HumanPoweredTransport

Cycle Friendly

Bike retailers view Los Angeles as a 'cycling-friendly' city; who knew?  London rises to the occassion.  What about Chicago?  It's all good so long as they stay out of our lane, as BSNYC rails on the neuvo scooter tribe.  Big Johnny has this reassuring news from the morning papers - cheating works, or rather, the tests don't.  Are the official's napping?  The UrbanVelo boys bring this vid; trials on a road rig.  Cool concept.  Cool quotes.  Pro wrench blogspot.  Another journo dopes for the story.  Go ride.

OMG

We may have been stooping a little, throwing stones in the LA house, dissing the Lakers with some Boston love in the last post.  Shaq though, he's takin' it to a personal level... ouch.

501

Five hundred and first post; this one's for L.A. - watch it 131 times crying in your beers... And no, we're not from Boston and don't really much care for hoops unless they're hand laced Mavic's. Onward.

City Love?

Will the cyclist become a citizen as urban areas cope with alt.trans in the gasoholic reality of our times?  The Mainstream Media sez so.  Maybe at the least they'll get a little more protection - 4 killed in Chicago since October.  Twenty-three last year in NYC.  In Portland, some have blamed the bike-lanes when a cyclist dies.  Slim hope for one of the survivors last week in Mexico.  Here's some eye-opening data.  Go ride, ride safe.

The Boonen Bump: Green Jersey Contendor Get's The Boot

Tisk, tisk, tisk  Tomeke Tomeke Tomeke.  For a bit of recreation, heroes all fall.

Run It? Not So Fast...

To run the red or not... Streetblogs posits the question, and WSJ picks up the thread.  Others have discussed similar points before.  It's a global issue; no doubt every cycloblogger in the 'sphere will follow suit.  Let the blickering* begin.

*blickering - the act of bickering in comments sections of blogs - (yes we just made that up)

Onward

LA to Long Beach in the books.  We passed on the weirdly tacked on loop to Seal Beach and back, so metric for me & RC.  Speakin' o' books, just finished up Push Yourself A Little Bit More, by Johnny Green.  Can't recommend it enough - best TdF reportage in years, top ten sports writing.  The man knows his history, and not just of the race but the small details in the random towns - amazing.  You can catch an interview with him about his days with The Clash in two parts.  At the cinema, we checked Bigger Stronger Faster, Chris Bell's doc about 'roids.  It goes deep; another recommendo.  Meanwhile back in the pipes:  in case you don't know how.  BFF report.  Important discussion on bikes, cops and media.  Drink biking: not so safe.  Not respecting the peds in Chicago could get you popped.  Go ride.

Pissed; It Means Different Things To Different Folks

Well, so much for the hippie vibes we extolled a few weeks ago.  Today, we're pissed.  First off, the damn century is Sunday, not Saturday, completely snafu'ing our meticulously planned preparation. (and proving that we can't read).  Other things that have been getting stuck in our grill of late:  Cel phone drivers.  Is everyone in LA cramming in as much dangerous distraction behind the wheel as possible before the July 1st ban on cellular driving?   Bio-diesel.  Our entire fucking neighborhood stinks like rancid onion-rings:  hey greenie's, biofuel pollutes MORE than standard fuel - ride a bike or take the bus if you want to prove your greenness.  Photographers.  Apparently, with the right shithouse attitude, a lot of expensive kit and a pair of tight jeans, anyone can be a photographer (works out great for the fakengers looking for a job.)  All leading back to the earlier question of what to eat before a century:  in order to continue riding pissed, apparently it will be plenty of this.

What To Eat Before A Century

Some random observations. Cutting that integrated seat mast might not be so safe. CNN gets into the alt.transit game. Helmets, who knew they'd still be a good idea? Count calories on your 'puter. Susutio on fire! Secrets from someone who knows a lot about music and bikes. John McCain, spymonger. Bicycle Film Festival coverage from Urbanites. New doping techniques for your love handles.  Out-blinging the Chanel bike?  Tattoos for the absentminded.  Go ride.

Cowboys and Coppers vs. Us

As widely reported on the interwebs, some fat fucking drunk cowboy killed, maimed and injured a pack of racing cyclists south of the border.  Meanwhile up in the mountains, some jackhole sheriff is not so interested in the positive aspects of cycling, fortunately Mionske's around to help sort it out.  Ride safe folks.