Can you identify these two dudes?

Tri-guy

From a guy named Todd. Via DB.

From: Todd
Date: December 14, 2009 4:25:37 PM PST
To: David Blaine
Subject: google street view


Pretending you know every bicyclist in town,
I'm sending you this link to see if you can identify the guy here

And then there's this guy behind him

I'm sure they're your friends so I just had to alert you.

-Todd



Mountain bike guy

I don't know these guys, but I've figured out the story.

My story is that the guy on the mountain bike just proposed to the tri-guy's daughter, and the tri-guy is taking the mountain bike guy out for a beating.

Do you know these guys? Or can you come up with a better story for the ride they took on the day they were immortalized forever on Google Street View?

Weds night bike nerd hang at South Perry Pizza. Tonight. 5:30.

Looking for input

1991 Bridgestone RB-T. My favorite. Not the best-made bike
in the history of the world, but there's a lot of soul there.

A week or so ago, I posted about how Elephant Cycles is now certified for S&S retrofits, aka "coupling" a bike. I'm definitely going to couple one of my bikes and I've been about 90% certain that the bike on operating table will be my soulful RB-T. It's a great bike. I can ride road or trails on it. It has that "magic" some call planing (some pontificating on that idea here).

Anyway, there was a time when I was really hip to the idea of coupling my already hacked RB-1. On paper, it's a much more versatile bike, which makes sense for a bike you'll be traveling with. And it takes my favorite tire of all time, the Grand Bois Hetre. But I'll be a monkey's uncle if I can do a ride longer than 80 or so miles on it without feeling weird. I don't get pains, but it's just not comfortable the way my blue RB-T is, or my 747 is. But really: I just can't feel the magic on the RB-1. It doesn't feel like my black RB-T does when I climb or push out of the saddle. So, I took it off the list of S&S consideration a while ago.

1993 Bridgestone RB-1 with hacked canti brakes and 650b fatties

But then I got to thinking: most of my travel riding will not be epic long rides. They'll likely top out at around 50 miles. And they will more than likely include dirt and harsh roads, because that's the stuff I'm drawn to. So maybe the RB-1 is the bike to couple.

My other bikes are off the list for various reasons: fixed gear, Rawland, blue RB-T, 747. Mostly they're off because they're too single purpose, or in the case of the blue RB-T because it's too fussy to pack with fenders and rack and all. Same with the 747: fenders and single purpose -- I have vowed not to do hard trail riding on it.

So, you can help. Got an opinion? Let me know. Which bike do you think should be chopped in half and made into a traveler: The Black Soulful RB-T that is just SO easy to ride, or the Cushy Fast Hacked RB-1?

Moving P2P

The Armada -- Rear: John, Ryan, John, Pat, Ben, Taylor, Joe, Travis, Billl, Drew. Middle: Justin. Front: JT, Wes, Beth, Mike, Liza. Where's Nate?

There's more info on the P2P happenings on the Pedals2People blog. We moved the shelving out last week. Today we moved all the stuff down to the new space. We got an armada of help. The plan was to meet at the garage at 1PM. I was thinking it would take three hours or so. As it turns out, the garage was empty in an hour! Crazy.


There's Gnate.
The shop is coming together and it's pretty exciting. We need to get the stuff all organized. And we need to figure out the hours. The thinking now is that we'll attempt 3 days a week --four hours or so a day. If things roll well, then we should be able to add a day or two in the spring. Freaky stuff.

Joe and his big load o wheels

Here's my first post on P2P from May of 2007.

Justin sweeping out the empty garage


Maddie's custom double-cup-drinking-straw. Made with custom drawn seamless triple butted straws.

Like a wolf on a fold, again

Dang it got cold quickly. Dig my mailman. The high today will be about 13 F. He's wearing shorts. It's dudes like this that make me love Spokane.

The pond at Manito is frozen solid. And with no snow, it seems we would be missing an opportunity if we didn't do some studded tire testing.

I remember watching ancient instructional movies in highschool about how to drive on ice. (For the younger readers: there was a time when you singed up to take Drivers Ed like you sign up to take PE -- you learned to drive at school!). They showed a guy driving on a frozen lake somewhere. He was driving in a convertible and the camera man was behind him, so you watched the driver work the steering wheel as he discussed his form.

Anway, if you have studded tires mounted on your bike and you've not tried them out yet, go hit one of the local ponds to get the feel for fast cornering on ice.

It's official: South Perry Pizza Bike Nerd Hang. Tomorrow at 5:30.

We now have our very own S&S'er

This just in. It's a happy day for cyclists in sunny Spokane. Mr Glen Copus has been certified as an S&S reseller and installer. This means you can bring him your favorite steel bike, he'll hack it in half, and install these nifty little couplers that will allow you to pack your bike in a suitcase. The idea is that the suitcase is small enough so that airlines can't charge you outrageous cash to fly your bike in a giant box.

More info on the S&S site.

I've been hemmin and hawin for a few years on coupling a bike. I had one for a while but never flew with it. The fact that we're going to Alaska for a week next year and Glen is certified justifies me hacking one of my old chestnuts and making it a traveler.

Speaking of Glen. Dig the gate he built for us in our new Pedals2People space.



If you are thinking of a custom bike, especially a fancy fixed or a CX bike, get in his queue. He's a great builder and a great guy to work with.

Finally: Next bike hang is likely at the new pizza place on Perry and 10th. If you know this place is open and will be open next Weds at 5:30, please leave a comment and we'll do it.

Some Boring Government Stuff About How SRTC Tries To Improve Bicycling In Our Area

My name is Staci Lehman. I’m the Public Education/Information Coordinator for Spokane Regional Transportation Council (SRTC). Chances are you haven’t even heard of SRTC. We're the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) for Spokane County. MPOs are a transportation policy-making organization made up of representatives from local government and transportation authorities (STA in this case).

If you’ve never heard of us you're probably wondering what do we do for you? A lot of stuff, but John asked me to limit my posts to items of interest to the bicycling community, so that’s going to save you at least a couple paragraphs worth of reading.

As far as bicycling, SRTC tries to get more bike facilities constructed, and existing ones improved. We do this through distribution of federal money and through local programs, and promoting coordination through the agencies we work with such as the City of Spokane, Spokane Valley, Spokane County, WSDOT, etc.

Each year, we get allotments of federal funding to distribute. When that happens, we put out a call for projects. We then evaluate the submitted projects submitted and use a ranking system to determine which will receive funding. Projects that include bike lanes, sidewalks, pathways, etc. receive more points in the ranking process. We also put out calls for projects specifically for ones that help reduce carbon emissions and provide air quality. Projects that include bike lanes or construct bike trails qualify for these funds as the intent is to get people out of cars and onto bikes. When ‘stimulus’ money was available this past year, SRTC helped secure enough to complete phase 2 of the Fish Lake Trail. And we were one of the driving forces behind the ‘SmartRoutes’ movement to double the non-motorized transportation budget to $9 billion in the next federal transportation budget.

Okay, that one didn’t go anywhere, but that’s because we’re waiting to see what happens with the reauthorization of SAFETEA-LU (Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Act- A Legacy for Users), the bill that governs federal surface transportation spending. So where does that stand? I’ll have to tell you next time. I’m already WAY over the space that John allotted me, and this is not nearly as exciting of content as he'd like to see. I felt it was necessary though to lay the groundwork of who SRTC is and how we help the average person. So, if John actually lets me blog again, I’ll provide an update of the reauthorization bill and what we’re expecting that to mean for you. I'll even try to throw in some pictures.

Hint: It's the first word in the Boy Scout law (no, not brave or clean)

I had an epiphany the other day about cycling—while I was driving.

Maybe because I don’t drive very often any more, choosing to take Spokane Transit to work if it’s too snowy for my skinny road tires, I’m more conscious of the actual act of driving.

Or maybe I’m more conscious thanks to cycling itself. Behind the wheel I’m far more aware than I used to be, back when I drove-drove-drove everywhere, that there might be a cyclist about to come around the corner, or a pedestrian stepping into the crosswalk at the intersection of two one-way streets where most drivers will look only for other vehicles, not for walkers and pedalers.

At any rate, my aha moment was this: Roads require an enormous amount of trust.

Think about every four-way uncontrolled stop in the city. You trust that everyone remembers to yield to the guy on the right, and that they’re actually looking and able to see you there.

Think about every signal, for that matter. You trust that you can proceed into the intersection when the light turns green, because those other people will pay attention to the red light and stop. (There’s no trust involved in yellow lights, though, because in Spokane those mean “accelerate through the intersection!”).

On our bikes, we have to trust that drivers won’t swerve too close and catch us with a sideview mirror, or open a door just as we pass. (Well actually, as the Russian proverb has it, trust-but-verify—stay alert out there!)

When we walk, we have to trust that drivers and cyclists will observe pedestrian right-of-way laws.

When this trust is violated, we feel outrage, as drivers, as cyclists, as pedestrians.

Are you trustworthy?