06 July 2015

Cute Infographics And Other Benefits Of Cycling

Throughout this blog, I've mentioned some of the many benefits of cycling.

This infographic depicts a few of them:

 


I have to admit:  I got a kick (pun intended!) out of "puts a big fat smile on your face', "gives you legs of steel" and "the Earth sends a little extra love to those on bicycles (this is scientifally documented)".


Another benefit of cycling is that you find all sorts of neat webpages with cute graphics.  On the same page (in Ecosalon) that featured the above graphic, I found this: 






05 July 2015

The Library Bike

The cyclists I've known tended to read more than most other people.  Perhaps that's peculiar to the US, or the parts of it in which I've lived:  Here, cyclists who ride to work and for recreation are more likely to be college-educated professionals or creative people.  That is a contrast to much of the rest of the world, where blue-collar and lower-paid workers pedaled and the bicycle was abandoned as soon as a person could afford a car.

Whatever the reasons, I find myself discussing things that involve reading--whether writing, literature, history or other related subjects--with cyclists when I get to know them.  Some of us, I think, would love to combine the activities of reading and riding.  

Some of us have tried.  I used to have one of those wire stands that attached to the handlebars and held a book as you rode on your trainer or rollers.  The problem is that if we're readers, we read faster than we ride, no matter how well-conditioned we are.  So we can't pedal very many RPMs before we have to turn a page.  That's very difficult, especially if you're on rollers, even if you're very skilled at riding on them (which I was, once).  It's also not easy if you're doing a wind sprint and pedaling at, say, 200 RPMs.

The best most of us can do, I think, is to combine books and bikes rather than reading or writing.  Someone, it seems, at the Cleveland Public Library understands as much.  So he or she created a bookmobile that's pedaled into under-served neighborhoods:

 


The Book Bike contains three levels of shelving that can hold 260 pounds (!) of books. It even has bookmark, brochure and umbrella holders.  

 

The trike has a double parking brake, three speeds--and a white racing stripe on a snappy orange finish.  After all, a messenger--especially one bringing enlightenment and education--must be speedy!

(Note:  Although I have provided a link to the website on which I found these images, I have not used the name of that website, as it might offend some!)

04 July 2015

Happy Fourth Of July!

Happy Fourth of July, a.k.a. US Independence Day!

There have been many, many bikes, accessories and articles of bike clothing adorned with the American Flag--or, at least, its color scheme.  (I wasn't about to spell "color" "colour" in a Fourth of July post!Many, of course, are cheesy or tacky.  But some are quite nice.

One is this US National Track team bicycle from the 1990s:

From Doobybrain



I think it would look good in almost any environment. But whoever took the photo really did the bike--and its setting--justice.  I love the way the "smoke" seems to come out of the front wheel in the mural.

Ironically, that photo was taken in Williamsburg, Brooklyn:  the home of the "hipster fixie".  Somehow, though, I don't think that bike was ridden by any hipster.

Anyway...Enjoy the day--and wish me a happy birthday.  (Yes, our Founding Fathers seceded from the Crown just to be sure my birthday would be a national holiday.  It says that somewhere in the Constitution, I think.)

03 July 2015

To The Beach, Gently Weeping

Tomorrow is supposed to be more like an early-spring day in Belgium or the Netherlands than an early July (i.e., The Fourth) in the US.  Not that I mind, particularly.  But today was beautiful:  a clear sky and a high temperature of about 26C (80F) with little humidity and a moderate breeze.  

I had a few things to do today but I was able to get on the bike by two in the afternoon.  Given that we are just past the longest day (in terms of the length of daylight) of the year, I figured I'd still have enough time to ride to Point Lookout and back before dark--especially if I rode Arielle.

Which is what I did.  Even though I pedaled into the breeze (which turned into a veritable wind by the time I got to Broad Channel), I made one of my better times going out there--and, of course, had an even faster ride back.  Without pushing myself and with a stop at Point Lookout to ponder and soak up sun and salt air--and consume a packet of Welch's Fruit Snacks (Cherries 'n' Berries) with a bottle of seltzer water--I still managed to get home more than an hour before sunset.  (If I were Jewish, I could've been lighting my Shabbos candles!)


Even though my logical mind told me not to go anywhere near a beach, I did.  I saw the traffic I expected.  Notice I said "I saw".  I structured my ride so I didn't have to spend much of it pedaling alongside rows of SUVs with cranky drivers and their spouses screaming at their screaming kids--or each other.  And those vehicles went to the places I expected:  Rockaway Park, Rockaway Beach, Atlantic Beach, Long Beach and Lido Beach.  I also expected to see some of those vehicles and crabby kids at Point Lookout, which is right across from Jones Beach, one of the most popular summer seaside spots in this area.

But I saw this:






That tree, or whatever it is, always looks the same, no matter the time of day or year.  I've asked a couple of people what kind of tree it is and how it got there; no one seems to know.  Next time I see a Parks Service employee, I'll ask.

Somehow it fits into my  "While His Fixie Gently Weeps" post-- or the spirit of Salvador Dali that helped to inspire it.  While a bare tree/Gently weeps.

Now I'll show you someone who gently weeps:




At least, that's what she did when I walked by.  She and the window are across the street from where I live.  I passed them after I got home, returned Arielle to The Family and went to the store.  

She gave a soft, rather forlorn, meow.  I think she knew she was looking at a friend but we couldn't get any closer than we were.  Perhaps one day...

02 July 2015

Conkey Cruisers Determined To Keep Going In Ra-Cha-Cha

I haven't been to Rochester in a while.  Not so long ago, photography (specifically Kodak) was to New York State's third-largest city as the auto industry was to Detroit or bicycle business to Birmingham and St. Etienne.  At one time, banks in Rochester would grant mortgages and loans to people who simply presented a Kodak employee ID.

Kodak, which didn't keep up in the shift from film to digital photography, filed for bankruptcy three and a half years ago.  But the city's decline had begun before that, when other companies and whole industries left.  Now one out of every four residents of "Ra-Cha-Cha", and two out of every five of its young people, live in poverty as it's defined by the US Government.

In such a place, there are people who are desperate enough to steal anything that might be of any monetary value or use.  A bicycle has both. So, a would-be thief who broke into a storage facility where 150 are kept would probably think he'd hit paydirt.

Some of the Conkey Cruisers


That is what happened last week.  The bikes belonged to The Conkey Cruisers.  Theresa Bowick, a registered nurse, started the organization three years ago to help city residents of all ages stay fit.  (Like other cities in which much of the population is poor, obesity, diabetes and other health problems are rampant.)  But her focus became the children--who, she says, "are children I love."  

Theresa Bowick

 She is, therefore, determined to keep the program going.  The Rochester Police Department says it has recovered 25 to 30 of the bicycles, all in pieces.  To Bowick, though, all is not lost: "[O]ur safety coordinator and our program educator decided they are going to use those pieces to teach our participants to put bicycles together."

Donations have come in from the immediate area and beyond.  Still, Bowick says, her program can use donations of bikes, parts, money or moral support.

01 July 2015

Bringing Bikes To Kids In The Great North

Nunavut is a region of Canada about three times the size of Texas, or about the same size as all of Western Europe.  Yet my neighborhood--Astoria, Queens, New York--has about three times as many people.

I have never been to Nunavut.  Somehow I imagine there aren't many bike shops there and that delivery even from Performance or Wiggle is slow.  Then again, from what I've read, I don't imagine very many natives of Nunavut--most of whom are Inuit, and many of whom don't speak either English or French, the two official languages of Canada--have the means of accessing bicycle retailers' websites or the money to buy a bike.

Alison Harper noticed as much. She and her husband moved to Kugluktuk, a town about 600 kilometres north of Yellowknife, the largest community in the Northwest Territories.  The kids who came into the community center in which she volunteered were fascinated by her fat-tired bike.  She decided to organize a ride with those young people, only to find that one of the boys didn't have a bike.

Alison Harper and children of Kuglutuk on their bikes. From CTV News.



She then started the Polar Bike Project to bring bikes to kids in the Great North.  She contacted a friend who owns a bike shop in Calgary, who agreed to donate bikes.  Getting them to Kugluktuk was another story.  Fortunately, Buffalo Airways in Yellowknife offered to ship them for free.

The first ten bikes arrived last month and 42 are due in the next shipment.  She hopes to bring a bike to every child in the town. So she's looking for more sources of bikes, locks helmets and monetary donations for her project.



 

30 June 2015

Family Portrait Day



Today is Family Day.  So you’re gonna see lots and lotsa pikshas.

In the previous sentence, my roots were showing.  I’m going to my hairdresser on Thursday.

Anyway…Now I’m going to show you some portraits of family members.  It’s a particular but close branch:  The Mercians.

Yes, I’m going to show you my bikes, after their winter makeovers and some riding.

First I’ll start with Arielle, the first Mercian to come into my life:



You’ve seen some photos of her already. But I wanted to show her after 500 miles, post-facelift (and overhaul):







I’m liking it more and more with the honey leather.  I think the bags have something to do with it:  The color of the canvas (“Nantucket Red”, which is really more like salmon pink) works with both the green and purple of the “flip flop” finish and the honey saddle, bar wrap and toe straps. What do you think?



As you know from a few previous posts, Tosca, my fixie (and the second Mercian I acquired) got a similar treatment.



I’m happy with the way the colors play off each other.  However, I wasn’t able to find a double track toe strap to go with the other leather accessories.  Then again, I guess the mismatch isn’t as noticeable as if, say, I wrapped the bar in a darker color.



The third Mercian to come my way is, I realize, one I haven’t written as much about lately.  Helene is a 2010 Miss Mercian with similar geometry (but with slightly more tire and fender clearance) to Arielle, which is a custom Mercian Audax.  




The rear bag is a bit larger than the one I use on Arielle and Tosca.  As you can probably tell, it was also made by Ely Rodriguez of Ruth Works SF. So is the handlebar bag, doubles as a clutch or shoulder bag when removed from the bike.




Finally, here is the last Mercian I bought. Ironically, it’s the oldest:  Vera, my “other” Miss Mercian.  It was made in 1994 and I purchased it in 2011:



Somehow the boxy randonneur front bag and larger saddle bag make the most sense—and look best—on this bike, although I could use them on my other bike.  Perhaps it’s because Vera has a longer wheelbase and is therefore the most stable with a load on it.  I wonder what it would be like on a longer tour.




She seems really happy to have those bags, and the Brooks B17 special.  So am I.  In fact, I’m happy with all of these bikes:  As similar as they might seem to someone who doesn’t know bikes or Mercians, each has its own character and personality.  Still, they all make me happy when I ride



Now, here’s the rest of my family:

 
La-Z-Boy, a.k.a. Max






 and La-Z-Girl, a.k.a. Marlee!

29 June 2015

While His Fixie Gently Weeps



Sometimes I think that if Salvador Dali had composed music, it would’ve sounded something like the tune to  While My Guitar Gently Weeps”.

Now, if he’d designed bicycles it would have been interesting, to say the least. While going to the store, I think I saw an example of what might’ve resulted:



For one thing, I was intrigued that this bike came from Biria, a company that’s been known—at least in the US—mainly for city bikes with upright bars.  Perhaps if Biria’s focus is indeed urban bikes, this model makes sense.  After all, I don’t think very many people in small towns in Wyoming or West Virginia are going to ride a bike like that.



Another thing that caught my attention is how close the rear tire comes to the seat tube:



And that’s with the wheel all the way back in the dropout:



What’s even more interesting is that other attempts to shorten the wheelbase (or, at any rate, the rear part of it) have included curving the seat tube, as on this KHS bike from the mid-90’s:

 

And Schwinn, in the mid-70s, offered a bike called the Sprint with a similar seat tube.  Like many other Schwinns of that era, it was an extremely strange bike:  Save for the curved seat tube and the short (at least relatively) wheelbase, it was no different from the Continental.  At least the KHS was based on something that bore some semblance to a track bike.

 

Then there was the Rigi, made in Italy during the early 1980’s.  I never owned, but I had a couple of opportunities to ride, one.  It certainly lived up to its name:  I can recall few, if any, other bikes that were more rigid and transferred power to the rear wheel as much as that bike did.

 

I would be really curious to find out what effect, if any, the curved top and down tubes have on the ride of the Biria I saw today.  Whatever its ride, I don’t think its rider has to worry about stopping power:  It has a coaster brake on the rear wheel and a caliper brake for each wheel!