unintendedly ironic quote of the day.

So, a few days ago, myself and sundry and diverse others from the BBK went to a meeting about the Rouse improvement project. Basically they (the DOT) are going to widen the road and the Bicycle Advisory Board was concerned that cyclists are represented in any traffic planning that goes on. It quickly became apparent to all of us that cyclists weren't going to be left out of the conversation, so I just sat back and listened. About half an hour into the meeting they had a question period. A young woman in the crowd raised her hand about midway through and the moderator handed her a microphone. She begins by stating that she's resident along Rouse Ave, and that the road in front of her residence will lose it's on-street parking should the plan go through. She then asks what contingencies are being offered to ameliorate this unfortunate turn of events. The presenter hims and haws a bit about some off-site parking area, but basically he's not sure, because clearly there's no immediately obvious solution to this 'problem'. At this point the young woman becomes quite agitated and starts to get a little aggressive in her 'query', at one point stating "...well obviously I have two cars and I blah blah blah. At that point Sam and I turned to each other and both said to each other, a little derisively, "OBVIOUSLY!"

I've got a solution for your problem lady. Sell your cars. Bikes take up way less space.

All the way across the pond?

I was surfin on my lunchbreak and I ran across these little beauties. I thought to myself 'hey, those are cool, I'd like to have a pair for the Xtracycle.' Then I noticed the pound sterling icon next to the suspiciously low price...

:(

Much like my new spats, which I had to wait until after spring was over to get, and the rain cape I am still waiting on, I prolly going to have to jump through unimaginable hoops to get myself a pair of kick-ass blinky pedals. Why does all the good schitt come from the UK? Well, probably because here in Uhmerica, we don't believe that one should get anywhere in any way that doesn't involve internal combustion, and the Brits are a little more progressive about transportation.

The rats have taken over the ship

DNA may have started the revolution, but it's bigger than one person now. Keep an eye on The Fix for details.

C-Note

mmm...fixie

I'm going to try riding on of my fixies today. I've gotten back about 75-80% range of motion with my left arm. I might regret this, but it's been raining in the afternoons and, at the moment, this is the only bike I've got with a set of fenders.

Besides, it's beautiful, who wouldn't want to ride that bike?

Update: OK, so I ended up not riding the fixie. There was a minor mechanical issue and I decided that was a sign that I was pushing things. I did ride to campus (mostly) two-handed...ish. It's the small victories sometimes.

Score!

So, I was 'helping' a buddy move tonight, in quotes cuz I've only got about one and a half good hands right now. When I asked him what to do with the wok, he replies 'I don't know, do you want it? Oh and here's the steamer as well.' I hadn't really expected to be hauling anything tonight, however, I was quite fortunately on the Xtracycle.



So, I now have another worthwhile tool to add to my kitchen.

Two things I suggest you don't try to suffer through life without, really good friends, and a load-hauling bike.

Obey!

I'm watching tv on a Saturday morning (sue me, I'm hurt) and there was just a credit card commercial on. As images of sexy electronics flash across the screen, the monologue states 'we are a nation of consumers, and that's ok...' In the midst of a financially untenable situation, owing in large part to conspicuous overuse of credit, we are being told to just continue spending money. It's not just a credit card company, our government is urging us to spend money rampantly as well. After 9/11 Dub said go to the mall, and a year ago when this talk of recession started up we get a promise of 600 dollars and the admonition to spend it as soon as possible.

We live in a country of such wasteful excess that the mainstream answer to our financial problems is to spend our way out of it. Aside from the patent absurdity of this concept, it is also frightening. What Discover card doesn't seem to realize is that if this credit fueled tailspin doesn't end soon, they're going down with the financial ship. Our entire financial system is built on credit, and we have credit card companies trying to convince addicts to just take one more taste of the junk. A credit card company feeling that they have to lobby Americans to spend money means we're really in trouble.

I realize that the concept of conserving has gained a modicum of traction recently. Four dollar gas even has Americans riding bikes more, but in a country where less than one percent of people choose to ride a bicycle instead of drive a car every day, I'd say there's some room to grow. It's heartening that large bicycle corporations are starting to see commuting as a viable market, but this is still just a reflection of our addiction to buying shit. Our entire concept of this identity as 'consumers' has to change. This is far beyond mere capitalism.

I heart Xtracycle

I'd'a driven my car today, I had a legitimate reason, my roommate even gave me shit for trying to get a wheel into a bike with only one working hand. Putting my left shoe on was also kind of a chore, just the left one though.

But having a bike that would carry a load allowed me to keep the load off of my body. So, while it took a while to get to campus, I got there with nary an issue. Maybe I should change the subtitle of this blog to 'Angry Musings of an Xtracycle Fanboy' hmm...