Tall bike, big fight

Andrew Franciosa's ride on his fluorescent pink tall-bike ended with a bloody lip and a trip to the police station last Wednesday afternoon.

Franciosa, a 20-year-old junior at the University at Albany, was riding the eye-catching bike on Fuller Road heading towards UAlbany's uptown campus when a motorist in a white Buick Regal began heckling him.

"This guy decided that I should get the fuck out of the road and he yelled it out of his car," Franciosa said.

Franciosa, who made the tall-bike by welding two bike frames together, wasn't phased by the taunt - as a person who rides his bike everywhere, Franciosa is often told to get off the road, he said.

After catching up to the driver who taunted him at the stoplight, Franciosa said he told the driver it was his right to share the road.

The driver, 47-year-old Robert Dames, then pulled off the road ahead of Franciosa.

"The guy pulled his car over and stops. I stopped and got off of the bike. We got closer to talk and then I got hit," Franciosa said. "I end up getting sucker punched in the face and then he gets in the car and drives away."

Franciosa and two witnesses called the police. After police arrived, Dames returned to the scene and was arrested and charged with third degree assault, Franciosa said.

After the punch, Franciosa was left with a cut in his mouth and swollen lips.

"With my mouth open, my top and bottom lip were touching," Franciosa said of his injuries. "Brushing my teeth is extremely painful."

While the heckling of bikers is common, Franciosa said he does not understand what set his attacker off.

"I think he was mostly offended by how cool it [the pink tall-bike] was when he was driving a '92 Buick," Franciosa said.

Attempts to locate Dames for comment were unsuccessful.

Dames' motivation for the punch is even more confusing to Franciosa because he said he usually gets positive attention when he rides the pink tall-bike.

"I'm pretty sure if you are riding a pink tall-bike people understand there's no possible way I am totally serious right now," Franciosa said. "You always kind of hear the, 'Oooh do you see that?' and 'Whoa!'"

By his count, Franciosa owns one of only six tall-bikes in the Albany area. The seat on Franciosa's bike stands about 5'2'' high and the pedals are between 3'6'' to 4' off the ground Franciosa said.

Franciosa decided he wanted a tall-bike after seeing his friend Dakota Callaschai, who is a core volunteer for the Trinity Basement Bike Rescue, ride his Saturn yellow tall-bike.

"Every time he would ride it I would always be like 'that's so cool, everyone's looking at his bike,'" Franciosa said. "You totally get jealous. It's kind of fun to show off - regardless of what everyone says."

After selecting the bike frames, it took Franicosa just 2 1/2 hours to weld his bike together. He then decided to paint it fluorescent pink.

"His was fluorescent yellow so I said it would be funny if we just had every fluorescent color," Franciosa said. "I just picked pink because it's the most obnoxious fluorescent color - it's silly."

Tall-bikes were originally used in cities during the 1800's and used each night to light gas lamps. Now they can be found in most major biking cities, Franciosa said. Getting on the tall-bike is like mounting an unstable horse, Franciosa said.

"It needs to be rolling so I run with it for two steps and then jump on the pedal," Franciosa said. "I put my left foot on left pedal and then swing [my right leg] over."

When Franciosa rides the tall-bike his head is about 8' off the ground. Despite being higher up, Franciosa actually considers the tall-bike safer then a regular bike because of how visible it is.

"I would say that it's really close to impossible to put me in a scenario where there's a lot of things going on and not have people say, 'That guy's eight feet tall and on a fluorescent pink bicycle,'" said Franciosa.

In addition to his pink tall-bike, Franciosa has four other bikes that are all built for different weather and terrain conditions. Despite Albany's upcoming harsh winter, Franciosa said he has no plans to stop riding his bikes and take the bus to the uptown campus from his apartment on Hudson Avenue.

"In the winter I could wait 15 minutes at the bus stop, or I could ride 15 minutes and be where I am supposed to be," Franciosa said. "I am going to be cold for 15 minutes either way." "The bike is the least of your worries - the worst thing is just having wet feet. Just plastic bag your feet and put on a lot of clothes," Franciosa said.

With oil prices continuing to rise, Franciosa said he has seen an increase in cycling in the Albany area. "A lot of people associate cycling as a sissy sport but as gas [prices rise] I see more people than ever riding," Franciosa said. "This summer it absolutely exploded."