KOMO TV, Seattle’s ABC affiliate, reported tonight on the 8K (and growing) bike commuters on Seattle streets and how that’s expected to grow with high gas prices or downed overpasses like in San Francisco. It was a good report, especially on the eve of Bike Month.
Are you riding to work more now because of gas prices? What’s your BIke Month plan? And how are our San Francisco readers?
In another clip from our Blogging Beijing by Bike videos, we ride during rush hour. In a city with 13 million people, 3 million cars and millions of bikes, riding is a chaotic experience. We just rode, found a way through it, and joined the flow in Beijing.
Less than a month after Mayor Nichols released Seattle’s Bike Master Plan to the city, it seems political pressure is already derailing some of the key components. Released this week in Cascade’s Braking News:
The Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) has backed down from a project to improve bicycle and pedestrian safety because of what appears to be political pressure from a minority of business owners on Seattle’s Stone Way North.... Read more »
I was at the Javabean getting espresso and saw a postcard for Bike + Art = Skatepark. I’m still trying to figure out what that is, but the site says,” we’re having a bicycle decorating party, a bike parade, an Art Walk, AND a benefit for River City Skate Park.”
That sounds def like something Bike Hugger would want to do. They’ll decorate bikes, then parade them, and tour South Park all to raise money for the River City Skatepark. River City must mean the Duwamish? And maybe they’ll put a bmx track near the park?
The NY Times published an article today about Fulfillment by Amazon and how Amazon is developing other ways to make money. I’m quoted with other merchants in the article about how well the program is working. We use FBA to fulfill Clip-n-Seals and hopefully soon our Bike Hugger shirts.
Both of those products have done well from Bike Hugger traffic and we’ve got more products on the way.
“Whoa!” I opened up the Design within Reach catalog and on page one there’s a Biomega AMS 8 Speed Bicycle. Being sold at DWR, is probably the epitome of bikes as a designer item and it’s a commuter bike at that.
The Biomega @ Design within Reach follows the UM by Puma, another designer concept bike. We’ll have to post on this further, when I see one of the bikes at DWR’s stores, and then start thinking about who’s going to wrench the bikes for them?
Schooner Exact, the makers of Bike Hugger Brown are having a brewers night tonight at the Beveridge Place Pub. According to Marcus, the Minister of Propaganda for the microbrewery, “This is going to be a special one, we were able to take a little taste of it the other day right out of the fermenter and we could not put it down!” The West Seattle blog also noticed the arrival of a new beer from Schooner.
Found on Untitled Name while searching for the term “bike pile” on Google and Flickr.
Ahead of the antler-design trend by months and way more stylish with the whole global warming thing are antler bikes (stylish and saving the environment, like Sheryl Crow!). We first spotted one at Interbike, Bicycle Design posted on 8 point handlebars, Razor Apple has got the furry antler version, and the then there’s the King of the Road, which was ahead of it’s time.
Of course, there’s a blog about the Secret Life of Antlered Girls, who also ride bikes.
The NYTimes picks up the story about the Fisher-Price Smart Cycle — we posted about the child-size trainer earlier this year. We still like the idea of training next to your child. While they “whack-a-mole,” you can do your sweaty spinervals.
Unsure if Fisher-Price has dropped Richard Simmons from their marketing — the bloggers had fun with that odd choice of a spokesperson.
Filmed by Bike is a festival of bike-theme movie shorts — check the program for titles like Tag 5:10, a bike messenger chases a rollerblader through the streets of London and Snot Rocket Bike, an upwards look at the grim reality of biking.
I don’t see where you can view the vids online, but the festival posted on their success and they sell DVDs. We’ve been uploading hugger videos to Google. Also see Start 2 Finish, a documentary about the racing scene in the Pacific Northwest.
It seems ages ago that Floyd Landis made his incredible comeback on Stage 17 of the 2006 Tour de France. Yet, as we approach the 2007 tour, Landis still find himself in the heat of charges surrounding his positive tests for doping. This afternoon, NPR aired an article citing additional positive tests from Landis’ back-up samples taken throughout various other stages.
The AP picks up the Coasting story writing about how the industry is hoping to drive sales with automatic bikes and enjoyment over performance. I know, I know, in previous posts, the Coasting disses come in, but anything that can get the “my dad” demographic riding more or any other demographic riding more is good for everyone. Just like the Bianchi Milano, what Electra is doing with cruiser bikes, Clever Cycles, and an industry that’s just making cycling easier.
Previous posts * Shimano Learns a New Language * Shimano Coasting Mystery * Coasting Interbike
Also check The Ride and what Ellsworth engineered with NuVinci.
Frank Steele, a Bike Hugger cofounder, contributor, and collaborator, is blogging the Tour de Georgia and posting on such things as Santa riding up Brasstown Bald.
During National Bike Month, the Ride of Silence will occur. Organized in “honor of those who have been injured or killed while cycling on public roadways,” the rides will take part across the US and World on May 16th at 7:00 pm. Check the locations for a ride near you.
The blue sky in the background of this photo was a rare site in Beijing. We were lucky to see it and the next day the pollution returned to normal oppressive levels. What I mistakenly thought was morning fog for a few moments, when I first arrived, was instead a gray smog that envelopes the city usually every day.
In this video clip, Bryan and I observe the Olympic progress. You can also see that we’re having a good time. Learn more about Beijing, the Olympics, and how they’re going to get that done in my post on Textura Design.
Ok, wow, Scott (our design and brand manager) sent a Publish and Prosper book sighting note and hey it’s in the Apple Store — down there in the right color, green jacket. Awesome.
Byron’s book at the Apple Store (Portland)
Originally uploaded by benishs.
This gentleman administers the curbside service center near our hotel. He was nice enough to pose for a photo and proudly displayed his Chairman Mao pin. I expect the Olympics tourist will love him. He refused my offer of a tip for the photo and barked some orders at a mechanic before I left.
Biking through the streets of Beijing offers a myriad of sights… and industrial smells. It ranges from light sweet crude to Kuwaiti sensimilia to high-sulphur coal w/ a hint of turpentine… The more exotic, the more we cracked up at the insanity of it all.
Beijing is a spectrum of activities. Bikes carrying buckets of meat and buckets of tar to baby bakchoy.
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Beijing has bike parking lots near the massive malls. That’s the attendant having lunch.
In this clip near the Olympic Park, I blurt out “Beijing” while Bryan rides on past …
Clarence from StreetFilms wrote to tell us that David Byrne just had his bicycle stolen! See Byrne on StreetFilms and Jason’s post on a chance encounter with him at SXSW.
Every few blocks in Beijing, there are curbside mechanics that fix bikes as cyclists ride up. The mechanics have tubes, pumps, wrenches and more. At some of the stops, cyclists socialize and hang out. I stopped and filled up my rear tire on the folding bike and said hello. The mechanic and his buddies didn’t speak english, but nodded and smiled just the same and gave us happy thumbs up.
Bikes as transportation in a city of millions. We rode from the hotel to the Forbidden City and just got into the “flow” of bike traffic and followed it through perilous intersections, traffic circles, and more. I was the only one in all of China wearing a helmet. The safety zone between bikes and other vehicles of all types doesn’t exist, everyone is close to everyone and everything else and it’s best to just roll with it, finding your way.
See more in the Bike Hugger photostream.
That’s me working my “moves” on the folding bike. I’m expecting lots of traffic in Beijing, especially on the 3rd Ring Road. I’ll post more on Flickr and our Travel Blog when I arrive Saturday.
For the jumpers, BMX, and anyone else that wants to measure the big air they get, there’s the HangTimer that features a built-in tri-axis accelerometer (like sharks with freakin’ lazer beams) and records your air time. Doubtful I’ll get any big air on Bettie, my road bike, or folding bike, but junior hugger likes to jump and he thinks that’s cool.
After a hiatus during the rainy season, Bettie is back running errands, commutes, and all around town. Speaking of Bettie, Todd updated his photostream with an experimental townie mount. Nice, as he said, “that’s a kinder, gentler, monkey.”
Sensing my road snobbery and realizing my concern about looking like a total dork on a little folding bike, Bill Davidson first said, “like who’s going to know who you are in China! And then, just wear all black, all militant style … you’ll blend right in.” Ha! Black is right with a Nutcase helmet to top it off. Kidding aside, I folded and unfolded the Breezer Zag8 multiple times last night and have to say it’s a very functional design. I’m hoping to check it through on the plane like Todd did with his Brompton.
As this video from CrankMyChain.com shows, in Copenhagen the coexistence between pedestrians, bikes, and automobiles is a thing of beauty.
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Concerned about the quality of coffee in Beijing, I’m traveling with a french press. While the Bodum works great, I’ve gone through two since my last post. They crack in my suitcase. I’m guessing it’s the pressure and depressurization cycles on the plane and eventually the crack spreads, fills with coffee, and that’s the end of that Bodum. So, I found a stainless steel travel press/mug, removed the handle (takes up too much space), grinded down the handle mounts, adorned it with bike shop stickers from Elliot Bay and here I come Beijing with hot, strong coffee in Senor Muggy.
The Team Bike Hugger blog prompted questions from readers as to what it takes to start road racing. I hope this inspires at least a few of you to get out there and experience the thrill of racing first-hand. Here is my take on the fundamentals of racing:
Tune into the audio archives of today’s Conversation on KUOW, covering the Bike Master Plan and what it means for Seattle. As my two-year-old toddled around the house this afternoon, bike helmet atop his head, I couldn’t help but hope that he will see a better, more bike-friendly, Seattle.
Later this week, I’ll blog Beijing by bike. I’m visiting China for the Intel Developer Forum and Elliot Bay Bicycles is providing me a folding bike to ride around, check the city out, and experience the totally different world of China. And in that world, at least for now, bicycles still outnumber cars. For more on China, check
Those nuts at Nutcase Helmets sent us a freakin’ case of helmets to review! So, it was like a helmet holiday at our house and the kids dug right into the package and put on a helmet fashion show.
I really have a thing for steel track frames. Steel is a fantastic medium of expression for the artistry of framebuilding. And I have very specific tastes. You can search the net and find whole sites dedicated to “old skool” track bikes…preferably lugged steel. Even more, there is definitely a cult surrounding keirin frames from Japan. However, I grew up in the Eighties when framebuilders were making crazy machines out of fillet-brazed steel for the track sprinters of that era. I especially liked those match-sprint 3Renshos and the bikes of East Germans.
Back then steel tubing was generally round and as double-butted tubing came in a limited number of diameters. These days one can get all kinds of steel tubing with shaped cross-sections and various butting profiles. I handpicked every tube for my bike, going for maximum stiffness with little regard for weight.
... Read more »The BBC is offering an amateur cyclist an opportunity to ride the first stage of this year’s Tour de France on the eve, with a historic UK Grand Depart, and blog it all. That’s definetly a pick me, pick me for our readers across the pond.
I am back working downtown, and after a couple weeks of navigating the pot-holes, steel plates, and traffic I’m happy to hear the Bicycle Master Plan seems to finally be coming to fruition. The Seattle Times ran an article today releasing the “Final” plan that will take steps to make Seattle the friendliest bike city in the country. I’m not sure if that plan includes knocking a few percentage points out of the climbs in the area, but I’ll take what I can get.
Sweet jesus, my bike shop has been crazy busy lately. After work I just want to eat half a herd animal and go to sleep. So this last story about my vacation in Florida and South Carolina is wretchedly delayed, but such is life. Last I left off, I had just confirmed my true ability at time trials, and I left my comrades-on-wheels to seek out Goal #4: the girl.
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The secret is out: I’ve got a new custom track frame in the works. It’s a project I started two years ago and is now just weeks away from completion. I designed the bike down to the millimeter and chose each and every bit of metal individually. This will be the third in a series of track frames that Sycip Designs has built for me, and I salute Jeremy Sycip for putting up with my whacked out requests over the years. Be sure to check in over the next couple weeks for updates.
Next time: the track bike with 3 down tubes
Ibex sent us arm and knee warmers and a jersey to try out. I took the New Zealand Merino wool clothes with me to Santa Barbara. It was thankfully warm in SBA and I didn’t wear the warmers for very long, but did note during the ride that they were well-constructed and offer a unique blend of wool, nylon, and Lyrca. They’re also made in the USA.
Temperature regulation is always tough in wet, cold climates (and Seattle has been the wettest and coldest this year!) and I think Ibex would meet the demand for training rides, commutes, and recreational rides. The material is probably too thick for hard riding, but I’ll need to long-term test that factor on a colder, pouring, suffering ride to make sure.
... Read more »Submitted by San Fran Cup
Check Pink Bike and Flowers post on racing hard to win a new pair of gloves, which is only slightly better than winning a tube, tire, or the all-time favorite, a seat post. Ah well, we don’t do it for the money.
Related photos, including some road rash.
Team Bike Hugger had an outstanding first NRC race of 2007 in Redlands, California. We rode well as a team, enjoyed time together before and after each stage of the race and were a positive presence in Redlands. We also had a good time reporting on the race through the team’s blog. Check it out for race videos and final thoughts on the race.
The Bike Hugger shirts are really cool, we got lots of compliments on them. We suggest that if you wear a size small jersey, to order a medium shirt.
Thank you for the opportunity to share our race experiences with the Bike Hugger community. We have all returned home to compete locally until we can get back together again for another NRC stage race (tbd). I’ll be writing for Bike Hugger periodically, for more on racing and whatever you’re interested in hearing about.
Apple profiles Trek and the tools they used to create their Project One experience. It’s an interesting read with quotes like, “a bike isn’t just a set of wheels. It’s an extension of bone and muscle, a projection of personality in motion. It’s not merely a machine, it’s personal.”
In the Santa Barbara photos, you can see the Project One bike Union Bay Cycling is racing on this year and, as I’ve posted before, getting personal is an alternative to an industry that’s increasingly homogenized.
Trek’s coasting bike, Lime, is also discussed in the profile. And I just found that Lime is blogging with updates on sightings, news, and a podcast.
Also noted on Treehugger.
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