DL Byron: March 2008 Archives

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

from the Bike Hugger Photostream.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Dynacraft launches Sonoma Bike, exclusively online

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

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

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

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

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

Photo: Fiets.nl

News from World Bicycle Relief and AfricaBike

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

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

Related posts

• Bike Gifts
• Bike Hope
• Bikes for Africa

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

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

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

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

How would you build up Bettie 2.0?

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

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

from the Bike Hugger Photostream.

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

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

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

SHARE OH! — THIS IS A SHARROW LANE

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

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

Human beings are incredibly fragile … especially on a bicycle.

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

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

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

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

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

More from the Bike Hugger Photostream.

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

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

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

Photo uploaded by lemonade

Update ###

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

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

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

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

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

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

Our next mobile social event is in Shanghai.

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

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

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

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

from the Bike Hugger Photostream.

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

Any readers go to the show? How was it?

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

Thanks Austin and SXSW.

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

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

from the Bike Hugger Photostream.

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

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

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

Have a good ride all.

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

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

Update

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

from the Bike Hugger Photostream.

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

from the Bike Hugger Photostream.

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

A couple notes:

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

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

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

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

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

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

Any Bike Hugger readers going to Mix?

Here’s the Bike Hugger SXSW Urban Ride Route

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

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

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

• Found materials chopper
• Giant Squid Sculpture
• Austin FrankenBike

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

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