Go Clipless

My sado-masochistic relationship with bike magazines

Updated: Ok...I'm back from my business trip so I can try to recreate this post that my moblogging software bungled. Here's hoping I have the same creativity in me:

One of my good friends in college had a saying that he used every time someone did something that he didn't like. Once when I forgot to pick him up to go to a party, the next day he was pretty upset and said, "G, right now I love you, but I hate you." (You'll see how this fits in a minute).

I've been traveling a lot on business already this year and I've noticed that the WH Smith's and Hudson News' of the world have removed all of their bike magazines in favor of skiing and snowboarding magazines.

Now these stores are not exactly bastions of fine magazine reading, but you can usually find Bicycling and sometimes you may even hit the daily double and get Bike Magazine as well. But, recently I have had no luck. As I sit here waiting for my connecting flight in Charlotte I am just dying for some bike infotainment. So I decided to give it another shot.

Wait, what's that I see. Could it be a Bicycling Magazine? I began pawing at it with my Croissan-wich stained fingers.

Ahhhhh...now that's better. It's the April edition, never mind that it's still February, and it was put to press in January. Right now, I'll take anything bike related that I can get my hands on.

Oh would you look at that? It's the annual buyer's guide. This should provide plenty of fodder...err...content in the days to come.

I know I've dissed you before, but right now I couldn't be happier. I love you Bicycling.

Oh...and for those that prefer the original post (actually the moblogged translation of the original post) I've left it down below for your pleasure. Some might argue that it is the better version.

2nd update: Apparently these characters are reeking havoc with the feed...so I am removing them.

Just possibly the greatest grocery store ever

The new Whole Foods "concept" store in Fairfax, VA.

As a cyclist you enjoy healthy food, right? As such, you've likely been to a Whole Foods before. But not like this one. Unless you live in Austin, TX where the only other store of this kind exists.

There's a wine tasting bar, five gourmet restaurants, and more microbrews than you'd find at your nearest mountain bike festival.

If this is the future of Whole Foods, you guys are in for a treat when one finally comes your way.

Anyway, sorry to be a bit off topic, but I just had to share. Jealous?

Learn to bunny-hop through pictures

It's great when people with mad skills give back to the rest of us. Especially when it is done with no pretense and just a love for the sport and to help other riders.

Jabberwocky, a member of my local mountain bike club MORE, is one such rider. He posted a fantastic tutorial/pictorial of the right way to do a bunny hop over in the MORE forums. You've got to check it out!

I've written about some other log hop and bunny hopping resources before, but I'll surface some of the links below:

Beginning and intermediate riders:

Rickyd hippity-hopping over a log
Flowmaster's bunny-hop video tutorials
Jabberwocky's bunny-hop pictorial street style

Advanced riders try these techniques - if you dare:

Ryan Leech riding fences and railroad tracks
Crazy urban trials riding

Have fun!

You wear a helmet? Gimme a break.

John Stossel's got a segment on 20/20 tonight (you can preview it here) about the unintended consequences of helmet use.

There are really two issues here.

1. Is a bike rider any safer when they wear a helmet?
2. Does society benefit when helmets are mandated?

Let's take a look at the argument behind point number one:

While there is little doubt that your head is much better protected when you are in an accident, it turns out that you may be more likely to get in an accident due to your helmet use. For two reasons, 1) cars tend to pass you more closely when you are wearing a helmet vs. when you go without, and 2) you tend to feel more invincible and therefore take more risks. The main problem I have with these arguments is that I have yet to see any data that shows these behaviors in fact do lead to more accidents - only that one would assume that they do. Then again I haven't poured over the reports from whence they've come either.

I may be the only lunatic that thinks this way, but it reminds me of an argument I have with myself regarding the safety of multi-engine jet planes (hey, I'm a frequent traveler - what can I say). Anyway, it's about whether it is safer to fly in a two engine plane vs. one with four engines. On the one hand, when riding in a four engine plane, if one of the engines should fail there are three others to get you to safety. On the other hand, you are more likely to have a problem with one of the engines than you are with a two engine plane.

Regarding issue number two:

Apparently the data shows that as we mandate the use of helmets participation in cycling goes down. As a result, the unintended consequence is more out of shape people that end up having heart attacks and die early. To me as a layman, this is a no brainer. I believe that not only are there fewer cyclists over time when helmet use is mandatory, but of those that do still cycle, they likely do so at a reduced rate. The hassle factor. I'm very much in the "take personal responsibility" camp here on this one.

So what's the bottom line here? I know that I always wear a helmet when I do serious cycling. I always make my kids wear helmets no matter what. But, I don't wear a helmet when I tool around the neighborhood or when I ride to the community pool (yes, I'm a hypocrite, I know). I can understand the hassle factor.

(Via C.I.C.L.E.)

Is bike racing the new NASCAR?

I think we live in Bizzaro World. The cycling pro race circuit is rocked with doping scandals and the most popular man in the sport has retired, yet pro cycling is more popular in the U.S. than ever before.

According to this article by Sal Ruibal in the USA Today, a record 60,000 U.S. race licenses were obtained last year and 1.3 million people will line the streets to watch the Tour of California (ToC) this week.

In fact The Tour (as opposed to Le Tour) is so popular that it may one day be on par with the grand tours in France, Spain, and Italy. At least if Phillip Anschutz (owner of the ToC) gets his way.

Guess what? Anschutz is the man responsible for bringing David Beckham across the pond to join Major League Soccer. This gives me great hope to learn this as I have been quite impressed with the MLS's strategic plan for growth. It's no wonder the Tour of California has been so successful with a guy like this that knows that you have to make an investment early if you want something to last.

That not withstanding, Anschutz is not solely responsible for cycling's renaissance in the U.S. But, I can't say I know what is. Could it be that it's just that Americans have a warped appetite for negative news and bad news is better than no news? Help me out here.

Breaking the ice again

  Broken Ice 
  Originally uploaded by TheDrinkNinja.

I'm breaking the ice. Literally and figuratively.

At least that is how I feel when I have been away from the blog for so long. Look, I just got busy, o.k.? Nothing more, nothing less. Yeah, sure I could have posted that I'd be away for a while, but I didn't know that. Each day kept slipping by. Truth is, I didn't even visit any blogs during this time either. And, I didn't even read any of your comments, so there.

But now I'm back and I'm breaking the ice again. Like I started saying, I never know what to write on the first day back from a blog hiatus. I could start right up again with regular content and act like nothing happened I guess. For some reason though that just doesn't feel right. You deserve an explanation, I think. Have you been good?

Oh, and about the literally part. Well the D.C. area has been nothing but a sheet of ice for a week now. Yesterday started the thaw. Finally. So what did the Virginia Department of Transportation do. They came and plowed my cul-de-sac nearly a week after the snow and piled up all of the sludge and ice right in front of my house and driveway. Assholes.

Learn how to ride your bike off a 3,000 foot drop and live to tell about it

Answer: Use a parachute. That's exactly what Stefan Oberlander did (you knew there had to be a catch, right?).

It's called Base-jumping and Oberlander was the first man to successfully land a base-jump on a mountain bike. Just in case you think that sounds easy, I'll let Stefan explain:

Keeping the bike and landing on it changes everything. If you keep it, you enter a totally different level of commitment as you must attach the bike to you; with all the possibilities for entanglements of your gear and only 1 parachute quite a step.

So far, everybody who has tried Base-jumping on a bike dropped it due to the complexity and the dangers involved in keeping the bike during freefall, deployment and landing.

Not that I'd ever have the guts to try such a thing, but who knew it would be so complicated? Go check out the before, during, and after photos.

Kind of reminds me of this Evomo poster.

Anyway, this is old news as it happened in July of 2006, however, I don't remember it getting much coverage at that time. Thomas at Bike-community.net resurrected the story.

Annual Top 100 Bicycle Retailers survey results now available

The annual Top 100 Retailers survey results were announced yesterday at the Bicycle Leadership Conference. Most of the usual suspects made the list again this year.

For those that don't know the list is compiled through a survey of the sales staff at many of the largest manufacturers and distributors in the cycling industry. As a result, one might surmise that the list is skewed toward some of the larger shops given that sales people will likely want to 'reward' their best customers. That's not to say, however, that these are not great retailers, I just wonder how different the list might look if customers were surveyed instead of retailers.

So did your favorite LBS make the list? Are there any obvious omissions? Anyone that shouldn't be on the list from a consumers point of view? Have at it.

No love for the Society of People Who Actually Make Their Own Shit (SOPWAMTOS) award

Is there no respect for the Golden Toidy - that lovely little sarcastic award given to bike companies that seem to violate some sacrosanct code of ethics that is not written anywhere but understood by many.

Apparently someone from Cannondale didn't find the humor in it and threw their Golden Fist award for their "'successful re-organization' after going bankrupt and leaving their vendors SOL to the tune of 1.2 million and then 'going forward' as if nothing had ever happened," back in 2005.

Well guess what? The Golden Fist has made it's way to eBay and it's most recent bid is only $10.50 (look out for that hefty $30 shipping charge though). Hurry though there's only three days left to get a hold of this genuine article of industry shame.

Here's how the seller describes the item:

I GOT THIS OUT OF THE TRASH AT THE 2005 INTERBIKE TRADE SHOW IN LAS VEGAS

NEVER USED WHILE I HAVE HAD IT

I THOUGHT IT MIGHT COME IN HANDY IF I MET MONICA LEWINSKY

Gotta love it.

Well, if you want to know more about the history of the SOPWAMTOS the best I can tell you is to Google it and read about it through the links that you find. Like Critical Mass this "organization" does not seem to have a true home on the Internet. (Here's a link to the 2005 award winners, however).

Hey, if one of you crazies out there buys this thing be sure to send me a picture of you "using" the prize and I'll be sure to post it.

(Via Swobo's How to Avoid the Bummer Life blog)

UPDATE Feb, 10: The winning bid went for $172.50. The winner was named cannondalelover1973 who appears to have no previous history on eBay. Could it be a Cannondale employee reclaiming the award?

Ice bike racing and five more ways to have fun riding your bike in the winter

I didn't ride this weekend. I was busy and it was too damn cold.

Scratch that. I could have made time for riding, but I was too damn cold. But now I'm feeling guilty.

Mike (a reader and former co-worker) e-mailed this article in the New York Times to me about Ice Bike Racing. My first reaction was that Ice Bike Racers are just a bunch of loons with too much time on their hands. You'd have to be crazy to get out there on the ice in Minnesota, Alaska, Ontario, etc...

Then I thought about it a little. Some of my most memorable times on a bike came in the winter. I can recall this quest that I embarked upon several years ago, this tomfoolery after a blizzard hit the area, and several other occasions I didn't write about.

I think the thing about winter riding is that you cannot expect the same things out of it that you get from riding in nice weather. Instead you have to go with the flow. Improvise a little.

I started this piece by saying that I felt guilty. It's not because I need to try to stay in shape (that's true, I do), but rather it's because I missed being on my bike - and no, being on the trainer in the basement is not the same thing.

So what I think I'm going to do is do like the Ice Bikers. Improvise a little and come up with a new way to think about cycling in the winter. It's just not that fun doing the same thing that I do in warm weather when it's cold. So if you're like me and need some inspiration to get your fat ass off the couch or maybe in your case your fit ass off the trainer here are some ideas:

• Go on a quest. If your regular riding buddies aren't up for it find some new ones through your local mountain bike club. The quest should be something that will take the entire day and push your limits. Ride the full length of an incredibly long or difficult trail, for example.
• Ride in the snow. This will make you feel like a kid again. Don't worry about the cycling gear. Put on some snow pants, boots, and winter coat and just get out there. It doesn't always have to be about the exercise.
• Go night riding. Yes, it's colder at night and hard to see, but it changes your perspective and makes old trails seem new. Plus, you warm up faster since you have to concentrate doubly hard.
• Challenge a friend or neighbor to ride to Starbucks. Bundle up in your parka and wool hat, throw some cute mittens (ladies only, please) on if you must, but wouldn't it be a more memorable cup of coffee than if you simply drove.
• Make an event out of riding. Ride to a museum or other point of interest. These guys invented the Tuesday Night Swill ride, bringing bikes and beer into a weekly occasion. So what if the hair in your nose freezes up all dry-ice, Snow Miser style.

Do cyclists in Minnesota, Alaska, and Canada sit around spinning in their basements to stay fit in the winter. Noooo....they get out there and make the most of it. "Why not clear the ice and put some spikes on the tires and race roller derby style like a bunch of loons?," they say.

And the experience is worth writing about.

Photo by T.C. Worley for The New York Times.