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national bicycle month was insanely great. thanks for everyone who participated. however, that was just the beginning. as gas prices rocket, the bicycle revolution will be in full revolution. if you have an event to add or simply just want to go on a bicycle ride, drop a line or for upcoming events visit here: http://upcoming.yahoo.com/group/3849/ (the link at the top of the main page titled, "Add Event(s)")
Was going to wait till critical mass to post this, but I am sucker for wanting to share.
I will bring the skins (animal covers) to Mass. If you want to try one out, bring a helmet. I am going to go to D.I. and buy some helmets so I can shape the animal heads easier..
If you too want to be silly on your own animal accord, you can usually get large stuffed animals at D.I. for $2-$4.
Calling all stations!
It's true! someone stole the beloved tri-chariot from the Boing! House today. If you haven't met this unique machine before, its name is Harriet, it's red, and it's the most awesomist freak bike around. Here's a picture of it:
If you see people on it, it's not theirs! so knock them off and return it to the Boing! house:
5th east, 608 south.
Oh dear.
Here is the first three paragraphs of a 13 page paper I wrote for my Sustainable Energy course at the University of Utah this last spring. Below these paragraphs is the link to the .doc Word file available for download, view or save. Enjoy!
Cheap, Clean, and Green
As a global citizen, car ownership is one of the most resourcefully irresponsible and socially divisive means by which one can accommodate daily needs. Licensed or not, our love affair with the car is a marriage in many senses. Cars give us mobility, comfort, speed, and convenience; they mirror our status, and provide at least a small glimpse of privacy in an increasingly crowded world. But the price we pay is too high.
Car crashes are the top killers of children in the United States and account for a total of 1.3 million deaths worldwide every year. Problems have continually emerge since the introduction of the horseless carriage - from immense health care and maintenance costs to societal isolation and finite resource depletion. Is it any wonder why our dependency, even our addiction, is still so strong? At some point in the last 100 years, the love affair with the automobile has become a dysfunctional relationship. Cities are no longer centered on human life and natural movement, but parking spaces, garages, maintenance and repair shops, high-speed thoroughfares, expressways, and gas stations. In a world where one-sixth of all people in industrialized countries are employed by or bolster the automobile industry, is there any escape from the trappings of our modern car-obsessed culture?
Needless to say, automobiles contribute countless detriments to international populations from sprawl to the division of socioeconomic classes, but the following dissertation seeks to focus on the most efficient alternative means of transportation all ready to take the place of the heading-out-the-door automobile: the bicycle.
Read the rest here!
And in .pdf form here
I have been out in the night trying to assemble the pieces to create the next tall bike. I brought my trusty magnet to look specifically for steel material... and ended up with an exercising machine. However, after looking it over, I believe it could convert into pretty rad tall bike. I still don't know what everything takes to make a tall bike, but I imagine something could be worked out.... It is a huffy, but it is light, and some holes will need to be drilled, but it would be an insanely great accomplishment if I made a bike out of an exercise bike with the help of my friends.
Hello fellow cyclists and writers, bloggers and others!!
I've written a few medium-length essays for school this last year, and I was wondering if anyone was interested in reading them and if anyone had any suggestions as to where/when/how much of them I should post. Should we do them in installments or link them or what? Let me know if you are interested! Thanks. Topics include: fixed gear bicycles, bicycle-centered new urbanism planning, and the rise of the bicycle following the decline of the automobile age.
Thanks for reading!
Being unofficially non-profit, SaltCycle doesn't look good with advertisements. So when Web Messages started plastering ads onto its chat, I searched for a solution, found one and now will share it:
(1.) Download and install firefox.
(2.) Download and install adblock.
(3.) Visit www.saltcycle.com.
(4.) Right-click(win)/Control-click(mac) the text ad and choose "Adblock iFrame":
Simply refresh the page until it works.
When this message occurs, refresh the box itself by clicking the green arrows. The number is how often it refreshes in seconds. Click it to change that value.
This ride was a bit different from the normal, well as normal as in loud, in that it provided a chance for reflection and a hope that we somehow reached out to those that have been killed while bicycling.
The video I made tells the rest of the story for the ride:
related past postings on this topic:
http://www.saltcycle.com/2007/11/ghost-bike-my-bike.html
Last weekend a group of us went to the Mayor's Bike Bonanza down at the G center and look who we be-friended:
In case you live under a rock, the guy in the white button-down shirt is Ralph Becker- the cycling friendly mayor of Salt Lake City. How cool is he?!
And the girl giving him knucks is me. (Now you know the two most important people in the city.. haha jk... kinda)
One of the best things about living in SLC is the cycling community. Sure we whine and cry about random bad roads or motorists giving us a hard time but, this weekend, we really got a chance to feel the love. Thanks to the Mayor and the event downtown we got a chance to get together and celebrate the lifestyle we all love.
Thanks Salt Lake,
Chelsea Babbish
yes, yes, another tall bike post. for all you mech-heads, i revamped my TALL bike and gave it a temp paint job(a sloppy one). you'll be able to see what components i changed.
if you can't tell:handle bars, break lever, crank, grips, chain, and chain ring.
A recent paper published in the Journal of Science just proves what we already knew: men with bigger trucks have smaller penises. Concluding a four year study into the matter, a team of University of Utah researchers found overwhelming evidence to support the notion that penis size is conversely related to vehicle size.
“I wish this state had more bike commuters.”
Bethany Hall, Salt Lake City Resident
I came across this free BikeCAD applet a few months ago, and it allows you to do everything from head and seat tube angles to racks, fenders, pursuit bars, and anything else you can imagine. Check it out! It's more addicting than Facebook, Myspace, AND SaltCycle.com.
http://www.bikeforest.com/CAD/bcad.html
i took to long to post the video and the picture i have of my new TALL bike. most of you have already seen it and or road it. so for the rest of you, here it is.
At some point was decided to go bomb down the UofU golf course on our mini children sized bikes. Anxious and excited we decided that the place was right and the time was now as we stood on a long downward hill on top of the course.
We pushed off and I was gaining speed when I realized a big huge dip errupted upward at the same time I saw Chetti fly over himself followed by myself and somewhere in the mess EBot met a similar fate. We were all laughing and happy at making complete asses of ourselves.
The toll was two pedals, one each from two separate bikes, and a few sores, including Mark's angry ankle of angst.
Overall, it ended well and we went out for pizza afterwards talking about that event and realizing all too soon how insane ubomb truly is.
as i have been gone for two ubombs,
and as last week was mothers day and few showed,
a ubomb revival tonight.
http://upcoming.yahoo.com/event/316404/
(((all photography by zoe)))
So in LA, where 500 people will Spontaneously show up to midnight mass it was only a matter of time until somebody to raised the bar. They did what anyone would do. They massed the freeway. In LA. Without clearing the road.
It was during rush hour traffic, so the bikes were moving much faster than cars. As with everything, a huge discussion of rabid wordslinging has ensued all over the internets. This is by far my favorite comment from The Bryant Park Project blog:
Alas, the last safe haven of thy motored beasts hath been conquered. The freeway, the last mental sanctuary for those refusing to admit their mistake in purchasing an unnecessarily large combustion engine-powered vehicle has been violated. I can only imagine how such a bold stunt could shatter Angelenos' faith in the automobile. Will thy cyclists turn this shenanigan into a staple event? Only time will tell.
posted by Mihai
Wow. Crazy. Boo. Yeah. Nothing is cooler than this though: 
here's another youtube video with more tallbike action
here's the group that did it
The majority of steel frames are brazed. There are two types of brazing. Fillet brazing welds tubes directly to each other by creating a buildup of the brazing metal at the joint between tubes. It is lighter than lugs, however it is not as strong. Tubes fitted to lugs must be mitered carefully to ensure a proper fit. Silver brazing allows a tighter fit and lower brazing temperature, which requires more control of the flame but lessens the risk of deforming the tubing from overheating. Bronze brazing is more common and less expensive. If a frame is well made, the metal used will not significantly affect the bike's strength or performance.
In the early days of lugs, they were sand cast. This method created bulkier lugs that required a lot of finishing work to get to the right size and to clean up. These early lugs were little more than pipe fittings, with square ends. Although they were adequate for early bikes, the evolution of steel tubing led to lighter, thinner tubes. Suddenly these new bikes built with old lugs would fail at the edges of the lugs. The area where the lug joined to the tube created a 'stress riser,' a place where force was concentrated.
Builders discovered that by creating curving lugs, they could distribute the stress along a larger area of the tube. New methods of creating lugs were in use.
Stamped lugs began as a single sheet of steel which was stamped and formed into a lug, and then welded. The downside to this was that the builder had to work to clean up the weld area to make it presentable. The angles of stamped lugs can be slightly altered by the builder.
Investment casting is a method of lug creation in which lugs are made by pouring metal into a ceramic mold. The resulting lugs are more precise and can be more detailed.
Most builders refine the lugs before they put them on a frame. They may alter the curves of the lug by filing, and generally thin the lug out. New lugs are thicker and heavier than they need to be. If you look on a low-end bike the lugs are typically thicker than on a high end bike. Another thing to examine on a bike's lugs is the quality of the brazing or workmanship around the edge of the lug. Occasionally, I find a bike which has a lug that is coming apart from the tube. I also see lugs were a buildup of bronze has occurred at the edge of the lug. A third indicator of poor quality or workmanship is the presence of bubbles at the edge of the lug. Frames with these problems may be perfectly good to ride for many years to come, despite their flaws, because of the strength of the lugged method as a whole. I have also seen a Trek where the headtube sheared off just above the lug, probably due to poor brazing (overheating?), but the workmanship looks deceptively high quality. Below is a picture of a headtube before paint is applied, with bronze visible.
There are a few styles of lugs which can be easily recognized. The first of these is nervex, which are intricate and easily recognized. They are in the picture to the left.
Also in the museum of lugs, on your right, are the Confente style of lugs - this is a classic Italian style and very common. It was created in the late 1970s.
In America, Henry James was the main supplier of quality cast lugs and the majority of frame builders used him as a supplier. As a result, many American frames looked similar.
One of the most ornate examples of lugs are those of Hetchins. These lugs had so many frills that some of them has steel extensions. in places such as the fork blades, these add-ons increased strength.
Chromed lugs, like those on the Hetchins, require that the entire frame be dipped in a chrome bath. To get the glossy finish of chrome, the bike is first nickel plated to get a smooth finish. The chrome layer is measured in millionths of an inch on this type of 'decorative' plating.
Hey Everybody,
I'm off to bed, but wanted to make a quick post before I forget. After my experience at Smith's, I sent them a link to my saltcycle post as well as included the post itself in an email. I just received this in reply:
Dear Ms. Merono:
Thank you for contacting Smith's regarding your recent experience at our 876 E 800 S store. I am very sorry to hear that the customer service associate was very rude to you regarding bringing your bike into the store. This is not acceptable as all of our associates are to provide courteous, professional service. I have forwarded the details of your email to the store manager with the expectation that our associates will receive further training in customer service skills.
Thank you for bringing this to our attention. I hope you will reconsider shopping at Smith's in the future.
Sincerely,
Nicole Hardesty
Consumer Affairs
It still doesn't explain the supposed health code violation... but I'll admit I shopped at the Smith's on 4th and 6th today (but locked up my bike).
http://www.nosack.com/CycleSaltLakeCentury/
Is anyone riding in the Salt Lake Century on Saturday? I wasn't into it, as I don't like to pay to ride my bike 100 miles(thats too akin to having a car), but then realized the proceeds go to fund bicycle trails and bicycle transportation around Salt Lake City.
It cost $48 and the fee includes food (fruit, candy, snacks, etc.) and drink (water and sports drink) at the rest stops, lunch, a goodie bag, and a commemorative short sleeve T-shirt. You can register when we ride the bike roll on Friday, May 16th as we are going to stop by the the Gallivan Plaza Bike Bonanza, where you can register.
The actual Cycle Salt Lake Century event is Saturday, May 17 at Utah State Fair Park, 155 North 1000 West, SLC @ 7:30 AM mass start.
I don't want to ride Caution among the sea of spandex alone. We know we both aren't adequate enough to last all those hours lonely among those masses. Caution 'n me aren't competitive, we are community where everyone is a winner. (insert after school special warm fuzzy message).
I need recruitments, otherwise I don't think I can make it a hundred miles.
Volunteers?
yeah, Bo and mark helped me out. we got together and formulated a plan for the next TALL bike in SLC, and it so happens to be mine!! we finally put it together earlier tonight and took it for a night out on the town! i'll post pictures soon and maybe video. i would have done it tonight but i was too stoked about my new TALL bike!
-SL County Mayor Peter Corroon is contemplating beating up Ralph Becker and taking his bike, also feeling somewhat underdressed-
(photo by Steve Wasmund)
It's Bike Month, and Wednesdays are Bike to Work Days, or, as most of us reading this refer to it: "when I ride my bike to work like every other Wednesday." Today though, the Mayors Becker and Corroon rode from what looks like Liberty Park with a bunch of people and the media. At least it looks like the media, I could only find a little blurb on KSL.com. Anyway, Mayor Becker, besides looking dapper in his suit and Rivendell-y bike, has a spoke card for the Salt Lake Velodrome Association, which is a group started by Mark Kennedy and some other guys to get a velodrome built here in Salt Lake. There used to be one, on the Great Salt Lake even! So go here to find out more about it and sign the petition, if you haven't already. (website is a little rough)
-Old SLC velodrome-
(Click for full size)
This is bike-oriented revamp of a comic I did for the U newspaper when I was a student. The only problem is it takes me a week to do a single one. I really don't know how the guy that does Mary Worth pulls it off.
because of a friend of ours was hassled by a Smith's employee for bringing her bike inside the store. i wanted to do the same but purposely road my bike inside with the intention to prove that this particular employee was just being a bully and picking on my friend by saying she was violating a health code.
the Smith's bike experiment
Just received this video, and now I am sharing it with you.
(((Audio is NSFW.))) (((Some images NSWF.)))
This Friday, May 16th, @ No Brow Coffee at 6 pm
I have been looking over the stroll & roll for bicycle month, and since there wasn't much interest will not be using the rolling gallery this year. I want this to be an annual reoccurring event though, so maybe we could next year in May.
WE HAVE: (here is the bike list thus far, with riders for each bike): 2 People Seater Boing! House Red Bike, Chelsea Fixed Bike, Kemmer Long Bike, Ubomb Mini Bike, Caution Road Bike, Kemmer Swing Bike, Kemmer Tall Bike Blue, Mark Tall Bike Red & Adult Sized Trike.
WE NEED: (riders and the bicycles themselves): a Beach Cruiser, a Handcycle, a Mountain Bike (with fat tires) , a Recumbent Bike, an 2 People Tandem Bike, provided by you or your friends and family.
as a precursor to the Shake Your Peace Emmigration Canyon Concert ride on Monday: 
, 
and other artists are playing tonight in 
.
There will be lots of 
. We will 
to music and watch the 
. Therefore, I will not be attending 
-bomb tonight. If you want to -bomb tonight, and attend some of the concert, here is a map of Wakara Way, it will be at the end of the street and visit 
dot com: http://upcoming.yahoo.com/event/643914 . oh yeah, bring yer 
.
For all you individuals wanting to go bike ride at all hours of the day, night and everything inbetween.... or if you are just looking for someone to talk to because your job sucks....
Just added to the Saltcycle webpage on the right side beneath events, the SaltCycle Chatroom.
While this feature is cool, please take anything said on it with a grain of salt, and follow up conversations with more official means ie. email, phone, etc.
You can also embed it into your Myspace profile, blog or webpage - just copy and paste the code from the "embed!" button on the chatbox.
enraged? enthused? pissed? confident? confused? joyfull? -- user feedback for the chatroom is encouraged.
didn't work. will try other methods. kept getting invalid "null--" message.
Earlier today, myself, Ebot and Justin had the opportunity to bike down to the exotic iKEA. I used it as an opportunity to test out my helmet cam and its various functions.
On to the show... click to play:
Krista, the Volunteer Coordinator at the Bicycle Collective has told me that there will be a pre-screening of the Pedal Pusher Film Festival TONIGHT for underage viewers who volunteer on Saturday. The Depot is a 21+ venue and you will not be allowed inside, no matter how avid a bike rider you are or how many hours you've put in at the Collective if you are not this age. Jonathan has some good reasons for why it's this way, so don't be bitter, but he has said that next year he's going to try for an all-age venue. So, if you're willing to volunteer, you'll still be able to see the show--before the rest of us! Email Krista to sign up or for more info on the pre-screening at krista@slcbikecollective.org
hey everyone i understand a lot of you work so maybe you will not be able to ride to ikea with me and justen and maybe mark!
we talked about it earlier today and if those guys have a clear schedule it's a go! we plan to be on the road by 11:30 and the ride should take three to four hours tops. if your down or you want more details give me a call 832-276-7413 emilio
I'd like to share with you all the experience I just had at the Smith's grocery stores on 8th and 9th:
As the only smithstix outlet near me, I decided to stop by there to pick up tickets for the Thrice show coming up. I didn't have a bike lock and since the cashier is at the front, I didn't
