So bad it’s good… [via The Bike Show]

Utility cycling

A quiet revolution in bicycles: Recapturing a role as utilitarian people-movers (part I) and (part II).

Pimped

• 14 Pimped Bikes. [twitterer]

• FAIYATORIKKUBOBU – Jet Power Bike—makes me wonder why anyone would want to put a jet between their thighs, but each to their own. [thanks tom]

• Shocker a chopper that “rocks and will for sure be an eye-catcher. Pure, simple and plain without much ado.” I kinda like it… [thanks tom]

• Bike/Eat/Sleep Decals—cute idea. [via Nine Mile Skid]

Danger!

The Dangers of Cycling, from The Lancet, 11 July 1896. [PDF]

Perspective

Do not, simply do not talk to me about supposedly “dangerous” or “scofflaw” cyclists while this sort of crap is going on: Dicing with death at dangerous railway level crossings. Watch the video—very scary. Darwin Award nominees abound.

Vocal bike shop

A few things from the bike shop—packed full of wonderfully grumpy quotes, for example:

So you want a bike that you can ride to work, goes really fast, is good for that triathlon you’re doing this summer (snicker), is good on trails and mud, and costs less than $300. Yeah. Listen, I want a car that can go 200 miles an hour, tow a boat, has room for five adults, is easy to parallel park but can carry plywood, gets 60mpg, and only costs $3,000. I also want a unicorn to blow me. What are we even talking about here? Oh yeah. Listen, bikes can be fast, light, cheap and comfortable. Pick two, and we’re all good.

[via About the bike]

Of course, there are always more sides to the story: Not knowing a Schraeder from a Presta shouldn’t make you feel like a bike tool. [via Melbourne Cyclist]

Car as oven

Car-baked chocolate chip cookies—remind me again why cars are so good… [via Lifehacker]

Bike-on-bike action for foldaway perverts

Will Self waxes lyrical on the Brompton bike. Dammit, now I’m lusting for a Brompton (well, even more than I did before…)

Nic says

Nic Dow on episode 42 of the YarraBUG Radio Show—around the 8-minute mark for intelligent comments on planning and implementing bike infrastructure.

Bikes beat golf carts

Zoo ditches golf carts for bicycles:

The idea came when Zoo Director David Tetzlaff brought his bike in to get around a little more quickly. The staff dug it, and before long they had made bicycles available and custom made trailers to haul animal food, supplies and tools around.

More in the Zoo’s press release

[via Mountain Biking]

And their rationale is…?

A county in the USA wants the authority to ban bicycles from its roads. I do not understand why they would want to do this. Even this report in the Columbine Courier doesn’t provide a compelling reason for such action. twitterer

What the…?

Swedish man attacked by tattooed girl gang! [twitterer]

Reflecting on rear view mirrors

Mirrors for bike:

Mirrors never really get pushed for cycling, but, they could be more useful than bell or even helmet. Of course, you could learn the art of looking over your shoulder. But, as I said, even for experienced riders this is not always so easy.

And while we’re on the subject, try the pocket-sized, clip-on, rear-view mirror [twitterer]

Third and final warning

Hal grades your bike locking 3: The final warning!

Just let it slide

When it comes to aggro on the road, it’s probably best to let it slide. Note the video linked at the end: True Confession: Bike Rage.

Will need a lot of bikes

Hybrid Squared: Ingenious energy-generating bike rental system:

Designer Chiyu Chen has conceived of an ingenious transit system that encourages the use of sustainable transportation by crediting people for renting and riding bicycles. His Hybrid2 system consists of a fleet of rentable bicycles that are capable of generating and storing kinetic energy, which is then used to power the city’s hybrid electric buses. Simply rent a bike, charge it up with kinetic energy from pedal power, and then return it to a kiosk – the station feeds energy into the city’s smart grid, and you receive a credit towards your next bus pass!

See also Chiyu Chen‘s video demonstration of Hybrid2.

Editorial comment from tom: “it will never work”.

You can diagnose a stroke

Three simple tests anyone can administer can help diagnose the occurrence of a stroke. Important note: these signs are sufficient but not necessary—someone can still be having a stroke even if they pass these three simple tests.

For the detail-oriented, here’s an article on Stroke at MedicineNet.com.

Tour de France

• Bicycle Radio collect some TdF highlights from Phil and Paul [MP3]. [via Audax-Oz and A Woman and a Fixed Wheel]

• Twitter takes the Tour de France on new course.

Grinding gears

The nerds’ nerds at The Age Education supplement reckon the TdF is “the ideal time to discuss gear ratios”. Simple article and I think I get it but I’m still not ready for Sheldon Brown’s Gain Ratio. I’ve promised myself that one day I’ll understand it.

Put down that phone

Drivers and legislators dismiss cellphone risks

Pump up that phone

Five iPhone apps that replace bike hardware

Now they’re thinking

Billed as “the thinking cyclist’s ACE”, the Semaine Fédérale program is offering a two-day variation on Audax Australia’s new 250km Alpine Classic Extreme: the Alpine Raid. That’s 111km Bright to Omeo via Mt Hotham on the first day, then 139km Omeo to Bright via Falls Creek on the second.

Art lane

Bike Lane Impressionist Art:

how can you satisfy your cravings for impressionist art? The answer . . . is probably right beneath your bike’s wheels, in the shape of the amazing variety of impressionist drawings of bikes that councils all over the world use to mark bike lanes.

Slow bikes win

Fixed-gear rider or granny-bike dawdler: who will win the race?.

On the other hand, there’s nothing wrong with using the daily commute as training.

Blog

More blogs with irresitible names:

• Girls gone riding

• Candy Cranks—chicks that spin around the globe

• Nine Mile Skid