Lulu rides a Bronze Schwinn Sprint, that she bought cheap off a pal who was moving to Miami
Where are you going? I'm heading to work. I bike around 15 miles most days since I work in Wicker Park, live in Pilsen, and my boyfriend lives in Garfield Park (hopefully i don't break a leg anytime soon) Why ride? It's the best! It's free, it's good for you, and it's good for the environment! And it's fun! Favorite ride? I love my long-ish work commute..it forces me to ride a bunch every day...I also love streets with bike lanes :)
*** Lulu's plays keys in the band Backs and has solo projectGel Set.
I flagged Chelsea (hope I'm spelling that right) down on Chicago and Grand and she was cool enough to let me take her photo, even though she was running late, and I probably seemed like a psycho. I love her bright knit head wrap, boots, and riding pants. Super cute look for winter.
I ran into Laura on my way to work. I love her cute little green cruiser. It make me long for a bike that has matching fenders and a chain guard!
We are lucky to live in a city that used to have a Schwinn factory. I've notice tons of really well-preserved old chicago schwinns on the bike racks lately.
I don't normally like to just lift and post images from other blogs but I had to share this one I found on the Lucky B Design blog. You don't see many factory photos or bikes like this. Looks to be a '51 TT Racer. Note the raised transmission and the magneto at the generator's location. You can definitely see how bikes like this influenced the street bobbers built by guys like Dick Hirshberg.
I then Googled Panhead TT and almost nothing came up. I did find the '48 below athttp://roadboogers-1948panheadtt-bobber.blogspot.comThe strange thing about this blog is that it's one page devoted to just this bike. A look at the guy's profile revealed that he has 20 blogs all dedicated to a single bike. Nice, but a bit too shiny and pretty for me. Should old bikes be so pristine? Almost a twin '47 from another of his blogs.
If your anything like me, you dig checking out bikes in old biker flicks, and also dig Roth's Oink. About a year or so ago I saw this sequence but hadn't bookmarked it and forgot wich film it was from. Recently, I found it again. The film is Run Angel Run and it's a fairly long chase sequence done in a series of split screen shots. All the shots with Oink are pretty quick, so here's the best of them. You wouldn't know this is it if you didn't see more.
I pasted these frames together. He almost loses it and quickly recovers.
Not sure what frame is better so here's both. Here you can clearly see the sissy bar's tell tale iron cross.
Katie ride a grey On-One Il Pompino CX bike with a black Brooks Flyer S Champion saddle
Katie Says "I started riding years ago for a more fun, healthy, and inexpensive way to get around the city. A while back, I became more serious about it after a traumatic CTA incident. Now I ride because I have to, in order to keep my sanity. It is very therapeutic and forces me to push myself further and further with each ride.
My favorite rides have been ones that have brought me to new places, whether it be hidden corners of this city, or a new city all together. Exploring on bike is exhilarating. In the fall of 2009, I went to Tokyo for ten days with a large group of friends for the CMWC and it was absolutely life-changing. I also love to ride on winter nights when it is snowing. With a hat, scarf, goggles, and headphones, I can completely detach and feel like the only one left in existence, for a short while."
Of all the fears I harbor (and there are many), three of them loom greater and more forbiddingly than all the rest, and they are (in ascending order of menace):
3) Having to use an unfamiliar bathroom;
2) Having to express a cat's anal glands;
And of course the big one,
1) Having to take temporary leave of this blog.
Alas, it is with a heavy heart that I announce I must do numbers three (3) and one (1), for I have traveling to do, and these travels mean that not only will I have to use unfamiliar bathrooms (unless I can "hold it in" for a really long time), but I will also be unable to place words into this blog (at least not ones worth reading, inasmuch as any of this is worth reading, which is debatable, but believe it or not I do have standards).
All of this is a very roundabout way of saying that I'm about to board a plane and that I will be away from this blog until Thursday, March 3rd, at which point I will return with regular updates. Yes, there is much to look forward to in March, as you can see from looking at this calendar:
As for the nature of my travels, the first portion of the trip will actually consist of testing bicycles with the editorial staff of Bicycling magazine, during which I will finally get to see how they decide that one crabon bicycle is more laterally still and vertically compliant than another. This is very poignant for me, since it's been almost four years since I wrote this post, and I'm dying to find out if Bicycling's testing process is as unintentionally funny as the reviews it yields. Sadly though I'll probably never find out, since judging by my recent training numbers I expect to get dropped immediately and never see the editorial staff of Bicycling ever again:
Though unfortunately I don't have a suitcase for my actual clothes, since apparently they don't make those anymore. Also, I was unable to find my preferred road bicycle riding sunglasses (otherwise known as "optics"), and after much digging all I was able to turn up were these positively Fred-tastic Oakley M Frames in a strange orangey-yellow "colorway" from "back in the day:"
(Oakley M Frames and disembodied hand.)
I may just have to squint on this trip, though I imagine I'd also cut a dashing Kenny Powers-esque figure as I sit in the terminal on my suitcase chair gazing at the departure screen through my M Frames. Or maybe I'll just put them on eBay, where bicycles and bicycle parts surf an endless sea of disembodied hands, like concertgoers at Lollapalooza:
In the meantime, I apologize for neglecting my blogular duties, but I will point out that I did blogulate yesterday, which was technically a holiday, so that's something anyway. Also, if I have anything urgent to relate during my absence I will do so by means of my Tweeter. As always, thank you very much for reading, and I look forward to returning on Thursday, March 3rd.
A Sporting guythat takes on any and all curves that lay in his path. The kind of guy who seeks MotorCycle entertainment that matches his 4-cycled zest for life.
I ran into Anna on her way to Bikram Yoga looking like a very stylish Yogi with her matching yoga mat and bag. Unfortunately, right after class, her bike seat was stolen! Double damn to all bike thieves and bike seat thieves!
What is your favorite ride? My current bike is my favorite ride, a Diamondback Serene. It's not too big and it is easy to maneuver in the city.
Why ride? It is a pretty nice day for winter in Chicago, and it has been such a long time since I've ridden my bike. It's so much easier to get around!
When Bruce Parrish first started sending me photos, he also included the shot below of his old friend Foot's bike. He then added, Foot still has it and wants to sell it. As you might imagine, that got my attention! Bruce's photo from 1979. This immediately made me want to see more!
Later, around mid January I got the following email and photos from Foot:
Chris,
Been watching your web site with great interest. Every time I look, you have another friend of mine posted. I met Joe Hurst when he first made his transition from the low rider scene. Dick Allen and I, Tiny, Washmachine Charley, Red bearded Bob and later Joe all lived on 167 th St. In Lawndale in the late 60's early 70's. I wound up with Dicks shop when he went to jail. (its a long and sorted tail) Anyway I can trade lies with the best of em. No joke though, there are about 10 years that are kinda fuzzy and blurred together. We used to get after it pretty good! Foot's bike today. Joe had toyed with buying it, meanwhile, I was trying to think of ways I might buy it myself. The Dick Allen springer was originally about 20" over but later cut down to 15".
Bruce tells me you might know of someone that would be interested in my old sled. Shes been sitting a long time and slowly gaining that (as the gun collectors like to say) "fine brown patina." More pics and info available if needed. Keep doing what your doing man, its pretty cool to re-live the old glory days.
I told Foot that I would post it on my blog, but to send more information when he got the chance.
About a week later Foot sent this:
Chris, Here is some info about my bike: The engine is a '56 Pan bottom end with a set of '66 shovel heads. Its been a long time but I think its .070 over on the bore 9.5:1 compression, 4 1/2" stroke S&S flywheels,(works out to be about a 86 incher) S&S carb, Andrews B grind cam, Joe Hunt mag, Phil Ross belt drive,and Barnett clutches. Trannie is a 4 speed with a ratchet top (jocky shift) and its polished pretty nice. Chassis is a 1957 straight bar Pan frame, Dick Allen front end (15 over if I remember correctly) Front wheel is a magnesium 18" 12 spoke mag. Rear wheel is a 12 spoke 15" American Mag (aluminum) I bought it from Dick when he was partnered up with them although I don't remember what their association was. The bike's overall look, the chrome fender, the mags, and bead blasting of the engine makes it quite similar to White Bear. You even might even call it White Bears' cousin... or maybe sister. As a matter of fact, Joe says the flywheels came out of White Bear!
The oil tank is a rare 1938-39 seamless. Also has a pretty nice custom clutch peddle and plate we used to make at my old shop (Arm & Hammer Cycle) Looks like a mirror image of the brake assembly on the other side. There's probably more but you know how it is, over the years as I let more stuff into my head I had to let other stuff go. Dick Allen built the engine and Foot estimates he clocked about 30,000 miles on the old gal. Other than 3 years ago when he took her to a swap meet to sell, she's been in storage for the last 20+ years. Foot says she fired up and sounded good and strong that last time.
Later we talked on the phone and told him I would post it For Sale when I got the chance. I got busy and then left town for 2 weeks. A couple days after my return, while getting ready to post it, I received an email from Rich Ostrander with the same photos saying how Foot sold his bike to their mutual buddy Chuck. The left side showing off a good stance. Note how the front wheel's magnesium patina has darkened compared to the rear's aluminum.
It was really good to hear the bike went to a friend. Not only that, but Chuck lives really near where the bike was born. So, the bike is returning to it's old stomping grounds in the South Bay.
Update: Last I heard, Chuck has sold the bike and it's gone to Japan. All the good stuff is going there. I can't fault the guys in Japan. We seem to be quickly selling out our past.
Here in the United States of America (also known as Canada's gratuitous undercoating), today is Presidents Day. On this day, many Americans are free not to attend work so that we may instead take advantage of big, big savings on designer clothing, flat-screen TVs, new automobiles (make sure you get that undercoating!), and other costly items we might otherwise have had the sense to forego had we simply headed into the office. Most importantly, though, we celebrate the lives, work, and of course hair of Presidents Andrew Jackson, Martin Van Buren, and William Henry Harrison:
The administrations of these three Presidents spanned the years 1829 to 1841, a period which historians universally agree is the "Golden Age of Presidential Hair." From Jackson's powerful pompadour, to Van Buren's inspiring sideburn aurora, to Harrison's pointy forelock that prefigured the coiffure of Glenn Danzig by something like 140 years, this was an exciting time during which Presidents still understood the sense of authority that can only be conveyed by truly "epic" hair. Sadly, this Golden Age ended with the untimely death of President Harrison on his 32nd day in office due to complications from tetanus (Harrison insisted on being shaved by a rusty razor for purposes of "street cred"), and while there have since been some flashes of Presidential barbatorial brilliance (Abraham Lincoln's "chin strap," Grover Cleveland's walrus-like lip curtain) there has also never been a dynasty to rival the one we celebrate today.
Meanwhile, if you've accessed the Internet at any point this weekend, you may know that the big news in cyclesport is that some track racer guy got a gigantic splinter in his leg, and while I have been known to post affronts to good taste such as this I draw the line at medical "grodiness" and am therefore posting a censored version of the photo using images that convey the nature of his injuries without actually depicting them:
If you'd like to see the original, it is here, though even when obscured by a pizza pie and a body modification enthusiast who will never, ever hold a job you can plainly see that he lies supine like Jesus on the cross just before the Romans hoisted him into a vertical position. (And the Jews did "golf clap," according to the Gospel of Mel Gibson.) The real tragedy of this injury is that all the hipsters who pretend to like track racing are already agog at how "badass" it is, and you can expect them to start inserting slivers of wood through their own calves as the new must-have accessory to complement their "shants:"
"Oh, this old thing? Yeah, it's been there for years, never bothered to take it out."
Since them, I've been more vexed than perhaps it's reasonable to be by a small piece of aluminum--mostly because you'd think that if someone were to integrate a little bottle top-popping dingle into a seatpost clamp, they might at least orient it in such a way that you don't have to hold the bottle sideways and spill half your beer in order to use it:
I'd maybe possibly perhaps consider accepting an argument that this seatpost clamp is designed to use while the bicycle is lying down, except for the fact that the promotional video contains shot after shot of the opener being used with the bicycle standing up as beer spills everywhere:
This is the beer-opening equivalent of an iPhone banking "app" that costs you $35 every time you log into your account.
By the way, this brilliantly-executed seatpost clamp comes in two versions. The first one is the "Nectar:"
According to the copy, this is for people who like PBR--a brand of beer most commonly consumed out of a can.
The second version is the "Elixir:"
This one's for the "tweaker"--which, as I always understood it, is a person who is addicted to methamphetamine.
At this point you're probably saying, "So what? This is Canada's gratuitous undercarriage coating, the land of the gratuitous undercarriage coating. Sure, it's nearly impossible to screw up a bottle opener, and somehow these people have succeeded, but if some designers want to manufacture a little anodized dingle with a poorly-placed dongle on it then that's their Gid-goven right." Of course, I couldn't agree more--except that's not what's going on here. Actually, the dongle-curators want us to give them $15,000 before they'll make us a poorly-designed bottle opener: Sadly, they're a good $14,000 short, and I'd offer them a bridge loan myself if my money wasn't all tied up in a brake lever-slash-pizza cutter that uses a pinball instead of a circular blade. Still, I'm confident some sort of "angel investor" will step in--perhaps a mystery benefactor who has a vested interest in lots of people riding around on bicycles with sideways bottle openers on them, like an alcoholic recumbent rider:
As you can see from this recumbent rider's-eye view (or, more accurately, recumbent rider's-beard view), a world filled with horizontal seatpost clamp bottle openers would mean that, for the 'bent rider, refreshment would always be just an arm's length away. This in turn would provide yet another source of recumbent rider smugness:
Of course a recumbent commute like this hinges on having access to an uninterrupted and completely car-free bike lane. I'd like to see him try that commute in New York City during rush hour.
Apparently, "First Winter" is sort of a "minimalist hipster survival movie," which I'm guessing will be the next hot new "indie" genre:
*** The Premise:
In December 2012, a massive collapse of infrastructure leaves a group of Brooklyn yogis snowed-in at a country farmhouse without electricity, cell phone reception, or running water. With nothing to rely on but their wits, a couple of old books, and each other, they must survive the first winter off the grid.
*** The structural skeleton of First Winter is the procedural aspects of survival: chopping firewood, melting snow for water, hunting for food, etc; but the movie at core is really a spiritual exploration. As the distractions of modern of life are replaced by the routine simplicity of living off the land, the friends gradually evolve out of their neurotic fixations into a more quiet, contemplative state of being (of course, not all of them make it).
Obviously, this film is a metaphor for the hipster's first year in Williamsburg, the Mission District, or Portland after graduating from Bard, Sarah Lawrence, or Wesleyan, and the journey towards independence and self-sufficiency which they all undertake but ultimately never achieve. Also, there's ironic sledding--during which, I assume, somebody dies:
As for the technique being employed by the filmmakers:
The aesthetic approach is rigorously formalist; mirroring the inner journey of the characters, the film gradually evolves from frenetic jumpy handheld close up camera work at the beginning to slower, wider, more composed shots towards as the film progresses.
In other words, as the filmmakers continue to shoot the film they gradually figure out how their equipment is supposed to work.
In any case, I predict "First Winter" will be a huge success. Not only is this a perfect product placement opportunity for companies like Best Made Co. and Base Camp X, but the filmmakers have already exceeded their financial goals. In fact, they've received nearly enough backing to start their own bottle-opening seatpost clamp business: That's gotta sting the "Swarm" guys.
Lastly, another reader has forwarded me what he claims is the "Greatest Craig's List Post Ever," and while this is debatable there's no doubt it's noteworthy:
This is mankind's crowning technological achievement. If you are not someone who can appreciate a 35 pound steel beach cruiser with carbon tubular race wheels on it, don't waste my time. You are not cool enough to even thinking about riding this bike.
Please note that no brakes are provided. All braking power is derived from the user dragging a foot on the ground, or in an emergency, putting an old Silca frame pump into the spokes of the moving front wheel. Nor are the tubulars glued.
If you play bike polo, leave me alone. This bike shits out bike polo players on the daily.
Here is a list of places to ride this bike to: a liquor store, a riot, a hockey game.
A good bike lasts 3-5 years, EVIL NEVA DIES.
Not bad I guess, but it needs more bottle openers.
Caitlin rides a 1980s Huffy Team America that she found at a garage sale for $10.
When I asked Caitlin what her favorite ride is she said "The Salt Creek bike path, I've been going down it since I could ride, it's surrounded in woods mostly and is very scenic."
I ran into Caitlin after a work photo shoot. When I asked her where she was coming from, she said Westchester. Seriously, she biked down 22nd St. all the way into the city, which got me thinking. I'm sure a lot more people would do that if there were cycle tracks or paths that connect the near suburbs to the city, or different parts of the city for that matter. It seems a bit crazy to some people, but a lot of suburbs are under a 20 mile ride (albeit through some dodgy neighborhoods that aren't expecting a bicycle on the street). With the upcoming election, I've been thinking a lot more about the future of our city, and how our bike infrastructure should develop. I am firmly in the camp that wants cycling to be accessible and safe to all types of riders. I'd love to hear your thoughts on the issue. Also, don't forget to vote on Tuesday!
Chris rides a Surly Long Haul Trucker with waterproof panniers from a small bike shop in Amsterdam
Cycling Tip from Chris: "If you bike anywhere in or near Chicago, you should be a member of the Active Transportation Alliance (link: http://www.activetrans.org/membership). The staff members and volunteers of this non-profit work tirelessly to improve biking, walking, and transit in the Chicago Region. The greater our membership, the louder our voice, and the more resources Active Trans has to get things done. (Full disclosure: I serve on the board of directors)."
Also Follow Chris' advice and: "Get out your vote next Tuesday, February 22 (link: http://www.chicagoelections.com/), for mayoral and aldermanic candidates who appreciate the importance of biking, walking and transit. I'm on the political action committee of Walk Bike Transit. We help foster relationships between constituents and locally elected officials around active transportation issues. Sign up at http://walkbiketransit.org/signup "
It started out a Thursday evening like any other. After concluding some undisclosed business on New York City's Manhattan Island (I won't say I'm not opening a restaurant that serves only locally-grown figs that I will call "FIGment of my Uh-Meh-Gination," but I won't say I am either), I stopped at a downtown haircuttery for a bloodletting and scalp massage. Locking my Scattante to a bike rack inhabited only by a solitary Pista, I entered the establishment, and when I returned to my bike a scant ten minutes later down about a quart or so and feeling delightfully lightheaded I found this:
Yes, my poor Scattante had become the olive loaf in a Crappy Bike Sandwich:
"Drat it!," I exclaimed, for if only the city had let David Byrne install more of his whimsically-shaped bike racks then perhaps this sort of parking crunch might have been averted:
Not only that, but more racks like this would also be a welcome addition for the city's many shoegazers:
(Lonely man staring at shoe.)
By the way, you might not know this, but David Byrne doesn't own a car:
("It's true, I really don't!")
Put that in your shoe and gaze at it.
Anyway, I had quite a conundrum on my hands, for while they hadn't actually locked their bikes to mine they had nevertheless wedged me in there pretty well, and how I would extricate mine was taxing my bloodletting-addled brain:
The main problem was that I couldn't simply roll it forward, since the chain would garrotte the seatpost:
Moreover, there wasn't enough slack in the chain to lift it over the saddle, nor was there enough lateral clearance in the sandwich to sort of "wheelie" my bike out so that the saddle would kind of "limbo" under it. (I might have simply removed my saddle and seatpost, but I have of course duly theft-proofed them by means of a bicycle drivetrain because in New York they'll take the saddle right out from under your ass. I guess in retrospect I could have also lowered the saddle, but even then it might not have cleared, and, again, I was woozy from loss of blood.)
Therefore, I decided, the only solution would be to take both offending bicycles and simply lift them up and over the entire bike rack, like flipping back the cover on a spiral notebook:
Just as I was grabbing both the Huffy beach cruiser and the Schwinn mountain bike in order to hurl them onto the poor unsuspecting Pista, an unkempt fellow with a hand-rolled cigarette in his mouth and a canned iced tea in his hand arrived on the scene. Yes, it was the sandwich artist himself, and he said, "Let me help you with that, man:"
As he unlocked the bikes, he said to me matter-of-factly, "The solution would have been to wheelie yours out," as though he had intentionally left this puzzle for me to solve like a teacher scrawling a math problem on the blackboard and then leaving the room. I explained to him that the wheelie would not have worked and that I was about to fling the bikes over the rack, to which he replied, "Yeah, that would have worked too." I further explained that the ideal solution would have been not to sandwich me like this in the first place, though this made him screw up his face in confusion, presumably because in his mind it would have required him to travel back in time, and if he had that power he probably wouldn't be hanging around here at all, he'd be playing Hacky Sack at a Phish concert somewhere. (This entire thought sequence was practically written on his face.) In any event, the conundrum was solved to everyone's mutual satisfaction, and I set off on my way, once again glad that I didn't own a $4,000 commuting bike.
Thusly liberated, I'm pleased to present you with a quiz. As always, study the item, think, and click on your answer. If you're right rejoice, and if you're wrong you'll see Bicycle Hell.
Thanks very much for reading, ride safe, and may your bike sandwiches be open-faced.
--BSNYC/RTMS
("Oy, such shpilkes...")
1) Why is Steven Spirn "emotionally tense and frightened?"
("A horizontal bottle opener?!? Can I get an a-meh?")
6) The unique "angle of attack" of the Nectar and Elixir seatpost clamp/bottle openers encourage rider sobriety by making you spill half your beer as you open it.
