, and he moves faster without jockeying around double-parked cars and cabs.
• Why it matters: It is the epilogue’s concrete case, echoing Peñalosa’s test that a bike lane must be safe for an eight-year-old.