HumanPoweredTransport

Gravity Powered Beer Holders

The good folks at Boing Boing networks lead us to this photo gallery from the Bernal Heights Illegal Soapbox Derby.  And before you say 'only in San Francisco', check out the related antics in Portland!  Viva!

Austin Rose Review

Ride For The Roses, Austin Tx, The Austin City Crit, The Hot 8 Brass Band
- all captured for your digital enjoyment. And, new pics for Another Bunchabikes.Oh, and on the plane home from Austin, some chick who claims to know someone who knows the Disco team wrench claimed some major scoopage - she sez he sez Disco's gonna sign Lars Ullrich.  How cool is that - the drummer from Metallica is gonna ride with Roger Hammond.
Viva! 

Austin City Limits

'Cause, y'know ya just can't turn in early on a Saturday night in Austin, we had our pre-Roses warm up at The Continental Club with The Hot 8 Brass Band.  The Conti is one of those joints that stamps yer paw on the way in, and last nights stamp fittingly enough read "Fuck Cancer".  Now the Hot 8, I gotta tell ya, needs to be seen and heard.  These guys are Nawlin's bred big-bell brass - three trombones, two trumpets, a suzaphone and two stand-up marching band-style drummers.  Their version of 'Sexual Healing' is as good as it gets.  With horns ringing in our ears we turned in around midnight, bouncing awake at 6:45 when the phone rang to let us know the alarm hadn't gone off and our ride was waiting outside.  A few wrong turns later and we made it to the staging area just in time for our group to roll out.  Two miles in, Bro-Ler on his recumbent had a flat.  Got that repaired fairly easily and jammed up the road trying to catch another Fireman's Cruzer I saw passing by.  Couldn't close the gap, and soon realized Bro-Ler and Bruiserella (formerly known on this site as TT3, but now there's roller derby and Bruiserella - a whole 'nother story...) were no where to be seen.  Sat up and eventually stood on the shoulder, taking the opportunity to doff the arm warmers and smear on some sunblock, figuring they'd had another flat or some such hang up.  Bro-Ler rolled up and confirmed, right after they got moving, Bruiserella's slicked up Hardrock also flatted.  The two of us rolled on to the next pitstop where we all regrouped and proceeded with no further incidents along the rest of the 40 mile route.  Now, my knee's will tell you that 40 miles on a fixed gear, especially a 24" running 2.5" Hookworm's and a 18x36 gear, is not the best feeling in the world at around mile 25 - but it sure was a gas! And when you see folks rolling along with 'Survivor' on thier jerseys it really puts things into perspective.  I even saw a guy on a Crupi Racing 24 (not fixed) who was a survivor - yeah buddy.  Say what you will about Lance, when you roll with six thousand folks and all the volunteers and cancer survivors who come out to cheer, it really makes it a great thing he's started - something that goes way beyond the name, the legend and the bike.   Brusierella had rigged up a 'kick me it's my birthday' sign on my back, so getting tons of happy happy wishes from other riders made it a real treat.  Having dad and ma-in-law at the finish capped it.  Crossing the finish line, I blew a kiss to the heavens for my mom, and we rolled on to the feed tent for some chow before packing it in relatively fresh.  Had some IceTurbo and a little Sunday afternoon country-western at Jo's and banged out this post.  Viva Austin, Fuck Cancer forever!

Eve of Roses

Despite six thousand cyclists in Austin, you can still count on pick-up truck drivin' hook'm-horns football boneheads to shout, honk and swerve at members the pedal powered masses in some machismo test of collegiate coolness.  After a day of registering for the Ride, back-pedalling downhill and unthreading the track cog, buying loc-tite, re-threading and gluing the track cog, enjoying a nice lunch with family and then a Shiner Bock at Jo's, it was time to head over and cheer on the pro's at the Austin City Crit.  Every corner was packed with cyclists, tourists and local race fans as the big guns pulled through on the rather bumpy urban course.  Jason The lead group of three containing a stars-n-stripes jersey had to pull up to avoid lapping the field with five to go.  They did this by sitting up with thier comfortable lead and taking turns egging on the crowd.  Raise the roof indeed. Austin is home to two breeds of single-cog specialists - the trackstars and the hucksters.  Today's crit crowd was full of single-speed big-hit jump rigs and classic fixies, bringing a smile to this writer's mug.  Anyway, the photo-finish was saved for second place, as the winner Jason Sager  pounced early at the bell and took the $$$. Someone said Sager is also state mtb champ.  Go kid go.  The race ended apparently at the same time as the big Texas darby football clash over at the stadium, so the road home was filled with more of the hook'm-horns hoodlums, now full of sunburn and beer.  Joy.  Tomorrow starts bright and early, the weather looks good and the town is buzzing with yellow.  Viva Austin!

Rose Tinted Lens

Hey gang, it's Ride For The Roses weekend.  The annual fundraiser for cancer research and treatment in Austin TX, hosted by the King himself.  We're here repr'zentin' Squadra Obscura, flaunting the new 'Omerta' t-shirts (photos soon, available from the site a little later) and generally having a good ol' time.  Pre-ride report posted later today.  After flogging ourselves on the century course the past few years, this year, in honor of the capo's birthday falling smack on Sunday's big roll, we're gonna do the 40 mile route on the Austin-built Fireman's Fixt and then make a bee-line for the beer garden.  The weather is great and there's 6000 cyclists swarming around town, so today aughta result in some interesting tales.  Viva.

Trackstand Ju-Jitsu

So you think you got balance?  Skizls?  Well check out this act... via Fixed Gear Gallery.

Blue Hat Brigade Vs. Dope

The United Nations, the same folks who sat around and watched Rawandans hack each other up with machettes and Bosnians bomb the bejezus out of their neighbors, are now declaring a 'war' on doping.  Here's an excerpt from the previous link -  "The International Convention Against Doping in Sport was adopted unanimously by the UNESCO General Conference meeting in Paris for its 33 rd session. This is the first time a legal instrument aimed at eradicating doping is both binding and universal. A global response to a global problem, such is the challenge put to the new Convention. It supplies governments with a legal framework for an international harmonization of efforts in the fight against a scourge that flouts the ethical and social values of sport while putting the health of athletes at risk."  While on the one hand it's great to see more international effort to deal with the problem of dope in sport, HPT questions the follow-through capability of UNESCO, based on their less-than-stellar track record in various conflicts and health issues around the globe.  Meanwhile baseball players continue to abuse steroids and suffer only minor penalty (10 day bans), young athletes continue to die of unnatural causes with no explaination and freekin' Sport's Illustrated actually advertises on-line steroid resources.  Now that's madness.

Le Cannibal Sez 'Dope Pays'

Merckx is quoted in L'Equipe today: " It is of an economic nature,  specifies Eddy Merckx.  Many businesses are directed, the media make audience, the laboratories, pharmaceutical industry draw some from the consequent profits, of publicity. Doping pays. And it is an aspect of which account should be held. Those which invest in machines being used to control want to make them turn. This would be only to make profitable them.  "  Check the link for the full scoop.  I especially like where he points out the double standard of products banned in one sport (ours) that are legal in others (in this case, footy).  Viva.

Bike Porn

As previously noted, the web is chockablock with postings from last week's Interbike Show in Vey-gass.  After surfing through as many of these sites as we could stand, we've sorted you towards some of the best.  If you want to see a pic of pretty much every bike, product and otherwise interesting person or item on the show floor, give thanks to the Black Sheep Social Club and thier gallery.

Baltic Distraction

The Squadra is currently not at Interbike, but many of the usual suspects are reporting on it.  For a look beyond the major media's blingle-bloging, check out  BikeMagic.  Also the dudes at GoClipless and BlueCollar are posting from the city of sin.  While the cycling world is getting poor(er) and drunk(er) in the desert, we're in Baltimore where the kids seem to love brakeless BMX stunt rigs.   Seriously, I see swarms of these 20 inch maniacs all over the downtown area every day.  No brakes, but not fixed either.  Must make all the shoe co's stoked with the turn-over rate.  (ya stop a brakeless freewheel bike by jamming the sole of your shoe against the back tire- mmm, smell that rubber burn.)  We're here with a bunch of Hollywood types, rehashing a tale of disease and paranoia that might be familiar to anyone who's gone to the movies in the past 30 years.  Meanwhile, there is apparently a real concern about a viral contaminant in this area from the CDC, starting right around the time of the peace marches.  Go figure.  Next week we visit Montreal and Manhattan before schlepping our slacker selves around Travis County TX in this year's edition of The Roses.  Viva!