April 2009 Archives

Word on the street is that STP will sell out soon. After taking last year off with a two-month old, I'm back in the saddle and registered for STP 2009 and planning my second one-day ride to Portland.

While it sounds a bit crazy, having done both the one- and two-day rides, I honestly don't know that I'll ever ride a two-day STP again. The extra effort it takes to pull through 200 miles in one day far outweighs the pain of having to sit through another century on a sore rear end on day two. That, and I'm a damn sucker for the silly "One Day Rider" patch.

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the Group Health Seattle to Portland Bicycle Classic, and with the numbers looking to max out at 10,000 riders it continues to be the largest multi-day bicycle event in the Northwest.

If you haven't yet started training - get on it! Despite the novice reputation that STP often gets, there is nothing novice about riding 200 miles on your bike. It's not too late to hook up with Cascade's Training Series for some great rides at varying paces. And whether your planning for a one- or two-day STP, go sign up for Flying Wheels before it's too late. Flying Wheels is a great opportunity to get in some decent mileage without having to plan food stops.

For those new to the event, I strongly encourage a read through "How-Not-To" Ride STP from my first STP in 2006. And if it's your first one-day ride, head on over to Surviving A One-Day STP.

I'll be reporting all the best from Flying Wheels and STP back to The Hugga, so stay tuned. And if I ever get myself out of the dark ages and hook up with a camera phone, perhaps there be twitpics @kellidiane for the rides.

Hugga attended Frostbike this year and finally got our videos out. This one features a discussion about the Civia brand.

Download now for iTunes, your iPod, iPhone, and subscribe to the Huggacast Feed for more episodes.

iPhone Users

iPhone users can access our Huggacasts via the iTunes Store on a Wi-Fi or cellular network.

More

• Watch now on YouTube
• More videos
• Huggacasts are also available in the iTunes podcast directory.

Rode over to Ignite Seattle on the Brompton wearing a Hugga Wool T, Rudy Exowinds, Lazer "Tron" Urbanize helmet with blinky lights, and Bright Pocket pants from Cordarounds.

Seemed stylish to me, but the crew at Hugga HQ was laughing.

Uploaded by Hugger Industries | more from the Bike Hugger Photostream.

This weekend marks the first Bike Sunday of the season. So hitch up the trailers, pack a picnic and bring the family out for a nice ride along the lake. More information is available from Seattle Parks & Recreation.

Bicycle along Lake Washington Boulevard south of Mount Baker Beach to Seward Park's entrance. Lake Washington Boulevard will be closed to motorized traffic from 10 a.m. - 6 p.m.

That jumble of acronyms is for the Mobile Social @ Event Apart in Seattle this Sunday, May 3rd from 4 - 6PM. We'll ride from the Waterfront to the South Park neighborhood for a keg tapping at Schooner Exact Brewery. After a few beers, we'll give away some schwag and a Yuba Mundo.

Details

• Mobile Social Event Page
• on Upcoming
• on Facebook

That's Matt from Schooner Exact in the photo. He likes beer and bikes and Bike Hugger.

After reading about bad cops and cyclists, it was nice to see this video, but Copenhagnize has debunked it as propaganda from the Danish Road Safety Council, a pro-car lobby.

Hugga attended Frostbike this year and finally got our videos out. This one features a discussion about Civia in 2009.

Download now for iTunes, your iPod, iPhone, and subscribe to the Huggacast Feed for more episodes.

iPhone Users

iPhone users can access our Huggacasts via the iTunes Store on a Wi-Fi or cellular network.

More

• Watch now on YouTube
• More videos
• Huggacasts are also available in the iTunes podcast directory.

Something as utilitarian as a bike stand has inspired designers, artists, and various competitions. The recent winner of the Gateway Bikestand Challenge in Toronto is Justin Rosette with what looks like a docking berth for Double-O Seven's speedboat.

Other design submissions include Expression and Urban Relic.

Dig that one, but not sure a cyclist would know that's a rack. A fav is the secure bike rack from Design Against Crime.

We've noticed handbuilt, custom bike shows always have a curious emphasis on baskets and racks. Someone could probably start a basket & rack blog and ponder racks from those shows and this porter from Good Morning Technology.

It combines a handlebar, basket and says, "hey check my basket!" Or the chrome version would work really well in a modernist bathroom. Hang hand towels and put all your toiletries in it.

Hat tip to reader Chris L and noquedanblogs. Also seen on Design Boom and NOTCOT.

Uploaded by davidjschloss | more from the Bike Hugger Photostream.

Electra just sent us a Townie Sport 105 to test. We've gotten a number of people to ride it and are getting a full review together. In the meantime, enjoy the picture-y goodness.

Hugga attended Frostbike this year and finally got our videos out. This one features a discussion about the origins of Civia.

Download now for iTunes, your iPod, iPhone, and subscribe to the Huggacast Feed for more episodes.

iPhone Users

iPhone users can access our Huggacasts via the iTunes Store on a Wi-Fi or cellular network.

More

• Watch now on YouTube
• More videos
• Huggacasts are also available in the iTunes podcast directory.

Bent riders are unto themselves, a rare breed, with crazy ideas like a morphing bike position . . . also see Joe Kochanowski and his 3-position machine.

Uploaded by henry in a'dam | more from the Bike Hugger Photostream.

We're in Portland for a Mobile Social that weekend, but just the same the West Side Invite 09 is in Seattle this year:

"For the last eight years the Westside Invite has occurred in a place called Portland. Now in its ninth year we here in Seattle are fortunate enough to host this event (sans strip clubs). We hope to bring the same NW flavor that you would expect from a Westside, with a unique Seattle slant. What we are looking to do this year in Seattle is show everyone our beautiful Emerald City. Were going to take you to the places we hang out, the places we work and the places we play. This will not be just a metropolitan tour of the core, it will be cycling journey from south to north and from skid row to the top."

From Zlog Boutique.

Also see posts and photos about abike ride, a corn dog, a beer. At the Corn Dog Classic.

Reader Chris L. sent us a gallery from the German Special Bike Show, including this Velomobile.

Also see

• Touring Electric Yuba Mundo
• Basket Box Bike
• Trek folding

That monkey looks like it could climb though -- I mean, you're in the pack can't believe it's going so hard and here comes a monkey. Hup, Hup, Hup monkey!

Also note the smugness of that track stand.

Photo: AP Photo

Hugga attended Frostbike this year and finally got our videos out. This one features exclusive news from Knog.

Download now for iTunes, your iPod, iPhone, and subscribe to the Huggacast Feed for more episodes.

iPhone Users

iPhone users can access our Huggacasts via the iTunes Store on a Wi-Fi or cellular network.

More

• Watch now on YouTube
• More videos
• Huggacasts are also available in the iTunes podcast directory.

The cuteness of that horn would probably wear off because I'd honk it all the time.

Uploaded by Georgie_grrl | more from the Bike Hugger Photostream.

Hugga attended Frostbike this year and finally got our videos out. This one features Hutchinson Tubeless Cross Tires.

Download now for iTunes, your iPod, iPhone, and subscribe to the Huggacast Feed for more episodes.

iPhone Users

iPhone users can access our Huggacasts via the iTunes Store on a Wi-Fi or cellular network.

More

• Watch now on YouTube
• More videos
• Huggacasts are also available in the iTunes podcast directory.

Chamois butter is the magic elixir of cycling--it can transform a painful and chafing ride into pure bliss. Genitals, (either the internal or external variety) were never really meant to spend extended time cozying up to the inside of a pair of cycling shorts. I don't really care how fluffy or slippery or awesome the chamois, it's still going to feel like sandpaper after a hard day in the saddle.

One of my favorite chamois creams comes from a small company called Chomper Body, and the male-specific mix is called Ballocks. They also make a salve for women called Booty Balm, as well as a therapeutic and embrocation cream.

The products contain the essence of tea tree oil, lemon, lavender and other natural ingredients and runs $18 for the Ballocks or Booty Balm and $9 for the Crank embrocation creme or Muscle Butter therapeutic rub. You can buy them at many local bike stores, but the products are available on the company's website as well.

A small dab of Ballocks is enough to keep me comfortable all-day without that slimy feeling that many cremes can leave behind, and I never feel like I'm sliding around on my saddle after application. The smell isn't overpowering or obnoxious either, with just a slight scent of tea-tree odor.

Oh, lamentations! Fizik, purveyor of microfibre handlebar wrap, have discontinued wrap in celeste, the sea-foam green hue made famous by Bianchi bicycles. Currently 4 out of my 6 bicycles are celeste or have celeste accents... even my custom Sycip is celeste. Half of them have matching celeste Fizik Arione saddles too. Until this year, I was just going to always keep a spare celeste Fizik bar wrap in supply box at home. My life was going to be so easy!

I mean, I'm not too crazy. I don't have to have spanking new wrap on my bars; the bars can have can dirty or ripped wrap and still pass my requirements. But something fills my heart with glee to see my arsenal of bikes on the wall... celeste with celeste saddles.

In the LA production of Die Walkure, the "Valkyries ride their steeds of sculpted wire, with bicycle-wheel tails."

Charged with carrying the spirits of warriors killed in battle to the afterlife in Valhalla, these modern LA Valkyries do so on bikes. Bonus for the light sabers.

Back in the dead of winter Mavic issued a recall on their R-Sys wheelsets, after discovering an issue that could cause failure of the front wheel. Especially prone to side-force damage, the carbon spokes of the R-Sys wheels had a risk of failure. (In fact one of our local shops had his wheels fail--a slow sort of crumbling of a spoke--months before the recall.)

Shops that sent the R-Sys wheels in right away are starting to see them return. My own front wheel just came back from Mavic, and it looks dandy. Mavic gave all users a set of Askium wheels to use during the repair, which we were able to keep, so look for a flood those "loaner" wheels on eBay soon.

For National Bike Month and in partnership with TechFlash, we're going to feature Lunch Rides with Techies. Those noon hammerfests, where much business gets done, and people stay in shape.

Do you ride at lunch? Let us know in the comments. We'll bring a GoPro wearable video camera with us, ride, and eat (not necessarily in that order).

Size 64

For example, this week I rode with Matt Haughey. That's his size 64 Trek Madone equipped with SRAM Red -- the head tube is longer than my forearm.

Trek doesn't make a bike bigger than that. It's Godzilla size.

We ate tacos at Cactus on Alki and then toured the industrial areas of Seattle near Southpark.

After chatting about the economy, Matt's early work on Blogger and Creative Commons, it got real quiet when we hit the 18% grade hill.

Matt has ridden one thousand mile so for this year. As we finished up the ride, Matt took this photo of the moment.

Brown Bag and Bikes

Next up is a lunch with people from Microsoft, Novara, and more. See the related post on TechFlash: In search of Seattle cycling geeks.

For the Mobile Socials at An Event Apart and WebVisions next month, Princeton Tec sent us a box of light love. We're giving all those lights away . . . also giving away a Yuba Mundo and a Breezer city bike.

I've posted before about my own travel bike, a custom Sycip with S&S couplings. I designed the bike for maximum versatility. By changing out handlebars, rear wheels, and other peripheral components, the bike can become a road fixie, a TT bike, a touring bike, or a road racing bike. Someday I'd like to do a cyclocross race with it, just to say that I've done it all with that bike. I've been almost 20 countries with it, and it's outlasted two relationships. It's a great formula that inspired Byron's Davidson Modal bike, but my bike did have a predecessor.
Here's my current Sycip in front of the predecessor, just yesterday.

Bicycling has an interesting--and lengthy--article on the subject of the rights of a cyclist when confronted by a police officer. At least, that's what the subject of the article implies the article is about, but it's more like a verbose episode of Cops.

The short version (you really should read it yourself though) is that two cyclists riding two-abreast on a backcountry road were either harassed by a cop or legitimately told to stop, depending on whose story you believe. At this point, things started to spiral terribly out of control, with a taser and baton being called into play.

The cyclists feel they were abused, the cops feel they were taunted and that the cyclists were evading arrest. Personally I think the real story is somewhere between the two, and that the entire matter could have been avoided if the riders had stopped and talked to the cop in the first place. I've been approached before by police officers who don't know what the laws are regarding bikes (but think they do) and the conversations have been enlightening, to say the least.

Bob Mionske, the author of the piece says "I suspect it's easier to just quietly comply with a law enforcement officer's misguided attempts to enforce laws that don't exist. Sure, we know the officer is wrong, but do we really want to go to jail to make that point, instead of wherever it is we happen to be going at that moment?" Personally I'd rather be in jail than shot. A nice wrongful arrest suit would go a long way to setting precedent in a state, and it wouldn't require a trip to the hospital or the morgue.

Jones Soda pedal powers their office for Earth Day. When the lights dimmed, I'm sure sugar water in the bottles helped!

Also see their pedicabs. Hat tip to the Big Blog.

When I hear manifesto, I think of of the Cluetrain or some bloggers telling us how to blog. In this instance, the manifesto is for cyclists and is a new book written by Robert Hurst who, "delivers a vigorous forehead slap to America in this feisty manifesto for the age of Peak Oil."

David has this book and is reading it now. TreeHugger has an extensive review. We like slapping people upside the head with bikes, sure, but also think it takes more thought than that.

There's someone taking Earth Day seriously -- offset carbon while not polluting the groundwater. Presumably, the waste is biodegraded and then spread on a Peapatch somewhere. Or, as placenamehere said,

plenty of storage for groceries!

Don't know where this Porta-Potty was spotted, but it joins the Crazy Bike Inventions collection. Also see the Lawn Mower Bike.

Recently I went six months without shaving my legs, and it kinda feels good to be clean shaven again. I was shaving my legs before the word "metrosexual" was coined. Even before I was cycling (because I crashed much more frequently on inline speedskates). People still ask me why. I usually tell them that aerodynamics plays little part in the equation, that shaved legs are easier to clean road grime off in the shower, and of course that they're easier to wash and bandage in the event of road rash.

But that's all subterfuge. Why do I shave my legs? Vanity, babe...pure vanity.

Massive turnout for the Tour of the Fireflies. The ride is organized by the Firefly Brigade, an activist group that fights for clean air in Manilla.

Photo: Reuters Pictures

Related posts

• 10th Tour of the Fireflies
• Tour of the Fireflies: 19 April
• The fight for clean air

Our last latest favorite back was Come and Take it during SXSW. This month, it's Von Pilsen.
Check the related Flickr Group.

Uploaded by bilobicles bag | more from the Bike Hugger Photostream.

Microsoft opened a "splashy dining-shopping destination called The Commons" on their latest campus:

14 restaurants, shops, soccer field, even a pub is the gooey filling in the emerging West Campus, a 1.4 million-square-foot town square of four office buildings that will house the company's Entertainment and Devices division, which developed video-game player Xbox and music-player Zune.

The Commons includes a bike shop and I thought, "imagine that -- an over-achieving, Type-A, X-Box developer needs a tube and needs it right freakin' now for the lunch-time hammerfest. He's got a Zune in his jersey pocket, with a playlist ready to rock, and needs a fix.

Good thing geeks are getting out on bikes, but geez is that the worst bike shop job evar? It would have to be stand around 80% of the time -- facing shelfs, looking busy -- until someone needs a pump.

On the other hand, maybe they've got some MS bro-deals!

Photo: AP

Readers?

The Novara crew is in Vietnam and Steve Gluckman Facebooked this photo. Reminds me of all the various bikes we saw in our Asian travels and a reminder that in other parts of the world, people just ride bikes as transportation.

This girl on bikes blog has a Japanese flavor.

Via Brooklyn By Bike | Photo kelly★5246

It's Bike Culture from Brooklyn with love. The BBB crew just rode to Floyd Bennett Field. Riding along with them is Jason Santa Maria, an Internet-famous designer and long-time cyclist.

Photo Amy Sly

Two coffees on a two seater.

Photo Amy Sly

Back then, the owner of this bike was the most popular kid on the block. Listening to the Wolfman and maybe a slow song on a date.

More about the Radio Bike from Boing Boing and Dave's Vintage Bicycles.

Uploaded by hebegbeez | more from the Bike Hugger Photostream.

The economy will improve next week!

From a 1920s Mather Work Incentive Posters.

Uploaded by Hugger Industries | more from the Bike Hugger Photostream.

Inevitable that Khaki bike pants will get some grease on them. Those are Cordarounds, identifiable by the big red tab and bright pockets. We've got a Hugga Discount code for those pants through the end of the month -- Just note "Huggersphere" in the comments when you check out and get $15.00 of the purchase.

Also on sale

• Cotton Tees 25% off
• Socks two for one
• Club Cut Jerseys 25% off

I'd salute that bike as I was riding by.

Uploaded by armybicyclecarl | more from the Bike Hugger Photostream.

Reader ReGeneration tipped us to Inspired Bicycles video -- also blogged on Wired -- can't mention trials without linking to Hans "No Way" Rey.

Let's pretend that you're an important rider on an international pro cycling team finishing off a multi-day stage race closing in on the final four kilometers of a hard day in the saddle. Heck, we'll go ahead pretend that you're Theo Bos riding for Rabobank in the Tour of Turkey and say that the race leader is Darril Impey of Barloworld.

You're probably thinking "I wonder if there are any dirty race tactics I could use to both help my team win a stage race and commit a felony at the same time? Preferably something that will be caught on camera." As the final kilometers tick away you've got a plan. Why not just grab the race leader and throw him into the barriers?

And that's exactly what Bos did, in a move that has yet to be even sanctioned.

Flickr blogs about Dustin Diaz's behind-the-scenes photography, including this bike shot with the caption

Why should anyone steal a watch when he could steal a bicycle? ~ Flann O'Brien

See more on strobist.

Uploaded by Dustin Diaz | more from the Bike Hugger Photostream.

The Modal is a travel bike concept that folds and toggles between single, fixed, and geared modes. This wheel was built with Nexus 8 Speed Premium "Red Band" attached to a Hed Ardennes. It's for internal-gear mode and we're building this up now with a drop bar.

Bike Hugger Modal tags.

I'm planning my first ride of the season tomorrow, getting ready to ramp up for the summer ride schedule. For those of us who aren't quite into the racing or commuter scenes, here's a recap of Seattle's most popular summer rides.

• Flying Wheels Summer Century (June 13, 2009). With a finish line festival at Marymoor Velodrome, this event offers 25-, 45-, 65- and 100-mile loops through some of the area's scenic foothills. Don't be fooled by the pretty picture though, the hills offer a surprising challenge.

• Livestrong Challenge (June 21, 2009). Beginning and ending at Seattle Center, the event offers a 5k run/walk in addition to 10-, 45-, 70- and 100-mile loops around the city and surrounding area.

• Seattle to Portland Bicycle Classic (July 11-12, 2009). Celebrating it's 30th year, STP offers a one- and two-day ride to Portland, for a total of 200 miles. (Actually, it's about 204 miles, and there's an obscenely brutal hill about 2 miles from the finish line.)

The fashionable Plain-Clothes Cyclist makes the NYT in an article from David Colman, who asks if New York can become New Amsterdam.

Sure, many of us would say, as if! Still damn nice to have bike culture represented in the mainstream media, even if some of the photos seem strained. Like, a model wrestling a Brompton and what's a male model to do when he gets bike grease on a Prada suit?

Colman praises Dutch bikes and includes a slide show and interactive feature. Gary Fisher Simple City, Vintage Raleigh, and more are shown. That's a good get for their PR. Trek must've missed the call for their District.

Also see How City Bikers Look Sharp - no word on what to do when it's hot and you sweat up your Dolce Gabana. Just this week, reader Bikeskirt tweeted:

I would like to apologize to my coworkers for the fact that I rode to work in my work clothes . . . did not expect it to be this hot.

New Yorkers have room for extra showers in those buildings, right?

Photo: David Roemer for The New York Times

This is Josh. He's 14 (if I heard him right, I'm going to photograph him more tomorrow and get the whole scoop) and he's a racer. And he's more badass than I am, and more badass than a lot of racers I know.

Josh has Type 1 diabetes, which is why he's hanging out with Team Type 1, the race team that's raising awareness for diabetes while dealing with the disease themselves. I first ran into TT1 on a photo shoot in Santa Barbara and decided that a bunch of racers that are taking injections daily while still competing at a pro level are my new heroes.

It seems that Josh had the same idea, and he's riding his ass off to become just like the guys on the team, and he's racing the juniors class tomorrow.

Battenkill is a really all-American event, complete with church suppers, expo areas and kids collecting autographs at the meet-the-pros events.

Pam was concerned I'd take her wheels one day, so she's marked them with a P. The Pardennes.

Uploaded by Hugger Industries | more from the Bike Hugger Photostream.

Clever Cycles has stoked a Yuba Mundo and an Xtracycle Radish.

We'll check both of those next month when we're in Portland for another Mobile Social on May 20th.

Uploaded by cleverchimp | more from the Bike Hugger Photostream.

Mick Walsh has been racing his bike as long as there's been bike racing. He races Masters mostly and is over 40. Yesterday he

• Rode to work at 5:45 AM and worked until 4 PM .
• Rode from Bellevue to West Lake Sammish Parkway and Lakemont, over I-90, to Seward Park to race the Thursday Night crit at 7:00 PM.
• Finished crit. Rode home arriving at 9.15 PM.

That's 90 miles, including the crit. Mick's secret to staying in shape at 40 +? Ride and race 90 miles on Thursday!

This weekend is the multi-cycling-extravaganza known as Sea Otter. We're forgoing the festivities for the more bucolic beauty of the Tour of Battenkill in upstate New York but we'll be following along with all the goings-on. Here's a list of some of the people covering Sea Otter.

First, there's the general event page for Sea Otter, which has lists of the festival, events, races and more.

MTBR.com has rolled out a dedicated page blogging Sea Otter.

Roadbikereview.com has a filter for their Sea Otter related pieces.

VeloNews is also providing a filtered page for Sea Otter news.

The Twitter hashtag for Sea Otter is likely going to be #seaotter. There's only one tweet about it right now though.

Facebook has a page for the Classic, which is already picking up activity.

Have more social coverage links for us? Post them in the comments.

The Hugga Hookup discounts for the Spring Sale include

• Cotton Tees 25% off
• Club Cut Jerseys 25% Off
• Socks 2 for 1

We've also got a Bonus Bike-to-Work Pants Deal setup with our bike-riding bros at Cordarounds. Get $15.00 off. Pair those Bright Pocket pants with the shirt and socks and you're def a Bike Hugger. Also, you can totally stand out in a crowd, wearing the Jersey.

More Comfort

Just in and shipping from our Amazon.com Store the new Bamboo Blend Tees and Hincapie Sunscreen.

There is something therapeutic about the rhythm of lacing and truing a wheel. Maybe it's the beer.

Uploaded by Dapper Lad Cycles | more from the Dapper Lad Cycles Photostream.

Planning to hit Sea Otter this weekend? If you are, check out the new movie debut of Freedom Riders, a documentary mountain biking film that looks as if it will be an interesting departure from the normal "jump my bike off a cliff" flick that so often premieres at bike festivals.

According to the press release:

Freedom Riders is the Dogtown and Z Boys of mountain biking. The film artistically captures the evolution of freeriding from stealth trail building to forging a working relationship with the U.S. Forest Service to establish the first-ever downhill specific trail in Forest Service history in the Teton Pass area of Wyoming. The film showcases the freeriding subculture in North America from where it was to where it is now by highlighting how the sport has obtained its legitimacy in the public eye. The film will also feature an original soundtrack by Grammy Award nominee Luke Reynolds.

Freedom Riders will debut at the Embassy Suites in Seaside from 7-10pm on April 18th at the IMBA California Benefit Party. Proceeds go to IMBA and a raffle will be chock full of goodies from Crank Brothers, CAmelBak, Yakima, Gu and more. If that's not enough to solidify your plans for Saturday, there's also free food and beer.

LOOK Cycles is famous for two things: bringing to market the first successful clipless pedal system and carbon bicycle frames. The French company continues that fame with the updated Keo pedal system and bold frame designs like the 595 road frame. LOOK used to make shoes too, but those designs faded from the market years ago. It seemed to me that LOOK choose to concentrate on hardware rather than soft goods, so I was mildly surprised when I saw the company offered technical riding apparel. Or rather, I assumed that they would have just contracted a clothing manufacturer to sublimate some big LOOK logos on a standard jersey pattern and call it a day. And in the past I have frequently been disappointed with clothing branded for other bike manufacturers. But this LOOK stuff is good, I mean, really nice riding apparel. I've had the chance to ride a few pieces from LOOK's Ultra Winter collection, and they're easily the best winter riding wear that I've ever owned. No hyperbole.

The Seattle PI profiles acoustic ecologist Gordon Hempton and his work on urban soundmarks. Gordon learned his craft while working as a messenger

Hempton lived here from 1978 to 1994, working for years as a downtown bike messenger. While dodging cars and buses he developed his "seuketat" - Eskimo for "ears of an animal."

I know the sounds of the city cited in the article and the sounds of bikes in a peloton, group ride, and bike stand. I also listen intently when I'm delivering cargo.

There's a bottom bracket creak, a loose seat, and dry chain. That distinctive whap-crunch-smack sound of a crash. I can also detect Hed or Zipp wheels and the breathing of someone working hard on a climb.

Air, Metal, Rubber

The peloton makes curious metallic, whooshing sounds. It's air being pushed by wheels. Chains against cogs. Rubber on the road and legs turning pedals.

Photo: Kevin Tumara

You get close to it once, hear it, and you'll never forget it. I focused on Time Trials once many seasons ago. Went to Nationals and would count the helicopter-like whoops from my Tri-Spokes to gauge how fast I was going (it's an old mental trick to not look at your speedo, especially in a headwind).

Monkey Music

The current most identifiable soundmark for me is the one Bettie makes at full Cargo speed. I recorded it for an NPR project and you can hear it in this video. There's a harmony to it, a working, churning hum. Todd swears my Stokemonkey is the only one that does that. Well good and cool if so.

Ride Ears

What do you hear when you ride?

Gordon's got a book out on Amazon.com: One Square Inch of Silence: One Man's Search for Natural Silence in a Noisy World.

The Mobile Social is in our home town of Seattle next month during An Event Apart -- a web conference. On Sunday May 3rd, we'll urban ride with some cargonistas from the Bell Harbor Convention Center to Southpark for a keg tapping at Schooner Exact.

AEA blogged about the MoSo last week quoting me

"During AEA's last visit to Seattle in 2007, I noticed a bike rack with other cyclists and talked to a designer about his ride in," says DL Byron, founder of the Mobile Social effort. "As a result, I started thinking about all the times I've seen designers, developers, creatives ride to events like this -- and that sounded like a group ride to me!"

That's right and then we brought the MoSo concept to Austin during SXSW and Portland for Webvisions.

Geoff Casey from Baron Bicycles wrote to ask me about riding in Maui. Below are my responses.

I'm going to Maui on the 24th, bringing a bike...what should I know?

Excellent. It's way less Blue Hawaii and more strip malled than you'll expect, but ride a few miles out of town and you're good. They have new bike paths along the main highway and you'll ride every ride along highways. The locals there are tolerant of bikes with some haters. I got nearly killed two years ago by an angry hippie in a bio-diesel Mercedes with a No Iraq War bumper sticker. Maui is car-centric and all those white sedans you'll see are tourists.

For some reason my riding position has evolved to being lower and I now spend more time in the drops. Further, my preferences for drop handlebars has changed. The shape that I spent most of my time riding was the 3T Forma (and its subtly different successor, the Forgie, shown below), but the fact that this bar was originally designed for early aero-routed brake levers as opposed to the integrated brake/shift levers of today changes the ergonomic balance. So recently I have put a lot of thought into what I want from my drop handlebar, and now I'm bent on changing the bar on every road and track bike I own. I ended up going with several different bars, each for specific reasons.

Two of our partners and favorite urban bikes in one shot. That's a bike culture money shot with a Madsen and Dahon.

Uploaded by Dapper Lad Cycles | more from the Bike Hugger Photostream.

It's April 13th and it snowed today in Seattle...again. I just got a set of DVDs from Global Ride. I only rode along for a bit tonight, but the Maui Rollers DVD was a nice diversion from the gloom of the day. Full review after I get in some good trainer time, but in the mean time here's the YouTube Sample.

Our man in Denver, Jason, attended this event and posted.

Uploaded by Hugger Industries | more from the Bike Hugger Photostream.

I rode past a coyote hunting rabbits, while the sun broke through black storm clouds. The coyote's glance reminded me to live outside of the office, not online, or twittering in social networks all the time. The coyote kept running and I pedaled a bit faster.

It started to rain again and the sun was behind the clouds.

I was on the Duwamish and eventually the Green River trail. During that few seconds of eye contact, I thought of the settlements that once lined these rivers. A waterway for Native Americans, the Gold Rush, and now a lazy Bike Path passing large warehouses.

Hunt those rabbits Coyote while I ride on.

Image based on Seattle Coyote uploaded by sweejak.

On Saturday night I went to ARTCRANK Denver--"a poster party for bike people"--and ended up having a great time.

For starters, they chose a great block on Colfax to throw their party and got the participation of lots of Denverites, making it a truly local party. It helps that I'm fond of that part of Colfax--I owned a home there up until recently--but the Shoppe (home of some of Denver finest cupcakes) and the Fabric Lab (which trades in some fine bike-themed apparel) were also great choices for partners helping to transform that block of Colfax into a cycling spectacle.

I don't ride much at night and use this Princeton Tec Switchback mostly for safety in flash mode. Under gray, rainy, dreeping skies the max-bright LEDS indicate to the motorists my location.

On the occasion I find myself riding past dusk, flip it to high and the bike path is lit up like a solar flare.

Uploaded by Hugger Industries | more from the Bike Hugger Photostream.

My fascination with Paris-Roubaix only increased after seeing it in HD -- it was in a word stunning. Viewers could see decals on forks, components, facial expressions. Coming out of a cobbled sector, the racers looked sick and pained. As if they'd lost part of themselves on the pedals.

We've been critical of Versus for many things -- mostly bull-riding preempting cycling and "the intern" -- and to their credit they're listening. The even asked us for input last year. Nice work on Sunday. Full props.

Photo: ctankcycles

Looking for words to describe the race, I found a NYT's archive written by the novelist Robert Daley in 1961

Hordes of riders pedaled by this scene at thirty miles an hour through ever-thickening clouds of dust. The men crouched over their handlebars but bounded up and down on the rutted cobblestones as if on horses. Car after car sped past them, two wheels in the gutter and the other two inches from the racers. Their horns blared.

The technology may change, in 09 fans and reporters twittered, while the race ploughs the same bloody trench through history.

Next year the chaos on two wheels will return and we'll watch it.

Inclement weather doesn't stop Seattle's cargo bike crowd. Xtracycles, Big Dummies, Madsens and Bakfietsen are often present on these organized rides. So how does one stand out from the crowd? Here's one way, haul a rider in a recliner, or better yet, make your own custom trike with a Bimini Top to shield you from the rain. Do you have a crazy custom cargo bike? if so this is the ride for you.

Uploaded by Dapper Lad Cycles | more from the Dapper Lad Cycles Photostream.

This bad-ass bag was a prize in the Milwaukee Messenger Invitational.

Uploaded by ibikempls | more from the Bike Hugger Photostream.

It was a Gregg's Greenlake day today. Shopping for breakfast at PCC I met Jeremy -- he twitters for Greggs. Later, we went to the shop to talk about replacing Pam's frame, and Fritz showed us his Surly 1 x 1 built up with Alfine.

Fritz was very proud of that bike.

Last week, Hugga hung out with the crew at Novara and watched Paris Roubaix movies and I tweeted

While the mainstream news and stories are of the Grand Tours, Paris-Roubaix is cycling's folklore

The race is on now, we're watching it on Justin.tv. Paris Roubaix and the Classics got me into cycling. I heard tales of it in Markee's Bike Shop and watched grainy videos with Texas Jack Howell. The race is a reckoning through blood-stained land, over medieval cobbles. It's fiendish, brutal. Suffering.

This year I don't want to see George Hincapie fall into a ditch, exhausted, or break a steerer tube. I want to see him win it.

Cobbles Hurt

Our bros at RBA published video of the Arenberg and more special coverage.

Joe Parkin wrote about the race in Dog in a Hat and My Trek Store has a bike with cobble dirt on it.

Whatever flavor of cycling you're into, the Hell of the North is part of the bike and our culture. It's our folklore.

Got this in my inbox, don't know what it says, but like it.

Uploaded by Hugger Industries | more from the Bike Hugger Photostream.

By now much of the cycling world has heard about the stink caused by Lance's post-bike-ride shower in France, but if you're not here's the Cliff Notes version:

Lance came back from a training ride to find a French doping lab agent in his driveway asking for samples of his blood, urine and hair. According to the French, Lance put up a protest. According to Lance, he had no idea who the nut was in his driveway, so he asked if he could take a post-ride shower while his team manager and the UCI sorted things out. When they figured everything was okay, Lance gave up the DNA.

Then the French started bitching. The twenty minute time spent showering must have somehow compromised this test, even though the results came back negative. As did the other twenty-three tests he's done this year.

As my friend Otis Rubottom mentioned in Twitter today, there haven't yet been enough jokes about the French and the stereotype about them not liking to shower, so as a fair-and-balanced journalist, let me just fill that capacity by saying (sarcastically) for the record "and clearly the French were upset because Lance violated the nation's anti-showering regulations, taking an out-of-competition cleansing lasting more than one minute."

This belt-driven S&S-coupled bike

folds and packs up like this

and then is ready for the bus, subway, train, and/or ferry.

On test soon and on the ride during our Mobile Social @ An Event Apart.

Damn....I love prints, I love bikes, and I love Minneapolis. So how am I only just hearing about this: ARTCRANK: A Poster Party for Bike People?

Good for me, ARTCRANK is opening a show in Denver this weekend, replete with lots of old interactive buddies. Lucky for me, with my broken hand, I won't be missing any snow.

Minneapolis: Self-Portrait of a Bike Commuter
Poster by Aesthetic Apparatus
Uploaded by syntaxjunkie on 29 Mar 09, 8.31AM MDT.

Contrail is a notional device from designer Pepin Gelardi for turning your bike into a chalk line. Some have suggested practical uses for the device. But I think leaving messages for our alien overlords is the potential "killer app."

Update

Zoomed in on the photo with notations and Andrew emailed to say

That's from The Dalles, OR this weekend. We spotted this guy and his 3 DOGS! The dog on the back was sitting calmly on the piece of plywood and there were two more pups in the front basket. I freaking SPRINTED out of the hotel room to grab the camera and chased that guy on foot for 2 blocks to get that crappy pic. I can't believe that dog on the back just sat there!

Another photo with more dogs and a cat!

Uploaded by andrewfmartin | more from the Bike Hugger Photostream.

With the success of NAHBS, regional custom bike shows seem to be popping up all over the place. We had a great time riding the Yahoo Purple Pedals Bike at Oregon Manifest in Portland. So far, this is the craziest/coolest thing I've seen pop up on Flickr from the San Diego Bike Show.

Uploaded by Moonshine and Matches | more from the Dapper Lad Cycles Photostream.

Detroit, it seems, has finally caught up with the realization that urban planning can be quickly and radically altered thanks to the myriad advantages of a two-wheeled transportation system.

Unfortunately, GM has backed the wrong horse and has displayed the cutting-edge decision making processes that lead to the Hummer as a commercially available vehicle.

The new Segway-partnered transporter called the P.U.M.A, which is short for Please Underwrite My Autos, Personal Urban Mobility and Accessibility (and is an acronym that's not even grammatically correct) and seats two, incredibly environmentally sensitive people.

Not as environmentally sensitive as if they had walked or ridden their bikes the model shown to the press seems to lack any sort of onboard storage for things like groceries, office supplies, shopping bags or any of the things you might want a vehicle for.

Certainly revamping a city to fit a culture based around these Jetson-shaped vehicles would make it more efficient than basing it around larger autos, but maybe GM could have taken their considerable research and development prowess, gained while developing the soon-to-be-doomed Volt and put it into things like electric-assist bikes.

In any case, this is almost a moot point as the PUMA won't hit the streets without some sort of infrastructure in place, as we're guessing that most municipalities here in the States won't let devices less protected from crashes than your average golf-cart ride in the vehicular lanes, and the existing bike/ped facilities aren't sophisticated enough to support bikes and pedestrians efficiently, let alone Blade Runner style scooters.

Still, it's good to know that GM's not going to waste any of the billions of taxpayer dollars it's likely to get on things as frivolous as improving the efficiency of the internal combustion engine or making an electric-powered car that's viable in today's market.

The New York Times, which is known for picking up on trends mere weeks, months or years after they've actually become trends (witness this recent piece in the Fashion section on how people are making money on iPhone software), has recently discovered that people like to ride bikes in Portland.

Aside from the fact that it's in no way secret or news that Portland is a great biking area, the article is chock full of tips, like this:

"There is an amazing selection of restaurants and brewpubs like the Lucky Lab and the Bridgeport Brewery, but my favorite thing to do is hit Powell's Books," said Mr. Rogers, the shoe designer. "Every trip I spend a few hours there, not only to check out books, but to check in with the world."

Seems there's not only bikes in Portland but beer and some new-fangled bookstore named Powell's. Thanks NY Times!

Last year in Taipei, we along with everyone else, were amazed by the increase in ridership and cyclists. Following that up, Taipei is testing a Bike Share program. They've already got Bike Parking. Eric Mah, Marketing Specialist from Dahon demonstrates how it works in this video

Bike Share aside, I dig that Giant bike with its funky-fender, dynamo hub, and all.

Eric is blogging about biking to work with his co-workers, including the gas masks they wear.

1/2 links seem in these days (3 posts and counting from us); especially on a Vintage Dahons. This bike was spotted by Steve Gluckman, Brand Manager Novara, during a trip to Taipei for the bike show.

Read more about Steve in a MTBR forum from 2002: Bike jockey by design.

Over drinks the other night with my friend Dave, owner of Toga Bikes we got to discussing his new Specialized road bike that just arrived tricked out with Shimano's electronic Di2 group. And that's when Dave dropped this mind-bomb on me.

"I said to my daughter [who is now three years old] 'do you want to see Daddy's bike?' and she said yes. So we went to the basement and I showed her the shift buttons. She pushed a button and the derailleur makes a noise and she giggles. She pushes it again and it makes another noise and she giggles again. And do you know what? She's going to grow up thinking that that's how bikes shift. She's never going to know that a derailleur uses cables. Her very first memory of shifting a bike is an electronic system."

Tomorrow is here folks--the iPod has replaced the CD, the Kindle is replacing books and electronic shifting is going to replace mechanical. It's already started.

Reader Minnesotafats sent us a photo from Ronde van Vlaanderen.

That's a Hugga Wool Tee and what a great race Flanders was.

The classics are what got me into the sport. Sure, I knew about the Tour, but watching grainy videos in a bike shop and hearing legendary stories of these races is what amazed me. To see these hard men, grind over cobbles, with brute force I found more interesting than the finesse, climbing, and time-trialing of the Tour. George Hincapie said as much in his Versus interview before the start.

Someday we hope to blog up a Classic.

A system from Ericsson was demonstrated at CTIA that broadcasts your ride. We've been posting about auto-moblogging bikes for 2-years now, considering the tech during Intel Developer Forums, and then rode around on a Purple Pedals bike last year. Ericsson's on-bike system seems rather bulky, but the idea is the same: Broadcast location, photos, and video. It uses IMS (IP Multimedia Subsystem) as an example of future Wireless video mashups.

Photo: Reuters.

My take is first make sure that I can get around town without drooping a call, having it sound terrible, or reliable G3. THEN start working on cool bike gadgets. I also expect to see robust, waterproof Netbooks attached to bikes at some point.

Finally a bright sunny weekend in Seattle and a good time to introduce Hincapie Skin Defense Suncreen. We tested Skin Defense in Tuscany late last year and the product is shipping next week from our Amazon Store. While in Tuscany, I wrote

Thick, pasty sunblocks and the new mist spray ons provide pretty good coverage. When riding hard, they can also either block your skin from sweating and later your pores or run with sweat. During a team camp in Santa Barbara, I had the torturous experience of climbing a hard ascent, pouring sweat from my forehead, and sun block chemicals right into my eyes. That sport sunblock wasn't as sweat-proof as the label indicated. Worse is that it appeared I was crying by the end of the climb. I'm no climber, but don't cry when it gets hard!

What I like about Skin Defense is it goes on with a light spray. It isn't greasy, skin-clogging, lasts all day and hey it didn't make me cry.

We rode big miles in the Tuscan sun without burning our pasty-white, normally rain-soaked Seattle skin. I also noticed that at the end of the sunny day in Seattle, there was some skin bronzing, but not the normal, red heat I'd have with other sunscreens.

Steve Baker, Marketing Director at Hincapie Sportswear, provided the tech details on the product after the jump. For cyclists, this product was made for us and whether your touring, commuting, or racing in the sun.

It was a good day. Out for a ride in the bright sunshine I spotted a family riding together

with a trailer attached to an Electra and an Xtracycle with kid.

Then a PBR Kit

on a fellow cyclist training on the roads near Lake City.

Later, a S&S Belt Drive

at Elliott Bay Bicycles.

Also saw a stoked Xtracycle with a new battery pack. A chain bowl and the dirtiest Timbuk2 bag evar.

Days Like These

It was a good day and it's the days like these that Seattleites wait for during the long, wet, dark rainy season. I didn't even let the argument with a Lotus driver phase me. That was more comical than anything.

The sun is expected for the rest of the weekend and we're heading South out of the city and into the industrial Seattle. Towards Kent and Auburn where all the warehouses are, Ikea, and a big golf course.

Listening to

Shake em up, shake em up, shake em up, shake em

-- Ice Cube, It was a Good Day.

Dynamic Bicycles is a company using technologies just a little left of the mainstream to appeal to cyclists. The bulk of their offerings feature shaft-driven, chainless designs, but that is not Dynamic's only strategy. I recently tested the new Synergy model road bike from Dynamic Bicycles, billed as the first internally-geared production road bike. Road bike in the sense that not only does it have the skinny tires and dropbar, but the Synergy also has the integrated brake/shifter control that is characteristic of the modern road bicycle. The Versa shifter shares many commonalities to the Sunrace STR series of integrated control levers, but in this case is modified to accommodate the idiosyncrasies of Shimano's revered Alfine 8sp internally-geared hub. The left side lever is devoid of any shifting element, which would obviously be superfluous for this drivetrain.

Now that's some cargo . . .

Photo: EPA

Didn't get a photo of it, but saw an even-more impressive display in Beijing. Dude was riding around with sewer pipes on his bike. That and giant bales of foam.

This one time, I carried a table. Not to be outdone, this guy in Shanghai, he can carry boxes too.

Our brand new bamboo tees are available for sale and shipping from our Amazon.com store. We added the bamboo blend to our Hugga Comfort line for the warmer Spring and Summer temperatures.

We field tested these in Austin during our Mobile Social and they're supa comfortable, stretchy, and breathable. They've also got the Hugga style.

Note that organic, bamboo and all that tech woven into it comes at a premium price. The shirts costs $35.00 for men and $32.00 for women. We're mindful of the economy and think the comfort and eco-friendly materials are worth the price. Just like wool.

Note that we've got limited quantities in these and for our wool fans, working now with Ibex to restock those.

Check the Bike Hugger Shirts page for all the details.

Spotted on Flickr.

Uploaded by David Ribas | more from the Bike Hugger Photostream.

It's that time of year again, when the pollen counts are high and I'm feeling it along with my fellow allergy sufferers. A struggle I've had for years, is how to perform with allergies on the bike. Now I just don't. When I feel it the most, I just ride tempo, base, and relax. For those of us that race, there's no gain if you can't go hard.

When the trees are done doing their thing and the air clears, I'm back kitted up with numbers and turning the pedals fast. For commuters, tourists, and the plain-clothes cylists, various treatments can help keep you on the bike and riding.

Pollen Map of Doom

Various Treatments

• Flush with saline -- Mix baking soda 2 to 1 with salt and flush that through your nose and throat. Use one of those baby de-snotter things, if you're really congested, or a netti pot.

• Shower frequently -- besides the normal bath, I'll rinse off before and after a ride to wash the pollen off my body

• Drugs -- Those that don't have allergies think you can just take a pill and be all better, up there pushing the pace. Well, no you can't. Drugs have side-effects and just dampen the worst symptoms. For me it's asthma. I take a combination of Nasonex, Astelin, Foradil, and Albuterol.

• Sleep -- I nap, sleep, and rest more at the height of allergy season. I want to give me immunity system all the advantages.

• Vitamins -- A multi daily and vitamin C, along with D for the Seattle area, where we're sun deprived.

• Herbs -- I'd like to think they help, maybe a placebo effect. Don't know, but there's nothing really I found that makes a difference.

• Acupuncture -- when it's as bad as it gets, I visit my acupuncturist. What I've found is that my body is so heightened to contaminants in the air, that anything will set it off. Like, a passing whiff of perfume, cigarette smoke, diesel and so on. The acupuncturist just calms me down and those moments on the table I can try to breath deep and chill.

• Breathing -- over the years, I've adapted to breathing excercises and breathing deep on the bike. In the pack, cyclists next to me probably think I'm sighing or doing some weird thing. But it's just trying to calm down and breathe as deep as I can.

In towns like Hamburg Germany workers just ride to work. There's no pledging with your co-workers to do so, marketing campaigns to get you out of your car, or tax incentives.

That's just what you do and probably with little thought or regard to it. Surrounded by folding bikes in Spain I realized they used them on the Subways. In the stream of traffic in Beijing, bikes have their own massive lanes. In a city of bikes like Amsterdam, bikes are the transportation grid.

The bike is just another option to get you around the city.

Photo credit: Reuters from Hamburg Germany

Reading about the end of the Hummer Nation from Dowd yesterday, this quote

now that gas prices have gone back down, almost half a million fuel-frugal small cars are piling up unsold at dealers around the country.

got me wondering how many bikes that got pulled out of storage during $4.00 gas are right back in there?

Good that Hummers are nearly gone, but those bikes ... are people still riding them?

I'm as hopeful and optimistic about the future of bikes in the US, but sometimes getting yelled at on a ride or navigating congested streets in Seattle is exhausting. Just imagine what that's like for someone who decided to trying "commuting." Did they ever do it again?

See it's what's old is new in cycling -- Valentino Zippicelli had some seriously deep wheels back in the day. Possibly made from wood or is that ceramic? Looks like a giant, flat clay bowl with a tire glued on it.

Wonder if Hed has Zippy's photo up in their wind tunnel? Had the Zipper known more about Aero, I bet he'd have worn a finely-shaped watermelon on his head.

Uploaded by fixedgear | more from the Bike Hugger Photostream.

Ciclovia is a bike-themed, car-free day. London, Paris, Mexico City, Guadalajara, New York, Miami, Portland, El Paso, Seattle, and San Francisco all have them. Clearwater, Florida has one on the 26th of this Month.

Streetfilms has covered Ciclovias since 07, including this film

We were hipped today to Canondale's new RAW Cannondale, a striking update to the company's Bad Boy line of urban bikes. C'dale partnered with the "denim brand" G-Star to create a bike with utterly sweet lines and great style.

Disc brakes, internal 8-speed hub, chain cover, no scratch surface integrated-lights--this bike just jumped to the top of my "want" list.

We've got a call into Cannondale to check on pricing and availability, but didn't want to hold back the bike-lust goodness.

Bike thieves are back in the news with a post from the NYT City Room Blog. The comments are the best part with gems like

Did anyone accidentally buy my Fuji royal blue 5-speed bike with a mixte frame last year, thinking the salesperson was legit?

and

Try having your bike stolen from your apartment, by your neighbor!

In this photo from Beijing, I used the obstruction technique to obscure our nice, new bikes among crappy, ancient, Chinese ones. All I had was a cable lock. Did not get stolen.

Also the Kryptonite ball-pen legend still has legs.

When I'm traveling, my folding bikes go where I go and that's everywhere. Training, racing, and touring we use the buddy system and the bikes just aren't out of our sight.

On Bettie, I use Val's immobilization techniques. Those include toe-strapping the front brake, disabling the motor, and cable U-locking the front wheel to the fork.

That bike weighs more than an hundred pounds and it's gonna take at least 3 or 4 tweaking meth-heads working together to hoist her into a truck. Discussed in this post from last year.

I think until we get bike parking like Asian and European cities, this is a perennial problem.