Amazing Trials Riding On a Carbon Road Bike

Equivalence - SMIDSY = GOTFRA

So there's a saying the Aussies (and probably others) use when they accidentally nearly run a cyclist off the road or worse, it is SMIDSY which stands for "Sorry, Mate, I didn't see you." I've been thinking about what the American equivalent of SMIDSY is and, sadly, the best I can come up with is, GOTFRA which stands for "Get off the fucking road, asshole."

It is a sad commentary on the state of bicycling and bicycling acceptance in the US that this is my most recurring equivalent to SMIDSY which includes a sorry and a tacit recognition that the driver is at fault. But, as has been noted widely, SMIDSY still is no excuse for causing an accident.

When even a visiting dignitary on a bicycle tour of Washington to see how much has been done to improve bicycling there is yelled at by a cager to "Get off the road" it is quite clear that we have many, many miles to go before our country even approaches the levels of acceptance the Europeans have already.

The simple fact is that many (too many) Americans are overweight, lazy gluttons who see bicycles on the road as an impediment to them getting to the next drive-thru fast food poison dispensary. We are a fat nation, we are a lazy nation, we are an angry and reactionary nation and we love our bigger is better mantra. By the way, I saw we meaning the nation not me personally.

Personally I like small cars, I don't eat fast food more than once a month, I ride a bicycle at least a couple of days a week and I can see my feet without looking in a mirror or leaning so far forward as to need to hold myself up.

In the US, all too often bicyclists are seen as targets, as objects of ridicule because they are too poor to own a ginormous SUV. I wish there were a way of penetrating the lipid encrusted brains of my fellow Americans to get them to recognize that bicycles are not only fun, they are good exercise, they are "green" and should be strongly encouraged in every community. This means bike lanes everywhere, this means police enforcing laws to protect cyclists, this means prosecuting fully the jerks who throw stuff at cyclists. Until cyclists are treated exactly like other people on the road and not like second (or third) class citizens, bicycles will remain a fringe activity in this country.

And rather than a polite SMIDSY moment (hopefully) we will continue to have GOTFRA moments and clashes between cagers and two wheelers.

Two Wheel News Around the Internets

Paper Boneshaker - "Just how much does Japanese designer Shinichi Iwami love bicycles? Enough to have 1/24 scale kits laser-cut out of 0.5mm black paper with enough precision and detail that they require a scalpel, tweezers, glue, instructions, and nerves of steel to assemble." This is so beautiful and awesome that it just kills me a little bit. The graphic to the right is how the kit arrives. Found via the new-to-me and awesome BikeHacks.

Md. Bicycle Racers Injured By Tacks On Race Route - There were some pretty unpleasant injuries (unless you like fractured knees) resulting from some jerk intentionally putting large tacks on a corner of the course. The link has video shot by one of the racers via his helmet cam. Here is hoping they catch the perp or perps and make them pay for their stupidity.

Why am I hungry for tacos all of a sudden?

SF Police seek help in finding stolen Buddy Bike ridden by 9 yo autistic girl.
Update: The bike has been recovered and will be returned to the girl! Woot!

Live Oak father shot at while retrieving son's stolen bike - I've got nothing to add to this except that this whole story is pretty effed up all the way around.

Shuttle Smith Debuts - A Bike Shuttle from Aptos to SDSF/Nisene. It isn't inexpensive but it sure is convenient unless you need a 12 mile vertical climb to get warmed up properly. He's got space for 9 bikes, riders and all their gear inside the truck (no bikes hanging off the back) via MBoSC.

MotoCzysz demonstrates superior electric power with IOM TT Zero win - For those of you who have never enjoyed the insanity that is the Isle of Man TT Races. Check out this video of a practice lap by legend John McGuinness.

Nokia's Bicycle Charger Kit a stroke of genius that strongly resembles the exact same tech from forty years ago used to generate a weak beam of light while simultaneously wearing out your tire sidewall a hundred times faster than without it. I guess genius is in the eye of the PR person.

And I'm going to go ahead and skip linking to the guy who turned a monster truck tire into a new tall bike. You've probably seen the video. Its a neat idea on paper but the on the road reality is that propelling a massive tire like that takes a huge amount of energy and the thing would be soundly defeated by even a slight incline. Add a bunch more seats and the ability to share the pedal load with your pals and it'd be much cooler. Add a flamethrower and dancing platform and it'd be perfect for Burning Man.

You Want Speed? You Can't Handle The Speed!

John McGuinness takes us along for a practice lap at the Isle of Man TT. Hold on tight because he's cooking!



Via 2 Wheel Tuesday

Today's Ride By the Numbers

Distance ridden: 16 miles
Time: 1 hour almost to the second
Surface: Paved and occasionally covered in loose gravel
Crashes: None but came very close on one gravelly corner

Epiphanies realized: 4 or 5
Epiphanies forgotten by the end of the ride: 4 or 5

Blog posts thought up: 5
Blog posts written down once back at home: 1, this one

Interesting sights: A teenage couple dry humping on a bench next to the slough, three times. They vamoosed after the third trip.

Snakes seen:2
Ticks found: 1
Ticks found attached to me and sucking my blood, the little bastards: 0
Ticks squished into icky messes: 1

Good deeds: 1. Returned a lost bag to a couple walking their punt dogs.
MILFs: 2
Not-MILFs: 6
Times I wish I'd worn bike shorts: at least 2 dozen and not because of the MILFs

No matter what, even a bad ride is better than a good day at the office and a great ride pretty much trumps everything.

Rotational Therapy

Like many cyclists, I find that my mind is most at ease when I'm spinning my pedals and eating up miles. I tend to find that I think through my problems more clearly, that obstacles don't obstruct me so much and that the niggling voices can't keep up with me quite so easily.

Cycling is, for me, therapy. It is exercise for my body, obviously, but it is also an opportunity for my brain to crunch through the flotsam of my work weeks, nearly unmanageable tasklists and frazzled out staff and faculties.