HumanPoweredTransport

It's A Wrap

Final blast from SXSW. The Sadies got up on stage with Dre at The Continental for what was probably one set too many. Yes of course it rocked. After a late night in the Enchanted Forest, we flew home and had a long debate about Campy vs. Shimano with our randomly selected Southwest Airlines seatmate. Meanwhile, in the land of cyclobabble… Chicago ratchets up the rules for cars and bikes after the alleycat tragedy. BKW interviews BSNYC. SI reveals doping reality check. It must be spring, ‘cause there’s a bikerack contest and a hipster guide to cool helmets right here. Funny how the coolkids tend to think most bike lids look like ‘the nose of a fighter jet’ so they gravitate towards hardhats that to us look like shortbus fashion, but what do we know. We know one thing thats cool about helmets; not having a head injury. Unfortunately helmets and Mayor Daley’s new rules didn’t help keep the list of the dead from growing exponentially this month. Be careful out there folks. In Phoenix, they're trying out sanctioned alleycats. On a lighter note; you can’t say that, snot rocket writing, anonymous fans and bad ass Italian fix-gears. If that’s not enough to make you smile, turn yourself into a Simpson’s character. Or just be glad you’re not these folks...

Inshalah.

SXSW: Hot, Pt.2

Bringin' more heat from Austin. Hopped on the pedal express down to Jo's for a large iced turbo before checking out the first live gig of the day before 10am. Did we mention The Continental Club? Best damn bar in North America; Steven in Austin and Pete in Houston do things right. That's Steven's sled out front- The Black Dahlia. Say damn. May as well say damn again to a packed house at 9:30 AM for jalapeno pancakes, cooked up fresh at the side of the stage while The Allen Oldies whooped up a can of whoop ass for all to get down to. Talk about startin' the day right. Straight onto the rig and into the belly of the beast for screening #3 of Agile, Mobile, Hostile at the Alamo Ritz. Ya'gotta love a theater that not only has a great projection and sound system with THE best staff in the land, but also provides full service food and Shiner on tap while you watch the film. Collected Mr. Williams himself, straight off his outstanding interview on NPR's All Things Considered, and brought him zippy quick back to South Congress and the friendly confines of Yard Dog where he was warmly welcomed to the stage by The Sadies and none other than Jon Langford. Mind you, it's still before 5pm and there's at least 3 gigs left to go in the day. Onward!

SXSW: Hot & Not

What's hot about the country's biggest media festival is in a big part what's hot about Austin. Premiering your documentary, free live music - everywhere, puppies, solar powered rock stages, South Congress, getting around on bikes, freaky Enchanted Forrest dweller parties, great friends in town to support each other, films like Of All The Things, Hori Smoku Sailor Jerry, Living With The Tudors, They Killed Sister Dorothy, Throw Down Your Heart, bands like The Sadies, The North Mississippi All-Stars, Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears, That Damn Band, The Continental Club, Karen at Resurrection Tattoo, The Hole In The Wall, Bikehugger, Jo's Iced-Turbo and of course, spending a long week with Andre Williams. What's not? 6th Street, hype, it's damn hot! A pretty good balance in our opinion. Viva!

Day Late, Dollar Short

Totally missed this news for yesterday's rant - One of the granddaddy alleycats, NYC's infamous Monstertrack has been canceled (to be specific, the main race only), in part due to the tragedy in Chicago. Writing's on the wall kids. The trend is dead. Best quote on the matter, as usual is from BikeSnobNYC... "Indeed, alleycat racing is surely the slam-dancing of the bike world, and it is now well into the "moshing" phase, thanks to the overwhelming all-inclusiveness referred to above combined with the unprecedented popularity of riding brakeless track bikes on the street. Right now, if alleycat racing were a concert, it would be Woodstock '99 and Limp Bizkit would have just taken the stage." -Inshalah.

Rant N Roll

More sad news to kick off the rant. Respect to the fallen, but here's a case where you've got an illegal street race, winter condition city streets and a clear statement that the cyclist ran the light. Since he was leading the race it's very likely he was flying full out. He made that choice, a hundred meters from the line, go for it or play it safe. With the unconscionable amount of cyclists killed by motorists in the wrong, compounded by a general lack of any legal action taken against the perpetrators, it’s very important that arguments for cyclist’s rights aren’t colored by situations in which we’re in the wrong. Unfortunately it looks like this is a case of the cyclist not only being wrong but making a conscious choice to take a big risk. We were gonna rant about this a week ago when it first hit the pipes, but elected to wait and see what came down the line. Leave it to the Chicago Trib and local blogs to kick off the maelstrom of typical indignation and idiocy, with random comments of levity and intelligence sprinkled throughout. Any death is a tragedy, and cycling fatalities and maimings are a black cloud we all roll under. The increase of cyclists on the streets raises the tally against us in pounds of flesh or worse. Cycling culture is on the rise and we all embrace the warmth of seeing more bikes on the road. Alleycats and other underground happenings are vital to the lifeblood of the culture, however like all things good, self-started and punk, they ain’t legal. That means in sad scenarios like Chicago’s 8th TdC, tragedy can have greater consequences. Right or wrong, the price is paid. All racers of future Stuporbowls, Monstertracks and the like, please ride with angels brothers and sisters. One only needs to look to DC for the regular posts with a heading ‘Biker Down’ to know the sad increase of more and more stories about the dead, the dying, the wounded, the falsely accused, the persecuted of this silent war we all fight. We’re dying, us riders of the free world, two wheeled human powered transporters of change. We’re being killed off, bumped off, forgotten, maligned, misrepresented. So when we ourselves elect to take that chance, to run that red light, to race into the maw of traffic – we’re missing the chance to make a difference. Or are we? Shits complex yo' - there are no simple answers.
Of the many soapboxes we’ve climbed upon over the years, the cry for pro cyclists to advocate for the average roleur in the street has not been heard for a spell. We’re excited to see what becomes of Dave Z’s efforts, a bit more guarded regarding news out of Austin from Mellow Johnny. Meanwhile, go ride - and safely please.