New Safety Product: BikeGlow

The BikeGlow™ Safety Light was developed by some local cyclists after this past year's numerous fatal accidents on Mission Street in Santa Cruz.

Visibility is a key factor in many bicycling accidents and, it stands to reason, the higher your level of visibility, the safer you will be.

I'm not so sure that this is the solution but it looks kind of cool.

What do you think? Does BikeGlow make you safer or does it just make you cooler?

Carbon Beauty: The New Santa Cruz Blur XC Carbon

This is one sexy and fast looking bike. It also appear's to be Santa
Cruz's first carbon bike as well. I'm sure it'll have a hefty price
tag too!

http://www.cyclingnews.com/tech.php?id=/tech/2009/news/01-21

A Crash in California

A Crash in California - Hatch Hurt, But Very Fortunate

Just came across this article on Twitter, Liz Hatch biffed hard and is going to alright. The pictures tell the story better than the words. Especially the one where you can see her forks sheered off. Daaaaaamn!

Answering an Age Old Question

Can you carry a bicycle on a motorcycle?
The answer is yes, yes you can.

There are several other examples of bikes being mounted on motorcycles including one absolutely awesome tandem set up.

This is one case where four wheels can still equal good and even great!

108

That's the number of mile I rode over the past 3 day weekend!  It felt great to get out on the bike and get in some good base mileage.  The weather was cool and crisp, but most importantly is was sunny!  It's amazing how much the sun can boost your mood.  The past couple of weeks were rough being stuck in the fog.  Friday I rode from Rocklin up to Newcastle, then down to Granite Bay & back on a variety of nice country roads for a total of 46 miles.  Sunday Joe, Erik & I headed out towards Camp Far West Lake past Lincoln & Sheridan.  This was Erik's first ride back on the bike since "semi-retiring" late last year ;-) so it was great to have his company out there again, total of 47 miles.  The routes are mostly flat with varying rolling terrain.  No more than 1800' of climbing each day.  On Sunday morning my quads were extremely tight and it hurt pretty good walking down the stairs.  Erik and I went out for a quick spin Sunday afternoon, and then my legs felt much better.  Today is a full rest day, not doing anything at all, zip, zero nada!  My legs feel pretty good today, and my sit zone (aka ass) is a bit sore.... Later this week I hope to do some lunch time rides and maybe throw in some intervals sessions on the trainer as well.  I love this beautiful Spring like weather, but I know we really really really need some more rain & snow.  California is going to be in a serious drought situation if we don'd get some more storms this winter.  I've heard the snow up in Tahoe being described as 'cement' right now.  Not much fun for sledding or skiing.

Bonehead Move of the Week

I woke up early on a very cold & frosty 28 degree Sunday morning, packed my cyclocross bike and gear in the car, drove down to Sacramento, for what I thought was the final race of the season, only to find out the race was on Saturday instead of Sunday.  Doohhh!  I even had it on my Google Calendar for Saturday.

BikeWeek.com Engages in Some Bad Marketing

I got a DVD in the mail the other day from a company called BikeWeek.com. Kind of odd because I never signed up with them to get anything but I figured maybe someone had signed me up and sent a gift or something (hey, its happened before).

So I opened up the package and read the information inside. What it turned out to be was an unsolicited mailing for a pay-for DVD. They actually wanted me to send them $12.95 and sign up for a subscription to get more. The $12.95 they asked for is a special price and future DVDs would be at regular prices (which aren't disclosed) and with shipping and the rather bullshitty handling slapped on.

They did have a pre-paid return envelope which was good because there's simply no flippin' way I'd ever pay to return their unwanted, unordered and unsolicited marketing materials.

I have operated under the impression that, if someone mails something to you without you asking them to and then they demand payment for it, then they have zero legal grounds to stand on. You mail me crap and then demand payment? Suck balls, you lose.

At the bottom of the intro letter/soft sell, there's a paragraph that gives instructions on how to return the DVD. However, because I didn't ask for it, I'm not obligated to do anything and could consider it a free gift.

The thing of it is, if they'd sent the DVD and said it was a free gift to begin with, I'd be ten times more inclined to give the subscription a try. But, because they resorted to stupid ass bad marketing they have no chance of getting any business from me now or ever and I am writing this blog post to highlight how idiotic this marketing campaign is.

The DVD itself has motorcycle content on it but it seems much more targeted at the cruiser set. It has a bike build with somebody I've never heard of and a chapter on Sturgis. The bonus features are two people I don't know, one of whom is called Chopper Dave. I'm not a cruiser, I've never been a cruiser and I do not have much interest in what I consider poser bikes. I'm a practical guy riding a motorcycle that moves quickly, gets good mileage and doesn't cost as much as a car.

So, nice job, BikeWeek.com. You sent me something I didn't want and then tried to get me to pay you for it. Thanks but no thanks.

29er? Pshaw! Try a 36 Incher!

The Black Sheep Bikes ZAMer rolls on almost ridiculously enormous 36 inch wheels.

If you haven't clicked the link to check it out by now then there's really no point in continuing to write anything else.

I'd like to see it next to a regular 26 incher and a 29er just for comparison's sake but damn, this thing is bitchin'!

Weird Bike Stuff

Want a walk down the odd aisle of bicycling history? Head on over to Weird Bike Stuff and don't forget page 2.

The crazy is very strong in some of these justifiably forgotten bits of bicycling arcania.

Oh yeah, if you're interested in some mountain biking history then perhaps you should check out Charlie Kelly's Mountain Bike Hubsite.

It is astonishing how far and how fast we've come in such a short period of time.