Jan 05 2010
This movie making site is pretty cool. Its definately something you could spend a tremendous amount of time doing if you got into it. What got me hooked initially was someone sending me the link to the movie below. It cracks me up.
Dec 15 2009
Just snagged this off Gary Fishers twitter feed. Carry that drink in style! Looks like its on a Moulton to me too. Cant really tell.
May 02 2009
Red Bike was a gift from my brother. It was a hand painted old red bike with twin headlights and a big wire basket. It wasn’t pretty but it was art. I took about a million pictures of Red Bike this winter as it sat outside and the snow crept up to handlebar height and back again. I had never ridden the bike until after the winter when my friend Scott pried the fender out of the back wheel and got it to roll.
Then one windy night it crashed over on some rocks and the headlight cracked. I knew it was bicycle abuse at that point and that since I would realisticly never get it riding, I would do better to cut it loose.
So I made a sign that said “free to a good bike friendly home” and put it at the end of the driveway. It had been living for a year, unlocked at the far end but the sign and moving it to streets edge was all it took. About an hour later a white Vanagon pulled up with a smiling couple. They asked if it worked and I said it sort of did. Did it have brakes? I said it might. They did a short lap around the van and off it went. How fitting. I had a white VW once. They have good karma. I mentioned this to the driver and we talked about engine repair briefly, a commonality that can’t be ignored by another VW driver. And they were off. We all smiled.
She said I would see it around Bath. I told her to look for us on the tandem. It’s so good to see Red Bike end up in a good home.
My goal is to make a photo montage of the winter of Red Bike. In the mean time, here is what she looks like.
I’ll miss her.
May 02 2009
Danny Macaskill has been treating us to mind blowing trials riding videos via You Tube for a while now. Every time I see one, I get totally inspired. The other day I took my otherwise usesless backyard and started making my own humble trials riding course. It’s a start anyway, and it’s spurred on by videos like these. I dream of being able to ride out of the 180 on just my back wheel or huck up onto a parkbench back, stall and continue on. I”m 40 so i’m not counting on getting there, but I’m not giving up either.
Anyway, here is a tribute post to a rider with phenomenal skill. Though I will say, I cringe when I see him going for pure drop height. Save the knees Danny. Take it from someone who knows. You’ll still want to be able to do it at 40. Trust me. Style and technical trumps vertical anyday.
Here it is:
Mar 25 2009
Even though this is a site about bikes, it’s still my site and so my personal interests have a habit of coming into it from time to time. This is one of those times.
I have a soft spot for animation and graphic data presentation in general. This video on Red riding hood, including the music, is simply too cool.
Check it out.
Slagsmålsklubben – Sponsored by destiny from Tomas Nilsson on Vimeo.
Feb 11 2009
I just talked with the owner of Ernie’s Cycle Shop in Westbrook Maine about a class she was preparing to give to some Girl Scouts. As the conversation turned to safety and helmets and such, I offered that I tell students that I have no problem with stunt riding and I do it myself. To which she replied, “Do you know what we are doing on the ski slopes now? We have a winter downhill series!”
Oh my god! This is too cool!
Winter Bike
This is the best cycling news i’ve heard since it dropped below freezing. I can hardly believe it. Fellow nutballs hurling themselves down a slalom course on the snow on bikes. Think of the flips, the lack of brakes and traction, the ear to ear grins.
I have to see this.
And if you want to see some photos from last year or learn more, check out these photos or this video.
And for a page on the series go here. For the nitty gritty at each mountain go here.
Jan 09 2009
From a safety standpoint, this is video is probably best described as how not to ride, but in terms of sheer enthusiasm and connecting with the joy of creating and riding a human powered vehicle, it is a video of how to ride better. Simply put, these guys love their bikes and have built fantastic machines, plus a song and a following. It shows the passion that bikes and independence can bring out.
What you should also know is that the originator of this group, Tyrone Stevenson, is also quoted in an article about this as wanting to win a Nobel Peace Prize. From someone living in Oakland, California, that’s reason for hope right there.
My hat is off to these guys.
If you want a more local version of the power that bikes can tap into with youth, check out the Community Bicycle Center in Biddeford, ME.
It’s an amazing example of what a few great adults can do with a lot of really great youth, using bikes as the medium. Bikes are vehicles of change.
Dec 08 2008
This is just a really cool idea of how to explain protein synthesis. It’s interpretive dance, from the 70’s. It’s simply cool on several levels. Continue Reading »
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