i got a number of emails from people suggesting that we'd catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.  i'm not sure what the hell that means.  people saw our recent drive for new members and seemed to want to tell us to tone it down a notch or two.  go along to get along, old chap, eh?  whatever.  read this post very carefully.  the times, well, they are a changin. 

we're standing tall with the will of the people as the wind at our backs.  where would we "move" to?  we're being inundated with *&%$ing ridiculous requests like this one.  mabra is not putting on the races, promoters are putting on the races. mabra is supposed to be an association of it's member clubs and promoters. i fail to see how promoting mabra is supporting these people.  it ought to be going the other way. seriously. How easy is it to find detailed data on the member clubs on the web site? how easy is it to find rides or articles of interest or anything that helps to indicate that there is some sort of community which the association is supporting?  in addition, this whole effort smacks of "branding", and i question the _need_ for mabra to assert it's privledge in this regard.

asking the racing union to advertise this kind of adminstrative oligarchy of plutocratic robber barons defies logic.  it would be like seeing hugo chavez wearing a baseball hat and t-shirt covered in dollar bills and doing advertisements for financial services companies.  communists for cool hard cash.  the reason it's so detached from reality is that it's predicated on the idea that movement towards their chosen position makes sense.  but that's just flat out wrong.  the social currents are with us, not with them. 

brothers and sisters, citizens and cyclists, now is the time to heed the call.  work to break the back of the car-based society.  work to bring the joy of cycling to all individuals and work to experince that joy yourself.  do you sometimes forget why you fell in love with the bicycle to begin with?  the union offers you the chance to rediscover that and more.  union brothers and sisters, onwards and upwards, never failing.  the time is now. 

- - - posted by scott

The racing union is actively soliciting racers and riders to come and join us.  We are considerably different from many clubs in the area in that we do not plan to emphasize racing over riding.  Our organization is focused on the enjoyment and efficiency of the bicycle; as a recreational pursuit, a form of transportation and a way of bringing people together to enjoy each others company.  Our members cover the spectrum from occasional commuters to active racers.  We have some ambitious plans for 2007 and we need some additional people to realize those plans.  We are working on collaborations with other clubs as well.  Our club has a powerful ethos and we plan to continue to show, by example, that a small club can make big changes.  If you're interested, please drop us a line.

portal to the revolution: www.racingunion.org

our guiding principles: http://www.racingunion.org/Document.aspx?manifesto

contact: supreme_revolutionary_council_for_cycling@racingunion.org

- - - image by chris/post by scott and michael

We recieved the following email yesterday regarding branding of MABRA:

The MABRA Board has been working to get the cycling
community at large to recognize MABRA as the first
point of contact when considering racing in our area.

Expl: MABRA's web site is on the caution tape used for
the MABRA cyclo-cross series.

If possible (strictly optional) we would like member
clubs to consider putting WWW.MARBA.ORG on team
uniforms.
We understand that many orders, with art work, may
already have been processed. If not, we'd like your
consideration on this.

Thanks
Randy Inglis
MABRA Pres.

We at the Racing Union wholeheartedly agree with the necessary conformation and indoctrination of area cyclists under a unified umbrella and therefore fully support this effort.

However, there is an undercurrent of unease here at Revolution Headquarters.  Some among us are quite lathered with zeal and ready to throw ourselves upon the petard of community ownership part and parcel.   Accordingly, we have suggested the following as the new required uniform and bicycle equipment for all MABRA racers regardless of team affiliation:

The trailer is not optional.  In fact, we support finishing each race at a local food bank with the delivery of rice and potatoes.

Others among us are willing to take a more stayed approach to this change and allow each team to continue to offer some distinctions upon their uniforms, with the inclusion of the required MABRA logo in a prominent location.  To this end we declare that the new MABRA logo is as follows:



I know that the Racing Union can count on the support of the mid-Atlantic cycling community to further our effort at outreach and recognition.

dear leader wishes that it be known by all that this post pleases him.

http://unholyrouleur-jim.blogspot.com/2006/11/secret-lab-emails-prove-floyd-landis.html

that is all....

i pointed out in a previous post that aric's bike is the new hotness.  through some internal union communciation channels, i mentioned early this morning that kevin had picked up one of josh's old bikes and it's also the new hotness, but for totally different reasons.  then chris designed some new graphics for an upcoming membership drive we are about to initiate.  and his graphics are also part of the new hotness, but for totally different reasons. 

some discussion ensued.  certain unnamed indivudals claimed that i was some sort of arbitrary arbiter of the new hotness.  in some cases he is correct and in some cases he is incorrect.  certain unnamed indivudal followed up by claiming that his riding at hains point today would become the new hotness.  then there was confusion followed by some allegations that emphasising the "hotness" of material goods was a decidely poor fit with the union ethos.

let me tie all this together.  we often say that something is union approved.  what does this mean?  it generally refers to actions or objects which appear to be incarnations of the union ethos.  if you were to take the principles outlined in the manifesto and reduce them to a quick experience or something you could hold in your hands, that would be it.  something that is union approved satisfies you in a very deep way: it is an object which is excellent on it's own while simultaneously being the very embodiment of your philosophical principles.

still not sure what's going on or need an example?  use the search feature and select the key words "union approved" to get the general idea.

so what is all this talk of the new hotness?  the new hotness is the zeal we express towards these union approved objects.  certain unnamed indivudal's riding today was the new hotness, not because he went out there and rode hard, but because he went out there and rode to make the union proud.  he rode as a teammate (until we separated) and volunteered first and foremost to support any union wheel.  that is union approved.  and it's the new hotness.  same goes for chris' graphics, and the new bikes that aric and kevin have acquired.  all are embodiments of the principles that drive the glorious revolution, but for different reasons.  they are therefore union approved, and hence, the new hotness.  q.e.d.

- - - posted by scott

 

 

mike r-p and i were discussing a list of insults which can be shouted when you, as a cyclist, are wronged by a motorist.  of course, shouting revolutionary slogans is probably preferable.  this list is taken from howard tomb, wicked french for the traveler (1989: workman publishing, ny).  certain gestures with these insults may also be useful, and all these should be used with care (and not in the rare occasion when it is actually the cyclist at fault).  the motorist may not hear you – or understand what you’re saying – but it sure might make you feel better (i know i found fifth insult quite apropos the other day when some guy in an SUV was riding my back wheel down 14^th street!)

 

hey! get a license, grandpa!
hé! va apprendre à counduire, pépé!
ay! vah ah-prawn-druh ah con-dweer, pay-pay!

move that worthless heap off the road!
Ôte ce tas de férraile de la circulation!
ote suh tah duh fair-eye duh, lah seer-kÿ-lass yon!

which are you?  blind?  or blind drunk?
quoi?  t'es aveugle?  ou complètement bourré?
kwah?  tay ah-vuh-gluh?  po como-plett-mahn boo-ray?

open your eyes, imbecile!
ouvre les yeux, imbécile!
oo-veruh lay-zyuh, am-bay-seel!

get off my tail, garlic head!
cesse de me filer le train, trounche d'aïl!
sess duh muh fee-lay luh train, tronsh day-yee!

 

your mother is belgian!
ta mère est belge!
tah mare ay beljh!

s'en allez ou je vous vais taquinir une autre fois!
go away or I will taunt you a second time!

posted by chris

 

it is a very, very joyous day in unionville.  aric line has purchased a new bike.  you might not think that this is out of the ordinary, especially you dc velo guys, who i know secretly read this blog, and who seem to change bikes with the frequency of a cheap ham radio.  the normal union ethos is repair rather than replace.  however, aric's new bike redefines the union ethos and pushes it to new heights.  check it...

the new bike is a commuter - touring - cross bike.  the frame is an igleheart.  if than name sounds familiar, it's probably because you've heard of chris igleheart who used to weld for fat chance mtn bikes.  you can get a rough look at an example here:

http://sheldonbrown.com/harris/igleheart/index.html

the coolest feature of the new bike is the rolhoff internally geared rear hub.  the bike will look like a single speed, however the hub actually provides for 14 internal gears which yields about 18-100 gear inches range.  to get a feeling for what this means, aric will get nearly the same spread of gear ratios on this new bike, with one chainring and one rear cog, that he currently gets from his litespeed racing bike minus a bit on the top end.  and in addition, it's simple: no front derailleur, no front shifter and only a chain tensioner on the back.  this hub is the new hotness.  details on the hub are here:

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/harris/rohloff.html

The Speedhub  36 500/14 has a gear range of 526%, which means that the highest gear is 5.26 times higher than the lowest gear. Across the entire range of the 14 gears shifts increase or decrease in even increments of 13.6%.

The individual gear ratios, the single increments and the entire range of gears are determined by the design of the internal gear system and cannot be changed. Neverthless you can customize your gearing by substituting different chainrings and cogs for easier or higher gearing.

The Speedhub 500/14 has been developed for racing which means that it can handle the heavy loads encountered during competition. Maximum torque loads in extreme conditions can be as high as 250 Nm on the crank (=150 kg on the pedal). This will not damage the the gear box because the high chainwheel/sprocket ratio transforms the low number of crank revolutions into a higher number of revolutions at the cog. The higher the chainwheel/sprocket revolution ratio, the lower the torque transmitted to the gearbox.

The sealed gearbox ensures reliability and durability even under the toug- hest conditions. The even increments of 13.6% from gear to gear make it pos- sible to always ride at the performance peak. The overall range kes sure that you have the right gear in every situation. Pure fun is guaranteed.

The SPEEDHUB 500/14 is operated by a twist shifter which shifts by pulling separate cables up or down. The indexing of the shifting lies not in the shifter as with common designs, but inside the hub. There is no wear on the indexing system nor need to adjust it. 

read that last line again and again and again.  and think about this: rohloff has never had a hub wear out.  how cool is that?  you change the oil in it once per year.  period.  and get this marvel of german engineering....if you happened to wear it out, you can flip the hub around and wear it out again!  as aric point out, the union should take ownership of this company and issue a hub to every rider.  this hub is very clearly union approved.

additional specs on aric's new bike:

- Disc brakes front and rear with mechanical actuated levers not hydraulic because of next bullet.

- S&S couplers to break down into suitcase for traveling - need to break cables too.

- 700c wheels (will have WTB beefy ass rims)

- 40x16 chainring/cog combo

- Crank bro egg beater pedals

- long reach brake levers (for disc brakes)

- braze-ons and fork legs drilled for panniers for touring

- 3rd water bottle on front side of down tube for touring

- - - posted by scott

a short extract from some extemporaneous remarks delivered during a group ride over the weekend of 12-13 November, 2006. 

comrade soldiers! the question of the local association system is now the order of the day. the capitalists and plutocratic despots in whose hands the local association power now rests, desire a parliamentary bourgeois management, that is, a system where there is no representative voice, but where power remains in the hands of the capitalists who govern the region by means of the old institutions, namely: the officials, the bureaucracy, and the necessary materiel for adminstering races.

we desire a different association, one more in keeping with the interests of the people, more democratic. the revolutionary citizens, cylists and soldiers of hains point have overthrown mabra, and have cleaned out this very criminal element from the  cycling loops of the nation's capital. the workers of all the world look with pride and hope to the revolutionary citizens, cylists of the racing union as the vanguard, the world’s liberating army of the working class. the revolution, once begun, must be strengthened and carried on. we shall not allow these police-like forces to be re-established! all power in the associaitonn must begin from the bottom up, from the remotest little village to every street block of washington and baltimore.  from lovettsville, to annapolis, to frederick to elkton, all power must belong to the soviets of workers’, citizens, cylists, agricultural labourers, peasants and other deputies as appointed by the supreme revolutionary council for change in cycling and the social order.

the central state power uniting these local associations must be the constituent assembly of the racing union.  not the officials, not the bureaucracy, who are currently unanswerable to the people and placed above the people, not the national governing body, separated from the people, but the people themselves, universally armed and united in the cycling soviets of hte racing union.  it is the people who must run the association.  it is they who will establish the necessary order, it is they whose authority will not only be obeyed, but also respected, by the citizens and cylists, workers and peasants.

only this power, only the soviets of the racing union can solve the great question of the role in cycling in a non-bureaucratic way and not in the interests of those current entrenched in power.  cycling must not belong to the powerful few. the peasant committees sieze control at once from the plutocracts, while carefully guarding all the property against damage, and seeing to it that grain production is increased in order that the soldiers at the front be better supplied.

cycling must belong to the whole nation, and its disposal must be the concern of the local soviets of the racing union and their properly appointed peoples’ deputies. 

in order that the more bourgeois cyclists—who are themselves capitalists—may not wrong and deceive the developmental cyclists and those new to the cause of two wheels, it will be necessary for the latter either to confer, to combine, to unite separately, or to set up soviets of racign union deputies of their own.  do not allow the bureaucracy to be re-established, do not let the state power or the administration of the state pass into the hands of the bureaucracy, who are non-elective, undisplaceable, and paid on a bourgeois scale.  do not let them get together; unite, organise yourselves, trusting no one, depending only on your own intelligence and experience, and cycling in the mid-atlantic region will be able to move with a firm, measured, unerring tread toward liberation of both country and humanity, from the yoke of it's crushing capitalist oppressors.

the adminsitrations of all the other local associaitons are carrying on this facade of cycling development only for a division of capitalist profits, for domination over the citizens and cyclists.  hundreds of millions of people, almost all the countries in the world, have been dragged into this criminal war. hundreds of billions in capital have been invested in “profitable” undertakings, bringing death, hunger, ruin, and barbarism to the peoples and staggering, scandalously high profits to the capitalists. there is only one way to get out of this frightful war and conclude a truly democratic peace not imposed by force, and that is by transferring all power to the soviets of the racing union to maintain the great and glorious revolution in cycling and social order.  the citizens, cylists, and poor peasants, who are not interested in preserving the profits of the capitalists and robbing the weaker nations, will be able to do effectively what the capitalists only promise, namely, end the war by concluding a lasting peace that will assure liberty to all peoples without exception.

 

the new issue of the new yorker showed up in my mailbox last night.  it has a very interesting article about the disparate groups that are advocating for a change in the relationship between bikes and streets and cars and people.  the article talks a bit about critical mass and, somewhat predictably, about the bohemian characters that are associated with it.  the article is unusual in portraying an activist who is working against cyclists as a total fruitcake.

the thing that most interested me about the article was the incredible variation in the types of groups that were working for change.  from the article:

Their nominal constituency, the hundred and twenty thousand New Yorkers who ride bicycles every day, comprises three distinct types—commuters (book editors, say, wearing cargo pants), exercisers (lawyers in spandex), and messengers (streetwise minorities without health care)—whose agendas overlap only loosely. And, as with any growing movement, success has brought about factionalization. Roughly speaking, the bikers range, in their political leanings, from Hugo Chávez to Ned Lamont, and in methodology from anarchist street theatre to wonkish position papers.

sound a bit familiar?  i had a hilarious encounter the other day.  mike rp and i were communiting home, towards key bridge on m street in georgetown.  we were crossing the bridge over rock creek which separates foggy bottom from georgeotwn.  a bike courier who was riding the same direction as us, but into busy oncoming traffic on the far side of the road yelled at me, and this was very clear, "rookie!".  i have no idea what that was about but both mike and i agreed that i was sort of being called out.  for riding my bike, i guess, in his vicinity.  i'm frankly not sure.  anyway, back to the article...

“I think a lot of people realize that this issue is really central to a lot of the dilemmas facing, you know, humanity right now,” Paul Steely White, the executive director of Transportation Alternatives, said recently. “How are we going to deal with less oil? How are we going to make cities more sustainable, more livable?”

so there you go.  there are issues which effect all of us.  i'm not trying to get on a soapbox.  i'm just stating a matter of fact.  all of us are affected by traffic congestion and the reliance on vehicles to get around.  what the article talks about that's relevant to all this is the lack of cohesion among those who would benefit most from working together to solve problems.

we see a bit of that here.  racers seem to have this passive-aggressive loathing for recreational riders.  they call them freds, and i can't even mention (on this family-oriented blog) the things i have heard supposedly civilized and respected cyclists say about groups like PPTC.  normally composed individuals will seethe and bristle at the mention of it, and i have always wondered why.  rec riders are not off the hook either.  the friends i have who are recreational riders can't understand commuters.  "why would you choose to breathe all that exhaust" and "you're crazy to be riding in traffic like that" and "you have a family, don't you care about them??!!".  that last one is my personal favorite.  i've learned to receive it with a beatific grin.

one group locally that seems to be bucking this trend is waba, which has a number of groups under it's umbrella.  though many of the local groups often seek to do their own thing, i believe that efforts at coordination are having some degree of impact.  a favorite organization of mine is fabb, which works very hard to improve conditions, safety and accessibility for cyclists.  they, contrary to the generalized approach of many other groups which i am asserting in this post, seek to align their efforts with that of the umbrella group.  this won't always work, but if you've really read the new yorker article mentioned at the top of this post, you likely can't help but feel that the uncoordinated goals, methods and approaches play a huge part of the lack of success we have seen in making bicycles a safer way to travel and a more enticing alternative.

i'll try to post some more thoughts i have on this shortly.  there's a ton of stuff to discuss in that article.  if you have static, bring it in the comments.

- - - posted by scott

new union mission: find the people who don't like bikes and see that prompt and proper re-education measures are taken.

http://washcycle.typepad.com/home/2006/11/bad_things_happ_2.html

the silver lining here is the receptive congressman.  he is now officially union approved.

- - - posted by scott

updated below

today, we honor those who have gone before us in the valiant struggle.  these individuals were notable for their moral character and their intellectual strength.  they sought to wrest control from plutocrats, from criminal oligarchs, and those who ruled by fiat or by virtue of heredity.  their greatest tool was a new and fresh way of thinking about things.  their greatest weapon was their ability to organize the seething masses and harness their power.  now that's pure democracy.  with this strength, they rallied the proletariat to do great things. 

today in history courtesy of wikipedia**

• 1917 - Vladimir Lenin led a Bolshevik insurrection against the Provisional Government of Alexander Kerensky, starting the October Revolution in Russia.

today in the news, courtesy of the washington post and wikipedia**:

MANAGUA, Nicaragua, Nov. 6 -- Daniel Ortega, the former Marxist president and nemesis of President Ronald Reagan, appears to have won back Nicaragua's top job.

so, as pete pointed out to me in an email today, everything that was old, is new again.  one only need look at the new wave of modern leaders emerging from central and south america.  chavez!  ortega!  relatives of castro!  it's should be patently obvious to even the dimmest citizens that without certain unnamed but well known "democratic" hegemons active suppression of the citizenry, they naturally organize for collective progress.

and while i would normally go on at great length about this, and tangentially related pieces of information which materially support our position and lend credence to our call for uprising in the name of the glorious cause, today i am morose.  i have it on good information that the three proposals we submitted to the annual meeting were all voted down.  three provisions: aimed at increasing transparency and shifting the emphasis back onto the clubs and their activities.  i had no thought that any of these would be contentious.  among the union committes that labored over the text and formally approved them for submittal to the mabra people's parliament, these concepts were commonly descibed as no-brainers.

this has given me significant pause for thought.  i wonder if our work is better conducted within mabra or outside mabra.  we will begin conversations shortly to explore other options.  i sense a fissure developing; a growing chasm between what is union approved (the example we set through actions and our stated interests) and what is not union approved: the actions of this "representative" body.

in spite of this temporary setback, we must take the long view and soldier on, remembering our great and glorious history and the vast potential the revolution still holds.  we are indeed walking on the shoulders of giants.  and this is no mean consolation.  it warms the heart to know what our brothers and sisters have done for us in the past and what we work to bring about for future generations.  union, da!!

** (please note that the capitalization was maintained in both these links in spite of it's flagrant inappropriateness in this context):

update: while billmon is clearly the most union approved blogger currently plying his trade, his current thoughts coincide nicely with this post, my thoughts, and, well, the facts on the ground.  i find it refreshing when this happens.  crush the hegemon and stick it to the man.

- - - posted by scott

the union ethos in action.  the pictures sort of say it all.  thanks to all who came down.  we had a great time and hope you did as well.

ben pushes me aside and shows me how it's done. 

the hammer and sickle cookies went fast, they were very popular.

family friendly is the union way

the next generation of revolutionaries are off to a good start

the messenger, and the message.

at the end of the day, all that was left was a single cookie.

I hereby offer a proclamation to all union staff: for exemplary service to the riders, and to the people, worthy of a commendation.  you are heroes of the state.

next up, hot chocolate and doughnuts, sometime in late november or early december.

- - - posted by scott