My Saturday Night Was More Fun Than Yours

I attended my first Roller Derby bout on Saturday night. The Music City All Stars gave a thrilling come from behind performance to beat the Carolina Rollergirls All Stars 143 to 112. Oh yeah, we rode there and back on bikes through Tennessee Titans football traffic. It was a good Saturday night. Here are pictures from the bout.





















If you didn't notice, I love rear-curtain sync.

Another bummer, man.

Another bike hit-and-run in Seattle. Link

I hate this article but I do like the last paragraph. In case you don't read the full article, here is the good part:

Full disclosure: I ride a bike and drive a car. And as both a cyclist and a driver, I have been irritated by the behavior of the other on many occasions. Sometimes bicyclists are dicks. Sometimes drivers are dicks. But cyclists who are dicks rarely kill motorists.

I'd like to post more but I am preoccupied trying to rid my computer of a nasty virus without reinstalling Windows. Bah!

Rider down

http://shoreline.patch.com/articles/shoreline-cyclist-gifted-photographer-killed-in-hit-and-run-accident-in-seattle

Not sure what to say about this. After such a nice commute today, so sorry to hear this tragic news. Ride safe and educate non-riders.

Ride your bike

It's Bike Friday. I didn't post one last week so I have to post tonight. Not much to report though. I had a good commute today. 30 miles and not one rude driver. No honks, no really close calls, no reason to give anyone the middle finger salute. Was I riding in Nashville or Portland. It was about 96 degrees for the ride home so maybe people were taking pity on me. Or maybe its getting better...

Anyway, here's some content stolen from another blog, Surley's to be precise. Written by Skip Bernet. I think these should be posted in every bike shop everywhere.

Some answers to just about any bike forum post I’ve ever read

If you think your bike looks good, it does.

If you like the way your bike rides, it’s an awesome bike.

You don’t need to spend a million dollars to have a great bike, but if you do spend a million dollars and know what you want you’ll probably also have a great bike.

Yes, you can tour on your bike – whatever it is.

Yes, you can race on your bike – whatever it is.

Yes, you can commute on your bike – whatever it is.

26” wheels or 29” or 650b or 700c or 24” or 20” or whatever – yes, that wheel size is rad and you’ll probably get where you’re going.

Disc brakes, cantis, v-brakes, and road calipers all do a great job of stopping a bike when they’re working and adjusted.

No paint job makes everyone happy.

Yes, you can put a rack on that. Get some p-clamps if there are no mounts.

Steel is a great material for making bike frames - so is aluminum, carbon fiber, and titanium.

You can have your saddle at whatever angle makes you happy.

Your handlebars can be lower than your saddle, even with your saddle, or higher than your saddle. Whichever way you like it is right.

Being shuttled up a downhill run does not make you a weak person, nor does choosing not to fly off of a 10 foot drop.

Bike frames made overseas can be super cool. Bike frames made in the USA can be super cool.

Hey, tattooed and pierced long shorts wearin flat brim hat red bull drinkin white Oakley sportin rad person on your full suspension big hit bike – nice work out there.

Hey, little round glasses pocket protector collared shirt skid lid rear view mirror sandal wearing schwalbe marathon running pletscher two-leg kickstand tourist – good job.

Hey, shaved leg skinny as hell super duper tan line hear rate monitor checking power tap train in the basement all winter super loud lycra kit million dollar wheels racer – keep it up.

The more you ride your bike, the less your ass will hurt.

The following short answers are good answers, but not the only ones for the question asked – 29”, Brooks, lugged, disc brake, steel, Campagnolo, helmet, custom, Rohloff, NJS, carbon, 31.8, clipless, porteur.

No bike does everything perfectly. In fact, no bike does anything until someone gets on it to ride.

Sometimes, recumbent bikes are ok.

Your bikeshop is not trying to screw you. They’re trying to stay open.

Buying things off of the internet is great, except when it sucks.

Some people know more about bikes than you do. Other people know less.

Maybe the person you waved at while you were out riding didn’t see you wave at them.

It sucks to be harassed by assholes in cars while you’re on a bike. It also sucks to drive behind assholes on bikes.

Did you build that yourself? Awesome. Did you buy that? Cool.

Wheelies are the best trick ever invented. That’s just a fact.

Which is better, riding long miles, or hanging out under a bridge doing tricks? Yes.

Yes, you can break your collar bone riding a bike like that.

Stopping at stop signs is probably a good idea.

Driving with your bikes on top of your car to get to a dirt trail isn’t ideal, but for most people it’s necessary.

If your bike has couplers, or if you have a spendy bike case, or if you pay a shop to pack your bike, or if you have a folding bike, shipping a bike is still a pain in the ass for everyone involved.

That dent in your frame is probably ok, but maybe it’s not. You should get it looked at.

Touch up paint always looks like shit. Often it looks worse than the scratch.

A pristine bike free of dirt, scratches, and wear marks makes me sort of sad.

A bike that’s been chained to the same tree for three years caked with rust and missing parts makes me sad too.

Bikes purchased at Wal-mart, Target, Costco, or K-mart are generally not the best bang for your buck.

Toe overlap is not the end of the world, unless you crash and die – then it is.

Sometimes parts break. Sometimes you crash. Sometimes it’s your fault.

Yes, you can buy a bike without riding it first. It would be nice to ride it first, but it’s not a deal breaker not to.

Ownership of a truing stand does not a wheel builder make.

32 spokes, 48 spokes, 24 spokes, three spokes? Sure.

Single speed bikes are rad. Bikes with derailleurs and cassettes are sexy. Belt drive internal gear bikes work great too.

Columbus, TruTemper, Reynolds, Ishiwata, or no brand? I’d ride it.

Tubeless tires are pretty cool. So are tubes.

The moral of RAGBRAI is that families and drunken boobs can have fun on the same route, just maybe at different times of day.

Riding by yourself kicks ass. You might also try riding with a group.

Really fast people are frustrating, but they make you faster. When you get faster, you might frustrate someone else.

Stopping can be as much fun as riding.

Lots of people worked their asses off to build whatever you’re riding on. You should thank them.

Tour de Fat

Here are some pictures from Saturday, July 9. Tour de Fat from New Belgium Brewing was in town and it was quite an event. 600 cyclist showed up to ride in a 4 mile parade through the area around Centennial Park in Nashville. Costumes were encouraged but those in street clothes or full race kits were not turned away. The festivities afterwards were attended by many and it was the first time beer has been allowed in the park. I must confess that it is not the first time I have had a beer or two in the park while on bicycle however. I hope you enjoy the photos.

It wouldn't be Tennessee without some Civil War reenactors.

And Princess Leia made it.


Mucca Pazza started off the parade and played at the end of the event.


Valet bike parking by Ride for Reading


Looking through a giant kaleidoscope.


This was a giant corral with lots of crazy bikes that many different people had built. I rode about five of them and did not find an easy one in the bunch. My favorite was the yellow one in the front of this picture with car tires. It would make a great snow bike though it was heav-e! I also roade a bike with six spokes coming out of each hub and attached to these spokes was a shoe. That bike would have been really fun had it not been way too small for me.


This bike was cool because you had to bee on the rear wheels to get it going then you had to shift your weight forward to use the front wheel to steer.


Hey taxi driver!


Eric's new single-speed.


Hit up this event if it comes near you and you like bikes and or beer.

Bike vs. Jet

I can't wait to see how this turns out. My money is on the bikes. http://www.bikecommutenews.com

Inspirations

So I like to say that I have had a camera in my hand since I could walk. That's not much of an exaggeration. A little maybe, but not much. I have also been a wilderness advocate for most of my life. My parents tell me that I saw a bear in the Smokies when I was 6 months old.

I first discovered Galen Rowell from magazines when I was in high school. This was way before the internet. His mountain landscapes captured in such vivid colors just pulled me in to whatever landscape he was shooting. What was that film? Usually Fuji Velvia or Provia, there's still some in my fridge. What was his camera? A Nikon f4, I have one. The flat Mississippi River farmlands of West Tennessee were so far removed from the exotic places like Nepal or even the Sierra Nevada. When I was in college I bought a book called Mountain Light. It was a softcover book of beautiful mountain photos from Rowell and he wrote a page or two about each one. In his narrative he not only described technical aspects of making the image, he also delved a bit into his thoughts on the subjects he photographed. He was an amazing climber. He holds the first one day ascent of both Denali and Kilimanjaro. He was born the same year as my father, 1940, and he died in 2002 in a small plane accident in California. His wife and the pilot were also killed. If you want to know more about him, I'll let you do your own research. I've opened the first door for you. Its worth looking up but here are some of my favorite photos of his. All of them are lesser quality than the prints. He shot film for print, he did not shoot for your monitor. He would have if he were still shooting but he left us too early.