March 2008 Archives

We use a collection of mobile apps and hardware for the mobile social, including

• Twitter Mobile — a lightweight page optimized for phones and mobile internet devices
• Flickr emailer — a mailto function from Flickr that includes, title, subject, and tags; take a photo and email it to Flickr.
• TwitterFeed — sends our Hugger feed to Twitter.
• Feedburner — splices our Delicious links, posts, and photos into one feed.
• Movable Type — our blogging engine of choice.

I post with my iPhone and MacBookPro. While not recommend for the non-experienced rider (especially in traffic), I shoot on-the-bike video with a Casio Exilim and edit that in iMovie HD (the older version). We’ll move to Final Cut Pro later in the year with the arrival of the new Canon HDs camcorders. I also expect an incredible offering of mobblogging apps, as soon as developers figure out the iPhone SDK, Intel’s Atom products start showing up, and mobile internet devices mature. We’ll see a bunch of those devices tomorrow here in Shanghai.

Behind that wall once were shanty homes and a skyscraper will follow — read the related post about the Shanghai Flow.

from the Bike Hugger Photostream.

Dahon kindly arranged our rides for Shanghai—a pair of matching Mus. More photos to follow and I quickly noticed the new V-Clamp Hinge and other refinements including a bell built into the Tektro brakes and a Biologic Joule Dynamo hub.

from the Bike Hugger Photostream.

Folks who’ve spent a bit too much time on Sheldon Brown’s amazing websites will know of his fondness for April Fools jokes such as the tork-grip (yes, the DIY version is in my garage right now).

What better way to memorialize Sheldon “ineffable” Brown than an April Fools ride. They’re happening all over the place (the last link is a directory), including one in Seattle.

Details: 6:00 PM at the Seattle Bikestation, on April 1st of course. Hope to see you there!

I bought my first new car a few months back. The biggest issue of course was how I would be schlepping bikes in/on it. Byron tipped me to a brand carried by our friends down at Seattle Bike Supply. The Saris CycleOn turned out to be a sweet setup.

Velonews and Treehugger both noticed Slate’s video on the Stupidest bike lane in Westwood, Los Angeles. The stupidest bike lane I’ve ever seen was in San Antonio, all 34 seconds of it …

Our readers have seen the Bike Lane o Death, one that intersects a 4 lane highway, and the bike lane that gives way to a tree …

Dahon is supplying us Mu XLs during our stay in Shanghai. We just confirmed the bikes are being delivered and we’ll ride them daily.

As our readers know, we’ve ridden and posted on Dahon’s folding bikes, including our exclusive coverage of Novara’s Flyby (I’ve heard their sold out, btw). Last year we rode with Dahon staff in Taipei.

When offered to the most fashionable person we know, even more critical than Princess Puffy Sleeves, the response was "nice!"

from the Bike Hugger Photostream.

Just in time for our trip to Shanghai, custom Crumpler Bags arrived …

as our blog assistant said, “damn …crumpler in da hugga hizzouse!”

The Hugga Bag is a custom embroidered Fux Deluxe — we’re taking these with us, testing them out, considering further refinements, and possibly more Bike Hugger features.

Interested in purchasing? Please let us know in the comments. Pricing is at $140.00.

Uploaded by elsa_sung on 2 Mar 08

from the Bike Hugger Photostream.

Any mention of electric and drivetrains reminds me of the time I rode home from Seward Park with Joe Barrato. Joe’s a local racer, been around forever, and his Mavic Mektronic failed one night in the rain at Seward Park (the Seattle Thursday night crit). He was stuck in the 53 x 17, or maybe 19, all the way home and cursed it the entire time — every permutation of the various curse words was heard, including some entirely new ones. Out of sympathy, I climbed in the big ring with him and the Mavic Mektronic was never seen or heard from again. It became a don’t ask/don’t tell subject and he may have smashed it with a rock, buried it, or sold it on Ebay.

There are so many different programs sending bikes to Africa, we could probably start a blog just to track all of them … today the News Tribune profiles Duane Sorenson, Stumptown Coffee, and Bikes to Rwanda.

Most of my employees are ex-bike messengers … talking with growers in Rwanda, “I asked what their particular challenges are,” Sorenson said. “They said, ‘A bicycle would completely change my life.’”

Stumptown is also involved in the racing scene, sponsoring teams, and races.

Dynacraft launches Sonoma Bike, exclusively online

… a new line of adult bicycles designed to offer today’s rider superior value and performance. With bikes designed for both serious riders and recreational riders, Sonoma will debut with eight models for men and women ranging from the Karma Beach Cruiser ($249) to the top of the line CN:7 full carbon fiber road bike ($2,499) … Online sales are a core strategy for Dynacraft SRG. Based on the success we’ve had with selling some of our other models online, we’ve decided to sell Sonoma exclusively through its own website

Is there finally a market for online bike sales? Many have tried and failed with various strategies — I met a fellow roadie who was riding an Airborne a couple weeks ago.

I’m thinking, probably and you can bet the purchasers will take those to their local IBD. Dynacraft SRG also markets Tony Hawk’s Huckjam Bikes.

This week on the Bike Hugger YouTube Channel, we’ve uploaded the rest of the Huggacasts and will upload new ones next week, live from Shanghai. More videos

Heard the chatter, talk, rumors, and various discussions about 09 Dura-Ace? So have we and a reader just sent us a link to Roues Artisanales. A tech site that’s gathered all known DA data to date in once place. And, finally!, DA is routing cables along the bar and with hoods that are Campy style or SRAM style.

Photo: Fiets.nl

I have this thing about wrapping handlebars…perhaps an obsession. When I was still a novice, I once took an hour wrapping and re-wrapping the same handlebar which led to another hour of lovers’ spat with my exasperated girlfriend. I have on occasion wrapped a bar with brand new tape, only to rip it off moments later after I decided it was “wrong for the bike.” I have also carefully transferred tape and re-applied it to three bikes over a period of two years. I have crashed on some tape repeatedly, bolstering it with electrical tape until the original wrap was barely visible. When I go to Japan, I stock up on coloured electrical tape because I think that Japanese electrical tape works best for finishing the terminal end of the handlebar wrap. One time, an ex-teammate drove an hour and half to have me work my handlebar wrap magic on his new bike.

At this point, I have a plethora of preferences for wrap.

News from World Bicycle Relief and AfricaBike

• NBC’s TODAY Show aired a segment about World Bicycle Relief and Zambia’s fight with HIV/AIDS. The piece, by correspondent John Larson, was filmed in Zambia, and is related to his blog post, Hope, Loss, and Bicycles in Zambia.

• In its third year, AfricaBike announced it’s giving away another 1,000 bikes and raising more money.

Related posts

• Bike Gifts
• Bike Hope
• Bikes for Africa

We uploaded a photo of Calfee’s bamboo bike yesterday and it was featured in Velonews last month.

That’s Bettie loaded up with a Big Dummy Frameset for transport to the bike shop — the light filtered in through the garage windows from a bright Spring day

With Spring, warmer temperatures, and less rain, it’s time to bring Bettie back and we’re rev’ing her to 2.0. Just in time for the project, a Big Dummy was spotted in West Seattle.

I started thinking about an updated Bettie in this post and thought our readers probably have some thoughts on building another longtail, sport-utility, cargo bike. We’re building Bettie with a Big Dummy, transferring over most of the parts and the purpose of the project is to simplify it down — make Bettie easier to use, more friendly, and significantly less whippy.

How would you build up Bettie 2.0?

Subscribers to our feed will notice we’re splicing in our photostream and del.icio.us bookmarks. That’s bonus hugganess and the del.icio.us bookmarks will contain more random bike-related links that we may not post direclty on, like this totally NSFW bitch-cruiser. Note that next week we’re in Shanghai and blogging it all up with lots of photos and links coming.

What a great spring ride. We had a nice intimate crowd (less than 20, more than 3 although pretty close to that number) and fantastic weather. We spent just a small amount of time in downtown (route here) , voting instead to head up towards Queen Anne, Eastlake and then under/along I-5 back through to S. Lake Union. We stopped off at the Cafe Venus/Mars Bar for a bit of food and some beer before heading our respective ways.

My favorite part of the ride was the smell of spring in the air, shocking lack of rain, and how much sun we all got. I’m still tan from it!

We’ll resume our normal 2nd Friday schedule for next month’s April RideCivil. Check back here for details. Photos from the ride at the Bikehugger Urban group.

I prefer my lights to run on double or triple A batteries, mostly because I can get rechargables and even if they run out I can usually bum a replacement. On the down side, good rechargables can be pretty spendy. This is why when I heard something fall off my bike this evening I circled back. Hell, that’s $20 of batteries I thought. I have no idea what the driver of the SUV (who was driving slower than I was riding I might add) was thinking when he ran right over my dropped battery pack.

The battery pack is dead, shattered into a hundred tiny pieces. The replacement should be about $3 at the local electronics store. The batteries though? Seemingly unharmed. The moral of the story? Don’t let your battery pack fall onto the road, but if you do, use rechargeable double AAs.

Uploaded by Dunstan Orchard …

from the Bike Hugger Photostream.

Sparing you the gory details, I’ll just note that drawing salve def helps with saddle sores. What are your home remedies for that cycling-related malady?

from the Bike Hugger Photostream.

In our ongoing campaign to bring you even more hugganess, we just started a Bike Hugger YouTube Channel. We’ve uploaded our most- viewed videos first and are now uploading our 33 (to date) Huggacasts . We’ll still publish to iTunes for the iPhones and iPods, this is just another channel. We’ll also feature more bike-related videos from YouTube like these

Wednesday night I saw my favourite band from Japan: The Pillows. They have this odd animated video featuring a bicycle; the song was on a single released in January. Besides performing at SxSW, they are finishing up the Delicious Bump Tour with female rock-trio noodles from Yokohama. It was also the last set for local act The Stereo Future. It was a great show, but I feel a little lame that we didn’t ride to there. But it was raining…and we had a lot of sake.

“In my experience there’s no such thing as luck.” - Obi-Wan Kenobi

I remember old Ben’s advice well, but I also remember how he caught the wrong end of a light sabre the next day. Lady Luck is a fickle bitch. Take today for instance. I finally get a chance to ride my new frame, but I figure that I should evaluate how the new bike feels on a set of wheels that I know well. Besides, it was windy, so those super-tall rims of my new Mavic Cosmics wouldn’t be a wise choice, would they?

Oh, I would be regretting that decision.

Quick reminder: RideCivil is coming up this Friday, 5:30 PM at Westlake Center. Now’s your chance to participate in a ride focusing on positive interactions between pedestrians, motorists and cyclists in Seattle. Should be a great first Spring ride, I’m planning on bringing along some tunes. If you’ve got suggestions for the playlist please post a note in the comments section.

Sorta like when your shifting starts banging around, then stops, then maybe again, and definitely not when you pop into a bike shop for a wrench to check it … there’s some periodic funk going down on our site. On the backend, we’re working on adding 33% more hugganess, so no worries, it’ll all work itself out. Like this one time, I was traveling and my front wheel arrived tweaked and rubbing the brake. I was like, “oh well, ” and just rode it. Back home, I unpacked the wheel, and it was true again! I dubbed that wheel the “self-truing” wheel and have cherished it ever since.

Getting squeezed between traffic and parked cars riding down Western Ave in downtown Seattle, I looked over and mouthed the words in an exaggerated manner (much like that Shout video from Tears for Fears)

SHARE OH! — THIS IS A SHARROW LANE

The drivers didn’t care, much like the driver in this photo from Market street in San Francisco, and kept right on with their day. I don’t know the current status of sharrows, if they’re considered a success or not, but I’m still recommending to cyclist to get out into traffic, make sure they see you, and stay away from the car doors.

I’ve been using the Bull Frog tail light($28) by Knog for a couple months already. Like all of the Knog lighting products, the LED/battery case is encapsulated and affixed to a bike by means of a flexible silicon body. Most readers have seen the diminutive Frog lights, now available in a variety of body colours. I like them, but the Frog’s single LED and CR2032 batteries don’t make for long-lasting brilliance. What I wanted was a commuter tail light.

I present the Bull Frog.

Bike Jeremy, from the Austin Bike Zoo, shows us a 70-ft long pedal-powered rattlesnake …

Human beings are incredibly fragile … especially on a bicycle.

A quote from a cyclist attending a memorial ride for two dead cyclists in San Francisco over the weekend.

If we had budget for a spokesperson, my vote is for Richard!

from the Bike Hugger Photostream.

So here it is: my girlfriend’s Kappa. It started out as a retro-style BMX frame with modern geometry and tubing diameters, and then with Jeremy Sycip’s help I devolved the bike back into BMX’s genesis, the Schwinn Stingray. Everyone who sees knows it’s something cool, but they don’t know what it is exactly.

We’ve posted previously on the Hotspur — a handbuilt, oversized, Titanium-tube frame with a carbon seatstay — and I raced it this weekend on a rolling course in Ravensdale Washington. The bike performed as expected with a solid ride that was very similar to the Modal, but weighing less, and riding like a straight-up racing bike. Bill Davidson and Mark’s design achieved a lighter, stiffer Ti bike with that distinctive “springy-road” feel that Ti aficionados love. The bike climbed, accelerated, and descended, like I’d expect and excelled at rolling.

Most remarkable about racing the Hotspur was it reminded me of my old 853 frame — a ride that set a benchmark for my future reviews. I could subtly feel the road and the frame reacting to it. By all accounts (including our own) the new Madones, Tarmacs, et al, are all excellent racing bikes, and the intent of the Hotspur was to demonstrate that Ti can compete with carbon.

I wasn’t having that much stem stub and requested an urgent removal. Later, an informal study at the race on Sunday found many varying degrees of stem stubs. How much stem stub do you tolerate? Mark noted that there were anti-anxiety medications for worrying about stem stubs.

Also, green bar tape, while the subject of ridicule from your racing bros, does work well on St. Pat’s day.

More from the Bike Hugger Photostream.

We just got my gf’s Kappa BMX frame(seen above before work was done) back from Sycip Designs. Jeremy Sycip fixed the headtube problem, added some braze-ons to steady the sissy bar, and then powdercoated the bike. Soon after opening the shipping box, I had the bike reassembled, but this time with all the best parts from my previous BMX bike. She rode the bike to work today, and I’ll post the pix tomorrow. The bike was cool before, but now it’s awe-inspiring!

I’m taking the Modal with me to Shanghai in single-speed mode and looking forward to some very interesting riding. We’ve heard from the Shanghai Crash Test Dummy and Labici Bike Shop about riding with us. Googling Shanghai, I found

• Chongming Island Race
• A Guide for Bike Riders in Shanghai
• An article defending the bicycle in Shanghai
• The battle of the bike in Shanghai
• Fueled by Rice

Besides the planned rides, like Beijing and Taipei, we’ll just get out into the city and ride.

Photo uploaded by lemonade

Update ###

Dahon is supplying us with Mu XLs during our stay in Shanghai — so the Modal in single mode is staying home for this trip.

All in all it was a nice day for a ride — to windy, not sunny enough, but most importantly I was actually out riding which made it all OK. In the afternoon I got to load up the xtracycle with the kiddies to take Little J. down to the pool for his first swim. Big sister tagged along for the ride and the ride down was great. The ride back? Harder. 60 pounds of kids doesn’t get any lighter even if they’re cheering.

Earlier in the day I managed to put in a few miles through down town and on the Burke Gilman trail. I was almost home when I spotted this beauty and asked if I could take a photo. Unfortunately my phone-cam failed me and the photo you see is the best I could pull out of my editor.

My son is a bike hugger…at 18 months. The kid gets all excited and looks for approval whenever he spots a bike. “Daddy nGike!”. I’ve been getting killed at work of late, but on those nights where I have gotten home early enough to catch him awake, he runs up to me yelling “nGike!” while pointing at the logo on my BikeHugger kit. It’s pretty darn cute. This last week he got into the laundry and found his favorite pair of daddy’s socks and put them on himself, and proudly wore them around his room. Thanks to my wife for capturing that moment.

A friend of mine sent this link to me. Great British humour, clever advertising campaign.

And I totally fell for it: http://www.dothetest.co.uk/

I noticed a couple of bike-related tracks in the music blogosphere this week.

First, among the 763 South by Southwest sampler tracks was Be Your Own Pet’s Bicycle Bicycle You Are My Bicycle (Video - “Their bloodlust knew no equal!”). Stereogum made it a featured download on Wednesday. My take: Imagine Lisa Loeb singing lead for White Stripes. The refrain (“We’re on two wheels baby…”) rocks. Paul Ford at The Morning News reviewed all 763 tracks in 6 words: His take on BBYAMB: “Punky ladies sing goofy bicycle ditty.”

Speaking of ditties, former band on the roll the Ditty Bops, were Thursday’s Top Tune at Santa Monica’s KCRW with the title song from their album Summer Rains (Video). This one feels like it came straight off a 78-rpm wax cylinder — very laidback.

I was surfin’ around and I found this image from Blonde Fabrications. A 36-inch-wheeled mtb. Appropriately named the Amazon Blonde 36er, the builder apparently races it too. I’m sure it handles like a tank, but I love it when people are willing to push a concept (in this case, 29er wheels vs the standard 26 mtb wheels) to the extreme.

When you look at this picture, keep in mind that the my whole bike could pass thru the rim if it were not for the spokes.

Uploaded by photo_history, back in the day of the Safety Bike, that was some hotness. Also see this photo and the lyrics, “She had the sightless eyes, Telling me no lies Knockin’ me out with those American thighs,” came to mind.

More from the Bike Hugger Photostream.

Readers pointed out recent bikes & coffee posts from the blogopshere — bulleted below — and that reminded me to post on my new fav coffee shop. It’s Hotwire in West Seattle. The owner has got the blend down with a rich earthiness, a slight sweetness, and no bitterness. She also hand pours, unlike Starbucks. Robot pouring is about the worse thing you can do with espresso and I think led to the downfall of Starbucks. Anyway, back on topic, here are a collection of posts on coffee and a photo titled love grinds.

That’s an espresso cup that came out of the dishwasher just like that, with grinds settled in the bottom of the cup, in the shape of a heart.

Good article in the PI on Business and Cycling. The jist? Professionals and execs are moving off the links and on to bikes for doing business. The upshot for suits is that you get a workout in, your competitive urges out, and cut a deal while on your ride. Of course you’ll need a sweet ride, a trainer, and some kit (that’d be a suit in a SuperSuit for those playing along). Some of these folks shell out $8k for a bike so I’m not too worried on that front.

In the great idea category, one local law firm is even handing out Ridley’s for folks who promise to commute for 3 months. This really takes it up a notch in my estimation — the bike becomes about doing a civil good (getting another car out of our daily jams), not just about improving the bottom line of the business. Good for them! And as always, check out the Sound Off section for a surprise. Almost no feedback, almost all positive. It’s still early though.

Tecnologia del Tubo Torinese (vaguely translated as “Turin (Italy) technical tubing”) , otherwise known as 3T, was the number two stem and bar maker back in the day, behind Cinelli. Strangely both were owned by the Colombo Group along with Columbus tubing. But the rising value of the Euro, changes in global manufacturing, serious challenges from Deda Elementi and others, and lack of innovative products saw 3T fall off the radar for a few years.

Now they’re back with all new designs. Presumedly, all 3T production has been moved to Asia, because the prices are actually pretty attractive. I’m trying out the new ARX-Team stem, which I like a lot, and the Doric-Team seatpost, which I don’t.

The 2008 Commuter Challenges are on! With Spring approaching and the Sun out, so start the ad-hoc challenges on Seattle streets and presumably everywhere else. Yesterday, riding downtown, a commuter clocked me from Western to Dexter. I took a shortcut through Denny park and lost track of him. We met again near Mercer, stopped at a light, and he took a right, then a left onto 9th. I didn’t realize that was now a 2-way street and he gained about 8 seconds on me! I promptly chased him down and assumed the lead down Fairview. We chatted about how many condos are being built and where all the cars are going to go.

The Bike Hugger bloggers are easy to spot, if you’re planning a challenge … .

Our 32nd Huggacast features Austin bike culture. We rode with the locals in Austin, attended SXSW 08, threw a massive BBQ, ate some really good tacos, and saw a bike posse. Also noted is that I was stuck in Memphis, but was feeling Minnesota. Read our Urban Ride and BBQ page for more details about the event.

Our next mobile social event is in Shanghai.

Bike Hugger is visiting Shanghai for the Intel Developer Forum. We’ll ride, meetup, and blog the mobile social. The plan is to meet at the Shanghai International Convention Center to start with routes, stops, and locations TBD.

My shop has one of the new Hyland Civia bikes sitting in the window, and I have to say that it is one clever commuter.

A friend just forwarded on Bicycle Tour of Seattle Train Yards, happening on the remaining Sundays this Month.

Details: Departs at Noon from the All City Coffee House in George Town Ride: 3 hrs/ 10 miles, lumpy pavement (bring a patch kit and a pump), stopping at 3 rail yards. Ends in Ballard. To do: Check the site the day before to ensure no cancellations.

I gotta admit, I love riding through the train yards. I’m really looking forward to getting a few details on what’s actually happening in them. I don’t know much about the outfit, but I think these guys do the Secret Seattle tours which are well regarded.

I saw this guy the last day I was in Austin. This guy declined an “interview”, tossing a sorry-on-my-way-to-work our way as he searched his bag while negotiating traffic.

It seems tall bikes are not at all limited to the West Coast. Personally, that ain’t my bag, baby, but my head didn’t spin till just now when I looked at the photo trying to figure out how he stops the bike. He’s got bare brake bosses and no levers, so unless he welded that multi-speed freewheel to fix the wheel, I am totally baffled. Because that would seem like a really bad idea to be without some way to slow or stop.

We could’ve use a bike like this in Austin! Next time at the next event — also see the bike rotisserie and Juice Peddler. Uploaded by Nisa.

More from the Bike Hugger Photostream.

Pinchie counted up all the carbon I used getting to SXSW for the BBQ — lots of it — so noted and flattered that someone would count carbon for me. I don’t know how much carbon we offset by advocating cycling so heavily at SXSW with the organizers, riding around Austin with the locals, or offering baked potatoes for the vegetarians, but I think a large amount. This guy was one confirmed bike rental, on a Lime even.

Maybe Bike Snob NYC will hit us next for our hugga jerseys or for thinking we know something about bike culture. Try as we might though, we’ve never made it onto the Bummer Life, but it’s all good with more Hugga events coming, including one in Shanghai.

Everywhere I go, I try to bring my travel bike, specially made for me by Sycip Designs. I actually didn’t sleep the night before I flew down because I went psycho cleaning bikes before I packed. As I parked the now gleaming bike on the rack outside the convention hall, I got a chance to size up the adjacent bikes.

A genre of bike that stood out to me in Austin was the BMX cruiser, in both 24in and 26in. You don’t see too much of those in Seattle. But since Austin is relatively flat (compared to Seattle but not to… say…Miami), I could see that a BMX cruiser would make a stout yet quick choice if you weren’t faced with a lot of climbing. I personally don’t care for that kind of bike for sustained climbing; it’s a lot to do with the positioning.

Not only can Mark V outpack me, and has traveled with his bike like ten thousand more times than me, but he’s got this pictogram in his S&S case as an anti-TSA device. I’ve formally requested a copy. It illustrates to the person opening the case in some dank airport basement somewhere, how to reassemble the case with the compression members intact. The two disks and a piece of plastic pipe are also known as the pizza box things (from the plastic thingies that prevent the box lid from smashing your pie).

from the Bike Hugger Photostream.

First time Bike Hugger has seen a Trek Lime out on the streets … this is a still from an upcoming Huggacast on Austin’s Bike Culture.

from the Bike Hugger Photostream.

Welp, the Seattle International Bike Expo has come and gone and while I wasn’t able to attend we have the good fortune of living in the age of self publishing. From around the Bikeosphere: Kent’s photos and writing on the Expo. Eug’s (from wildheart cycling) got a few more photos including the Desalvo mini-penny-farthing, and Dessa got his feet evaluated on the Computrainer. The new backpack from Ergon sounds promising. I’m a messenger bag guy myself, but a backpack is always appealing. Reccomendations from Kent and Bikecommuters.com make it seem pretty sound, next year maybe I’ll get a chance to check out the new hotness myself.

Update: Many more Photos from A. Mussleman on Flickr. Nice Set!

I’m always fascinated when I discover that a town has a discernible “flavour” of bicycle. When I think of my home town in Florida, I think vintage Raleigh 3sp and Sears cruisers with metallic flake paint. I was in Austin over the weekend and I saw this seemingly casual bike that actually reveals a lot of thought.

Keep the date! We usually do RideCivils on the 2nd Friday of every month, but how could I resist riding on the Vernal Equinox and 1st day of spring (almost)! The official equinox is actually on the 20th, but we’ll call it good and ride out Friday evening, 5:30 from Westlake Center. Looking forward to a little more light for the ride, hoping for better weather and more riders.

With Jason, Mark, and me in Austin, Kelli was s’posed to blog the Bike Expo, but got sick (we hope she gets well soon). Andrew was working and Dave with his family.

Any readers go to the show? How was it?

I asked first and she said, “sure.” And then said, “yeah, that’s a good shot … drunk, no makeup, 11:00 am, riding to work.”

from the Bike Hugger Photostream.

Thanks to local guides Mark and Kirk and the rider turnout from atxbs.com (thanks Jason!), yesterday’s ride was a total success. It was a beautiful day for riding, and whoever decided that we should stop at that pub before the Blanton art museum deserves a promotion. I could have stayed longer at the museum but we needed to get to the BBQ.

Then at the BBQ, we reached the 300 person capacity for the location and gave out a lot of cool stuff. I ended up handing out 200 bag of schwag personally, and then mc’ing the raffle.

Afterwards, the atxbs.com crew led Byron and me to some freakin’ awesome tacos at some local joint. I think it was called Chilitos? Someone post the name of the restaurant.

Thanks again Austin!

An Austin 360 article on the Urban Ride and BBQ …

from the Bike Hugger Photostream.

I recently came across this article from a bloke from London (my adopted city!) about his search for a folder that he could fix up, fixie style. It’s is a topic close to my heart, being a fellow fixer on a folder.

Finding a fixable folder isn’t an easy task, there are all kinds of considerations to make, including the fact that many folder use non-standard parts. Andrew’s found a UK based road bike running 24 inch wheels that folds, folds, folds down into an airline check-in bag (given enough patience). The Airnimal Chameleon is a suspended, unified rear triangle design apparently suitable for winning a triathlon or two while still folding up quickly for your average bus trip. Andrew’s got his suited out with an ENO eccentric hub to handle chain tension. His epic journey across Dahon, Brompton, the Swift folder and others is educational to say the least. All things considered, I’m glad to hear even the higher end frames have an occasion creak and squeak, at least I’m not the only one.

At the Bike Hugger BBQ, there was a capacity crowd that ate all the food, drink all the beer, had a good time, and won prizes from our sponsors. We counted 300 people. 30 cyclists showed up for the Urban Ride on a beautiful Spring day. I made it just in time for the BBQ, but missed the ride, after being stuck in Memphis.

Thanks Austin and SXSW.

Tomorrow we’ll ride again with the locals, fly back to Seattle, and post more.

This officer patrols the Memphis Airport on a Smith & Wesson bike

from the Bike Hugger Photostream.

At one point, during the hectic flight-cancellation, rebook process, I was routed through Montreal, Detroit, and onto Austin! Who knew that Memphis would go into a panic with an inch of snow? Well, a fellow business traveler did. As we landed, he said, “if there’s snow in Memphis, they shut down all the flights.” I flew from Seattle to Memphis, and wham, all flights cancelled.

A few hours of sleep later in a Doubletree, and I’m back to the Airport to see if a regional airline will fly today to Austin.

If I’m there or not, the other huggas will make sure the Urban Ride and BBQ go well.

Have a good ride all.

Back from Vegas and onto Austin for the Urban ride and BBQ. See you all there. We’re easy to spot in our hugger gear and we’ll blog all the Austin urban cycling here, in our photostream, and huggacasts.

Got these shades in an IE8 schwag bag and have adopted them temporarily as my “Vegas Look.” Got me thinking, what’s the coolest or in contrast stupidest schwag you’ve ever got? For me, Mavic has the best clothes giveaways in the business.

Update

I gave Pam the schwag-bag shades after realizing that they were women’s — couldn’t argue with that — they have a little IE logo laser-etched on the lens.

from the Bike Hugger Photostream.

Here’s a mashup idea: give the Blue Man Group some bikes.

from the Bike Hugger Photostream.

So I’m at Mix 08, went out for a quick ride, and found the Hottest Coffee in Vegas

A couple notes:

• I forgot my helmet, back at home
• Sexxpresso is an “only in Vegas” and probably better that it Stay in Vegas
• Only a coinkadink that we’ve had back-to-back PG-13 posts

These cyclists do more than Hug their bikes … the Bike Porn site is sorta not safe for work and the Pornography of the Bicycle Tour is coming soon to a town near you (hide your daughters and your bikes!).

Skins is a new product on the market that’s quietly making a name for itself. You don’t hear much about them in the press - but if you look close at a big race it’s uncanny to see how many top pros are putting them on right after the race. I just got my pair today and the 1 hour result?: Who knows if they increase my recovery, but they feel GREAT! Holy cow - I’d walk around wearing these compression tights 24/7 if it was socially acceptable.

Full review to follow.

Byron wrote about them earlier in Vegas and we’re giving away Skins at the SXSW BBQ.

Cool video and explanation of why traffic jams occur on otherwise un-obstructed roads, courtesy of New Journal of Physics and the The Lede blog at the New York Times. Apparently the key factor is traffic density. As a multi-modal commuter I see (and participate) in these all the time. The funny thing is that this justifies the smug feeling you’re getting as you blow by the car-muters stuck in traffic — you’re not just going faster, you’re doing your part to reduce vehicle density and pointless traffic jams. Try not to lord it over the trapped-in-traffic though, they’re already frustrated enough.

Chelsea Green Publishing sent us a nice little book about Biking to Work. It’s a quick read and perfect to hand to your co-workers or friends that ask about your commute, urban cycling, and how to do it.

The book is published on 100% recycled paper and processed without chlorine.

What I dig here is that the Crumpler doesn’t flop over when filled. Presumably, it’d sit there just like that all day. We’re giving away a bunch of Crumpler bags at the SXSW BBQ.

from the Bike Hugger Photostream.

Mix 08 is “an intimate opportunity for cutting-edge technical, creative and business strategists to engage Microsoft in a conversation about the future of the web.” Right on and Bike Hugger is attending this year. (I keep trying to avoid Vegas, but it sucks me back in!).

After Mix 08, it’s onto SXSW for the BBQ and Urban Ride.

Any Bike Hugger readers going to Mix?

Here’s the Bike Hugger SXSW Urban Ride Route

We’ve got Bike Hugger 2.0 in the works, with a refreshed design, more community, and 33% more hugganess. Going into the upgrade process, we’d like to know what you think. So please tell us. What should go into 2.0? How can we give you even more bike hugga?

Instructables is coming to SXSW, stopping by the BBQ, and bringing this Kinetic Chain Sculpture with them.

That looks like hours of fun in a bike shop and also a great hand cleaner demo — “here, hold this chain-art thingy for a few seconds and then try our Pedros enviro-hand cleaner! Also see

• Found materials chopper
• Giant Squid Sculpture
• Austin FrankenBike

After putting these Carnac booties on, I thought, “hmm maybe too euro, even for me.” Lycra booties do serve a purpose in Spring weather. They keep the chill off, aero, and keep the feet drier when the roads are wet. These ones though look like Smurf boots, but at least their not White Booties …

Opinions? Are these indeed too Euro or should one always embrace their inner Euro? They also totally don’t match the Modal or Hotspur.