November 2009 Archives

Design Real is a gallery show at the Serpentine in London that celebrates useful objects. It’s curated by Konstantin Grcic and designed in collaboration with Alex Rich and Jürg Lehni.

The relevance a product has to our life lies not only in its use, but also in how far we identify with it. A good product becomes part of our culture.

Included in the show is the bicycle saddle with a review of the history, types, anatomy, and more. Interesting that Design Real just didn’t grab items from the shelf and turn them into a “show,” but studies how useful they are and why.

The curators include the toy LIKEaBIKE Racer as well. The Independent reviews the show giving it 4 of 5 stars.

Second only to our wheel fetish is the one for technical wear. I’ve got it down to a science, what I wear on the bike, and have been practicing it for more than 15 years. In the Northwest, you’re going to get wet, soaked actually. The challenge is staying warm but not too warm and sweaty. Enter eVent and it’s mixed up what I’m layering and how many layers. Where I’d wear 4 layers with Windtex it’s now 2 with eVent and the best choice for the base layer I’m still working on. Wool or synthetic or both.

A post about eVent needed some research and I’ve ridden with the George Signature eVent Shell a handful of times now in various conditions. I spent time with the Google reading up on eVent, watching videos on YouTube, and Snow Hugger reviewed the REI Shuksan Jacket last year. Also read about how rainwear works.

The eVent material isn’t new. It just hasn’t been focused on or marketed to performance cyclists. Descente has a Bobby Julich shell made with eVent but I’ve never seen one and it’s no longer available. What changed is GE bought eVent and they switched tactics to allow venders to purchase their membrane directly. I expect to see more eVent jackets in the coming seasons like this REI prototype.

Don’t know if anyone has ever studied what old bikes people still ride, but Raleigh has to top the list. See them everywhere.

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

Just posted video of the Cannondale Duchess in our Community and stopped short of dismissing this prototype as yet another design-school cad drawing that’ll never get made despite all the blog posts.

Bicycle Design posted at length on the Dutchess and you can find more in the links after the jump.

As we roll merrily into the holiday season, it’s time to put together the Bike Hugger Curated Gift List—our “best of” list for presents for the cyclist, generated by our readers and the Bike Hugger writers. We’ll take the best suggestions and put them all together for you and your loved ones to use for your holiday shopping list.

Give us your must have items, your dream choices and your oddities in our Community section. Simply write a post there with “Gift:” in the title and we’ll organize it all into one handy PDF file, tag a tweet with bikegift, or leave a comment here.

It’s no wonder I liked the Look Keo 2 Max pedals, after all they won the Tour de France. Okay, they had some help from a small Spanish guy that was pushing them quite hard, but really it’s quite clear after some time riding the Keo 2 Max that the success and glory of Le Tour falls squarely on the pedals. (Yes, I just made a joke about pedaling squares.)

When I first moved from SPD to a road-based cleat system I was quickly won over by the Keo pedals after a lot of time experimenting with other systems. I had my dalliances with SDR-R (comfy but I found the little yellow bumpers wore out over time) and Speedplay and before I found my beloved Crank Brothers Quatro I landed on the Keo Max.

The only thing that kept me from sticking with them is my role as a ride leader of a bike club in the ‘burbs. The pedals are made to stay engaged all day and I found the clipping-in and clipping-out at stoplights took a bit too much throw, even with the retention dialed down.

Colum McCann, who won the National Book Award last week for Let the Great World Spin, was inspired to write by a cross-country bike ride:

So he took off on a bicycle for a year-and-a-half odyssey across the United States, traveling through Florida, Louisiana, Texas, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming and the Pacific Northwest, dipping into Mexico and finishing in San Francisco. Along the way people would confide intimate stories. “In a strange way they would become novelists,” he said.

The bike ride took place early on in his career, when he was “modeling himself” on Jack Kerouac. The stories he heard on that ride stayed with him ever since. The NYT has published an excerpt of his book. It’s based on the people of New York and 9/11.

We’ve been inspired by the bike as well in our travels, touring, and racing. So has David Byrne and wrote about the bike in his recent book.

Readers, how about you? Written a great American novel on your bike?

Matt Haughey post photos of his new Desalvo Cross bike on the Buy Local Cycling site.

The bike is built as local as possible:

1. Companies making parts locally in Oregon (DeSalvo frame, Chris King hubs & bottom bracket, Kool-Stop brake pads, Ruckus bashguard)
2. American companies making parts in the US (Thomson stem & seatpost, Paul brakes, Selle An-Atomica saddle, Woundup Components Fork, Stans NoTubes rims & sealant)
3. American companies making parts internationally (SRAM Force shifters & derailleurs, Salsa components, FSA crankset)

Bike Hugger is a sponsor of Buy Local and Matt is a periodic blogger for us and bro.

Launching at Art Basel Miami 2009, Swiss Institute presents the cutting-edge calendar Artists on Their Bicycles New York. The limited edition portrays twelve of today’s most famous artists on their bikes, including David Byrne and Cindy Sherman for December.

The calendar is available as a low-res free download and in limited edition prints.

Trek Bellville, Dahons, and Brompton we’re spotted in the pages. Schwinns and more.

Add this to your shopping list for gear gifts — there’s only 300 of them. Also see David’s shot of them from his visit last week during the Mellow Johnny’s Classic.

Uploaded by mpmcgaughey | more from the Bike Hugger Photostream.

Tokyo Fixed Gear has opened a shop in Soho, on Peter St behind Madame JoJo’s.

Hat tip LFGSS and blogs from Yorgo Tloupas and I Like to Ride my Bicycle.

Photo by TokyoFixedGear.com. Also see London is a Bike Town.

Ride in the Mavic car, get the guys talking, and they’ll tell stories about wheels changes like this …

They especially don’t like it, and remember when, racers don’t return loaner wheels.

One tech (not Mavic) told us how he turned the aero spokes sideways, into the wind for a dick bike racer in a crit once.

xtranormal movie by eljefe.

Sure we’d paint that with our logo on it….

Uploaded by Georgie_grrl | more from the Bike Hugger Photostream.

For those of us yearning for clothes we can wear on the bike and right into the office, especially when traveling, Performance Couture by Nona Varnado is another option.

Inspired by global travels and balancing a busy life of business and sports; Performance Couture is an evolving collection with collaborators, suppliers and stitchers in cities from Budapest and Berlin to New York and San Francisco.

We travel with and wear of combination of clothes from Prana, Ibex, Hincapie, Novara, et al. It’s encouraging to see a designer focus on cycling in an urban collection. We expect to see more choices in 2010 and 2011, as the market catches up to the consumer wanting more stylistic choices in technical wear.

Also see

• Hot Bike Commuters
• Two n Fro — custom clothing for cyclists
• Bike to Work pants

Cyclelicious photos from the SF Bike Expo. Shown here is a Push Bike vintage Adidas jersey; Fabric Horse utility belt; Chuey Brand cap, Denim leggings.

More on stylish San Francisco cyclists from SF Gate.

Another photoset from the show is here by dustinj.

Uploaded by richardmasoner | more from the Bike Hugger Photostream.

Addressing the “huge” carbon emissions produced by the 2010 Soccer World Cup — in part because South Africa is such a long haul — the organizing body announced they’ll supply green energy and use bicycles.

Bicycles would also be used in an attempt to reduce carbon emissions during the tournament.
At least three of the nine host cities have considered the implementation of bicycle lanes in strategic locations for the World Cup as well as [after] the World Cup, whereby further expansion of the programme will continue.
The department will fund for maintenance of bicycles in three host cities.”

That’s presumably a bike share and possibly cargo bikes. Hope the Olympics are next in using bikes and, of course, we’re not the only ones who have noticed all the diesel-burning vehicles in the Tour caravan.

Maasai photo uploaded by Lucy in London | more from the Bike Hugger Photostream.

And an untenanted bicycle rolled into view …

By Edward Gorey. Book available in our Store.

Update

Our Holiday sale was last week, but rocked so hard that we’ve extended it with even more discounts and gear. You can buy @uBRDO in Kirkland and online:

• Shop Bike Hugger on Amazon.com
• Our Amazon Store
• Clip-n-Seals on Amazon.com

Directly from us:

• George DVD + free socks
• Your Bike is Freedom Tee

Give (or get) the Gift of Hugger during our one-time, exclusive Hugga Holiday Sale @ uBRDO in Kirkland, WA. We’ll present select Urban Gear from our partners, tap a keg, and offer you meat on a stick with a veggie platter, of course.

Our online sale is good through the New Year.

Details

Date:

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Time:

6:00pm - 9:00pm

Location:

uBRDO Cycle and Mountain Supply

Map:

122 Central Way, Kirkland, WA

RSVP on our Fan page or uBRDOS

How it Works

Make sure you bring your underwear so you can try on the various pieces, like these

if you find something you like, place an order, and in a week or so a package of Hugga love arrives just for you and your loved ones. See more of what we’ll show on Flickr.

Selection

We’ll have women’s and men’s gear for you to check out from Ibex, Hincapie Sporstwear, and our own unique branded goods. Chris Mahan will screen Your Bike is Freedom tees live.

Please RSVP via Facebook on our fan page or uBRDOs so we can get a good head count. Space is limited at uBRDO.

The Blue Beanie on our Twitter avatar, and you’re likely seeing elsewhere on the Interwebs, represents International Blue Beanie day. We’ve got our blue beanie on early for our colleague Jeffrey Zeldman and in support of Web Standards. The day itself is Monday, November 30th, 2009.

Fans of Web Standards also don blue beanies and upload them to a group pool on Flickr like this future fanboi did.

As I wrote in my review of Zeldman’s book, Designing With Web Standards, back in the day it was a battle.

Have you been to a website or blog lately that looked like crap in one browser and not in another? Unlikely and all that standardized code is being read just fine by iPhones, Google phones, and the next whatever mobile device.

Much of what is consumed online these days, why all these new microblogging apps work so well, is because of Web Standards and the hard work many of us put in. If you’re blogging or tweeting you’re using Web Standards. Those of us that are really into Web Standards and making the web work, don the beanie to represent the cause.

Many of you rode with us during the Mobile Social @ An Event Apart, a web design conference produced by Zeldman, Eric Meyer and others.

AEA is coming back to Seattle in 2010 …

If you were a participant or a spectator in the Mellow Johnny’s Classic mountain bike race this weekend, we’ve got some photos for you.

The first group is our Flickr steam of some images from the event.

The rider, already caked with mud, dropped down the slope and followed the line into the puddle just as many before her had. A thick plume of brown water shot into the air, coating the tires with another layer of muck. Clearly, the race wasn’t going to be as straight-forward as predicted.

The Austin weather predictions called for sunny skies and moderate temps leading up to the Mellow Johnny’s Classic race, held at Lance Armstrong’s Juan Pelotta Ranch. Instead organizers got “piss down” rain (as one would describe it) both Friday and Satruday, leaving the course rutted and worn-down for Sunday.

Which of course sounds like the perfect conditions for a mountain bike race.

Hundreds made the trek (pardon the pun) to Lance’s secluded Hill Country hideaway to participate in the Livestrong fundraiser, a highlight of this year’s Texas Mountain Bike Racing Association’s calendar. Doubtless many more were there to catch a glimpse of the Tour de France champion and his abode.

The Hare Krishna have co-opted so much in the world—shaved heads, chanting in the streets and being a lunatic all had their own meaning, but the HK’s have really taken ownership of all that.

Now they’ve stolen ghost bike design to make a “Love” bike, spotted in Austin.

Hare Krishna, Krishna Hare, Paint it Purple, Hare Hare.

Yamashita Park is in Yokohama City Japan and a lovely place to ride a Dahon. Mark V has toured Japan.

Uploaded by owenfinn16 | more from the Bike Hugger Photostream.

The folks at Mellow Johnny’s are holding a big race up at Juan Pelota’s ranch this weekend, and Hugga is in town to cover it. We’ll have images and thoughts from the race on the site on Sunday, so if you’ve got a hankering for some racing or a prurient interest in a ranch owned by Lance, tune in.

We shook off some weather-delayed-flight-jet-lag by walking around Austin, which is easily one of my favorite cities in America. Hunkered down inside a coffee shop called the Hideaway (apropos) for some delicious brew and met Daniel, a local courier with Corporate Couriers who was fueling up on caffeine while rocking the tunes. Daniel had a big smile on his face and told me that he’s fine with riding in the rain (which is good because it was pouring for a while).

After chatting up the locals (and dodging them riding on the sidewalks) we meandered over to Mellow Johnny’s by way of the super-mega-large Whole Foods. MJ’s was flooded with tourists and branded clothing was flying off the shelves.

My wife fell in love with a polished-lugged Bianchi frame there and while she gawked at Lance’s bikes on the walls I grabbed another coffee and looked at the Seattle-like weather.

The bats of Austin were almost more enjoyable to me than a meal at Frank (where else can you get a rosemary sausage, poutine and a beer on a rainy day?) because they’re just so damned impressive.

More shots from the trip coming up soon, coverage from the race on Sunday.

Also note that London Cyclists care not for this “lyrca or not” debate and fashion stance. They wear what works. They’ll also laugh you out of pub if you mention shoe dryers …

Uploaded by jeremyhughes | more from the Bike Hugger Photostream.

Uploaded by Mark Gell | more from the Bike Hugger Photostream.

Verlyn Klinkenborg writes for the NYTimes that

there is a deeply pleasing randomness about the campus cyclists, as though one morning university officials had assigned a bicycle to every member of the Stanford community, come as you are, without considering for a moment matters of fit — or fitness.

We’ve ridden in Santa Barbara past a campus with thousands of bikes assembled in a bike parking area. That was nearly as much as we saw in Beijing at the attended bike lots. Where Verlyn sees the indivdual on a bike, we notice the bike as a connector in a global community.

It’s really been a long time since I was a mountain biker. My first “real” bike (after a hand-me-down clunker I used to get into shape in college) was a GT Avalanche. I saved and saved for that bike and the night before I went to buy it my car was totaled in a collision with a hit-and-run driver. For the two months that the insurance company took to pay out I rode that bike everywhere.

For a few years I ran a mountain bike site (years before “blog” would be a term, and years before the ‘net would be profitable) and I spent my time covering bike races, testing bikes and riding all the time. I had a customized Spooky Mothership that was my pride and joy.

When the mountain bike site went bust I got a bit burned out and turned to road riding, and that’s been my passion for years. But a recent Specialized contest for bloggers got me back into the saddle when I and several others received a free (that’s my disclaimer, remember, I get to keep this bike for a year for free. Don’t say I didn’t warn you) Stumpjumper FSR.

I’ve already vowed to not review it here, that would be a real journalistic violation, but I thought I’d post some of the videos I made on the bike, which I created for tutorials over at the imovie.MacCreate.com site

In this version of “The Odyssey,” Hermes, the messenger god of Greek mythology, gets around not on winged sandals but rather on a Schwinn.

The Sirens could’ve sang from Cross bikes adorned in Lycra and covered with mud, but the Topeka West High School’s production kept them in togas.

Photo: Bill Blankenship

Earlier this year, an LA production of Die Walkure, had “Valkyries ride their steeds of sculpted wire, with bicycle-wheel tails.”

Val, a bicycle industry legend, has cancer and the Seattle community threw a party for him last night.

Beer was drunk, prizes we’re raffled, and Val was toasted. Not feeling well, I wasn’t there, but Mark V MC’d in my place.

Get well Val — noticed you still have your hair. We miss seeing you averaging 12 mph on Marginal Way.

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

You’re Getting a Pink Saddle for Xmas from this guy.

And you will like it. More photos from the Party for Val.

The dudes that are good at it have lots of tattoos …

You’ve got Velocity rims in an obnoxiously (but wonderfully) bright color, and you’ve got a frame painted shades of awesome. What’s next? Some tires to match. Check out these great looking clinchers from Fyxation. At $50 a tire you’re not going to want to do a lot of skid-stops, but you are going to look good while you’re trackstanding on your way to Stumptown or Philz.

The tires come in a choice of colors (I’m grabbing these in green though) including pink and orange (and black, if you’re oh-so-boring) and run 700x28 with “pinch flat protection.” (Whatevs.)

Someone once said, (might have been me at a blog conference) that there’s a blog for everything, now including the Flying Pigeon.

The Chinese keep those bikes working at bike stops like this.

You squint, Google, cross reference, and determine that slightly-out-of focus bike in the background is a Trek Top Fuel WSD.

You later notice Eliza Dushku’s thong. Eliza’s show, the Dollhouse, was cancelled by Fox last week.

The Party for Val has been opened up to everyone and is on tomorrow night. We’ll be there with some gear for the raffle and toasting Val.

At first we wanted to have an insiders-only Seattle Bicycle Industry Party. However, Val’s battle with cancer is overshadowing that event. Lots of people want to come show him their love and support. So we decided to cancel the original event and just have a party for Val. Anyone that knows, loves or appreciates Val Kleitz is invited!

Host: Aaron’s Bicycle Repair
Location: Pike Brewing Company
When: Tuesday, November 17, 8:00 PM
Raffle details.

Val’s Dreadnought

Val was riding cargo before cargo was cool. In fact, that’s his only means of transportation. He built Bettie 2.0 for us. Cappy likes Val too cause he has treats stashed in his oyster buckets.

We all learned last month that Val has cancer.

In a story sure to bring out the PI Bike Haters Club (that’s the bike-hating commenters that fill the Seattle PI forums with their hate on any bike-related article, including deaths), King 5 is reporting that a cyclist hit a child and then a crowd tackled that cyclist who tried to ride away. We haven’t been able to find other stories or a police report yet.

A 6 year-old Seattle boy is home from the hospital today, but may require reconstructive surgery, after a bicyclist struck him at a busy downtown intersection.

…. about 15 bystanders chased the cyclist to the southeast corner of the instersection, “ganged up on him and tackled him and held him until police arrived,” he said. “I thought it was awesome.”

Readers? Any more details on this story?

Traveling often shifts your worldview, changes perspectives, and the way you look at things. Back from the Mobile Social Worldwide, I’m just starting to parse all those thoughts into posts. I’ll get to stopping for a Holy Man and riding a Bubble of Curiosity in Delhi later.

Reading about Living Streets in Colorado, reminded me of the ride and talk I had with Brian Deegan in London. He expressed the struggle it was to get to this point with Camden’s bike lanes, bike tracks, and lights. Camden is a model for cities elsewhere, but Brian and his firm still fight politics and also public awareness.

Last month, Alternative Needs Transportation held an open house with happy bike owners showing off their baskets bikes. Lovely Bicycle blogged about the event with an emphasis on the Scorcher.

Uploaded by lovely_bicycle | more from the Bike Hugger Photostream.

We have a variety of ways to talk to each other on Bike Hugger — via Twitter, Flickr, comment threads, sending us tips, saying hello, and now with a community.

We tried out the community app — built with TypePad Motion — last month during our Mobile Social Worldwide and updated that today to our main community.

Post Something

Sign up via TypePad’s Typekey service to share your links, photos, and videos. The community works like a wall. You can start your own discussions, follow each other, and not have to wait for us to post a topic.

I wrote earlier about the technology behind the app, likening it to “a Magical Unicorn that fills your blog with sunshine.”

The magic happens when you share your stuff with us.

Matt Haughey is a fellow cyclist and bike racer. We cosponsor the Buy Local Team. He’s also internet famous and a colleague who blogged with us during Interbike.

Last night Matt tweeted:

I passed out at home had a seizure, went to ER, did a cat scan and they found a growth. Awaiting surgery in the next week to remove it.

and the community responded with well wishes. We tweeted too and are sending him a care package today.

Get well Matt. Fix your head. The interwebs are a better place because of you.

I’ve ridden in sideways, full-frontal, deluge, drizzle, mist, freezing, bounce-off-the-top-tube-into-your-face rain. Snow, blizzard, freezing fog, and wet dust storms that spit mud drops. On one particularly epic Mt Rainer ride, a Forest Service Ranger handed me a plastic garbage bag so I could make it down the road a few thousand feet into warmer weather. I shivered so badly, the bike shook.

When the temps dip below 32, I don’t ride. Here in Seattle temperatures that low don’t last long. And I stop for hail too, it’s just really unpleasant. Wait a while and it’ll pass.

Related

• Riding in the Rain in Seattle
• Cold Weather Riding
• Committing to the Rain
• Riding in the Rain
• Rainy Season in Seattle
• Rain Tag

These bikes locked together looked like a couple of bike bros. Aside from the owners themselves, as if they enjoyed riding together. They’re quite similar actually. Different heritage, designers and companies, but serve the same purpose. Ridden on the same daily routes.

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

In light of my recent posting about YACKBAM (Yet Another Cyclist Killed By A Motorist) I thought it was perfect timing that ElevenGear sent us info on this new eyeball-scorching winter jersey. As someone who has searched for the most visible clothing possible for night riding, this couldn’t come a moment too soon. I’m ordering one of them, and I’ll wear my RoadID under it.

Reflective, obnoxious, and it’s got vehicle code on the sleeve. I love it.

Earlier today I was at the Apple Store in University Village and overhead some employees talking abut riding to work in the rain. As you’d expect I engaged the conversation:

At the Apple Store answering questions about riding in the rain with their staff — via Twitter 4 hours ago.

The problem the staffers had was they loved riding to work in the Summer, Fall, but not so much in the rain. Yep — it sucks. Had to agree and explained they could make it much more tolerable with fenders (or at least a fender) and the right gear. I didn’t talk about spending on bike geek gear, just a wool liner, shell, and a change of clothes in a pack. For the budget conscious, a Filson jacket from a thrift store will work just fine, as discussed in this post earlier.

In lieu of my annual post on the wet weather and bike miles, readers how do you ride in the rain? What tips do you have for someone, like the Apple Store staffers, who are just riding to work?

This is a photo of Merrill Cassell, a cyclist, father and former director at UNICEF.

And this is a photo of the bus that killed him last friday in Westchester County, New York.

You’ve probably already guessed that he was riding his bike at the time of the incident. Reports seem to indicate that he was brushed by the bus and ended up being run over by it (though the reports are still a tad unclear—the newspapers without any witnesses to back this up—are saying he “collided” with the side of a bus while traveling parallel to it. I’m not sure how that’s possible.) The bus driver is already back on the route.

His daughter, Tania, today asked the cycling community to take part in Thursday’s funeral by riding their bikes in formation at the head of the procession with the hearse from Our Lady of Mt Carmel Church, 59 E Main St, Elmsford, to Ferncliff Cemetery, about two miles away. The funeral mass, which begins at 10:30 a.m., is expected to be over by 11:30, when we will ride to Ferncliff.

The Westchester Cycle Club and the Westchester-Putnam Bike Walk Alliance are reaching out to their members to show our support for Merrill’s family and commemorate his tragic death. There will be a wake Wednesday from 4 to 9 p.m. at Edwin Bennett Funeral Homes, 824 Scarsdale Avenue, Scarsdale.

Here is a link to the church on Google Maps

Designing with Web Standards 3rd Edition arrived while cooking dinner last night at Hugga HQ. Much of what we do at Bike Hugger and for our clients at Textura Design is done with web standards. It’s not something I talk about everyday anymore — used to when I was a member of the Web Standards Project and lecturing about blogging in the early days. Have you been to a website or blog lately that looked like crap in one browser and not in another? Unlikely and all that standardized code is being read just fine by iPhones, Google phones, and the next whatever mobile device.

The arrival of the book reminded me about the importance of web standards, how far we come, HTML5, fonts on the web, mobility, accessibly, and so on. Back in the day it was a fight for standards and a good one. I’m sure our readers wish the bike industry had better standards …

I’ll start reading the book after dinner and post about it. My team has read, cited, and referred to the 1st and 2nd editions. More importanly, I’ve had the pleasure of knowing and working with the authors: Jeffrey Zeldman and Ethan Marcotte.

Earlier this year we had a Mobile Social while An Event Apart was in town.

The annual Spokesmen Live television event from the Interbike Media Center with David from The FredCast Cycling Podcast, Carlton from BikeBiz.com/ Quickrelease.tv, me, Jeff from Velo Reviews, and Joe Lindsey from Bicycling Magazine.

Worth noting that a bike magazine and bike bloggers met for the first time and got along just fine.

Free is my favorite price and t-shirts are my favorite item of clothing. Combine free with t-shirts and you’ve got a winner. The Pedal Pushers, who make some killer bike t’s are giving away a free shirt a day until Christmas on their Facebook page.

And while you’re suiting up, how about completing the look with one of our new cycling caps?

Note: This post was told to us by Chris Mahan who raced the Singlespeed Cyclocross World Championships on a Specialized Tricross Singlecross. His first report was published yesterday. Chris designs for Novara.

Instead of a qualifier on Saturday, we made friends with Sunday’s combatants and rode a social ride. It seemed like it was all up hill on dirt roads, and it rained harder all the time. A few beers were drunk, as race prep for Sunday.

The race is all hush hush so you don’t get any details until you are there ready to start. A costume is pretty much a must. Best to select one you can ride in. I went with a dark angel with wings and a halo.

A Thanksgiving day Alleycat in Milwaukee. Turkey day in Seattle has annual rides that often turn into a spirited, off-season winter races.

Here at Hugga HQ, we like to let the turkey (or turkey with mashed potatoes gravy, beer, and whiskey) do it’s thing and take a long nap. Then when feeling fat the next day, go on a mega miles ride.

What’s your Thanksgiving Day bike event?

Uploaded by megabolt | more from the Bike Hugger Photostream.

“250 riders on single speed bikes passing through Thunderdome”

Coverage from PDX Cross of this weekend’s SSCXWC09 (Single Speed Cyclocross World Championships 2009). It looks like I missed a great time. Next year the race is coming to Seattle so I’ll have to make plans to become pack-fodder.

Highlights included:
- Le Mans Start including a 180degree turn back into oncoming runners
- Golden Speedo for the winner
- THUNDERDOME!

Gallery from PDX Cross and a great write-up at Cyclocross Magazine.

While we recovered from the Mobile Social Worldwide and rode in the Seattle rain, Chris Mahan guest blogged for us at the Singlespeed Cyclocross World Championships in Portland. He rode a Specialized Tricross Singlecross.

As Rock the Bike said, “Diggin the cyclocross nuttiness.”

Chris told us

the Specialized cross tires hooked up in the mud and the bike felt balanced and quick, but seemed designed more for the road than raceday. It’s too heavy for the barriers and the v-brakes just don’t have enough mud clearance. A parts upgrade — wheels, cranks —- would resolve that quickly.

Thunderdome

Please tell us that Master Blaster was in the Thunderdome!

Also see photos from PDX Cross. Chris designs for Novara.

Dahon’s view of the Mobile Social Interbike in Vegas. We rode the Strip from the Sands to Mandalay Bay and into a VIP Tent.

We just finished the Mobile Social Worldwide and our next one is in Austin for SXSW.

It seems that my RSS feeds are often treated to the news that various celebrities ride bikes.

Who the hell cares?

Look, I’m all for people riding a bike, but celebrities are just folks that that are paid way-too-much so that they can pretend that they’re someone else, the fact that they’re throwing their leg over one of the most common forms of transportation in the world—why does anyone care?

It doesn’t make cycling seem cooler the same way that Britney didn’t make it look more amazing to drink a mochalattachino when she did it. People ride bikes. Celebrities (despite the fact that they’re worshiped like royalty by Americans) are people. Some ride bikes. Whoopie.

Likewise not news: celebrities eat at restaurants, talk on cell phones while walking their babies and have pets.

Let’s stop treating every paparazzi sighting with a townie like a mandate from above that cycling is cool or mainstream. You’re not Brad Pitt and your wife’s not Angelina.

Now the fact that the couple has donated hundreds of bikes in Africa, that’s important news because someone (Angelina) did something (give bikes) to someone else (needy students in Africa) causing a change (better quality of life) that was unexpected. But it’s not news when Lindsey Lohan gets a pack of cigs at the boardwalk coffee shop on a fixie.

On Friday morning’s commute I ran into the police memorial procession for Officer Brenton. The Burke Gilman trail was clogged w/ pedestrians paying their respects.The road was blocked with police, fire and aid units passing slowly by, rolling through intersections in one long continuous filament. It reminded me a lot of (somber) critical mass rides.

These guys are rolling through town paying respect to their fallen colleagues. They’re raising awareness of their role and the risks they bear as first responders, aid providers and law enforcement. They’ve probably saved my life more times than I can count (indirectly at least). If I ever get nailed on my bike it’s these guys who are coming to scrape me off the pavement and take me to the hospital. I’ve got mad respect for them. I don’t really understand how you could ride in the city and not.

The procession was an inconvenience for sure. I could have gotten where I was going faster if it hadn’t been going on. I think that’s kind of the point. Slow down, look around, recognize those around you. It’s a great reminder.

Me? I stopped by bike and stood on the trail watching the mass roll by and thinking about how much I owe these folks. I stopped and told an officer thanks you, and asked them to pass it along. I meant it sincerely, and I still do: Thank you police, thank you fire fighters, thank you aid. Like my doctor, I hope I don’t need to see you very often but I’m glad you’re around.

Integrated racks, swept-back bars, discs, lights, leather saddle, honjo fenders, muted paint — all the urban-bike prerequisites are checked off with this Donkelope bike, except for that pump. Custom builders usually paint pumps to match frames or expect the owner to attach a mini-pump to the bottle cage mounts that’ll require 300 forearm-straining strokes to get 72 PSI.

Having used a Biologic Zorin Postpump with our Dahons during our Mobile Social Worldwide, I wish they’d license that technology and I could have a seat pump on my rain and touring bikes.

There’s no consumer truth-in-pumping requirement and minipumps manufactures will promise you pumping power. They’re lying. A pump no bigger than a lipstick case will NOT inflate your road tire. Minipumps do not pump well. In the Northwest, most cyclists I ride with have given up on minipumps and carry Co2.

Uploaded by gregraisman | more from the Bike Hugger Photostream.

Cycle U is opening this weekend in West Seattle with food, drinks, giveaways, prizes, a chance to win a Pro Bike Fit, Cycling Fitness Test, and a free 5 week InCycleTM training class.

Cycle U is now located on one of our daily routes, so we can wave while they’re coaching, sweating on stationary bikes, and talking fitness.

Way back in the day the head coach and owner, Graig Undem, and I rode together in the Tri-Cities — that’s the Eastern part of Washington State where the wind blows in all directions.

Congrats and welcome to West Seattle.

Update

Thanks for the orders — we’ve pulled them from the site and the remainder are for sale at Ubrdo.

Another addition to our Hugga Comfort line of gear, these new nylon caps are available in small/medium and large/x-large. The caps are made for us by Hincapie Sportswear and cost $9.99. They are available now directly from Hugga HQ and later this month on our Amazon Store.

We like old school cotton hats too, but not when they fade or fall apart after a few washes. I wore a Hincapie-branded version of the cap most of the Summer and it’s still going without any fading. You can wear, wash, and repeat with these.

Buy Now

Front, Back, Right, Left

Description

Our caps are made with RipStop Nylon, a windproof, water resistant material. It’s lightweight, machine washable, dryable, and keeps the cap thin enough to fit under your helmet. Features:

• Lightweight, water-resistant Nylon fabric provides protection from the elements
• Low profile, 4-panel design fits comfortably under helmet
• Elastic back flexes to fit many sizes
• Durable plastic stay-true bill maintains shape

Sizing

• S-M 21” unstretched
• L-XL 23” unstretched

More cap photos from our photostream.

Well sure that’s a great shot of Juliet, her ink, and her bike, but check those toe straps. They’re Chicago Wig Street Straps. They keep your feet on the pedals when you’re doing wheelies, and tricks, and stuff.

Uploaded by Brenton Salo | more from the Bike Hugger Photostream.

Having just seen everything imaginable carried by bike in India, appreciate the DIY spirit of the Dolly Cart Cargo Bike.

Uploaded by gregraisman | more from the Bike Hugger Photostream.

Doping cases in cycling often seem so far away. Dope is in Europe and off in that world of professional bike racing us weekend warriors just dream about, as we line up for an office park crit. In the media, Joe Parkin covered dope in his book about racing in the 70s and the notorious doper L’enfant terrible recently died.

Rumors surround the stars, of course, and Tyler never proved his unborn twin theory or Landis that it was the Jack Daniels. It seems drugs permeates our sport, but usually once removed from guys we just read about online. Most of my heros are dopers. I wrote in 06, “I don’t believe anyone. I just believe in the bike.”

Yesterday a local Seattle pro wrote an apology and confession to the WSBA list serve. I’m posting it here not with some insight into why Kenny Williams doped or judging him, but with some surprise that even the local pros dope.

Of the 20 years Kenny has raced, I’ve known him for about 15. We’re not team mates or even bros, we’ve just seen each other on the weekends year after year. For those that follow us on Twitter, I tweeted when he set a new world record at Track nationals.

DHEA

A few months ago I gave a rather (to be delicate) negative review of the Clif Quench line of sports drink. I am not the only person to have done so, and it seems I’m not alone in my initial thoughts that “the beverage begins with a fake-fruity taste with a top note of salt and a lingering mouth feel of Elmer’s glue.”

I reprise this prose not to further lambast Clif for their (to me) mind numbingly bad beverage, but because the gold folks at Clif sent me—unreqeusted—the rest of the flavors and asked me to try them again, especially when the beverages were cold and I was hot. Since my first test of Quench came not at the end of a hyper-athletic ride but during a stop to pick up something unnecessary for my bike I thought I’d oblige. If I’m going to say your beverage tastes like glue and you’re going to send me more of it, I shall put on my dedicated journalist hat and give it another go.

My second go was not good. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that the only beverage I remember liking less was a salted-yougurt drink I got at a kabob place once, and I’m pretty sure they were trying to teach me a lesson there.

However, because I don’t care a whit for my wife’s health or safety, I offered her a swig. Oddly, she liked it. Now I must point out that she’d spent more than four weeks congested with a cold/flu/plague but she said it wasn’t as sweet or annoying as something like Gatorade.

When recounting this story to the PR folks I was told “there’s no arguing that taste is king and, much like a $100 [cabernet], you either like it or you don’t.”

I suppose that’s true in theory, but I’ve never had a $100 bottle of wine that I wanted to spit out of my mouth.

What’s the moral of the story? Some people like the Quench. I suppose that’s why it’s still on the market. I would however mention again that many people don’t and I’d hope that Clif goes back and tries to find a happy medium where a sports drink isn’t a polarizing affair. With bars I can see someone disliking a particular flavor—some folks just don’t like blueberry or toffee or apple spice—but that’s not the level of judgement I think you should go for with a beverage.

After all, if your choices are dehydration or Quench, and a portion of the population would pick dehydration, a reformulation might be in order.

Most kids dream of the 9th inning HR, or the last second hoop, or whatever. For the rest of us who make pilgrimages to the Alpine passes or to the Belgian Cobbles - here’s where you need to be Saturday night. CycleU is opening a new training facility in West Seattle and is bringing out two of Seattle’s best pro alumni: Adrian Hegyvary and Tyler Farrar. They are both really great guys and will share some of their battle stories.

Everybody who has opened a Velonews has heard about the European campaign Tyler has had this year, and Adrian has put together an amazing 2009 domestically. Here’s the announcement from CycleU “Dean” Craig Undem:

Two amazing Professors of Cycling will be at the new West Seattle Cycle University this month to share their knowledge. Garmin professional Tyler Farrar and OUCH! professional Adrian Hegyvary are making free lectures and appearances to promote the new Specialized bikeshop and training center in what was previously a Chrysler car and Jeep showroom.

Tyler Farrar will be doing a meet and greet on Wednesday night November 18th from 5:30-7pm, then doing a talk at Magnuson Park at 8pm (info at www.Cascade.org).

Adrian Hegyvary (local rider and Cycle U coach) signed with OUCH! and will be making his pro debut this Spring alongside Tim Johnson and Floyd Landis. Adrian will be giving a talk at the new West Seattle Cycle U Grand Opening on November 7th at 6:30pm. He will be giving a presentation on the keys to his breakout season that led to his pro contract.

Cycle U West Seattle: 4550 Fauntleroy Way SW. Plenty of parking and right off the West Seattle freeway. Open house prior from noon-6pm this Saturday November 7th. Hope you can come celebrate another great homegrown success story and learn from the best.

Spotted this Bridgestone in a camera shop — wish I’d had a better camera with me and also that Bridgestone would make a comeback. This bike rivals any urban or commuter of today and check that cool light.

I’m not schooled enough in Bridgestones to know what model this is — it didn’t say anywhere on the tubes.

Just a Technart label and Bridgestone.

Where we hang out in front of coffee shops and pubs, these two chill at a roadside market in India. Ya know watching the world go by and the occasional tourist with a camera.

More photos from the India stop in our Mobile Social Worldwide are in this photoset. Scroll down to the bottom photos. Videos and huggacasts to follow.

This morning I was out on a shakedown cruise on a new bike and forgot to bring my phone with me. That’s a shame as a friend was busy trying to alert me to the fact that Lance was stopped in the town below the trail I was on, eating a scone.

When I talked to my friends at the local shop hours after this had transpired, I asked if Lance had stopped by them. My grumpy-ass mechanic friend replied. “Who gives a shit?”

Who? Well any of the people that will benefit from the $1.3M raised last night for the Livestrong Foundation in the auction of Lance’s art bikes. Anyone who won’t be scared and alone because of their help.

Or the millions of people who enjoyed watching him race the Tour, who then went out to local bike shops like the ones my friend works at and bought bikes—thereby insuring his paycheck.

I get that people don’t like the guy, but you gotta’ admit, he’s accomplished things. Hell, I’ve met him and scads of bike racers and even if I don’t like them, I’m still interested enough to care if they walked into my workplace.

Heck, even if you’re on the “he must have doped” train he seems worth meeting to me. I’d be interested in meeting A-Rod even though I don’t follow baseball and I know he doped. You can pump me full of gamma radiation and I’m still not going to hit as many home runs. And I’m not going to be able to raise a cool million greenbacks in a single auction.

While we were traveling, Hincapie shipped us the new hats. These are nylon (wash and wear) and will sell for $9.99. We like traditional cotton hats too, but not when you wash them twice and they start to fall apart. Tested one all Summer — wash, dry, and wear them.

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

In our travels and Mobile Socials, we’ve seen bikes used as transportation, but not to this extent. Bikes at India truckstops are used to deliver goods and services and form a trucking ecosystem. They build trucks with bikes.

Truck Parts

As we walked around the stop, various bikes would pass us with their loads. Need a new pair of pants or have your pants ironed? The merchants with bikes and carts have it.

The truck stops in India form an ecosystem that builds, repairs, and services trucks. They also provide community for the drivers. The parts for the trucks, including body steel, are delivered by bikes like this Premium Gold Appl.

The owner added a lucky charm to the front fender. He makes his living with this bike.

NGOs work very hard at teaching the drivers and sex workers at these stops about preventing STDs. I’ll cover that in another post.

Read more about the Mobile Social Worldwide and view the photos.