"maximum cycling journalism for the modern sprockethead - published spontaneously"
11/26/06 13:20:51 PST
BLACK FRIDAY BY BIKE
Cycling to WalMart on the day after Thanksgiving is kinda' like be a Jew for Jesus or... taking a bath with your socks on or... ordering a gin and tonic and asking the barkeep to "hold the tonic."
But apparently, for cyclists in Stockton, that is a statement of sorts....
11/26/06 11:13:22 PST
TOMMY CHONG OFF HIS SPROCKETS: MISSES THE RIDAZZ TURKEY RIDE
11/26/06 11:07:53 PST
WHEN IN ROME DO AS SANTA -- A VERY, VERY DRUNK SANTA
Every holiday season regular folks like you and I don santa suits, consume plenty of pitchers filled with egg nog and rum, make nice with children and terrorize adults. This tradition known as SantaCon started more than a decade ago in San Francisco by some people who were into both the Surrealists as well as Santa. Those two things go perfect together and since its inception the merriment has spread to cities around the world. Check the site for a location near you. And if you're in Chicago, thank your lucky stars because there's likely to be a crew on bikes. --krcmar
11/25/06 11:08:49 PST
WHEN FIXIES ARE ON THE ELLEN DEGENERES SHOW THE TERRORISTS HAVE WON.
Some will say this segment is like a watered down Lucas Brunelle video. Others will say courier culture has no place on daytime TV. Not us. We like Squid and all he does for the world of messengers.
--krcmar
11/24/06 03:08:22 PST
BLACK FRIDAY OR BUY NOTHING DAY?
The good folks at Adbusters have declared today as "Buy Nothing Day," which is kind of like the opposite of the holiday manufactured by Hallmark. And an anti-holiday by an anti-corporation is a good excuse to get on your bike instead (as if you needed one).
But come next week when the buying-ban has been lifted, you may want to go to Adbuster's website and check out their footwear. They're sweatshop-free, vegetarian, and designed by John Fluevog, the best Canadian footwear designer in the land who got together with Raceface years ago to come out with the most stylish pair of SPD compatible shoes in history. --krcmar
11/23/06 10:42:38 PST
PEDAL-POWERED RV SIGHTING IN PORTLAND
In the "News to Us" department, it seems like this fellow has been pedaling all over North America in his one-of-a-kind mobile home for the past decade. According to the post and comments section at
Bikeportland.org the high-school educated pedaler built this bike that we could see Sun Ra pedaling himself and has travelled all over North America. --krcmar
11/23/06 05:54:42 PST
LEMONS + MEDIA = LEMONADE
When Hunter Thompson ran for mayor of Aspen, his platform included changing the name of the town to "Fat City" and having a stockade on the downtown green for folks who sold bad dope. In a perfect world, every city would have one of these stockades for bike thieves. But even that would be too good for the crew who relieved " Bay Area Outreach & Recreation Program of its entire fleet of about 35 adaptive bikes last year.
BORP provides people with disabilities like visual impairments, spinal cord injury, brain injury, cerebral palsey, spina bifida, amputations, MS, a chance to ride and participate in other sports. The majority of BORP's population comes from low-income families and the stolen rigs included: handcycles (for people with functional limitations of the legs, tandems (for people with vision or balance impairments), adaptive three-wheeled cycles (used mainly by people with cerebral palsy), and standard bicycles. When word of the crime got out to clients they were crestfallen. BORP employees were unsure about if they would be able to raise funds to replace the stolen vehicles. And then the media latched onto the story.
In short, the theft was the best thing that ever happened to the non-profit according to one of the executive director we spoke with. Once the story hit the press, donations started pouring in. Big companies like Clif Bar, medium-sized operations like Co-Motion Cycles, and even small groups in Southern California pitched in and offered donations. The newly found name recognition also helped BORP with other fundraising efforts and a larger fleet of new bikes was purchased this year. --krcmar
11/22/06 08:33:23 PST
RIDE OF THE WEEK: CRANKSGIVING 6 IN LOS ANGELES
Gotham couriers did it on Saturday. So did some messengers in Kansas City. Today, riders in Los Angeles with follow their lead at Cranksgiving 6. The alleycat is a benefit for the Para los Ninos Organization (that translates to "For the Kids" organization. The outlaw messenger race begins at 7:00 p.m. under the bridge at 4th and Flower St. The entry fee is $10 but instead of handing that cash over to organizers, it will be used to buy food at various checkpoints. Those canned goods will be donated to families in need and that act of goodwill will be rewarded with a t-shirt, spoke card, and chance to win a cash prize at the after party at 430 S pecan St.
There's also been talk of some money going towards Jim C, a former messenger, co-owner of Orange 20 Bikes, pillar of the LA bike scene and all-around good guy. He was hit by a car almost two weeks ago that allegedly ran a stop sign and struck him at about 40 mph. Jim C spent about five days at LA County Hospital nursing three broken ribs, a punctured lung, three cracked vertebrae, a lacerated kidney and a lacerated liver. --krcmar
11/17/06 12:59:15 PST
RIDE OF THE WEEK: THE DATE RIDE IN LOS ANGELES
We've got a new feature at the Donkey. It's called "Ride of the Week" and it highlights the coolest ride across the land. Social rides, alley cats, or just excellent races are all eligible. So if you know of one, drop us a line. Without furthere delay, here's the maiden voyage of the "Ride of the Week". "The Date Ride" is all about grabbing your steady, a potential love connection, or just your own lonely self and your bike and exploring the city on the cheap. Here's what the organizer suggests:
Grab a five dollar bill and a date (or two) and meet us for ice cream, art galleries, and a couple of museums. We meet up at Scoops, where we begin our date with some sweets before heading over to 6150 to Wilshire to look at some art. Then it's off t the Craft and Folk Museum to see "Street Signs and Solar Ovens." After 5, LACMA's free, so we'll cross the street to enjoy some 18th century French paintings of naked ladies on dates with drunk men and satyrs. Depending on how the dates are going, we'll either head over to Little Ethiopia for dinner or to some dive bar for drinks and potentially more dates.
Five bucks gets you ice cream and admission to two museums. Bring more cash for dinner and/or drinks.
Meet at 2. Ride leaves Scoops at 3. If you don't have a date, maybe you can pick one up on the way.
--krcmar
11/16/06 11:40:47 PST
TONIGHT: MOBILE ASSAULT FORCE TAKES BACK GRIFFITH PARK
The Donkey remembers that the last time hoodlums took over the Observatory, it was in Rebel Without A Cause and police were dispatched to beseech that misunderstood j.d. of cinema, James Dean. Indeed, LA's boys in blue summoned Dean with the following warning: "Boy in the Planetarium! Come out with your hands up!"
Similarly, after dusk, the velo-centric ne'er-do-wells plan to infiltrate the park via the dark bike paths that parallel the LA River, and creep in by Travel Town...
And let it not be said that the IAAL-MAF are rebels without a cause... There has been some controversy about amatuer astronomers forced to pay shuttle bus fees in order to access the restored, revamped planetarium, which is in defiance of the wishes of the park's benefactor, Colonel Griffith J. Griffith...
Ruthless and violent as they are, the members of the fictitious International Association of Armed Librarians - Mobile Assault Force bike gang are preparing. They're sharpening broken spokes, pocketing handfuls of tacks and taping handgrips onto double-length, filth-smeared bike chains in anticipation of the upcoming Take Back Griffith Observatory Ride on Thursday night.
Tonight the Observatory, tomorrow the World!!--coonce
11/16/06 11:38:26 PST
ONE IF BY LAND, TWO IF BY SEA, AND JUST CALL IF YOU WANT BBQ
So you've been pedaling through The Hub for a long time. You know about "The Curse" that the Red Sox wore like a noose until 2004, the serenity of the summer when the college kids are gone and the upper-crust is in Nantucket, and that there's more to local music than Aerosmith and the Mighty Mighty Bosstones. And although being a messenger in Massachusetts has been real, you're ready for a little change. Maybe you're looking to free up your days or you just want to ride a custom rig built by one of the most talented bike builders in the land. Good news: the best BBQ in Boston is hiring. Fringe benefit? The employee will get to ride a rig built by Mike Flanigan, the man behind the Alternative Needs Transportation (A.N.T.).
Flanigan has been building bikes since 1989 when he started joining tubes for Fat City Cycles. Five years later, he helped Indy Fab get going before striking out on his own in 2003. Believe us, you want to ride one of his bikes. So read the ad below and give the folks at Redbones a call if you're looking for some employemnt. Or just click over to ANT's website and let the drooling commence. In the meantime, we've supplied a picture of ANT's "Major Taylor" for your viewing pleasure, just scroll down.
RedBones BBQ Seeks Cyclists
Redbones is looking for cyclists interested in doing dinner deliveries on the Rib Rider. The job description is as follows:
Rib Riders
Ô cyclists needed for dinner deliveries on the Rib Rider - Redbones custom cargo bike
Ô hours are always @ night between 5 & 10, tho usually finished earlier
Ô 'neither rain, nor sleet, nor snow...' keep Rib Riders off the streets so applicants must have gear for all weather & a helmut
Ô up beat is a necessity as the riders are the face of Redbones when they're on the road
Ô $10.00 + tips
Ô call Chris @ 617.504.4862 between 11 am & 5 pm. --krcmar
11/14/06 11:02:28 PST
SHARING THE ROAD WITH THE WORLD'S FASTEST MOTORISTS
The cycling craze is not limited to Echo Park bohemians, Wall Street lawyers or professional road rats...
Athletes of varied stripes -- including race car drivers -- have embraced the bicycle as a tool for building up stamina, losing weight and relieving stress... Which brings us to this:
The drag races were running in Pomona over the weekend, and between blasts of nitro-powered Funny Cars and Top Fuel dragsters -- covering the 1/4 mile track in 4 seconds while reaching speeds over 330 mph -- the Donkey was privy to a couple of road rides with some of the sport's stars... and for the record, the race car guys -- paced by dragster driver Whit Bazemore and ESPN analyst Mike Dunn -- led us up the East Fork of the San Gabriel River and up a 4000' climb into Glendora Mountain Road....
The next morning members of this same posse of cycling nitromaniacs put in a there-and-back metric century before the drag races, gathering at Arcadia County Park and making our way through the Rio Hondo River bike path and the Whittier Narrows, thru the barrio along the LA River path and finally coasting on Shoreline Drive in Long Beach, within a horn blast of the Queen Mary.
During these jaunts, there were some impromptu brainstorming sessions about the feasibility of doing some Public Service Announcements on the Share the Road movement, with the spots starring some of the fastest motorists on the planet...
The professional drag races return to Pomona in February for the Winternationals, and the Donkey hopes to promote a Share the Road ride with racers, journalists, and sundry sprocketheads. As they say in broadcasting: Stay tuned.--coonce
11/14/06 10:13:06 PST
FINDING MALARIA, INCARCERATION, AND A NEW ADVENTURE PARTNER ON THE ROAD LESS TRAVELLED
(Tim Harvey pedaling through Southern California during the tail-end of his self-propelled, 29-month trip around the globe that covered 43,000 kilometers.)
In June, 2004 Tim Harvey and a fellow environmentalist hopped on their bikes in British Columbia, pointed north, and pedaled to Alaska. The two had a single dream: to become the first to row a boat across the Bering Sea to Siberia. But they were going to do it under their own terms and meant completing the trip petrol-free. Neither snow, nor sleet, nor heat, nor gloom of broken derailleurs would let them indulge in transportation aided by internal combustion.
The trip to Alaska went off well and the chilly, multi-month row across the Bering Sea was so successful that they decided up the ante and cross the entire globe under their own power. In Siberia, drama between the two reared its ugly head. Call it "Tolstoy for Two" but it ovewhelmed the duo. Harvey wanted to take a more leisurely pace while his partner had an eye on efficiency and keeping a strict schedule. The two split-up and Harvey continued forward. During the next 24-months he endured incarceration in South America, malaria in Central America, a hit-and-run accident in Oregon (where he chased down and caught the driver), and the completion of the trip on a bike that required Fred Flintstone-style antics to stop. Harvey has a book in the works and there's a good article about the trip at the National Post.--krcmar
11/13/06 13:16:11 PST
THE ULTIMATE LUXURY AND BICYCLING IS THE NEW GOLF
There is no doubt in the Donkey's brain, that we are living in Dickensian Times. Bicycling is a microcosm of society, of course. And nowhere is that more apparent than among the disparate cycling cultures that mix it up on the mean streets and porous pavement of New York City. For the fourth estate's proof of Dickens' best-of-times/worst-of-times axiom, the discerning velocicist need pedal no further than to the websites of the Big Apple's last remaining bastions of big-time journalism: The New York Times and the New Yorker.
Further, the Gray Old Lady asserts that New York's bicycling bourgeoisie blithely sip snifters of Courvoisier in appointment-only salons, while contemplating $10,000 gray titanium-and-carbon Serottas and if that opulent purchase will inspire as much class envy as the Porsche they drive... In so many words, they are saying "let them ride carbon."
Conversely, The New Yorker article ("HOLY ROLLERS: The city's bicycle zealots") attempts to make sense of the cycling rabble that is 180 degrees out of phase with the NYT's cycling aristocracy. In a micro-essay below we have already excerpted the most outrageous pull quotes from the story, e.g. "A LOT OF US ARE ASSHOLES... JUST LIKE THAT GUIDO IN THE S.U.V. THAT NEARLY KILLED YOU LAST WEEK..." and ""Bicyclists are the niggers of New York."
But as much as we love sensationalism, those hyperbolic sentiments cut no muster with some of the Donkey's readers... Kate writes in to say, "(It is) very disappointing but interesting to see how little people understand about bicycling."
In A Tale of Two Cities, Dickens needed London and Paris to make his point. Bicycling needs only one: New York City, baby... -- coonce
11/09/06 20:40:54 PST
"A LOT OF US ARE ASSHOLES... JUST LIKE THAT GUIDO IN THE S.U.V. THAT NEARLY KILLED YOU LAST WEEK..."
In a feature entitled, "Holy Rollers, the New Yorker does bikes ... and taps into the zealotry that seems to insinuate into all sides of good old fashioned civil disobedience... to wit the quote from one advocate who insists he is "doing God's work" and says: "Bicyclists are the niggers of New York." (Shades of Yoko Ono!")-- coonce
(Lance Armstrong and one of his former worker bees, Ivan Basso during Armstrong's final Tour. photo courtesy of BBC)
Ivan Basso signed a two-year contract with the Discovery Channel on Wednesday. The 28 year-old Italian who won the Giro d'Italia last year plans to defend that title as well as go for a Tour de France win in 2007. He scored a second place finish in the 2005 Tour behind Lance, a third place finish in 2004, and sat on the sidelines this year when he was implicated in the Operacion Puerto scandal.-- krcmar
11/08/06 18:58:01 PST
DOPE: IT'S WHAT'S FOR BREAKFAST
(Don't call it smoking, it's weightlifting for the lungs. Former Euro-Pro Philippe Gaumont taking a break from testimony. Photo courtesy of Agence France Presse)
Former GAN and Confidis pro rider, Phillipe Gaumont told a French court on Tuesday that he only won a single race cleanly in his decade-long professional career, according to Velo News. Gaumont won the French individual pursuit championship in 2000 and 2002 as well as the Belgian classic Gand-Wevelgem. His doping resume includes testing positive for nandrolone (twice) and amphetamines. During a 2004 interrogation concerning the Confidis case he said that he believed 95% of the peloton doped. Afer coming clean to the police he retired and wrote Prisoner of Doping. In the book he described the pervasive, performance enhancing drug use that he had witnessed, masking methods, and how team doctors would regularly supply racers with injections. Gaumont's testimony on Tuesday was part of an investigation of 10 Confidis riders and staff who are facing doping charges stemming from a incident in 2004 when a team rider was caught with vials of EPO.-- krcmar
11/06/06 17:17:03 PST
A FEW CITIES WHERE IT IS ABOUT THE BIKE
The above video is not for these VC folks. It's a fuzzy, feel-good short film (it's 15 minutes long) singing the praises of the bicycle infrastructure in place in cities like like Copenhagen, Denmark; Amsterdam and Houten, Netherlands; and Bogota, Colombia. We were spacing out while watching this (we blame the acoustic guitar soundbed) but here's what we remember:
In Copenhagen main streets are closed to car traffic. Although it's regularly cold and wet, one out of every three people use a bicycle during the course of their daily activities. This is not due to economics--the average wealth there is higher than it is in the U.S. of George W (and Jesus Christ Our Saviour).
Amsterdam features endless opportunities to buy "Legalize It" posters as well as the largest concentration of bikes in the world. The city also has a program in place for kids that teaches them to ride safely in traffic at a "young age" (this was not quatified in the video). This program is part of a public school education and runs for three weeks. The little tykes are taught basic safety skills, how to behave on two wheels, and how to read traffic signs.
Bogota, Columbia has a law that restricts the use of private cars on weekdays during peak hours and once a year cars are banned.-- krcmar
11/06/06 09:43:32 PST
CALENDAR GIRLS AND BIKES OF THE MONTH
As we roll towards 2007, there are few things that we are happy to leave behind: a Tour de France that was rocked by a doping scandal two days before it began, a Tour champion that may have to return his maillot jeune, news that the
Operacion Puerto doping scandal may end withpout anyone facing charges, and word that Biopace has returned with a new name. But we're also sad to usher in 2007 because it means the end of the usefullness of The 2006 Ditty Bops Bicycle Bikini Calendar that featured band members Abby and Amanda in various articles of swimwear atop of everything from boneshakers, to adult tri-cycles, and vintage steel cruisers imported from Mexico City. Although The Ditty Bops hail from the land of prop shops (Los Angeles), many of the bikes were on loan from the coolest, all-female bike gang in the City of Angels, the Whirly Girls. Come January 1, the calendar is no good.
But if you're looking for bikes on your hanging, monthly diary there's a new opition. Cyclepassion's 2007 offering features some drool-worthy bikes complete with bikini-clad and Wonder Bra-wearing visual distractions. Sure the models probably don't ride bikes, but they had to sneak them in to distract those women who maintain that that high-end bike catalogs are nothing short of bourgeoisie porn.-- krcmar
11/01/06 16:03:34 PST
NEW FOR 2007: 3% MORE HELL IN "HELL OF THE NORTH"
While many of the French have a hard-on for Lance and will not get a proper night's sleep until Matthew McConaughey's buddy is convicted for doping, the landscape itself doled out some punishment to America's greatest pro roadie who is not currently under investigation earlier this year. George Hincapie was looking strong 130 miles into this springs's Paris-Roubaix when the all carbon fork on his Trek snapped.
Left with a pair of handlebars connected only to his brakes and derailleurs, the Discovery Channel leader who came in second in the 2005 edition hit the ground hard and fractured his collarbone.*
Tom Boonen won the race and the French, well, they decided to go and add another cobblestone section to the event that had already featured 27 cobbled sections that covered more than 52 miles.
Not your quaint, Beacon Hill roadway, these cobbles are capable of shaking the fillings straight out of your mouth. Two years ago, our Wire Donkey correspondent picked up more than a mouthfull of gold. He claims it was because he was following the Russians.
Next year's race is slated for April 15th and riders will encounter the new section of French babyheads at mile 125, according to
Bicycling.com. Let's hope Trek got the memo.-- krcmar
11/01/06 09:40:44 PST
A GERMAN TAKES HAWAII, AGAIN
Normann Stadler won the Ironman Triathlon in Kailua-Kona last month and set a new record in the bike stage in the process. It was his second win in Hawaii. His first had come in 2004 when he rode a Kuota Kalibur to victory and introduced the Italian frame company to the American market in a big way--sales increased five-fold, according to Patrick Dowd, the owner of all3sports.com in Hotlanta.
The 33-year-old German was also on a Kuota for his victory in October. He completed the 112-mile bike leg in 4:18:23, breaking last year's record by more than 3 minutes and averaging than 26 m.p.h.-- krcmar
10/31/06 12:26:15 PST
CYCLIST DOWN IN LOS ANGELES
Stories of police departments who drop the ball when a crash involves an automobile and cyclist are nothing new. The latest case that we know of is in Los Angeles and the victim is a good friend. It's still early enough to do something about it and it won't take you much time. If you have a minute, please make a quick call to Councilman Eric Garcetti's field office and ask him to put pressure on the LAPD to begin an investigation.
[WIRE DONKEY ADDENDUM (10/31/06 05:30:00 PST): it appears that the cops are finally on the
case and calls to Garcetti's office are no longer of the essense nor necessary.]
Below is an e-mail we got from our buddy Lars this morning:
SYNOPSIS: According to the statement of witnesses, a driver intentionally hit Jen Diamond, my girlfriend, in the early hours of Sunday morning. Los Angeles Police still haven't done anything about it.
Jen is a former bike messenger, Bikesummer organizer, and AIDS-Ride participant.
Please repost. This isn't about raising some nebulous concept like "cycling awareness," this is about making government fulfill its obligations to citizens. We live in Los Angeles Council District 13, where the incident took place. Call Councilman Eric Garcetti's field office and ask why the police haven't done anything: (323) 957-4500
The office of LAPD Chief Bratton can be reached at (213) 485-3202
I can be reached by pager at (800) 310-4063, or email "public@bikeboom.com"
The story, photos, and a video can be seen on my livejournal
10/31/06 08:24:50 PST
FAST, FURIOUS, AND FERROUS: A DOCUMENTARY ABOUT THE EARLY DAYS OF MOUNTAIN BIKING
Klunkerz is a new documentary about the birth of what would become mountain biking. It premiered this month in Northern California and features interviews with off-road luminaries like Joe Breeze, Gary Fisher, Charlie Kelly, Charlie Cunningham, Otis Guy, Jaquie Phelan, and Steve Potts from a time when cycling gear meant jeans, work boots and a flannel. If you were Tom Ritchey and feeling especially festive, you may even add a Santa Claus hat to the mix.
This crew took old, World War II-era Schwinns and cut off the fenders, removed the kickstands, chainguards, and faux gas tanks and added some fat balloon tires to make them dirt-worthy. They'd shuttle these steel, boat anchors to the top of Mt. Tamalpais in Marin County and let it rip.
Like the early users of LSD, mountain biking pioneers could ride with impunity because the authorities did not know what they were up. Without that knowlege they couldn't make it illegal and the casual rides soon gave way to a game, of "No, I'm the fastest..." The first downhill race was staged and the prize for first place was "smoke-ables" according to the film's trailer.
Too bad it's going to be tough to see the film in the near future. They're looking for a distributor and the DVD isn't expected for a year.-- krcmar
10/30/06 17:27:03 PST
RIDE TO THE HILLS, RIDE FOR YOUR LIFE: THE BIKE CAR
It's almost November, there's a nip in the air, and Rockies were pounded by snow last week. Depending on where you live, you may have the rollers out or a trainer set-up in front of the TV. Or maybe you're like us and doing a snowdance, just waiting for the mountains to get dumped on so you can disappear into some waist-deep powder. Most non-locals will have to drive to get to the hill. Even in towns like Bozeman, Montana where the dirtbag to non-dirtbag ratio is sky-high, it's pretty rare to see someone pedaling to the ski mountain.
But if you were in the Pacific Northwest last year, you may have skoped out pro snowboarders Travis Parker, Louie Fountain and Scotty Wittlake and their bike car. They travelled through Idaho, Washington and Oregon in the four-person pedal-powered vehicle that pulled a trailer filled with snowboards and gear. Followed by a documentary crew, the "Bikecar" DVD is finally finished. Shipping started today. This version is going to focus on snowboarding, so get ready for big cliff drops, switchstance Cab 540s, and some rails. The word on the tarmac is that another version geared toward a general audience is in the works.-- krcmar
10/30/06 14:54:51 PST
ONE MAN, ONE DREAM, AND AN ASSLOAD OF MILES
(Danny Chew taking a nap after Day 2 of RAAM 2005. Photo courtesy of Wire Donkey archives)
We just got word that Danny Chew, ultracyclist and numbers-geek extraordinaire, rode his 600,000th mile last month. That's not a typo. The 44-year old Pittsburgh resident completed his first double century when he was only 11 and has been keeping track of his mileage since 1968. He's ridden as many as 27,095 miles in a calendar year and hasn't pedaled fewer than 15,000 since 1980. Chew also finished the Race Across AMerica (RAAM), an event Outside magazine dubbed "the most grueling sporting event in the world," a staggering eight times, winning it twice. He hasn't done the coast-to-coast race since 2001 but has worked with RAAM owners to report on the event.
His dream? To pedal 1,000,000 miles in his lifetime. He sometimes calls his relationship with the bike "a marriage." From the sounds of it, he's monogamous: when he was 37 he was invited to the Howard Stern radio show to be a participant on the "Guess Who's the Virgin?" game, which he won.-- krcmar
