SUBSCRIBE TO THE I.C. RSS 2.0 FEED.     CONTACT THE INDUSTRIALIZED CYCLIST: ROBERT AT INDUSTRIALIZEDCYCLIST DOT COM. CHECK OUT SOME VIGOROUSLY UTILIZED TOOLS-OF-THE-TRADE IN THIS  PHOTO SPREAD OF DENVER MESSENGER BIKES. WE GOTS INFORMATIONS: BICYCLING STUDIES, SURVEYS, AND STATISTICS ON THE I.C. RESEARCH PAGE. MORE THAN YOU EVER WANTED TO KNOW, AND LESS. NEW: THE NHTSA PEDESTRIAN CRASH REPORT 1996-2006 (pdf) NEW! THE I.C. ENERGY PAGE. SOOTHE YOUR SAVAGE ENNUI WITH NUMBERS! INTERIM REPORT ON OIL FROM THE INTERAGENCY TASK FORCE ON COMMODITIES MARKETS (pdf) MY 2007 WEBLOG ENTRIES ON FALCON.COM HERE. MOOSE, MOUNTAINS, MUNIS AND MORE.

Hello out there. Sorry for the hiatus, I've been working hard on a new book and it's left little time for my various leisure activities. This new book (to be published by Falcon in the spring) will be a sort of Bicycle Manifesto, a spirited celebration of the machine in these "interesting times." It will make the case for the bike as a (partial) solution to our daunting inter-locking challenges in transportation, health care and environment. To do so it will have to blast away at several deeply held misconceptions and cultural afflictions, which is always fun. It will be a Big Picture sort of book, taking in the long view of history and the unfolding oil dilemma. The goal is to info-tain while reintroducing the bicycle to the American public. I think of it as an intervention for a country off the deep end. I don't believe the title has been finalized. I'll let you know. I'm going to be pretty tied up for the next month or so but I'll try to step in here for a smarmy comment from time to time. Thanks for reading. In other news, nobody sent me any good road bullet stories. But I was reminded by an old ex-messenger friend from way back of the time he shot one right into a bystander's neck. The guy was startled but not badly hurt. Good times. In other other news, no, the bomb scare involving the courier box had nothing to do with me. The city has gone into deftard 1 leading up to the convention, and in the aftermath of the Cyanide Guy. Federales strapping crazy-looking surveillance equipment on light poles. Nineteenth and Larimer -- what the hell is that thing? Word is that nobody will be admitted to downtown buildings next week unless they're on The List. Are you on The List? Random unidentified boxes will be surrounded by large numbers of local and federal law enforcement and private Wackenhut security guards, and will not be allowed to escape. In still other news, I just saw some of the BMX supercross qualifying heats at the O'swimpics. A refreshing change from the usual fare, much of which, let's face it, is not designed to please your average sports fan. In prime time, they are going after viewers who would normally be watching Angsty Housewives or that show with the sweaty butcher on Univision. So we get a lot of gymnastics in the summer and figure skating in the winter. To take nothing away from the athleticism involved, which is amazing, these are sports with young girls in heavy makeup who perform weirdly for panels of stern judges. It's like one of those kiddie beauty pageants on steroids. And synchronized diving? I prefer my sports less creepy. Sports like bike racing where the judge is the finish line. As usual, most of the rest of the public does not agree. Anyway, make no mistake, those BMXers are great cyclists. These are some of the most powerful pedalers and smoothest bike handlers in the world. That kind of power translates very well into other disciplines, for instance sprinting on the road. Just ask McEwen. I'm going to be dreaming about riding that track tonight.

 

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Once every few thousand miles while out riding my road bike I'll run over a small rock in the street in such a way that the weight of the vehicle with me on it sends said rock shooting out laterally with a great deal of speed and force, perhaps enough force to shatter glass or dent a body panel, judging by the loud reports of the projectiles impacting violently against curbs, buildings, newspaper boxes. I've often shuddered at the thought of accidentally pinging one of these road bullets off someone's face or noggin, or hitting them in the eye. It's unlikely, but certainly possible. Browsing through issues of the Boulder Daily Camera from 1896 I found this report that made my heart sink. Chicago, June 27. -- Earnest, the three year old son of Mrs. Schlickweis, living four miles from Hinsdale, met his death today in a very peculiar manner. With his mother the boy was out walking when the mother missed him and in going back found him lying dead on the path. A jagged stone lying near explained matters. A wheelman passing at full speed passed over a stone which was thrown by the bicycle tire with such force that when the boy was struck on the head death was instant. The wheelman, knowing nothing of the affair, passed on and has not been identified. (Boulder Daily Camera, June 27, 1896. Note the incident occurred in Illinois.) Could this be a true story? Has anybody heard of or caused injuries of any kind to bystanders due to road bullets? In any case, rest in peace, little Ernie. Tell me your road bullet stories. Robert at industrializedcyclist dot com.

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Craig commented: The Know Your Surfaces quiz was decidedly unhelpful. No thank you very much. Sure Craig. I'm sure Ralph Macchio had similar words for Mr. Miyagi early in their collaboration. But then, much later, Mr. Miyagi's great wisdom was finally revealed and Macchio was all 'How can I repay you Master. Grovel grovel ...' And Miyagi's all 'leave me in peace with my banzai trees you ungrateful snot.' Click here for the ANSWERS to the Know Your Surfaces quiz. Craig just be glad I didn't hit you with the Name That Scat game. Keep an eye out for that one in coming months.

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Match the photos above with the best choice from the different surfaces listed below. Some photos may be described by two or more on the list but there will be only one best match for each. 1. PCC 2. Hotel sidewalk 3. Plate 4. Patch 5. Light rail 6. Crosswalk 7. Asphalt cement concrete 8. Joint 9. Map crazing 10. Plaza 11. Grate 12. Alley ANSWERS

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I'll go ahead and nominate this one. Like many young men of Denver, Louis Riethmann loves to ride bikes. When his cousin came to town from Indianapolis, Louis took him out daily on long rides in the country to enjoy the Colorado springtime. He found that his cousin was a pretty fast rider on his borrowed machine, and Louis was often straining to keep up. One day, coming back from a ride, the two were approaching a train crossing, and of course there was a train approaching. Cousin is up the road and makes the crossing easily. Louis is lagging but decides to go for it, even though his cousin is stopped on the other side of the tracks waving him off like a third base coach. As many of you know, when riding a fixed wheel bike without handbrakes as Louis was that day, such a commitment is more, how you say, serious than it would be on a freewheel bike with handbrakes. Here's what happened next ... ... read more ...

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		Reid photos.

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'Dirtrider' wondered: "Where are y'all riding in those pictures that looks like some kind of post-apocalyptic warzone or third level of Hell?" That's the Burn Area, as we call it, in the Pike National Forest, caused by one of three huge wildland fire events that ravaged the forest in the past ten years or so. The Buffalo Creek Fire I believe was started by a group of Boy Scouts failing to extinguish their campfire in the late '90s. Dousing a campfire with finality is trickier than many people realize. Far from hellish, the Burn Area is green and peaceful, blooming with wildflowers and wild trails. ... read more ...

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No, the voice of experience doesn't always tell us what we want to hear. The ones who have been there and done that come back and say it's not all biscuits and sweet-smelling lotions up there. Today the P-I C gets serious: ... read more ...

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NOTE: The following is a guest message from someone snappily named the Post-Industrialized Cyclist. I asked the P-I C to give all the new commuters out there -- and I think there are a lot more of you this year -- some good tips, because I'm not really tuned in to the commuter lifestyle, and the P-I C is the most experienced and dedicated commuter I've ever known. And now is the time when all the commuters come out with their dusty bicycles and fill up the bike racks. So listen good, new commuters. This is part one of two. Today, route-finding. ... read more ...

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The "Tom" Eck remedy for keeping the chain free from grit and dirt throughout the season is very simple. His idea, and he always uses it with Johnson's wheels, is to make [sic] the chain from the wheel and give it a good scrubbing with benzine or some similar fluid. After the chain has been dried thoroughly, it is inserted in boiling tallow and allowed to remain several minutes, when it is taken and dropped heavily on the floor to cleanse it. ... ... read more ...

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David from Pennsylvania, where the American oil boom started about 150 years ago, commented: "I think people are just very confused when they see that demand within the United States is actually down, but the price of gasoline continues to rise. It looks like price fixing." Compared to the various Senators and CNBC anchors who have been dominating the discussion of the energy issue since the price of oil started to climb like Danielson, I start to sound like somebody who might actually know something about oil. That's sad. Tons of bad information out there. Lots of wild fantasies. People being gullible as can be. Professional spinners going like tops, trying to capitalize on that gullibility. Of course such a PR blitz is to be expected as there is so much at stake, and oil companies have an unlimited supply of cash with which to buy spinning tops. ... read more ...

 

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In response to CROOKED TALK ON ENERGY Theresa R. asked: "Isn't it obvious that pumping more of our own oil and thus producing more supply will bring down the price of oil?" Theresa, thanks for reading. You are one of my six loyal readers. The answer to your question is: No. There are some obvious things here but that is not one of them. Developing new fields in the US -- anywhere -- will exert downward pressure on the price of oil and gasoline. But increasing domestic production has virtually no chance of actually causing the price of oil to drop, because the effect of domestic drilling will be small in comparison to the mountain of factors that are causing the price to rise.. ... read more ...

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Photos by R. Hurst, C. Hurst, R. Reid

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Typical mountain bikes these days have morphed into something very different than what most folks rode 15 years ago. Now they're built primarily for going fast downhill, and jumping off of things. That's great fun -- highly evolved for some applications -- but these bikes don't do their riders many favors when pointed uphill or when carving smooth flat turns. Since my favorite trail rides contain quite a bit of that, my favorite bike is built to capitalize on it: a lightweight steel bike with no suspension other than a pair of fat tires, a noticeably supple steel fork, and a couple knee and elbow joints. Maximized for climbing and twisting on Pikes Peak granite singletrack. ... read more ...

 

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Out on a mountain bike ride, my friend and I were just commenting on the fact that we'd seen just about every type of animal there is to see in Colorado, including moose, which don't even belong here in a strict ecological sense (they were introduced)[1], but neither of us had ever laid eyes on a puma, even though their 'sign' was all over the place. Just then we looked down and, right on cue, noticed a deer arm next to the road. ... read more ...

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A lot of interesting things come wafting in through the open window here at I.C. headquarters. Among them, the sound of trains bashing together and blowing their tremendous air horns in the yard just a mile or so away. In the age of steam locomotives a conductor could apply some personal style to those whistle blasts. Woot wooo-ee-ooot! Operators of modern locomotives have a button on a console. They're limited to long horn blasts or short. With variations on this theme today's conductors communicate in surprisingly nuanced signals broadcast at hellacious volume -- government researchers found locomotive horns are louder inside the homes in the vicinity of the train yards than within the sound-proofed cabs of the locomotives themselves. Two long horn blasts in a row -- so common it must be some kind of acknowledgment, not unlike the courier's ten-four. Two longs, a short, and a long: approaching an intersection. A series of short sharp ones. You hear this occasionally, some kind of warning, trouble. Hobos on the track. But that's not what I came here to talk about tonight. I'm here to talk about something else that has been known to barge through the window here, the noxious cloud from Denver's Suncor oil refinery. ... read more ...

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