Ding ding

[via A view from the cycle path]

Good analysis

After what must've been several happy hours of twiddling with a spreadsheet, Surly Dave concludes:

In the end, there is no real answer. Five years after getting back on the bike I'm fitter, happier, healthier and more handsome - all things numbers can't measure. The moral of the story is as always: ride for fun. They haven't yet made a cycle computer that can measure that.

Regardless of what the numbers are, that sounds like the correct answer to me.

Curl up with a good book

"Burn calories, not gas" is the subtitle for a forthcoming book [Bike to k][] by Tim Grahl and Carlton Reid.

Looks like being released in its entirety soon but you can [download a w][] at issuu.com.

Mark your territory

The contrail is a device that delivers a dusting of chalk to your bike tyre, which is then delivered to the road as a continuous line showing where you've been.

Contrail is a tool for developing bicyle communities. As you ride, contrail leaves a fanit chalk line behind your bike. The goal is to encourge a new cycle of biking participation by allowing the biking community to leave a unique mark on the road and to reclaim this crucial shared space.

Looks like it's in the concept stage at the moment, but I reckon something like that is certain to catch on. I want one!

[via Bike Hacks]

ubicycle concept

Voted in the top 50 in the Greener Gadgets competition, ubicycle:

The goal of Ubicycle, a public bicycle service, is to encourage people to use bicycles as an alternative way to commute. The bicycle system itself is comprised of three primary components: solar powered racking stations, smart-card readers, and the bikes themselves. Ideally positioned in residential neighborhoods, near schools, by mass-transit, and in dense urban areas, Ubicycle would encourage commuters to embrace human-powered transportation as an alternative to driving.

[twitterer]

CAVE dwellers

I'm really enjoying Karl's blog. Of note is the recent entry, [Are A Cave Man?][]

Back on the bike and grumpy

After a break from regular riding, it can be [hard to get back into the t][]:

It's as if during those weeks of fits and starts…my lazy evil twin moved in. She waddled in armed with Girl Scout cookies and boxed wine, sacked out in my brain (wearing stretch pants, of course), and infected me with her torpor. Since then, she's ignoring all eviction notices, and this is becoming problematic.

Shit for brains

I can't fathom the level of stupidity that would drive someone to throw anything, let alone a full bottle of beer, at another person from a moving vehicle. From the Geelong Advertiser:

Police believe a beer stubbie was full when it was thrown from a passing car and smashed into the face of cycling Swiss tourist Thomas.

The weight of the fluid added to the shattering impact as it broke his eye socket, nose, a tooth and prescription sunglasses and sent him flying from his bike.

Quite simply, the poor guy could have been killed. The braindead dickheads responsible probably thought it was hilarious.

Exit cop

Punchin' Patrick Pogan is no longer on the beat in New York City. Pugilistic Pogan was the cop who shoulder-charged a cyclist on a Critical Mass ride then picked him up off the ground and charged him with attempted assault, resisting arrest and disorderly conduct. Anyway, the force is no longer with ex-Officer Pogan. What a surprise.

But was he fired as the New York Times reported or did he resign "in lieu of being fired"? And isn't that basically the same thing?

DIY hackery

Some of the "usual suspects" (e.g. the treadmill bike) turn up in Wired's list of The Craziest Home Made Bike Mods.

This guy has improved his bike visibility. Full points for ingenuity but I'm with Bike Hacks' Matt when he asks "how does this whole get up do in the rain?" Oh yeah, and it's a really dumb idea to put red lights on the front of your bike, dude. But I love the way it flashes.

Bike gadgetry

iPhone as a bicycle computer [twitterer]

Mobile mechanic

I've just been handed a flyer for Velo Cycles [mobile bicycle c][] service:

Our mobile mechanic visits your office and services employee's bicycles while they are at work.

Bicycles are serviced on-site and finished by 5pm – ready to be ridden home.

(This is more maintenance and repair than roadside assistance like that provided by the RACV.) Oh yeah, and the mechanic rides to your place on a cargo bike.

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