Adventures with the Foreign Auntie
November 17th, 2006
EastSouthWestNorth: A Foreign Lady in Beijing
From all over the biking blogs, a Western woman in Beijing blocks a car from driving into the bike lane and stands her ground. As someone said on some bike blog, the best example of corking ever.
New ‘bent
July 23rd, 2006
I recently got interested in recumbents. My wife happened upon a Cannondale Bent in mint condition at the local thrift shop. It was selling for 399, which is 1200 less than it’d cost new. So we bought it. I rode it a bit, and was amazed at how good it felt. Only thing was I discovered that it was the smaller size frame. So I sold it, and bought a used Burley Jett Creek off eBay. I’ve been taking short rides around the neighborhood to get used to it. But it’s really really comfortable, and I think I may be hooked. But hill climbing is going to take some work and some serious spinning. I am not nearly as souplesse as I should be.
Technorati Tags: cycling, ‘bents, recumbents
Training ride to work.
October 9th, 2005
Gas Math: Subtract 2 Wheels - New York Times:
In sprawling cities like Los Angeles and Houston, the great distance between home and office makes bicycling almost impossible. In New York City cyclists who do not fear being flattened by taxis must be fortunate enough to work in a building that provides bicycle storage.
Well, not if they use one of those neato folding bikes you were all het up about a couple weeks ago.
The article makes commuting out to be much more difficult than it actually is. If you’ve got to put on all that junk the cyclists in the photos are wearing, of course you’re going to think twice about riding to work. The article talks about the “multigeared, comfy-seated” bikes “typically associated” with commuting and then what do they show? The usual racer types, dressed in lycra, riding “fitness” bikes with no room for carrying bags or fenders for when it rains. As long as we keep promoting that as cycling, nobody is going to start commuting to work. Also you have to love this:
And in a country that worships horsepower even the most ardent bicycle commuters face an uphill battle pursuing a mode of transportation traditionally associated with college professors or factory workers in Beijing.
You forgot “latte-sippers.”