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Folding bikes are really handy. I can imagine the boredom and sedentary waiting around for the show to start would probably make me a bit crazy. A pair of running shoes would most likely be my refuge of choice because it’s portable. But a folding bike would be ideal. Brompton is making a few different models. I imagine they would make a great city commuter where you had limited storage space in the office.

These Brompton Bikes really come in handy when you are traveling the world as an international rock tour de force. That was said with irony by the way. The goofy lads in Sigur Ros have a reputation for backstage antics that get them hurt. See if you can spot the jump where Jonsi (guy in striped shirt) hits his nuts on the jump.

We also saw Sigur Ros in Detroit on tuesday, show report coming soon.

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The Kal-Haven Trail Link up to Downtown Kalamazoo

Runners and cyclists rejoice, a new low traffic route is available from downtown Kalamazoo. Right near Westnedge ave, the trailhead can be picked up and taken all the way to 10th avenue.

I ran the portion to Nichols this Sunday. Here is my route, (approximately).

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Yakkay Fashionable Bicycling Helmet Covers for Women

Sick of looking like a cycling dork?

Try one of these bad boys for girls out. Yakkay Brainwear for Smart People Helmets and helmet covers.

I have a hard time getting my wife Laura to wear her bicycle helmet. She is unfortunately stricken with a strange affliction I was clearly inoculated against. She is image-conscious and fashionable. So therefore getting her to put the brain pan on before going for a ride seems to be an uphill battle, if not impossible. So when I spotted the Yakkay Helmets on Boing Boing this morning, I said Eureka!!!

As a cycle commuter and also a cycling enthusiast, I often don’t care what I wear, how I look, or worse (for those around me) how I smell. So while I think image is frivolous in comparison to say weight, durability, and function, I recognize that not everyone feels that way.

Also check out the fit video. (Psst marketing director of Yakkay let me give you the best advice of the year post this on you tube!!!). I’ll take my SEO/M consulting check now thank you.

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Look out for Handle Bar Palsy!

I went out and did a 37 mile ride with Rob and Gene last week on my Bianchi San Jose Single Speed Cyclocross bike. I’ve turned it into a commuter rig with moustache handlebars. It was a great ride out to Hacienda in Gobles to have some Mexican food. However, my hands started going numb on the way out, and then really really numb on the way back. In fact now, I am still getting some tingling and lack of strength in my right hand.

The compression of the ulnar nerve from pressure on the handlebars makes your hands go numb. Gotta be careful to adjust hand position and wear cycling gloves. Also I am suspicious of the moustache bars, as these have a different hand position than standard racing drops. I’ve ridden up to one hundred miles on my racing drops on the Felt F1x and never had a problem. I also ride on the hoods and with biking gloves. So this is obviously a clue.

Luckily I hardly ever ride more than about 6-7 miles at a stretch on the moustache bars, so it shouldn’t be an issue.

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Photo courtesy of bikeportland.org

Ironically I am incapable of biking to work today. The inguinal hernia repair is healing nicely though. I have of course biked to work many many days, through rain, sleet, snow. This day isn’t so much for the cycle commuters as it is for advocacy. If you haven’t biked today, every day is a new opportunity to start!

Ironically I saw this article on Boing Boing. The question was raised that it may actually take more energy in food to fuel the cyclist than it would to fuel a car.

I, just like Mr. Green from the Sierra Club call bullshit on this car vs bike argument.

Even if cyclists consumed %20 percent more calories each. The oil and gas each cyclist would use in driving themselves alone, not to mention repairs, all of the oil needed to make the plastic and tires for new cars, the emissions of those cars far outweighs food shipments to centralized distribution on trucks, planes, ships, and trains.

It may sound like an emotional argument, but it seems pretty plain to see when even in a small city like Kalamazoo. All of my co-workers drive to work alone, burning gas in new cars.

If you look at the numbers at the US Department of Labor Site you will see the total percentage of the population that is employed. Of course this doesn’t even count all of the non-documented immigrant workers in the US who are possibly driving to work alone too. We are consuming 9,253,000 barrels of oil a day for cars.

If we were to cut that even in half from a consumer standpoint it would put a serious dent in the amount of oil consumed. If everyone needed say %20 percent more calories based on a higher activity level could this really even equal the amount of oil needed to drive a car for a year on a daily commute? I don’t think so.

If I had to pick a future, I would pick one where suburban sprawl is eliminated, open spaces are preserved, people cycle and walk to work, buses and trains are used for longer distances, cars are run on alternative energy (non-fossil fuel), and Newcastle wins the FA Cup, The Smiths get back together and I Kayak Surf full time.

Cycling to work has so many advantages. US Oil Consumption is a big part of it, but, at this point Oil Prices are predicted to rise to $200.00 USD a barrel for the next year making gas over $4.00 a gallon. I know I will be able to weather that easily by cycling. But this has been a lifestyle choice. Living close to work, being physically active, and also very into cycling has been a good thing for me. Why not give it a shot!

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Cycle Commuting Comicstrip

Yehuda Moon & the Kickstand Cyclery is a daily comic for cyclists everywhere. The comic is geared for the commuting audience. But is a little for everyone on two wheels. The comic is drawn by Rick Smith.

I’ve been reading with delight since it’s inception. I’ve wanted to do this about one hundred times myself. It seems urban bike culture is coming into it’s own. The comic depicts two cyclists. Yehuda is the steel frame/single speed/ simplicity bike guy who works at the shop the Kickstand. Then there is the bike shop owner Joe. Joe is more of a high technology fan and is a perfect foil to Yehuda.

Today’s comic is a gem.

Another favorite of mine is where Yehuda paints his own Bike lanes. Peruse the archives and enjoy.

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I find myself becoming more and more irritable on my morning bike commute. Drivers who use cell-phones, that do not look where they are going are trying my patience. This morning I made a critical mistake. I think if I had changed my position in the lane to be more direct and visible, this situation might have been negated.

I had my modified Bianchi San Jose with pannier bags loaded this morning. Laptop and clothes for the day in the bags, and I am heading downhill to a stop light. The stop light has some construction going on in the middle lane. I rolled up in the right lane first at the light. I was off to the right of the lane, which was my first mistake. I should have been in the middle of the lane. A woman from the center lane under construction started edging her SUV into the right lane. She rolled forward but needed me to move to turn right at the red light.

She actually rolled down the window and tried to sweetly ask me to move so she could turn right at the red light. “No!”, I told her. She could wait for the light to turn green like everybody else. If I had been a car she could/would never have done this.

My mistake was in being off to the right if I intended to go straight through the light. I was asking for it. Lesson learned occupy the center of the lane when you intend to go straight.

Bad Bike Commuter Positioning Diagram for going Straight in an Intersection

Good Position for a Bike in Traffic going straight

Certainly the second diagram is more aggressive in terms of the positioning in traffic, but hopefully safer. The object is not necessarily to be in the center to let the car through on the right, but to clearly occupy the middle to let the car know you are going straight.

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I think I may have single speed fever. I went through a lot of bike parts this year on Michigan roads with salt, ice, slush, flotsam and jetsam. I like the flexibility of a 10 speed cassette, but the maintenance when you ride every day is a bit much. I don’t think I will ever consider a single speed a primary bike, (maybe?) but I can’t justify a new cassette and chain every 9 months. The wife will kill me.

So I’ve begun researching a few single speed options. The “Bianchi San Jose”:http://www.bianchiusa.com/07_san_jose.html is one, as is a custom Surly Cross Check.

I have to say the simplicity part appeals to me, it is like traditional paddling, it works due to the lack of fewer working parts. Less can actually be more, you just have to build up the stamina.

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We’ve officially become residents of Kalamazoo. We can immediately go out and buy the trendy black and white oval bumper sticker that says proudly, “zoo”. I’ve got two kid size t-shirts on order that say, “Yes there really is a Kalamazoo.”

I now live less than two miles from where I work. And in the most un-American tradition possible, I started cycling to work. I am a huge dork and I tell everyone who asks about the new house and its amenities, “I bike to work!”

The new house is pretty great, I’ve always wanted an Arts and Crafts style bungalow, and now I got one. Built in 1925.

For further reading check this out.

http://www.ambungalow.com/AmBungalow/home.htm