Not All that Wear These Hats are Good Guys ... Perhaps it wasn't a good idea, but Friday I decided to take a different route home that's a few miles longer than usual, and which I'd never taken before. Friday the 13th. 106F temperature - perhaps the hottest day of the year. Yup, things are getting boring. It didn't start out too auspiciously when I got hit about a mile from work. It reminded me that not ALL motorists are MY motorists. A rare few are rednecks in white pickups who'd be better off
Linear Park Multi-Use Path. A Great Concept and a Useful Shortcut for Some Trips. Execution Could be Better ... I like the idea of bike infrastructure. Few would argue with the notion that bike racks are a good idea that helps cyclists, without much down side. Similarly, well designed bike lanes and paths can help cyclists, and most people would also support such things, particularly if they don’t cause congestion problems with motorized traffic. The TROUBLE is that “well designed” is a
The Toronto Star has discovered that one can be fashionable on a bike (which is not the same as saying a particular bike is fashionable), thanks in part to the Curbside employees and thecommonelite.org bloggers, Gillian Goerz and Mikey Bennington ... “The city lends itself to cycling because it’s predominantly flat and there is a great street culture with lots of people outdoors,” says Goerz, who also works as an illustrator. “It’s also spread out with different cultural centres (that
On a visit to Portland, Oregon in 1895, Samuel Clemens (aka Mark Twain) suggested the city should invest in a publicly owned bike share operation, which he envisions as a money making operation for the city. Portland ought to lay itself out a little and macadamize all its streets just like this. Then it ought [ ... ]Related posts: City government bike share Minneapolis Bike Share Share The Road and traffic safety ...
This past weekend I engaged in some routine bicycle component installation ... Despite being almost moronically simple, the component I installed came with a manual, and while I've changed the name of both the component and the manufacturer, here's what it said: ... Congratulations! You have just purchased the best bicycle component available ... To ensure the best performance and longest service life from your bicycle component, please read carefully and follow these installation instructions
I had mentioned in passing that I brought a vintage frame with me from my last stay in Austria to build up as a fixed gear road bike ... Well, here is the result: ... The frame is from a Francesco Moser "San Cristobal" roadbike, circa (I think ) 1978. I got the frame from a friend of a friend and had a chance to try it when it was still a complete bike, so I knew it would fit me comfortably. The previous owner then stripped the frame of components and I mailed it to myself from Vienna, as
It's Gonna be HOT the Next Couple of Weeks! NWS Data for DFW from 1898 Through 2009. Date the Hottest Day Occurs ... Due to my recent hospital visit, recounted here, I now pay a lot more attention to hydration in warm weather. For example, I have learned that I lose about two pounds of fluid during my ride to work if it is about 80F. That fluid loss increases substantially for the trip home when it is around 100F. In North Texas, we are now entering the two-week period when the hottest day of
One of the most popular excuses for why cycling infrastructure on the Dutch model is not built in other countries is that of space. Many people honestly believe that their city, be it London, Los Angeles, Sydney, Cambridge or wherever, has streets which are narrower than usual and can't provide cyclists with the necessary space ... An anonymous reader recently sent me a group of "photos" taken from Google Maps Streetview which illustrate similar streets in the UK and in the Netherlands. The
I'll tell you one thing I truly hate carrying around my digital SLR ... It is big doesn't sit in a bag without poking my back ... I feel like maybe this bag could fix all of that ... And the price-point is very nice ... especially for a Camera bag made in the USA ... This bag is definitely going on my wish list! ... The wig SLR bag was created out of a necessity. But not a necessity of mine, but yours the user. This fully padded bag is shaped around the idea that while on your bike you can
This beauty and her bike were among the guests at a series of classic bike film shorts at Oddball on Capp Street ... Oddball is an amazing labryinth of film reels with a little upstairs theater. That night, we saw vintage bike safety films, as well as soome, classic car propaganda by GM. Get off those silly bikes, y'all ...