This is Bicycling!

Giant Sully, a photo by fenriq on Flickr.

Do you remember that feeling when you first swung your leg over a bike and pedaled off on it?

The look on my son's face here is that same look, the expression of pure happiness in just the simple act of pedaling a bicycle around a dirt course.

In becoming a parent I am able to view and review the world through my kid's eyes. They are astonished by the world around them. The world is non-stop magical awesomeness to them.

And that feeling of freedom and self-empowerment when you pedal a bike all on your own is one of the purest and most wonderful sensations there is.

I love riding bikes with my kids because they make me feel like a kid again too.

Bike Build 2011 aka Turning Wheels for Kids

A sea of bike boxes awaits.

This past Saturday was the Bike Build 2011 aka Turning Wheels for Kids in San Jose. The basic idea goes something like this, get a large number of donated bikes, get a large number of motivated bike mechanics, put them together and have at it. This was my second year doing it as I rather enjoyed it last year!

2700 bikes in 4 hours. I built 4 myself (I think I built 5 last year). Would have gotten more done but that stupid front derailleur was seriously killing me. Spent nearly 45 minutes on it alone. Had to remind myself that the kid this was going to wasn't likely going to be able to adjust the thing on his or her own.

Ooooh, right tilt.

Anyway, building the most bikes wasn't the point. Building bikes so that they were the safest possible introduction to bicycling was really the main point. A good thing to remember when your "building" blood starts flowing.

Ooooh, slight left tilt.

Here's a bunch of pics in sequence that might help give an idea of what it was like. I wish there was a sweet video of me riding an oversized trike around the whole place but that would be too easy and, apparently, I've done something to irritate my auto-focus.

Also, big shout out kudos to whoever got the Andy's BBQ for lunch. The pizza was fine last year and all but the BBQ this year really was bitchin'! The only downside is that all the bikes were done being built by the time we finished eating and got back inside.

Some dedicated and very fast build teams. I think the Team Specialized team had something like 18 or 20 of the Raleigh mountain bikes (the ones with the wonkedity front derailleurs) all arranged out in front. It was definitely a competition for them and they ripped it up.

Further on down the stack of bikes.

I didn't get as much of a chance to tour the floor this time. Just one quick buzz towards the end, the build went much more quickly this time around it seemed.

And there were quite a bit fewer over-inflated inner tube explosions. But enough to make it fun!
 Better, or at least more, pictures down below.

Mandatory Sidepaths Relegate Bike's to Sidekick Status, Sign the Petition

The S. 1813 Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act requires cyclists on Federal lands to use a path or trail, instead of roads, if the speed limit is over 30 MPH and a trail exists within 100 yards, regardless of its condition or utility of the path. What does that mean? It means bikes are being pushed into the margins and off the roads.

Bikes have every right and reason to use the roads we have in place, more so than the cars really.

Please go and sign the <a href="http://www.bikeleague.org/petition/">League of American Bicyclists Petition</a> even if you aren't a cyclist, you almost certainly have friends or family that does ride a bike and wants to be treated like everyone else on the road.

TiltShift Mojo

Tilt shift miniature Ibis Mojo (yes, old school steel with the Hand Job).

Taken a few minutes after dropping in at Nisene Marks State Park in Aptos, California. It is not the amount of miles in the ride but the amount of ride in the miles that is the important part.

I do enjoy going on multi-hour epics, don't get me wrong. There's almost nothing better than starting the roll on of a four hour nothing but riding ride. Well, the nothing but riding part might not be wholly accurate, there are photo stops, hydration breaks, smoke breaks and bathroom breaks.

But the point is that there's something calming and special about setting off for a long ride, be it road or mountain. The adventure is just starting and it will unfold (hmmm, accidentally typed funfold first, new word, cha-ching!) just in front of your front wheel. It sometimes takes longer but, eventually, the cares of the day are left behind, the worries, the hassles, the arguments, the seething resentments and that nasty pile of dishes you should have done before leaving. Don't worry, they'll be there when you return.

Because They Could! Super Monster (36x8!) Fat Tire Bike!

UndergroundVelo 36x8 Vintage Fat Bike, WTF!?

Saw this monster posted on G+ earlier today and have not been able to close the tab since. I keep coming back to gawk at this monster of monster fat tired bikes. Those tires are 36 inches high and 8 inches across, my current rather beefy tires on my mountain bike are a mere 26 inches high and 2.25 inches across.

I want to try it out and see just how hard it is to get rolling and keep rolling, how hard it is to climb even a moderate hill and what it would feel like while descending. I have no doubt it would roll well over packed sand but it might be too freakishly heavy for snow or loose sand. Heck, with some outriggers it might even float because of those big honking tires!

Some thoughts: It looks like it is set up for a nearly 1:1 ratio, maybe a little biased towards the rear sprocket but it looks close. It does not appear to have brakes. What is up with the spooge spot next to the front wheel?

But really, its just a freaking insane bike and sometimes insane is just plain fucking awesome!

There are a couple more pics on the link but not much more info. I expect there will be more info forthcoming as more and more bike folks get a gander and demand to know more!