Bikes Belong
Bikes Belong’s mission is to put more people on bikes more often.
and this is good too.
People for Bikes
Peopleforbikes.org is dedicated to channeling that passion to improve the future of bicycling. Our goal is to gather a million names of support, to speak with one, powerful voice—to make bicycling safer, more convenient and appealing for everyone.
Art by Beto Janz
From SLOG (The Stranger- Seattle) The bold is theirs btw:
Fuck You, Bike to Work Day People!
I bike to work every day. Sure, I do it because it’s my only source of exercise but mostly because we only have one car and my husband works in the south end. So we’re doing our part to be green and shit, right? Right. So on Bike to Work Day, I stop at the Dexter and Fremont ‘Commute Stop’ to share in the love with my fellow brethren and pick up my swag. But what do I get when I go up to the booth? Nothing. Not a glance. And you want to know why? I’m gonna tell you why. Because I don’t look like I’ve been dipped head-to-toe in Spandex. Because I’m not wearing bike shorts with a pillow strapped to my ass. My commute is 2.4 MILES and I refuse to dress up like radioactive Playmobile doll for 15 minutes. I can bike up Dexter in my Capri pants and ballet flats just as good as the rest of you motherfuckers. So you know what, Bike to Work People? You can keep your fucking socks and plastic bottles and annoying blinking lights. You can admire my ass in my NON-PADDED jeans when I pass your fat one going up Dexter, my Pashmina scarf flying in your face.
The comments are off the hook hilarious!
Lovely Susan B. Anthony (1896) quote from the San Francisco Chronicle’s sfgate.com
“I think [the bicycle] has done more to emancipate women than anything else in the world. It gives a woman a feeling of freedom and self-reliance. The moment she takes her seat she knows she can’t get into harm unless she gets off her bicycle, and away she goes, the picture of free, untrammeled womanhood.”
Madison Bike to Work Week starts June 6th with Ride the Drive 2010 v. 2.0, Some very cool art and music opportunities associated. See their FB event site with one of my photos (*uncreditted* errrhem!) for details.
Key events worth noting:
Thursday, June 10th, 7 – 9 a.m.
Planet Bike’s Bacon on the Bike Path
Join us for famous and free Nueske’s bacon, coffee, bakery & bike repair. Capital City Trail at Broom St.
Thursday, June 10th, 5 – 9 p.m.
Bike Night at Monty’s Blue Plate Diner
Half the parking lot will be transformed into bicycling paradise with free bike checkups by Revolution Cycles, and free tastings from Just Coffee Cooperative and Sassy Cow Creamery. Monty’s will grill burgers and veggie burgers in the lot. 2089 Atwood Avenue.
Friday, June 11th, 4:30 p.m.
Bike-In Party
Join the Bike Fed and Planet Bike in celebrating the end of Bike to Work Week at Tenney Park.
And speaking of bike mechanics, don’t trust yours! Recently published Bike Teching shenanigans make me nervous!
PLEASE NOTE: the above list continually refers to “friend.” None of these tech tips are ever applied to enemies. But I did hear a story once of a bike mechanic that stuffed some tourer asshat’s seat post with rotten cottage cheese and sent them on their merry way. Work2Bike indeed! BWAAA!
On a brighter note, my bike touring last weekend stumbled upon some fabulous Wisconsin roadside architecture in Black River. James Tellen Woodland Sculpture Garden is a Kohler Foundation preservation, a true gem. Find it on purpose, it is worth the effort. Bike wandering is the best! (Whoah! Kohler needs a new photographer. hint!)
I love this husband and wife scene with the drunk, dropped six pack and snigger!
Now, step away from the computer, and go for a bike ride!
Scrapertown from California is a place. on Vimeo.
KA-BOOM!BOX will be recreating the entire first act of HAIR on Saturday at Mickey’s
On a more serious note:
Record Store Day is fast approaching! WOOHOO! MadCity has some amazing exclusive coming! My list:
TV on the Radio, Phoenix, LCD Sound System, Gorillaz, Fela, Charlotte Gainsburg w/ Beck, the Beastie Boys- Vinyl ONLY Bitches!
Madison Ride the Drive 2010 dates are official! June 6th and August 29th. WOOHOO!
The Men’s Hockey Badgers are in the NCAA Frozen Four! WOOHOO! They square off against the Rochester Institute of Technology(?) Tigers on Thursday.
Sighted last night
Oregon Congressman Earl Blumenauer offers this.
As the temperature and gas prices continue to rise, more and more Americans are becoming Bike-Curious. So we’re here to try and help answer some questions and make it easier for you to get on a bike. Or, if you’ve already know you’re a bike fanatic, we want you to share your stories and pictures from the road.
GoogleMaps now supports cycling routes! Interesting article from the Seattle Times on the development here.
It is not perfect. Definitely be proactive. Click “report a problem” when potholes appear.
Madison announces Ride the Drive, Sunday, June 6th! Volunteer if you like to contribute to the effort.
Nice I started and ended with a question!
Photo by Trent Mitchell
Got damn! 96 Russian porn spams today! A tidal wave of smutty pixels!
Dreamt the other night that I was surfing with my D300… no I didn’t have a waterproof housing! I am just that good. Except, no I’m not, and the camera got doused with sea water. Spent the rest of the rem cycle tossing and turning as I tried to dry out my camera. Rice is the secret ingredient.
I gotz no cool surfing photos to share then… Loves me some Lucia tho
And while were on the subject of surfing, this graphic artist type is the shit!
Tom Veiga is profiled HERE. “God was very inspired when created and designed the sea waves”
BOOM! Returning to our frigid nordic clime:
The previously mentioned print HERE sold out at Art Pedaler. Been a few requests for additional prints. Hit me back if you wants. $10
And finally, I posted my New York City&Brooklyn pix
Keith Haring, still alive and well in NYC!
Love art? Love bikes? Roll on over to Revolution Cycles, 2330 Atwood, Madison on 12/12 for the ART PEDALER show.
This show of “art celebrating the bicycle” will be on display for ONE NIGHT ONLY. Prints, photos, sculpture, paintings, jewelry, and accessories from more than 20 different local artists will be available for the art-lovin’, bike-lovin’ masses. All art will be priced to move at $25 and under!
Among the participating artists are ~ Jordan Anderson, Mary Coats, Dee Czarniecki, Robin Davies, Ben Fellenz, Meg Fransee, Drew Garza, Craig Grabhorn, Erin Haasch, Eric Hagstrom, Sam Isham-Schopf, John Keyes, Annie Kubena, Jesse Lalonde, Dorla Mayer, Colm McCarthy, John Miller, Chris Norris, Kristin Girvin Redman, Angela Richardson, Maria Russell, Leah Stargardter, and GP Watson.
A portion of proceeds from the ART PEDALER show will be donated in support of MESS HALL PRESS, Goodman Community Center’s screen printing program for teens.
All attendees also are invited and encouraged to bring non-perishable food items for donation to the GOODMAN COMMUNITY CENTER FOOD PANTRY.
DJ MoPetto will spin tunes. BYOB. Tell everyone you know to come on out to ART PEDALER.
SHOW YOUR BIKE LOVE! BUY SOME ART!
photo by Peter DiAntoni at Flickr
“10-9″ is radio code and means “Say again” or “What?”
Messenger Appreciation Day 10/9
Let’s congratulate all bike couriers on the benefits they bring to our cities:
Art by Max Papeschi
Bike lawyer, former Madisonian and roadracing superstar Bob Mionski has an excellent piece on the Toronto cyclist vs. motorist saga.
When Worlds Collide chronicles the events that left one cyclist dead and one politician struggling for his career.
The night of August 31, Darcy Allan Sheppard was on his bike on Bloor Street, riding home from his fiancee’s apartment. It was 9:45 p.m. As he approached a traffic light, he passed to the left of a Saab convertible that we now know was Michael Bryant’s. After passing Bryant, who was stopped at the light, Sheppard cut in front of his car and also came to a stop. Shortly thereafter, as the light turned green, Bryant drove forward, perhaps bumping Sheppard’s wheel. Sheppard turned his head back, in Bryant’s direction. Witnesses reported that when the light turned green, there was a toot of the horn from Bryant, and a shout to “get moving,” followed—perhaps—by a return shout from Sheppard. Then, incredibly, Bryant hit the gas, pushing Sheppard forward into the intersection, knocking him off his bike. As Sheppard struggled to get to his feet, Bryant backed up, stopped, turned his wheel and began to drive past Sheppard as he sped away.
Sheppard gave chase, grabbing onto Bryant’s car as it sped by. Witnesses reported hearing shouting, and noted that Bryant was “very, very angry.” They also reported that as Bryant sped down the street with Sheppard clinging to his car, he was driving on the wrong side of the street, at about 60 miles per hour, driving up onto the sidewalk, driving against the trees and posts and newspaper boxes lining the street in what they reported appeared to be an attempt to brush Sheppard off his car. Down the street 100 yards, Sheppard was slammed into a mail collection box, and crumpled into a heap in the street as Bryant’s rear wheels ran over him. Witnesses reported that Sheppard, who lay in the street bleeding heavily from his nose and mouth, attempted to get up, but was advised to remain still until an ambulance arrived. Bryant continued driving down the street to the end of the block, before turning in to the driveway of a luxury hotel, where he finally stopped his car.
This is not spin. It is not supposition. It is not rumor. It is fact. We know this, because remarkably, the incident was captured on security cameras, which corroborated the eyewitness accounts . Anonymous spin doctors can suggest news leads and story angles to divert media and public attention, and anonymous internet comments can invent fantasy versions of what actually happened, but the camera doesn’t lie.
And the camera shows that on the night of August 31, Michael Bryant used his car to ram Darcy Sheppard out of his way, before fleeing the scene as Sheppard gave chase on foot. Moments later, Darcy Allan Sheppard lay dying on a Toronto street as Michael Bryant sped away.
The Toronto Star has additional details. HonestEdits has been instrumental in sharing video footage.
Push comes to shove, and the cyclist is dead!