13 posts tagged “bicycle”

Drew this:

Read this:

The Big Ride by Charles Bukowski

all right,
some day you'll see me in a plastic
helmet, long stockings,
double-lens goggles;
I'll be tooling along on my 10-
speed bike on the promenade,
my face will be as intense
as a canteloupe and
in my knapsack
there could be a
bible, along with the
liverwurst sandwich and
the red red
apple.

off to one side the
sea will break and
break
and I will
pump along-a
well-lived
man,
lived a little, per
haps, beyond his
sensibilities: too
much hair in the
ears, and face
badly shaven;
there, my lips
never again to
kiss a
virgin; I gulp in
the salty air
while being
unsure of the
time
but almost sure
of the place.

all right, gliding
along
girding up for the
casket,
the sun like a
yellow glove to
grab me
I pass a group of
young ones
sitting in their
convertible.

"Jesus Christ," I hear
a voice, "do you
know who that
was?"

was?
was?

why, you little
fart bells!
you bits of
bunny droppings!

I kick it
into high, I
rise over a
hill
into a patch
of fog,
my legs
pump and
the
sea
breaks.

Fourth anniversary of this goofy little bike race we run around an abandoned factory here in Madison. 24MOTAB goes for 24 minutes on the last Sunday of the month at 8pm.

Jonnymac makes amazing trophies.
I have yet to take home such coveted prize(s) and nevertheless continue the pursuit.

The event is regularly posted at Kitten Factory

Jonny post great pix at Flickr.

Last nights event was cold and sparse, still looks like I had fun

RMOTAB

morning commute, originally uploaded by moophisto.

From the NYT 10.10.2008

Come January, bike commuters will receive a monthly credit of up to $20 that can be spent on maintaining, repairing or buying bicycles.

Employers, many of whom have long provided tax-free parking and transit benefits, will establish how they administer the cycling tax credit, Ms. Graves said. Employers will be able to deduct the credit from their corporate taxes.

“The idea was to level the playing field for cyclists,” she said.

Think UW-Madison is going to participate?

The sponsor of this particular credit, Democratic Representative Earl Blumenauer of Portland, voted against the "Bail-out" bill.

CuriousGeorgeSm

Wall Street Bailout Bill gains 448 pages, passes Senate AND includes “Transportation Fringe Benefit For Bicycle Commuters.”

Read about it here.

`(I) regularly uses the bicycle for a substantial portion of the travel between the employee’s residence and place of employment,

Yesterday was World Car Free Day. Did I make it? NO! I had to haul a bands worth of gear and PA equipment... wanted to take the bike trailer, but that would have taken all day.

This weekend the Ironman comes to Madison. I'm not talking about this Ironman

I'm talking about those crazy triathletes with no body fat and funny plastic race outfits. Usually this means meandering skinny masses around the square and a lot of bike nerds rolling by the house with $5000 carbon bikes that have handlebars with deer antlers attached and helmets that look like sideways teardrops. Been raining here this week tho... those bikes must melt in water because there are no racers in the hood... I know some nuts that will be out there. Polly says to show up at the finish line around midnight to cheer her through. Damn! No and NO! What makes a person want to do this swimbikerun race?

BTW, my legs feel like lead today. Somedays I feel fast like a rocket in the morning. Not today! Even my short climbs turned to mountain stages. Glad it's friday! Gotta taper my workout.  

Been pushing inert matter like a pro lately, which is fine because I'm moving, but ouch! Sometimes my drive for drive free transport is foolish. There is no reason to transport a queen sized futon frame with a two wheeler. Yet I plunder on.Transferred all my cds in one bike load yesterday and then went back for kitchen stuff.

Problem is, my back hurts

I think maybe it's more about the messenger bag and drop bars on my commute though...

Love the convenience and mobility, but what's a couple of minutes compared to a healthy body? Time to roll the cruiser with a basket maybe.

Two sure indicators of the upper midwest's impending Fall.

1. Ugg boots on a coed
   
2. Leather clad punkers
   

24Motab last night. Best Motab EVER!

24motab_062908

JonnyMac has more great photos here. Look funny to you? Hell yeah! Because everyone is doing the bug dance. The mosquitos were feasting. The place just reeks of manure! Worst Motab EVER!

So we are racing in circles around the abandoned factory, that we pretty much are the only ones that ever use the place, and things are getting kinda silly. I found a 20 x 10' frame of chainlink fence and set that up as a barricade and then I was installing a water hazard and a voice from above yells "Hey kid! What are you doing?" First off, I haven't been called a kid in 4ever and yes, it's a compliment because despite my grey hair and achy knees, I still feel like a kid. Secondly, I'm totally busted f*ckin around so, I just play it cool and say I'm getting a drink of water and he says "what are you guys doing riding around in circles?" and I say yes, sir, we are indeed "riding around in circles." I know we only have ten minutes more racing, figure if he calls the cops they won't show before we scramble. He says "the cops patrol here a lot" and to be honest I'm not too worried as we've done this for years and when I've seen cops there while walking my dogs they have cared not a bit what went on back there. Pretty stupid really. The place is a dump! Why anyone would object to this positive use of this negative space is beyond me.

Megan wins the trophy so, once again I am denied what is undeniably mine. That DFL prize should be mine to rock too, but you can't win and lose, or maybe you can because we all won and most of us lost too!

On the ride home I saw some rabbits humping and ate enough bugs to loose my vegetarian status.

Question occurred: What's the most one can spend on a bicycle?

Folks make do with what they got. Sure can't fault ingenuity!

What is reasonable in our consumer rich bigger-better-faster society? Is it a tool or a toy, or a work of art?

Josh Hadar's rides go for up to $35k. What kind of kryptonite lock do you use on that when you zip (plod) to the coffee shop for an Amerikano?

Apparently the Lance Armstrong Foundation sold a gold plated, diamond studded ride in 2005 for $75,000. The bike commemorates Armstrong's seven Tour de France wins. The bike was a joint effort between Trek Bikes, Nike, jeweler Alan Friedman and artist Lenny Futura. Bet it was butt-freakin-ugly! Speaking of Lance and the TdF, I guess the Trek he rode for the victory lap on win 7 auctioned for $35k.

American Manufacturing made (and lost) a beryllium frame set. The pricetag: $23,000. Ouch!

Velo News recently covered the above 7 pound ride. Wheels alone cost $15,000!

Get your carbon 2008 Alpha Romeo Competizione for $8large on Ebay now! Z's in the name cost a thou. Italian, add another. From a car manufacturer, push another three zeros on the calculator.

How bout this $13,000 POS? I'd rather walk thanks!

The Guiness Book of World Records lists a Stif "Flipper" from the UK as the most expensive retail mountain bike. Costs $12,025.00. The Flipper weighs 20 lbs., and is designed for off-road racing circuits. Thing better fly up the climbs for that price.

I have friends that think it's criminal to pay more than $100 for a bike. I think you get more trouble than the Huffy is worth. And sure the vintage Black Shadow is the shit, but will it make daily driver status? Cool=fool!

Robin loves his cycles for sure, but they are tools in his house. Most I ever paid was $1100 for my Voodoo and I still race it. My $20 Craiglist cruiser is one of my favorite and most used bikes.

Just make sure it doesn't end up like this