Passing

Our thoughts here at Have Bike, Will Travel are with loyal readers and good friends Chrystal and Jeff and the family on their loss today. There are no words. Know that Book Widow and I are thinking of you all.

Hope in Cophenhagen

Those of you interested in bicycle culture--and not just racing culture--or who want to read more about making the world a better place, one bike at a time, should spend some time at the Copenhagenize site, one of my favorite places.

Hell of a Day

A storm, a power failure, a missed deadline, a pipe leak, a fire, and a carpetful of dog vomit, all before noon.

Now that's a day.

Sit up and Ride

Michael over at situp-cycle.com has a lot of good information on Bixi, the Montreal bike-share program I mentioned last week. I don't want to put words in Michael's mouth, or overly simplify his message, but his point is basically this:

We have too many flat-backs obsessed with speed, and too many bikes designed for the race ethic. Neither of these things makes a welcoming environment for other types of cyclists, including commuters and casual riders. If we want bikes to catch on as mainstream transportation, and not niche sporting hobby, we need to design them and demand them to be more amenable to comfort, efficiency and practicality.

Let me use his words, as he says it better than I can: "The upright position goes together with wearing normal clothes when using a bike for transport, with carrying things in baskets and on luggage racks, with seeing better and being seen better. It also goes with countering one of cycling greatest enemies, the perception that it’s dangerous."

Please check out his site. He's got some great stuff up there, including video--and photos like this one, which I lifted, and for which I'm now begging his forgiveness--and he's fighting an enviable fight. As I've said before, any friend of bikes is a friend of Have Bike, Will Travel.

Giveaway

So, I got this in the old email inbox today:

Good Afternoon!,

My name is Ashley and I’m part of the Promotions Team here at http://www.FitnessEquipmentandMore.com. We have been seeking out high quality websites and blogs, gauging interest in doing a giveaway with one of our sites.

We love the look and feel of your blog and think that your US and Canadian readers might be interested in a giveaway with our sites http://www.fitnessequipmentandmore.com/. Have a look at a couple of our sites and let me know if you think that this might be something you’d be interested in.

So far so good, right? Read on, as I did:

Perhaps we could give away a selection of our http://www.cookware.com/ or www.diningroomsdirect.com . I’d be happy to brainstorm some other ideas with you if you’re interested. Alternatively you could do a review of something from our site. Please let me know if you have any questions for me. I hope to hear from you to further discuss the details of the giveaway.

Kind Regards, Ashley

Which is more appropriate for a bike blog? Cookware, or dining rooms direct? Sheesh. Just when you think someone's actually reading you...

Holy War

In an article forwarded by my dad, today's NY Post reports on a holy war in Brooklyn. Not to cast any aspersions, but the claim that "Scantily clad hipster cyclists attracted to the Brooklyn neighborhood made it difficult, the Hasids said, to obey religious laws forbidding them from staring at members of the opposite sex in various states of undress" just cracks me up.

Even I know that the way to salvation is not to eliminate temptation, but to inure yourself to it.

Bike-war paint

By JEREMY OLSHAN and JAMIE SCHRAM

The hipsters just will not let their bike lanes go.

Groups of bicycle-riding vigilantes have been repainting 14 blocks of Williamsburg roadways ever since the city sandblasted their bike lanes away last week at the request of the Hasidic community.

The Hasids, who have long had a huge enclave in the now-artist-haven neighborhood, had complained that the Bedford Avenue bike paths posed both a safety and religious hazard.

Scantily clad hipster cyclists attracted to the Brooklyn neighborhood made it difficult, the Hasids said, to obey religious laws forbidding them from staring at members of the opposite sex in various states of undress. These riders also were disobeying the traffic laws, they complained.

Two cycling advocates were apprehended by the Shomrim Patrol, a Hasidic neighborhood watch group, as they repainted a section of bike lane at 3:30 a.m. yesterday, but when cops arrived, no one was arrested and no summonses were issued, police said.

"These people should apply for a job at the DOT," neighborhood activist Isaac Abraham said of the repainting. "You put it on, they take it off -- and they will probably do this again."

A Department of Transportation spokesman said: "We will continue to work with any community on ways we can make changes to our streets without compromising safety."

A source close to Mayor Bloomberg said removing the lanes was an effort to appease the Hasidic community just before last month's election.

Abraham contends the bike lanes put children at risk of getting hit by cars or bicycles as they exited school buses.

But Baruch Herzfeld, who has tried to bridge the gap between hipsters and Hasids with a bike-rental program, said safety is not the issue so much as xenophobia.

"They don't want the hipsters in their neighborhood," he said. "It's like in Howard Beach back in the day when they didn't want black people in the neighborhood."

The cycling advocacy group Transportation Alternatives has not taken sides in the dispute.

But bike lane or not, "cyclists have a right to be on Bedford Avenue," said Wiley Norvell, a group spokesman.

Additional reporting by Maggie Haberman and John Doyle

Iron Horse

Bikes of the future?

Nah. Bikes of the past. In fact, this is the same kind of bike Genghis Khan rode to the Greater Mongolian Cyclocross Championship in 1203 AD.

Seriously, though, I love this story--Johan Museeuw is coaching the Mongolian National Cyclocross Team. Go ahead and try to tell me the sport's not growing by leaps and bounds.

Dear Santa

Dear Santa,

I need an FSA road stem, 120mm, 6 degree rise, for 31.6mm handlebars. Preferably something light. Must also be able to withstand the occasional heavy-handed wrenching by an inept owner.

Best,

cb

P.S. You ever think about riding a bike instead of that sleigh? Maybe a cyclocross bike? Let's chat, I have a few ideas.

Crack

Have you ever turned an allen bolt--say, on the stem of your road bike, for example--and heard a sound--say, a loud cracking sound? And then realized you now need a new stem?

I mean, hypothetically speaking?

How they Roll

Speaking of my new editor, she passed this article along to me. In San Francisco, the city installed a brand new bikes-only lane, separated from traffic by 35 three-foot high, reflective "safe-hit" posts. Literally before the glue attaching the posts to the ground was even dry, drivers were using the eight-foot wide lane as a vehicle lane, forcing bike riders out and running down the posts. Amazing. This picture shows a cyclist forced to ride in traffic by the car in the bike lane.

Check out the article. And put your crash helmet on.

The Book: Updates

Spoke with my latest editor today--I'm so important they gave me three, or, more likely, I'm so damn verbose, it took three editors to render my copy manageable--and we're making headway. My revisions are due December 14, and I'll get copy edits the same day. Those are due after Christmas. In early February, I'll see page proofs--that's when this will start to feel like a book, when I see it all laid out. Once I get those back, it goes to press.

By the way, the cover says "100 of the Best Road and Trail Rides," but there are actually 109. I aimed for 120 but fell short. Sorry. The cover seen here is a placeholder, although that's the photo they're going with. It's yours truly, taken with a self-timer. How's that for do-it-yourself start-to-finish?

Publication is scheduled for late April/early May, just in time for the season. As I've mentioned, it's up on Amazon and similar sites already, which is fun for me to see. You'll also see four other bike-related titles with my name on them--my publisher is breaking out four states as standalone "Spotlight" guides. Collect the whole set!

You'll also notice a handful of other titles credited to Chris Bernard. Some are me, some are not. For example, the reprints of articles for Alaska Business Monthly magazine? Me. Dynamic Prototyping with SketchFlow in Expression Blend: Sketch Your Ideas and Bring them to Life? Not me--I don't even know what that means. The French titles, Jupiter Invente le Monde and Osmoses, Poesies... Cahier No. 12? Not me.

Interestingly, there are a handful of other Chris Bernards writing. One writes yoga journalism. One is a Microsoft evangelist. One wrote a guide called Drop Shipping Sucks, which I may not have written, but with which I tend to agree. One writes vampire erotica. Also not me. I write fiction as C.B. Bernard so as not to be confused with the others.

Not that there's anything wrong with vampire yoga erotica or Microsoft drop shipping evangelism. I'm just saying.

The Great Bike North

Book Widow and I returned to Montreal this past weekend for our wedding anniversary. We were married up there a year ago, and it was great to be back. This time the trip was a whirlwind, but I managed to grab a few pictures to show how bike friendly a town it really is.

The parking meters, for one thing, have bike rings on them, making it much easier to find a place to leave your bike. I kind of like the idea of building bike racks right into the existing infrastructure instead of just adding them on separately.

The bike lanes are ubiquitous and well-marked, and in many cases, like shown here, separated from the main car lanes by a barrier. Bike traffic moves in both directions. Nice.


Note the bicycle atop the signpost, a small touch but one that speaks to the fact that Montreal has invested in the bicycle infrastructure.


In fact, the city has invested a lot in biking infrastructure. Bixi, a public bike sharing system, launched in the city last May. In a month, the program installed 3,000 bikes at 300 stations around Montreal's central core, expanding to 5,000 bikes at 400 stations by mid summer. On October 26, Bixi marked one million rides.

Think about that. One million rides between May and October.

According to Bixi, the program is proliferating to other municipalities in Canada and abroad, including Ottaway, London and Boston. The city of Montreal owns the contract and will provide the system to these other cities. Montreal, je t'aime! J'aime aussi les velos!


Montreal's not the first city to pioneer such a program, but Bixi may be the most thoughtfully designed system. According to Wikipedia, "A complete station is made up of a pay station, bikes, and bike docks (where the bikes are housed), which are fitted into modular technical platforms that are powered by solar panels. These technical platforms are the base and electronic ports for pay stations and bike docks. Bike stations can be created, expanded, configured and removed in about half an hour, monitored by a real-time management system. Excavation or preparatory work is not required, enabling the installation of a bike station as an adjunct to on-street parking.

"Bike docks serve to house and lock bikes. Made from recyclable aluminium, these modular docking stations are formed by a combination of groups of four docks, which are modular themselves. The bike dock's modularity allows a pay station to be deployed in the place of a single dock. Maintenace and reparation of the system is simplified thanks to a removable module present in every docking station which contains the locking system and all critical components that allow the system to function. In case of repairs, this module can be replaced with an identical one immediately, reducing the down-time of the system. The locking system is based on a energy efficient actuator used in the medical sector."

"Users can rent a bike using a subscriber key obtained through a long-term online subscription or an access code provided by the pay station. Pay stations are touchscreen-operated and only accept credit cards. A button is used to notify Bixi mechanics of defective bicycles."

The bikes are made by Canadian manufacturer DeVinci in Saguenay, QC, and are all one-piece aluminum frames and handlebars. The frames hide the cables to protect them from vandalism and weather. The tires are nitrogen-filled to be puncture-resistant. Cool.

For more information on Bixi, check out the web site.

Cross

Cyclocross is a pretty amazing sport. In the Oregon Cross Crusades this year, the overall title came down to the final race of the season--a duel between Sean Babcock and Molly Cameron. Actually, it came down to the final stretch of the final lap. At the top of the last run up, Cameron remounted and somehow got bumped, or tangled, in Babcock's bike. Fair play, nothing foul. Cameron fell, and like that, the race was over, the title decided.

Here, in one photo, the remarkable photogs of PDXCROSS.COM captured the essence and pain of the entire season as Babcock rides away with the title. Amazing.



Check out the other photography at PDXCROSS. You'll be glad you did.

Clydesdales, Unite!

Good news, my big-boned brethren. The Clydesdale Cyclocross Champion of the Universe Will Be Chosen in Bend, Oregon, on December 12, 2009


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 24, 2009
Contact: Brad Ross, Dungeon Master, Cyclocross Crusade, (503)806-6943

(Portland, Oregon)-- The Knights of the Cross Crusade have spoken, therefore let it be known that on the second Saturday of the twelfth month of the year 2009, a Clydesdale Cyclocross Champion of the Universe will be chosen in Bend, Oregon.

Cyclocross gladiators weighing 200 pounds (1.428 Contadors) or more, and Athenas, female gladiators weighing 160 pounds (1.142 Contadors), or more, are eligible to enter the ring of battle. This quest for the first ever Universal Champion of big-boned cyclocross warriors is being heralded as the most prestigious honor ever bestowed in our cycling galaxy.  The ceremony will commence at 8PM at the Deschutes Brewery Warehouse during the not-to-be-missed Giant Warehouse Party being hosted by Giant Bicycles and Deschutes Brewery, on the Saturday night of the 2009 USA Cycling Cyclocross National Championships.

By the power and creed of the Black Knight of the Cross Crusade, the rules of combat have been fortified:  there will be no pit, costumes are encouraged, the Last Regiment of Syncopated Drummers will be on hand to add to the pomp, and no form of seriousness will be tolerated. Furthermore and heretofore, call-ups will be based on weight in descending order, with the heaviest racers starting first. All warriors will be weighed at registration. The first three finishers will be scored. All others will finish in the herd.

There will be a $15 entry fee that will cover your race fee and your first beer at the party immediately following the race.  OBRA licenses will be required.  One day OBRA licenses will be provided at no cost to racers who do not have an annual OBRA license.

The race course will be dimly lit and headlights and headlamps are highly recommended. Race duration will be 30 minutes and will take place on one-half of the National Championship Course. Registration starts at 7:30PM at the Deschutes Brewery Warehouse.  The party starts at 8PM.  The race will start at 9PM. In addition to being awarded with the first ever Champion of the Universe jersey, the crowned Clydesdale Champion will be showered with unspeakable riches, including a season pass to the Frite Cart at the 2010 Cyclocross Crusade.

Absence, Turkey

Book Widow and I were called out of town unexpectedly last week, and just got back tonight after an emotional five days. Thanksgiving is this week, and then we're on the road to the Great White North for a few days.

Looks like edits came in from the publisher in the form of my latest--the third of, I hope, three--editor, and I'll have them back in by mid December. Then we'll be one step closer to an actual book.

Beginning next week, awards. That's right. Awards. Curious? Tune in after the holiday.

Have a two-wheeled Turkey Day from Have Bike, Will Travel.