Cleverchimp -- Good Stuff.

This is one of many super cool bikes on the Cleverchimp Flikr site from a trip to Holland. I am such a sucker for curvy cantilevered frames.

As I click through these wonderful load-hauling bikes I am inspired to think there is a society in the world today that spends so much money and thought on designing and manufacturing bikes that are optimized for load hauling and people carrying.


Aside from the obvious load-carrying capacity, there are lots of reasons these bikes rule. These bikes really can replace a car. They have integrated lights, fenders, simple lock. Many have covered passenger areas where kids can sit, strapped into the front where the view is the best.

Aside from well-baked-into-the-culture bike infrastructure of Holland, the flatness makes riding these big ass bikes accessible to most who live there.

However, even with a low-geared internal 8 speed hub or a super-fly Rohloff, pushing such a bike loaded with a couple kids and groceries up the south hill of Spokane would be a chore.
The folks at Cleverchimp, have developed a rechargeable pedal-assist motor specifically for load-hauling bikes. It's called the Stokemonkey and could be the answer to getting rid of at least one of your cars. In addition, Cleverchimp has started importing these wonderful load haulers, called bakfiets.

There's no doubt that these will be expensive packages. They are well-designed products from a country where likely all of the folks involved in the production of the bike are making a living wage and full benefits provided in large part by the payroll taxes they generate. So, you're paying much closer to the true cost, which is rare in the bike world. My guess, with a Stokemonkey and a decked-out Holland load-carrying beauty, you'll be in the $4-5k range.

But that's money well-spent in my book.

Here's a great photo and ride if you're in Seattle tomorrow and happen to have your cargo bike.

Follow the Rules

That is a picture of 4 cars: a cop car, a subaru, a white car, and a white minivan.

In the cop car, the cop is writing a ticket for the guy driving the subaru. The guy driving the subaru slammed into the woman in the white car. The woman in the white car decided -- like so many Spokanites do on a daily basis -- to make up her own rules for the road. Unfortunately for the subaru driver, the law that says: "don't follow too close" pretty much trumps all others. So even though the white car lady was making up her own rules and in my mind is the real perp here, the subaru guy gets the ticket.

The white minivan doesn't have a role in the story.

The white-car-lady's crime? Stopping in the middle of an arterial for a cyclist, who does not have (or want) the right of way to cross the arterial. Anyone who rides a bike for transportation knows this scenario and it drives them crazy. I've written about it here before. It happens to me daily. If I'm with Maddie on the tandem, I can guarantee it will happen.

Traffic rules in America are actually pretty simple and are certainly well-understood by most. When people make ad hoc, spontaneous changes to those rules, bad things happen.

On a brighter note. Can the Fuji Turd get any better?

Now that's a basket.

I rode the Turd up Monroe street last night from down town. I didn't know I could go that slow and still stay up. What a slog. Now I'm holding out for a 3-speed fixed hub for this sucker. That's a long shot unless the rumors about Sunrace doing another production run of the ultra-rare Sturmey-Archer ACS 3-spd fixed model are true.

Drunkards on Bikes

Not that I condone such behavior, but I've tried to convince friends, bartenders, family and others that riding a bike drunk in Washington does not carry a penalty and that the police can offer you a ride, but you can refuse it.

People typically don't believe me.

Someone did the work on another bike list and found the RCW:

RCW 46.61.790
Intoxicated bicyclists.
(1) A law enforcement officer may offer to transport a bicycle rider who appears to be under the influence of alcohol or any drug and who is walking or moving along or within the right of way of a public roadway, unless the bicycle rider is to be taken into protective custody under RCW 70.96A.120. The law enforcement officer offering to transport an intoxicated bicycle rider under this section shall:

(a) Transport the intoxicated bicycle rider to a safe place; or

(b) Release the intoxicated bicycle rider to a competent person.

(2) The law enforcement officer shall not provide the assistance offered if the bicycle rider refuses to accept it. No suit or action may be commenced or prosecuted against the law enforcement officer, law enforcement agency, the state of Washington, or any political subdivision of the state for any act resulting from the refusal of the bicycle rider to accept this assistance.

(3) The law enforcement officer may impound the bicycle operated by an intoxicated bicycle rider if the officer determines that impoundment is necessary to reduce a threat to public safety, and there are no reasonable alternatives to impoundment. The bicyclist will be given a written notice of when and where the impounded bicycle may be reclaimed. The bicycle may be reclaimed by the bicycle rider when the bicycle rider no longer appears to be intoxicated, or by an individual who can establish ownership of the bicycle. The bicycle must be returned without payment of a fee. If the bicycle is not reclaimed within thirty days, it will be subject to sale or disposal consistent with agency procedures.

So there's that. I guess the logic is that you're not such a treat to public safety. You may kill yourself, but a guy on a bike is not likely going to kill a bunch of people by plowing through a crowded market or something.

I'm no lawyer, but once again, if you're looking for yet another reason to travel by bike on Friday night, perhaps this is it.

Tomorrow is Thursday. Summer Ride at 6:30.

395 Again

First things first. My buddy that got hit is OK. He was very lucky. His story is here.

I rode to Colville on Friday. I went on 395. I've done this ride many times now. After the first time, I said I'd never ride it again. It's loud. It's dirty. It's busy. It's generally not a nice ride. But one set of Maddie's grandparents live up on the Kettle River, so I find my self riding 395 a few times a year. I've gone on about this on my website before.

Anyway. The ride up to Colville on Friday was wonderful. There wasn't nearly as much traffic as usual.

If you look at the pictures here, there are two things to notice.

One is obvious: both are down hill shots. In fact, the majority of the ride to Colville is down hill. There a few little rollers, but generally, it's down hill. So if you're looking to do a nice day ride and feel really good about yourself and your time, check out the Spokane to Colville run on 395.

The second bit is not as obvious unless you ride this route a bit. The shoulders are spotless. You could eat off them. They were just cleaned.

So that made a big difference. They are usually filled with gobs of crap and crud.

Maybe I'll ride it again next time we visit up there. 395 is also a good arterial to a lot of great potential S24O areas. I'm going to stop saying that I'll never ride it again.

Freaky Stuff

I came in from play this evening with an IM flashing on my screen from a good friend of mine in Seattle:

"just got hit by a car"

That's it.

He's not answering his cell phone. But he's not a big cell phone answerer. I'm sure he's fine, but I wish I knew for sure.

My neighbor apparently busted his nose on a bicycle fall tonight too. He was noodling around the trails down on the bluff. Sounds like he went over his bars, was knocked cold for a bit and woke up with a busted nose. Egad.

Some 7 year old kid in Spokane is in "serious but stable condition" today after he got hit by an SUV yesterday as he rode his bike. All we know is that "he rode his bike between two parked cars and an SUV hit him." Yeah. kids will do that. Kinda hard to see those little dudes when your way up there in your 2-ton SUV, but whatever. Damn kids.

What's going on here?

Here's some mundane, non-freaky stuff:

The stop lights downtown are totally screwed from the freeway work. The usually wonderful glide into downtown via Bernard/Grove/Washington is totally broken up and lame now. The lights on 3rd, 2nd, and Sprague are optimized for east/west traffic. Bring a book if you are going to attempt to cross those arterials. The lights take a long long time to change.

If you were able to make it through this epic post, then it may interest you to know that that chunky sound I heard in Ryan's hub was his broken axle. Liza discovered that one. We started to salvage and build up another rear wheel out of an old 6 speed wheel from an ancient mountain bike. We were in the process of waiting for some bolts when I spied an old 24"-wheeled Specialized Rockhopper at a garage sale. I got it for $12. Problem solved. I feel sort of vindicated.

There was an article in the Spokesman Review (no link -- they make you sign up) about the BAB Commuter Route Project. I picked up three more commuters today. I'll follow them in the next couple weeks.

I hope my buddy is ok.

Front Rack

Home jobber front rack. Looks to be made partly from a lawn chair. I think those are mountain bars. It was pretty sturdy looking in person. It's better to push a load than pull it they say.

1st S24O o' '07

I took my fist S24O of the year last night. It was a resounding success in so many ways. Not much time to go on and on, so here's a list of the essentials:

• Hennessy Hammocks rule. My buddy Alex let me borrow his and I'm pretty much sold. There's some fuss factor in setting it up, but I think it's the kind of thing that becomes easier the more you do it. Why do they rule? A) Comfort comfort. Man alive. I slept the whole night, which never happens when I camp. That alone is the seller for me. B) Do not require flat, smooth spot, just a couple of trees. Trees are a dime a dozen around here, so are rocky, hard basalt surfaces. This makes stealth camping much easier. You don't need a "spot." You need a couple trees. C) Small and light. Fits in the bottom of my small pannier easily.


• RB-T was actually sold as a touring bike? Oh my god. I put a tiny load on the back of this thing and the front-end wobbled all over the road. No way for no hands on this. And don't think it's good for front loads. It's got the "dead zone" trail of about 55mm. I've tried it. As a tough go-fast, get around town, hit the occasional trial and maybe carry a small saddlebag bike: I've not ridden a better bike --but for even lightly loaded touring. Forget it.


• Once again, I have to say, Spokane is a flipping righteous place to ride. I rode through farm land, cool rock formations, many miles of dirt road through the reservation, up and down the zillion hills along the river, saw 3 dams, lots of deer... camped all alone in a perfect perfect amazing wonderful spot on the river. I love it.