February 2007 Archives

The challenge is over for me. So - I missed a day - I think it was last Thursday or something. Then I skipped Saturday…and Sunday. I was (am) sick, and I’ve got an, um, issue that is making riding a little less than pleasant right now. I didn’t ride today, and I won’t for another 2-3 as I drag my family across the globe to Australia. Once I’m settled there, it’s GAME ON! I found a great resource for cycling in and around Brisbane. I’ll be riding my new bike (pictures coming) and keeping BikeHugger in the loop on all the cool things I see during the adventure.

sanra bike1, by zletzz.

If you want to make a difference on bicycle transportation issues in the state of Georgia, a big chance comes up next weekend.

It's the second “Georgia Rides to the Capitol” event, with the mayors of three suburban cities (Decatur, Marietta, and Roswell) joining Atlanta mayor Shirley Franklin on rides to the state capitol in Atlanta. Distances range from 5 miles (Decatur) to 21 miles (Roswell) one-way.

The rides are timed to arrive at the Capitol around 11:40 a.m. on Tuesday, March 6. Police will escort the rides inbound but not outbound.

Maps and cue sheets are available, and the first 2,000 riders to register will be provided lunch and entered in a drawing for a VIP pass to the Atlanta stage of the Tour de Georgia in April.

WashCycle | Bicycle Movies

In honor of the Oscars, WashCycle offers a Top 10 Bike Movies list. We all know what's at the top of the list, but this list offers some good variety, and a couple of films I've never seen. And I'm a sucker for the line “Still includes best method for proving one is in Texas.”

Also, any movie list that includes Better Off Dead rocks, by definition.

Notable exclusions?

Was at Elliott Bay Bicycles and saw lots of Chilly Hilly participants today downtown — photos haven’t been uploaded to Flickr yet, but they will …

Any reports on the ride? The ferries full o’ bikes?

Update

The Seattle PI published Annual Chilly Hilly brought out thousands despite — well — the chill and Ad4M has posted photos including

From Bike Biz, I learned about the Fisher-Price Smart Cycle and the gadget blogs also noticed — rolling out a product with Richard Simmons is an invitation to snark. Not only have I thought, “hey my trainer could charge my cell phone battery or something when I’m doing intervals” I also thought it’d be cool if the chitlins could ride along with me. Now, junior needs some little bike shorts, legs are already smooth, and I’m guessing the Fisher-Price program is way more fun than anything Tacx or other VR trainers.

I’m hoping that Wii offers a bike attachment somehow for the older kids and they can at least pretend their riding around by like sitting on the coach and moving their legs up and down or something.

While you could set up an obstacle course in your garage for the kids to run their bikes into, or even just ride with them on a bike path, anything that address the fatness of the US, Bike Bugger hugs.

Has anyone actually recorded and watched the Tour of California? OLN/Versus/Golf the Rodeo Channel or whatever they call themselves has the most maddening schedule, or lack thereof. I don’t understand how you can operate a channel with a fluid schedule and I dislike rodeo even more, when I expect to see Levi riding a breakaway into the ground and instead see a cowboy falling of a cow!

I’ve set and reset the dvr repeatedly and it never records and the TOC isn’t there. I found the time trail last night by chance. Maybe their channel codes are messed up or something.

Having garaged a bike, and everyone I know has done the same thing, the Bike Bouncer is interesting and could possibly save you a replacement frame. (That is if you remember to hook it onto your garage!)

Update

And from the bizarro world, is the bouncer bike, which is . .. well, just have a look for yourself.

For our readers across the pond, iceBike, a cycling trade event, is next week. My favorite in the seminar choices? “Make your own tyre.”

With the WA DOT announcing two lanes of I5 this summer, I’m sure we’ll see record numbers of cyclists riding to work. From the necessity, hopefully more of them we’ll keep on riding.

Will your ride to work more this summer?

HTAT Bummer Life | Bicycles are good for lots of things.

Shimano’s coasting line is profiled in United’s Hemispheres (of all places) and provides insight into the design and development effort they went through with Ideo. I met Shannon from Shimano and Anthony from Ideo at Interbike last year — blogged lived from Shimano’s booth — and like the article, they told me people wanted to enjoy the “simple pleasure” of cycling and modern bicycles were too complicated (later, I referred to the simplicity and ecosystem trend at Interbike as iPod influenced, where products are focused on solving problems and making something easy to do).

The coasting website has been updated, dealers still not there, but there’s def more to look at.

I’m not sure where coasting fits for the enthusiasts, or if it matters, but anything that gets more people cycling is good and Bike Hugger is down with that.

While way sexy to start, I’d expect the Kona Media Darlings team to not look so darling, after they finish the Kona 24 hours in the Old Pueblo this weekend. Our blogger Owen will post on races.bikehugger.com about the culture, event, people, and bikes. The other darlings include

• Alex Cameron — asilvertouch zine
• Brad Quartuccio — Dirt Rag
• Sean Leslie — Basecamp Communications
• Tim Grahl — Crooked Cog

Good luck all and watch for the posts and photos. Also, hugga-related, check Kona Bike Town, a blog about Kona’s AfricaBike.

Well … the Hugga Tees in girls and women sizes didn’t turn out so good — ugly in fact, so we’re delaying them until we can get it right.

We should have the next run in a week or so and what to do with all those defective tees? Shop rags!

Slate.com’s Dispatches includes Cycling the Silk Road, a bike log of *three knuckleheaded guys . . *

On the Clif Bar blog, Le Sensation American posts about their Evening with Da Pros tonight. The event coincides with the Tour of California, which starts tomorrow.

Late in March, a few huggas will tour parts of California near Santa Barbara — lots of photos and posts (and Clif Bar eating) will follow.

Just got a snazzy print postcard today from the Group Health Seattle International Bicycle Expo and yeah! It’s huge this year, at Magnuson Park this year with hucksters, booths, bike celebs, an event schedule, and much more.

Kelli Currie will cover the Expo for us this year. Kelli joined us last year and wrote about how NOT to ride the STP.

I head to Australia pretty soon for three weeks of sun, family, and hopefully bikeriding. Of course I have to wait for my new bike to show up in order to perform that last item. I previously posted about what’s the best. I’m pretty sure that waiting for new toys to show up is the worst.

As for the challenge, well it’s going to end soon. I’ll be in a flying tube of Aluminum for over a day.

I grew up coveting the classic wooden power boats of the 20s through the 50s. Chris Craft, Hacker Craft, and Master Craft are still icons to me. But those wooden hulls and bright work come at a cost.

Woody’s Custom Fenders has captured that aesthetic—and made it available for your bike. The photos speak for themselves.

Via Get Outdoors Blog

Today we launched a new featured blog for races and events. In keeping with our Hugger mission, we’re attending various races, blogging the culture, the backstory, and popularizing cycling.

Our race coverage isn’t about the results or the race, but the event itself, the people, and their bikes. First up is the 24 Hours of the Old Pueblo, where our blogger Owen will join a team, blog, and ride a few laps on a Kona bike, and blog some more.

Just because you ride a bike instead of a real chick magnet like a Harley doesn’t mean you should go another rutting season without attracting a mate.

Via the Goat

Ever find yourself at the end of a bike path and riding right into traffic, railroad tracks, or sidewalks or car doors? It’s a definite problem and the Seattle Parks Foundation has announced Bands of Green, an effort to make create more loops from existing paths and trails.

Hopefully they’ll coordinate the bands with the Bicycle Master plan and such topics as wayfinding.

Pam and I were disappointed that no one showed up on Sunday for a team ride at Espresso World in Richland, WA. We guessed that the few dark rain clouds either kept the Chinook Cycling Club at home on trainers or they rode mountain bikes.

Undeterred (coming from Seattle, we were relieved by the weather), we joked that the Chinook were fair weather riders and rode the FFTF loop, which was the Rad Road Race back in the day. The Hanford roads were quiet and we saw only one car. We headed back on Highway 240 with a strong sidewind and tempo pace.

While the Tri-Cities has changed so much since I lived there, and there are new sprawling housing developments in nearly every desert field or old orchard, there are also new bike lanes, paths, and even some bike art!

So it’s 40 days into the “Challenge”. I’m good so far. Minimum ride for me is 30 minutes with most days around 2 hours. My wife thinks I’m nuts, but you are all keeping me honest. “I can’t bail on the challenge!”.

sturmey shifter, by twowheelflight.

Honorable mentions:

Critical Mass, by Thomas Hawk

untitled, by gina pina

discovery team15, by ebbe

wheelie, by thehutch

ajc.com | Cycling in single file may end road debate

A suburban Atlanta county commissioner plans to give up his attempt to ban cyclists on a popular local training route, instead seeking a rule requiring riders to travel single-file.

Local cyclists got involved after the story hit the media, and a committee suggested the single-file rule as a possible compromise after meeting Monday night. Cobb County's Board of Commissioners will likely take up the as-yet-unfinished ordinance February 27th.

Cyclist Mark Gernazian, who served on the committee, said the cyclists have softened their insistence on their rights.

"Trying to drive home our rights to the road was not going to create any harmony on Columns Drive," he said.

Sent to us in a couple different emails, is the drinking bike. Fill that keg with Bike Hugger Brown, pedal around, singing drinking songs, and you’re having big bike fun!

Alternatively, you could put a keg in the middle of the conference bike, work out your team’s goals for the year while building a strong team dynamic — just don’t bogart that keg tap hommie.

(Does anyone know the origin of the photo?)

Update

Thanks to Nathan for commenting that the bike is a Pedal Pub — a party on wheels that’s pedal-powered, seats 16, and tops out at 5 miles per hour.

Flats are the bane of commuters. I hate them - they can totally ruin a day. More than one on a ride is usually grounds for a good spell of screaming. After far too many of late (3), I stepped up to some new rubber: Ritchey Tom Slick w/Fortress Casing. They are SO thick. I could barely bend them into shape to get them to stay seated on the rim. I’m not so worried about weight or even “road feel”, but if they keep me flat free for a while - I’ll be a happy man.

VeloNews | Graham Watson to Visit Boulder for Exhibit Opening

Pro racing's top photographer, Graham Watson, will kick off a 3-week exhibit of his photos in Boulder next week.

Watson, who has been photographing the Euro pros since 1977, will autograph posters and books at Boulder Cycle Sport from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. next Thursday, February 15th, leading up to the exhibit opening at 7:30 next door at Amante Coffee.

It's both free and open to the public, and Amante and Twisted Pine Brewery will be providing refreshments.

Sopo Bicycle Co-op in East Atlanta is building sweat equity alongside better bike parking.

They're distributing a flier volunteering to install bike racks at local restaurants, coffee shops and other destinations for the cost of the hardware plus a $25 donation to the co-op, or $140 per location.

Three new locations, including legendary Atlanta watering hole Manuel's Tavern, went up over the weekend, with more to follow.

They're tracking responses from the merchants and location requests from riders. It looks like a great way to simultaneously improve the cycling climate and raise some money for the organization, which provides free and inexpensive maintenance and repair training.

Sopo is a registered 501(c)3, so if you're looking for a tax deduction and want to promote better bike parking in Atlanta, consider donating cash or old parts and tools from their wish list. They're also looking for volunteers.

I rode till it froze yesterday — starting in the cold rain and finishing in freezing rain, I kept going until I couldn’t shift, or brake, and my tires made disconcerting snap crackle pop sounds as I rolled over the icy roads. Besides mountain bikers, I guess I was the only one out riding the roads yesterday in the Tri-Cities.

As I’ve posted before, icy or not, that area has the best roads in the state and I’ll ride them again next weekend.

Yesterday I attended the Shimano tech seminar. It was a super secret affair open only to bike shop employees and hobos who wanted the free breakfast muffins. I suppose I got there too late for the segment about road bike groups (9AM start? I don’t do 9AM), so I sat down as the speaker discussed the new XTR and Saint groups. Even though I am mainly a road and track fanatic, I leaned back into my chair and eagerly listened to all the fascinating new developments in disc rotors and bearing (yawn)…. modifications that lengthy field testing….(zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz)….(snort) um, what? It’s over?…do I have any questions?……um, do you have any muffins without cream cheese in them? After that the minions of the Imperial S company fanned out to the various tables of product to field questions from the riff-raff.

Thanks to Mark V and his connections, I was able to stop into the Shimano 2007 Dealer Tour held in Bellevue, WA yesterday. Lots of new stuff targeted to the “shop crowd” - so mostly race parts for both mtn and road bikes. Some cool new stuff coming out - mostly in their pre-built wheels offerings. The stuff I wanted to see the most - they didn’t have. The Alfine group is so compelling - I really wanted to see a bike built up with it and give it a ride, but no luck. I did get some good print and DVD promotional material on it which will keep me drooling for a while.

Some people have a thing for stamps, some dig Hummel figurines, still others collect shot glasses. However, it takes a true connoisseur to appreciate the art of the pedal.

Hat Tip: The Goat

I was waiting for more details on the latest motorist and cyclist collision in Seattle before posting. While the cause is still unclear, reporter Amy Rolph updated the story today with a footnote …

Wednesday’s accident was the latest in a chain involving motorists and cyclists in the city. More than 900 cyclists have been injured in Seattle since 2001, and five have been killed. Two of those deaths happened last year.