the SFBC is looking for DESIGN SUBMISSIONS for the bike racks on the newly re-beautified treasure island. TI is slated as being developed to be equally as accessible by bike as by car. unfortunately, the only bridge bike lane to get there is from the OAKLAND side, and the bridge ain’t done yet. but whatever, i appreciate the effort.

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My Cthulu, had i seen this a few months ago, or when I lived in Montreal in Winter, or never.
Awesome.

http://nightshadesbikecrew.blogspot.com … cycle.html via DN

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Sweet As bike/design collective The Deadly Nightshades have posted a great topic on staying fit. Mostly, it’s funny because they’re funny, but also, WOW.

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Man, now if only someone would have the awesomeness factor to do same to the OSCARS.

http://www.dannymichel.com/newsite/blog … Y_MICHAEL().html

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I’m not a huge fan of pretending things are other things, and being terribly embarrassed by bike equipment, especially bike safety equipment. But I love technology that encourages riding.

These helmet wraps and scarf ensembles are pretty cool. I bet my wifebot(tm) would use it.

http://ridingpretty.blogspot.com/2009/0 … cling.html

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SICK.

vintage vittoria 1976 eroica leather track racing shoes, reissued in a modern way, with recessed SPD cleats and sweetAS colorways. EUR sizes 37-47.

found on BRICK LANE BIKES out of london.

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every day about 4, i look at a random fact online. usually this is just some random thing that pops into my head and i wiki it, which then leads me to 333 other things — one of which will hold me.

today the word i wiki’d was "derailleur," which led me to henri desgrange, the founder (or one of the founders) of the tour de france. quickly, i picked up his quote on derailleurs in my sig line, and then moved on to today’s topic, the tour de france itself.

now, i’ve long poked and prodded WR with my declarations that a team car with extra bikes on it is cheating. this is mostly just cause i know it raises his neck hairs, but in the end, i’m the kind of guy who doesn’t go out on the road without a full field-kit of tools anyway, so i do somewhat maintain a disdainful feeling about the concept of the team car.

(as subsequent to that, one of my favorite stories of the tour was sometime in the early 1900s when a guy broke his fork, hiked several kilometers into town, asked a blacksmith to let him use his shop for a few, FABRICATED A NEW FORK, and finished the race. likely in last place, but still. awesome.)

another thing i’ve never understood (though i DO admire it) is the concept of a cycling team. since i’m an old BMX kid, i’m an individualist on pedals. i don’t really support the idea of several people racing to support only one. but again, that’s just me. in the end, my opinion and three bucks’ll get you across town.

aaanyway. my point here is this single piece of the wikipedia article on the TOUR DE FRANCE, in which it turns out that tour founder desgrange and myself share some beliefs…

"Desgrange and his Tour invented bicycle stage racing. Desgrange experimented with judging by elapsed time and then by points for placings each day. He stood out against multiple gears and for many years insisted riders use wooden rims, fearing the heat of braking while coming down mountains would melt the glue that held the tyres.

His dream was a race of individuals. He invited teams but forbade their members to pace each other. He then went the other way and briefly ran the Tour as a giant team time-trial, teams starting separately with members pacing each other. He demanded riders mend their bicycles without help. He demanded they use the same bicycle from start to end. He at first allowed riders who dropped out one day to continue the next for daily prizes but not the overall prize. He allowed teams who lost members in the team time-trial years to recruit fresh replacements.

Above all, he conducted a campaign against the sponsors, bicycle factories, he was sure were undermining the spirit of a Tour de France of individuals."

it AMAZES me to think of a guy climbing the fucking alps on a fixed-gear with wooden rims held together with fromage and filles se suicider.

encroyable!

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so while i was checking out SOMA’s site today, i stumbled across THIS — sugino’s new, infinitely easier to swap rear cog system, clearly based on MICHE’S version of the same.

the way it works is that instead of threading on a cog and then threading on a lockring, as per the usue, instead you first thread on a "carrier," which is a toothed piece that corresponds to teeth on the cogs. once that piece is on, you swap cogs by hand, laterally. you still use a lockring to secure the cog after installation, but both the lockring and the threaded carrier piece install with a PARK BBT-9 BB TOOL.

so what’s the benefit? well, you no longer need to rotafix or chainWhip that cog off when you switch it. so let’s say you’re a trackie out at the velodrome for the day, racing. your rear cog switches just went from 3 minutes to 30 seconds. or let’s say you’re a long-distance fixie rider, traversing a fundraising ride or a multi-day trip. same again. swap that cog faster than refilling your water bottle.

the sugino system is alloy, and as such is not recommended for hardcore urban fixie mashing. but the whole set (carrier, lockring, and 16t/17t/18t cogs) is only a buck thirty at the above link, which is JUUUST about the same cost as three cogs and a lockring anyway.

VERY cool.

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i definitely get the draw of THIS, but it just seems a little kitschy.

"A tensioned fabric span extends across a central ‘Compression Free Zone’ featuring a removable comfort air cushion that can be fine-tuned via an integrated or removable micro pump (depending on model.)"

while i admire the ability to stuff even MORE tech onto a vehicle that’s essentially just a rolling death certificate anyway, there are several other, BETTER systems out there to combat the discomforts of sitting 8 hours on a surface the size and shape of a slice of pizza.

but hey, bikeTech! get on it!

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someone recently gifted me a subscription to "bicycling" magazine (i still don’t know WHO, though i’ve asked a ton of people), and within the pages of this magazine are lots of little tidbits that i like to consider, as one might assume.

one of these things is an emergency contact info bracelet. i first became aware of something like this when i was on the AIDS life/cycle. they give you a little wristband onto which you write your info, cover it with the transparent adhesive waterproofing bit, and then attach. you’re not allowed to ride if you don’t have it on. but of course daily riders should have the same needs, right? i mean, when i smashed my face to pieces back in september, i was out cold, bleeding onto valencia street. what if i hadn’t come to and the EMTs had started pumping me full of something i was allergic to? it could happen.

so i’m considering one of the following two products.

: : :

XTREME SPORTS ID
while i despise the use of "x" in "xtreme," i think this is an interesting concept. and it’s endorsed by "USA CYCLIST GEOOOOOOORGE HINCAPIE!" so you know it MUST be good. hahah!!!

anyway, this one is very simple and cool. a rubberized wristband, a la the "liveStrong" bands, is embossed with the medical alert symbol, an 800#, and a personal 8-digit ID#. when the medical squad shows up, they’re trained to look for medical alert shit like this, and they’ll call the number. when your personal ID is entered, they hear a read out of who you are, your address, your emergency contacts, your insurance provider, your primary physician, and any medical alerts, allergies, or medications. this info can be regularly updated by you, so it’s always current. and your ID number can also be punched in at their site.

these xtreme sports IDs are available in a handful of colors and styles, and require an up-front purchase price of $8, followed by a $5 annual renewal fee.

additionally, there’s a "where am i?" function, into which you can record your plans, after which it sends an email to three personal contacts each time it is updated.

: : :

ROAD ID
this one is technically just that little metal plate there, and the placement can be either a wrist band (nylon), ankle band (shown, neoprene), shoe pouch (on the closure of a small pouch for money, ID, etc.), or shoelace tab. and there’s also a dogtag variant available.

this one is available in two variants. the "original" contains 6 customizable lines of type, typically broken into the format shown on the example above : name, generic address (such as "san francisco, ca, usa"), 3 lines of contact info (3 phone numbers, essentially), and an extra line for whatever. the "interactive" variant, however, is a lot more like the first product i highlighted, the "xtreme sports ID." this one contains 2 customizable lines prior to 4 lines that are NOT customizable — they are reserved to provide instructions on how to access your "emergency response profile," via a phone number and a website address, and an indication that your PIN and ID# are on the back. (or "off the back," as the case may be when the EMTs find you, ha!) the ERP contains : name & vital statistics, up to 3 addresses, up to 5 emergency contacts, up to 5 physician contacts, your medical profile, health insurance and government ID (SSN, SIN, etc.), picture (website only, natch), and "additional information," whatever that means. this information can be updated as you like and you can input as much or as little of it as you want.

the road ID system is much more expensive than the xtreme sports ID system — $17 for the plate, various prices for the bands, and if you choose the interactive variant, another $10/year for that service.

: : :

personally, i like the second one, even though it’s significantly more expensive at the outset. the yearly cost doesn’t even give me a second thought. when you’re talking about $5/year vs. $10/year, you’re into the realm of pennies a month, and anyone who can afford to cycle can afford that. but it’s a style thing, i think. that rubber whiteCamo xtreme sports ID looks lame and only goes on your wrist. the second one, the road ID, can be purchased with a variety of mounting points and straps, giving you more options. (personally, i like the dogtag.)

random and rambling TL "review" post here, but important to stay alive! no deaths until deaths!

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