Road Bike Party - Martyn Ashton

Nothing more needs to be said

Come Alive

Hallelujah

In Texas you can get shot for stealing a man's iron horse...

Brookline —

A 17-year-old Dorchester boy allegedly took a bike from another person and rode it home on Saturday, July 27.
Joseph Gonzalez allegedly walked up to a person riding a bicycle worth $500 and told him, “Get off the bike.” Gonzalez forced the person of his bike, according to the police report.
A juvenile who was with Gonzalez then reportedly told the victim that he would never get his bike back

Fred as a child...

The victim reported the incident to Brookline Police, who interviewed the juvenile in Brookline and went to Gonzalez’s home in Dorchester.
Both of them were arrested and charged with unarmed robbery.

Dorchester teen allegedly forces person off bike, takes it - Brookline, Massachusetts - Brookline TAB

Lance Armstrong biopic: Ben Foster on the bike?

Stephen Frears's forthcoming film about infamous cyclist could cast Alphadog's Ben Foster in title role.

Performance enhancer … playing Lance Armstrong will be a rare break for actor Ben Foster, who is better known for his supporting roles. Photograph: Getty Images

Actor Ben Foster looks set to play Lance Armstrong in a biopic of the disgraced cyclist, which will be directed by Stephen Frears, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
Written by regular Danny Boyle collaborator John Hodge, the film would cover the period from Armstrong's testicular cancer diagnosis in the mid-1990s to the revelations over his use of performance-enhancing drugs. Foster, a celebrated supporting actor in films such as 3:10 to Yuma, Alphadog and recent Sundance smash Ain't Them Bodies Saints, will step up to a rare lead role if his current negotiations prove fruitful.


Lance Armstrong biopic: Ben Foster on the bike? | Film | theguardian.com

This Fixie Uses Two Frames to Make One Bike

This incredible looking bicycle, known as Viks, is a fixed-gear commuter bike with a twist: it actually uses two identically shaped frames to form its body.

Made from sweeping tubes of stainless steel, the two frames flank the wheels and come together at the bottom bracket and head tube to create what—from the side (see below)—looks like a (relatively) normal bicycle. The lack of seat tube adds to the quirky look, and the single-piece fork and
handlebar—also made out of stainless steel tubing—look cool if not entirely practical.

Art on the wall at Chuy's in Austin

This Fixie Uses Two Frames to Make One Bike

The Darkest One

1975-shimano-disc-brakes

Article Overview
In our industry, products from the past seem to re-appear quite often. Bicycle disc brakes are one such item. Like a Phoenix, they've risen from the ashes a 3rd time in just the last 40 years. Since their acceptance as a superior brake for the mountain bike, it seems that more and more people are asking about them for their road bikes. Most manufacturers are happy to just slap them on, but is there more to consider? Are they better for every type of bike and every type of riding? Let's follow the history a bit, and see.
This article is for those who want to learn more about bicycle disc brakes. It's not to convince the reader that disc brakes are good or bad. My purpose is to let you all know that disc brakes have been around a long time in our industry, and there are upsides and downsides to them. More here

San Francisco cyclist guilty of manslaughter in legal first

Bucchere, a software engineer from San Francisco had been riding recklessly and had run three red lights when he struck Hui as he and his wife crossed a street in the Castro district of San Francisco on 29 March 2012, prosecutors said.
Hui died four days later from his injuries. His wife was not hurt. Hui's family has filed a civil suit against Bucchere.
Bucchere's lawyer, Ted Cassman, did not return calls seeking comment.

Gascon said the victim's family did not want to see Bucchere imprisoned and prosecutors did not think a judge would sentence him to jail, so they offered probation and community service in the plea deal.
He added that they did not want to risk a possible not guilty verdict at a trial.
"We believe this is the best outcome for this type of case," he said.
Gascon said his office had carried out research and could not find any other cases in which a prosecutor had obtained a manslaughter conviction against a cyclist.
San Francisco cyclist guilty of manslaughter in legal first

Your security is safe -City Admits Security May Have Been Breached For Citi Bike Users

 

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — Citi Bike users – many of them already frustrated by other problems with the program – have now learned that their personal information has been compromised.
As CBS 2’s Hazel Sanchez reported Tuesday, the program is already wildly unpopular with many cyclists who have been stuck left waiting for a ride. But Link Salas was also wondering if someone took him for a ride, after he and 1,173 other cyclists received an alarming e-mail from Citi Bike.
“There is a security breach that has been solved. Thank you for your understanding. Your security is safe,” the e-mail said.
City Admits Security May Have Been Breached For Citi Bike Users « CBS New York

Jumping over the Tour de France

Saut au dessus du Tour de France 2013 from EnchoRage on Vimeo.

Live Till you Die...

Hey!

Bike-a-thon For Special Olympics | Stuff.co.nz

This is good stuff!!!

Tour de France fans are being asked to take to their bikes during the next 24 hours to raise money for the Special Olympics.
Ideal Electrical Sydenham are holding a 24-hour bike-a-thon to raise money for the Special Olympics Canterbury team.
Participants are invited to visit the site and cycle over the 24-hour period while watching and following the Tour de France on a big screen.
Ideal Electrical spokesman Mike Lowden said the "Tour de Montreal" was created because of a huge interest in the Tour de France.
"Biking fans love the tour so we decided having our own one would be a good way to get people into helping out the team. Riders don't have to do the whole 24 hours but we will be open the whole time for people to pop in and give it ago."

Bike-a-thon For Special Olympics | Stuff.co.nz

Bike repair a life long passion for Selma man

Since age eight, Joe Chapman Jr. has been repairing bicycles. Joe’s Bike’s Shop, a business that began with Chapman’s uncle, has become somewhat of a landmark on J.L. Chestnut Avenue, across from Calhoun’s Foods. With its faded red lettering reading “Joe’s Bicycle Repair,” it’s hard to miss the small shop — and Chapman, who sits outside and waves to cars as they pass by.

Joe Chapman

Now 72, Chapman said fixing bikes has become more than just a trade, but a way of life.
“I do it for a living, and I do it for a hobby,” Chapman said while sitting outside his small store, unphased by the fierce summer heat. “This building, it’s been a family-owned operation for many years. My uncle owned it and he taught me this trade.”
Graduating from R.B. Hudson High School in 1959, Chapman formed a deep interest in bicycle repair and auto mechanics. Traveling as far as New York City, Chapman said he’s “seen it all” when it comes to bicycle repair.

Bike repair a passion for Selma man | The Selma Times‑Journal

“forever bike” - It just never works that way.

Favorite bike but not forever bike...

On Biking: In search of the perfect bike
Posted by Your Town  July 17, 2013 03:19 PM

My first high-end road bike, the one I bought over 10 years ago, did not fit me properly. At least that’s what I thought. A good carpenter never blames his tools, but I decided my bike was not right: After four hours on the saddle, my shoulders and neck began to hurt. Something must be causing that pain, I reasoned, and because it couldn’t be me, it must be the bike.
Or so I thought.
With that in mind, I rode over to see Peter Mooney, a Belmont-based frame-builder extraordinaire and bike guru. I wanted his opinion about (and hopefully his blessing for) the purchase of a new bike. Preferably one of the gorgeous custom-lugged steel bikes that he builds by hand.
Except that Peter told me I looked just fine on my bike. “Keep on riding. I wouldn’t change a thing,” he said. “It’s a great bike you’ve got there. Enjoy it.”

On Biking: In search of the perfect bike

Bike-Friendly Companies Doing Brisk Business As Bike Culture, Infrastructure Gains Ground

NEW YORK -- When Mary Walsh opened Swamp Rabbit Café and Grocery in 2011, the business had all the markings of a venture destined to fail. Rather than open up in downtown Greenville, S.C., the SUV-friendly town where Walsh and her business partner, Jacqueline Oliver, live, the duo set up shop in an abandoned storefront more easily accessible via bike trail. In a part of the country better known for pulled pork and fried food, Walsh's store offered organic hummus and kombucha.

But two years after launching, Walsh says sales are going briskly, driven by customers who'd rather take their groceries home in a bike basket than a car trunk. A gym, bike shop and "environmental hair and nail salon" have opened next door, turning a site Walsh says used to be a crackhouse into a bike-focused strip mall.
While some may have called Walsh crazy for choosing to open her store along a cycling path, her success is part of a surge in bike-related business opportunities. With the initial economic hit from the Great Recession in the rearview mirror, both new and existing businesses across the country are tapping into changing attitudes about biking as a way to drive up traffic and put their sales into high gear.

Bike-Friendly Companies Doing Brisk Business As Bike Culture, Infrastructure Gains Ground

Trek Speed Concept 9 Series Time Trial/triathlon Bike Gets Redesigned

Trek has a redesigned version of the Speed Concept 9 Series triathlon/time trial bike it first introduced at the 2009 Tour de France. The new bike has a smaller frontal profile, and the frame shape was tweaked after Trek engineers did real-world aerodynamics testing on Ironman courses. 

The result? Trek claims the 2014 Speed Concept will save between 0.5-0.8 sec/km (0.9-1.3 sec/mile) compared to the current bike. The company has also shaved a supposed 437g off the frame.
Trek has also fine-tuned the bolt-on storage containers, which the company says actually improve the overall aerodynamics of the bike. Five sizes will be availalbe, each with six stem options. Prices range from US$4,999/£4,500 for a frameset, through US$5,999/£5,000 for a Trek Speed Concept 9.5 or Speed Concept 9.5 WSD (Women's Specific Design), up to $11,549/£9,000 for the top-end Speed Concept 9.9 with Dura-Ace Di2 and Bontrager Aeolus 5 D3 carbon clinchers. Custom Project One options are also available.

Trek Speed Concept 9 Series Time Trial/triathlon Bike Gets Redesigned - BikeRadar

Safer bike lane from guerilla activists in Seattle made permanent

In April, an activist cells of cyclists calling themselves Reasonably Polite Seattleites made a point about how little it would take to make bike lanes safer: all along the city's Cherry Street bike lane under the I-5 freeway they put put reflective pylons for a total cost of $350 and their free labor.
To emphasize their attitude of 'polite' activism, they attached the reflective pylons with adhesive pads rather than epoxy glue, for simple removal.
Then they sent a letter to the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT), detailing why the pylons were so great: not only did they help slow regular traffic by making the lane appear narrower, they also served as an early warning system for distracted drivers that might be veering too far into the bike lane. Used on busy streets they could also discourage drivers and trucks from the practice of parking in the bike lane.
ike lane from guerilla activists in Seattle made permanent : TreeHugger

Bike thief shaming...

Sarasota cops said Luther Douglas stole a kid's bicycle at a Skate Park on the Fourth of July around 11:00 p.m., according to a news release from the Sarasota Police Department.
The boy reportedly told cops that Douglas had threatened him as he sat on the bike.

Luther Douglas aka bike thief

Douglas’ ex-wife was at the Skate Park and told cops she had witnessed the robbery but then became uncooperative and started yelling threats at other kids, the release stated.
Cops told the ex to leave, which she did, but not before she screamed at them, police said.

Cops reportedly caught up with the 5-foot 8-inch, 165-pound 49-year-old Sarasota man as he was riding the boy's bike.  Douglas was arrested and charged with robbery by sudden snatching, a felony.
Hey, bud, pick on somebody your own size next time.
Stealing from a kid is pathetic ... and so easy.
Man, 49, accused of stealing bike from kid - OrlandoSentinel.com

Pro mountain bike racer Matthew Slaven was shot by a hoodie

News that Matthew Slaven, a well-known professional mountain bike racer from Portland, was shot during a mugging Monday night in California, rippled across social media and  racing circles.
First, what happened. The Santa Cruz Sentinel described the shooting Monday this way:

hmm... a hoodie

Slaven was shot while he and three others were walking through San Lorenzo Park near Dakota Avenue about 10 p.m. Monday, Santa Cruz police Lt. Larry Richard said.
A man wearing a hooded sweatshirt and bandanna on his face approached the group near the duck pond and demanded their wallets, police said.
The man then shot Slaven. Someone in the group gave the gunman a wallet, and the shooter fled toward downtown Santa Cruz, according to police.


Pro mountain bike racer Matthew Slaven: A roundup | OregonLive.com

What a dick...

Yesterday, riders at the sixth annual Tour de Queens got a preview of Anthony Weiner’s proposal to introduce new city tax breaks for businesses that help employees bike to work. It’s one of the meager transportation proposals in his policy book, “Keys to the City.” There are already plenty of financial incentives to bike — walking is the only mode of transportation that’s cheaper — so, understandably, riders were much more interested in hearing from Weiner about how he’ll make streets safer. But his ideas about street design were similarly underwhelming.

Anthony Weiner has a Citi Bike key fob, but he lacks a coherent plan to make biking safer. Photo: NY Mag

After taking a turn at the mic to hype the tax benefit, Weiner jawboned with about a dozen Tour de Queens participants, including myself, about how he’d make streets safer for biking. He was amiable throughout, but while he insisted he was only joking when he told Mayor Bloomberg, in 2010, that he would “have a bunch of ribbon-cuttings tearing out your f—ing bike lanes,” he also made it clear that he would, in fact, rip out bike lanes if elected, starting with the Broadway bike lane that runs close to his current residence in Gramercy.
Weiner on Bike Policy: Small Talk, Small Stick | Streetsblog New York City

Lance Armstrong at RAGBRAI

“To be honest, it’s not a statement, it’s not an experiment,” Armstrong told the Register. “It’s just me wanting to go ride my bike with what in the past has been a friendly group of people who share the same interests.”
For Armstrong, stripped of his Tour titles after his admission to doping, there’ll be safety in numbers with as many as 10,000 fellow riders in what is not officially a race.

“I’m well aware my presence is not an easy topic, and so I encourage people if they want to give a high five, great,” he said. “If you want to shoot me the bird, that’s okay, too.”
The RAGBRAI begins in Council Bluffs on July 21, the day the Tour de France ends in Paris, and Armstrong isn’t committing to the entire ride. He told the Register he and his Mellow Johnny’s bike shop staff would hang around “three or four” days. Armstrong has participated in the event five times, most recently in 2011.
Lance Armstrong will get back on the bike — in Iowa

'Shiti Bike' Stickers Posted On NYC Citi Bikes (PHOTO)

According to the group's Facebook page, organizers are hoping to reclaim "NYC streets from corporate appropriation of Bike culture."
The page's most recent post includes a link to aHuffPost story showcasing various celebrities seen riding Citi Bikes. The link is attached with a comment that reads, "how much is the advertising budget?"
While the Citi Bike program launched with its fair share of detractors, Streets Blog noted last week there have been no deaths or serious injuries so far.


'Shiti Bike' Stickers Posted On NYC Citi Bikes (PHOTO)

Bike lanes across the United States

The six cities leading the nation are Austin, Chicago, Memphis, Portland, San Francisco and Washington, DC. Representatives met in New York City to share the ideas that are working for them. What is needed in addition to the bike lanes is the infrastructure of convenient bike parking garages, bike-sharing stations and workplace showering facilities.
Green lanes are engineered for safety, efficiency and travel ease for all street users of all ages. They are separated from sidewalks and some are painted green. While inspired by European cities' decades of experience, they are unique for American streets. Other names for them are cycle tracks, buffered bike lanes, traffic-separated bike lanes, and protected bike lanes. They are meant to be safe, convenient and comfortable biking routes.


Bike lanes across the United States - National Green Living | Examiner.com

Bike-Sharing Docks Also Serve as Gyms or Trash Cans

They rose from the earth overnight, some said, muscling the cars from their curbside perches: more than 300 hulking monuments to Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s surrender to the whims of the New York City cyclist. 

But even as the bike-sharing stations remain a source of dismay to some residents, they have served to illustrate a well-worn maxim of urban planning: If you build something, New Yorkers will find a way to lean on it.

Joining the ranks of fire hydrants, pay-phone booths and signposts before them, the bike kiosks have increasingly assumed an expanded role.

They provide temporary seating outside restaurants, when the bar is full.

They are high enough for a man to press his foot against to tie his shoe without bending over, and low enough for a dog to swathe almost the entire surface with urine.

Bike-Sharing Docks Also Serve as Gyms or Trash Cans - NYTimes.com

No helmets required for bike share in busy NYC

 In a city where the mayor is often portrayed as a protective nanny, restricting cigarettes, fatty foods and sugary drinks, there is a glaring exception: a new bike-share program that allows riders to pedal through some of the nation's busiest streets without a helmet.
The lack of a helmet requirement in New York's month-old Citi Bike program, which eventually will accommodate as many as 10,000 cyclists — many of them tourists — has some experts predicting a disastrous increase in injuries and fatalities. Comedians have piled on, with "The Daily Show" host Jon Stewart sarcastically suggesting a "Street Brain Material Removal Service."

June 18th post on Fred's Bike

But so far, through more than 500,000 rides, such predictions haven't come true, with just three minor accidents and nothing more serious than some scrapes and bruises.

No helmets required for bike share in busy NYC