i was fairly bummed out this morning.  i had one of those unusual commutes where nothing goes right.  my fellow commuters who were using four wheels instead of two seemed especially anxious and lacking in patience or compassion.  so i opted for a less direct but lower key route than usual.  given the poor start to the day, it was rather uplifting today to see this...

http://www.fabb-bikes.org/blog/2007/06/fairfax-county-gets-serious-about-on.html

and specifically, this:

http://www.fabb-bikes.org/blog/bikertltr1jun2007.pdf

i don't think there's any question at this point that progress is being made.  it's incremental, but it's being made.  i've posted a bunch of stuff here about groups like fabb.  i've gotten some supportive mail and some notes that question whether there's really a difference being made.  i think that what's especially valuable here is that there's a solid effort to work in conjunciton with county government to present a unified approach.  vdot is like any governmental agency: they have more work that they can reasonably accomplish, more stakeholders than they can ever satisfy, and all sorts of people with opposite ideas controlling their budget.  groups like fabb are taking advantage of this by building concensus and seeking incremental change.  and this will be simple to evaluate as well: either the work will be done or the work will not be done.  for every one of these projects that get's completed, especially if it's near you and you utilize it, consider a thank you to the county supervisors.

- posted by scott

I've commented here recently about how Che Guevara rode a bicycle.  Not too much of a surprise, as riding a bicycle IS a revolutionary act.  Che was also following in the footsteps of Lenin.

Writer Nadezhda K. Krupskaya published “Reminiscences of Lenin” in 1933, and recalls of Lenin’s time in Paris from 1909-1910:

“Studying in Paris was very inconvenient. The Bibliotheque Nationale was a long way off. Vladimir Ilyich usually cycled there, but riding a bicycle in Paris was not what it was in the suburbs of Geneva. It was a great strain. Those cycle rides tired him out. The library closed at lunch time. There was a lot of red-tape in the arrangements for ordering books, and Ilyich swore at the library, and while he was at it, at Paris in general. I wrote to a French professor who had been giving French lessons at the summer courses in Geneva, asking him to recommend some other good libraries. I received an immediate reply, giving me the necessary information. Ilyich made the round of all the libraries mentioned but none of them was suitable. In the end his bicycle was stolen. He used to leave it on the stairs of a house next door to the Bibliothetque Nationale and pay the concierge ten centimes a day for it. When he came for the bicycle and found it gone, the concierge declared that she had not been hired to look after the bicycle but only to let Ilyich keep it on the stairs.

Riding a bicycle in Paris and the suburbs required great care. Once, on his way to Juvisy, Ilyich was nearly run over by a motor-car. He barely managed to jump clear, and the bicycle was wrecked.”

Let’s repeat that last bit:  “Ilyich was nearly run over by a motor-car.  He barely managed to jump clear, and the bicycle was wrecked.”  Is there any wonder how and why the revolution occurred? 

--posted by Chris 

Saturday's Quicksilver race made for a nice outing with four of us in the 30+ race.  Below are some snaps from that one.  I have no pictures from the Cat. 5 race (in which Kevin placed fourth and I got a seventh place), because I was busy ... er ... racing.

- posted by Chris

We have a Bike to Work Day, just concluded, in the Washington area.  But, as I heard on CBC radio this morning, in one of my favorite cities – Halifax, Nova Scotia – they have a whole week devoted to bicycles - “Bike Week” is happening right now (http://www.halifax.ca/bikeweek/). 

Halifax is truly a civilized place – that’s not only because it home to one of the best museums around, the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic (http://museum.gov.ns.ca/mma/index.html), and the part-time home of the Bluenose II (http://museum.gov.ns.ca/bluenose/index.html) - a replica of the famous racing schooner which appears on the Canadian dime, and a grand tribute to the common man (http://www.currencymuseum.ca/eng/learning/coins_dime.php). 

I’ve been to Halifax on several occasions, and each time I’ve gone, I’ve been amazed at the behavior of motorists towards pedestrians and cyclists:  cars often literally screech to a stop if you so much as lift your foot over the curb to cross at an intersection.  The municipality is also a green – not only do they require residents to recycle, they have a “green can” municipal composting program (http://www.halifax.ca/wrms/greencart.html).  Truly, Halifax is smaller then Washington, but it is the unofficial capital of Atlantic Canada, and it’s a place from which we here in Washington can learn a great deal.

-- posted by Chris

I've just started reading Jon Lee Anderson's 1998 biography of Che Guevara, "Che Guevara:  A Revolutionary Life."  (http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?z=y&endeca=1&isbn=0802135587&itm=4)  It's a good read thus far, though I'm early on in the book - he's in Guatemala right now, witness to the US government/United Fruit Company-sponsored coup against the democratically-elected Arbenz government there (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacobo_Arbenz_Guzm%C3%A1n).  His dislike of the United States is just developing - when you read some of details of US policy in that part of the world (though this book doesn't get into too many details), there's little wonder how that could happen!

What does any of this have to do with bicycles?  Well, check out the photo.  Lots of people know all about the popular movie from back in 2004, Motorcylce Diaries (http://libcom.org/news/article.php/review-motorcycle-diaries-che-guevara), which was about a trip Guevara made through Latin America by motorcycle with a friend.  That's in the book too.  But, prior to that trip, in 1948, he ventured off to remote Northern Argentina from the city on a bicycle equipped with a motor - the one he's sitting on in the photo.  Not quite a bicycle, but certainly not a motorcycle.  He put in a lot of pedaling on this thing, apparently - and a lot of road-side repairs.

- posted by Chris

Attention Commrades! The following message is being brought to you by the Supreme Council for Propogation of Message and Truth!

Begin transmission:

"In an attempt to broaden the reach of the Racing Union’s message throughout all facets of the two wheeled revolution and to truly realize the organization’s potential, we will be branching out our repertoire to include a few mountain bike races this season. We will plan to get out for at least a couple of Greenbelt-esq. Wednesday’s at Wakefield rides and also plan on competing in the Cranky Monkey Series which includes two races at Wakefield, one at Fountainhead and one at the Quantico Marine Corps Base.

If anyone would like to join us for any of these races please feel free to do so. The Union will be present at many if not all of the these races and will look to continue the growth of the revolutionary army by digging deeper in to the world of cycling. The chasm that is found between the different sectors of cycling is no longer acceptable and the Union must work to eliminate it. The time for partisan bicycling politics is over; let’s reach out to our brother’s and sister’s on two wheels, no matter how fat those wheels may be and revolutionize the cycling world from all angles!

Revolutionary points WILL be awarded to alternative forms of transportation including but not limited to: public transportation, riding of bikes to the race and car pooling (the more people in the car the more points awarded). The driving of an SUV with one passenger and bike will result in a large net loss of revolutionary points."

End transmission.

This Message has been cross-posted by Comrade Kmax aka Max aka Blud aka Maxblud aka Kevin

when i first read this, my thought was: did kay mean "decompensation" as in a business man who has lost his meal ticket?  that would have been remarkably crass, though in this case, it would also be a brilliant freudian slip. 

i was wrong and that was made clear to me here.  i still think that "destruction" would be more appropriate on many levels.  also in the running are demolition, devastation, dissolution, disaster, downfall, debacle, disintegration, decay, and diminution.

-sg

http://freewheelingspirit.blogspot.com/2007/05/dear-dr-gridlock.html

it's a shame that the irony is likely lost on most of them...

-sg

The May 14^th issue of VeloNews just arrived in my mailbox.  On the cover is Danilo Di Luca celebrating his victory at Liege-Bastogne-Liege - an emotional finish surpassed only by Stuart O’Grady at Paris-Roubaix (in my book, this is saying a lot, as I suspect that O’Grady’s performance will go down as one of the most exciting this season).

But I didn't bring this up to talk about Danilo Di Luca or Stuart O'Grady, for there's something else in this issue of VeloNews I want to talk about.  If I can blow my own horn for a bit, the May 14^th issue also has a letter to the editor written by your’s truly.  The subject?  An article published in the April 16^th issue of the very same publication.  Unfortunately, none of this stuff is reproduced online, but all you really need to read is my letter: 

While I appreciate rebellious misfits as much as the next guy, I couldn’t contain my disgust when I read about Michael Ball and his Rock Racing team (“Revolution Rock,” April 16).  I’d never heard of Rock Racing prior to reading this article, but if Ball’s team reflects his attitude, then like his denim company, it’s all show and no substance.  It’s the corporate establishment disguised as rebellion.

 

Changing team kit colors for each race or driving Escalades as team cars doesn’t challeng cycling’s status quo.  A true rebel would try to shake the whole notion of corporate sponsorship or encourage alternative forms of transportation.  After all, some of us buck “the system” by actually commuting to work on our bikes!

 

It is perhaps unrealistic to expect a cycling team at this level to eschew corporate sponsorship altogether.  But to seek out and celebrate the sponsorship of a company that actively encourages America’s addiction to gas guzzlers is the kind of mindless consumerism that represents much of what is wrong with pro sports.  It doesn’t, as Ball so eloquently puts it, give cycling ‘a nice kick in the ass to make it fucking cool.’ 

It’s worth mention that, although I’d never heard of Rock Racing prior to reading this article, I did hear of the team after Stage 6 of the Tour of Virginia.  That’s the day which featured a criterium down in Harrisonburg where the first to cross the finish, Kayle Leogrande of Rock Racing, was relegated for not holding his line in the final sprint.  You can see some real nice photographic evidence here:  http://love2ride.smugmug.com/gallery/2788646#148675413; and check out the photographer's narrative of the event in the May 2^nd post here:  http://love2ridephotoszzz.blogspot.com/2007_05_01_archive.html).

I don't mean to pick on Leogrande here.  I have nothing against him in particular, and he's clearly very talented.  My beef isn't even about his team so much as it's about the presentation -- passing off something as revolutionary and rebellious when in reality it's about selling an image.  And besides, cycling doesn't need a nice kick in the ass to be fucking cool.  It already IS.

-- posted by Chris

i have a number of friends who follow pro cycling a lot less closely than they used to.  this is a generalization, but i think it's true that for many of them, the prevalence of doping has taken some of the enthusiasm away.  it's not so much that people dope.  in an odd way, this is not only understandable, but expected.  for many fo these guys, they are paid huge amounts of money to win races.  if they didn't do everything humanly possible to win, their employer would be unhappy.  it's sort of obvious really when you're talking about teams with 10 million euro budgets. 

look, it's not that we expect sports to be some sort of temple which cannot be fouled by dastardly cheats.  it's more the facade that's irritating.  the inevitable song and dance involved when someone wins or doesn't win, and someone tests positive or doesn't test positive.  press releases, investigations, police crack downs, publicity, rinse, lather, repeat.

but the latest developments are so stomach churning and revolting that i'm not even sure what to say.  if anything could kill people's appetite for consuming pro cycling as a sport, this might qualify.  (aside: then again, i think most people would have said that the slow motion train wreck / career trajectory of britney spears, lindsay lohan and paris hilton would have had them augering in months ago and that surely wasn't the case).  maybe our standards have slipped.  maybe we just don't care and want to watch them ride their bikes.

for me, i basically don't follow pro cycling any more.  i always found their exploits sort of super human and unapproachable.  i never had the feeling that i could aspire to that.  i appreciate it, and i love to watch people riding combatively and risking everything for a huge win.  it's really insiring.  i just think there's so much going on below the surface that it's hard to appreciate even the things that i like. 

i may not be describing this well.  let me take another swing at it.  i grew up north of baltimore, very close to the state fairgrounds.  i had some friends who used to hang around the track (horse track) and many of them ended up getting jobs working there.  I didn't work with the horses but i loved to go down and hang out and watch them run.  and in season, i used to watch the races a lot.  but as i got older, i learned about stuff that goes on in horse racing.  and then it just seemed kind of silly.  like a charade.  once you know that the fix might be in, the whole event seems like a staged farce, sort of like a set piece or illusion that penn and teller might try to pull off.  all the people up in the stands are watching, but they aren't seeing what's really happening.  there's a whole series of layers of things going on beneath the surface that are actually driving the outcome that are tranparent to them.  so i still like to watch horses run but i don't really care to watch horses race.  and it's the same with bikes.  i love to ride, and maybe even race locally.  and i thought i had a reasonable idea of the stuff going on behind the scenes in cycling as well, but this new landis stuff is just so bad.  maybe i'll regain an appetite for it later on, but i don't feel like i'm missing anything right now.

-sg

there was a lot of discussion in comments, over email and over coffee of chris's excellent post.  pete weighed in with something similar to the new mabra-google commons.  i'd like to weigh in with a tangential thought  i think people misunderstand the post.  it's just like a television.  it's not interactive.  you can yell at your television or write letters to the editor and you, on a practical level, will get the same result.  it's a business that's based on a one-way flow of information.  they may take feedback.  they may even solicit it.  but don't confuse their reception of a message with the decisions that run the paper.

the post just hasn't kept up.  email, newsgroups, blogs: these exceedingly democratic methods of information sharing.  they rely on comments to drive the discussion.  the exchange is what makes it dynamic.  a community.  the electronic forums are richer for the interaction as are the participants.  the closest the post gets is it's chats, where you ask a question, and like an oracle, an answer comes back.  how is that a chat?  it's hardly interactive.  electronic forums allow people to provide any degree of feedback they want to provide.  cold and logical, passionate, venemous or no response at all.  the post feels sterile.

community and cooperative is not the way papers work.  your feelings about an article don't enter their calculus.  every week the ombudsman catalogs an endless string of complaints about everything.  nothing changes.  there was a huge broughaha a while ago about how entirely dependent the post had become on citing leaks to anonymous sources.  the paper's general manager and news director all wrote articles saying they would change the style manual and do better.  and nothing has changed.  pick up any post and check it out. 

what i'm describing here is different than the occasional idiotic columnist who writes some screed about how he hopes the next cyclist to slide under his super large sport utility vehicle will inspect the condition of the ziebart and perform a useful service for once.  that person is just being provocative, stirring the pot to get a response.  the journalistic equivalent of an email troll.

but what the post does is different.  it's just like a modern politician in that it feigns interest in the details of the life of the average person, pretends to help and represent the little guy.  but in reality, it's no closer, and maybe even further detached.  it's not bad or evil.  and it's not good or benign.  it's more like that classic line from an old godzilla movie: "it can't feel pain, it can't be reasoned with".

my bottom line here is that change doesn't start with talkign to the post.  change starts with talking to each other.  and change starts with lots and lots and lots and lots and lots of people riding their bikes to work tomorrow.  i've got bad news.  if it's less than lots and lots and lots and lots and lots, well, we'll likely continue to be ignored or misunderstood or run over, both figuratively and literally.  change starts with people deciding that they want change, and acting accordingly.  telling their neighbors, telling their friends, telling their office. 

i really hope people don't see this as a bike-to-work-day pep talk.  it's not.  it's easy to lose perspective when you're dealing with large issues.  but i would suggest the old chestnut that every big change starts with a small change is still so relevant.  the next time you see an idiotic article or letter to the editor or provocative column, just run an extra errand on your bike that you would not have done before.  take a friend out for a spin.  force a neighbor to commute by bike.  there are certain battles we will simply never win, but i refuse to concede the war. 

-sg

I guess maybe Dr. Gridlock (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/15/AR2007051502697.html) decided to celebrate Bike to Work Day (which is tomorrow, by the way) by publishing some rants in this morning’s Post.  Rather than an intelligent discussion about how cycling can reduce congestion and our dependence on oil, however, we get garbage.  A few excerpts area below, followed by my not-so-comprehensive rants.  Have any further rants?  The comments section is all yours! 

“The truth is, cyclists bend and break traffic rules, exhibit behavior that defies common sense and are bullies.”

Bullies?!  Lemme see:  on one side, there’s a big heavy chunk of metal; on the other, a dude on a couple of metal or carbon pipes.  I can’t possibly imagine how the cyclist could ever be a bully in such a situation.  But hey, so long as we’re using adherence to traffic laws (written with motorized vehicles in mind) as the standard, consider how often you’ve seen cars speeding; turning right on red without stopping; failing to use a turn signal; speeding up to run a yellow light; and slowing, not stopping, at stop signs.  The truth is, nearly all vehicles on the road disobey the law every day in some way.  Speaking for myself, I can think of several places on my commute where the safer option to get from Point A to Point B involves breaking a traffic law (try crossing over to the left turning lane on a roadway full of speeding cars and you’ll get what I mean).  The bottom line is that any motorized vehicle is a far more dangerous weapon then a bicycle will ever be – while there are rare exceptions, when a motorists does something stupid, the cyclist could get killed; and when the cyclist does something stupid, the cyclist could get killed.  The cyclist does not enter this relationship from a position of power.

“Just stopping at intersections with stop signs would carry bikers a long way toward a better relationship with motorists.”

An old chestnut:  If cyclists would just follow the law, the reasoning goes, motorists would suddenly start respecting their rights.  Riiiiight!  What it fails to take into account is the fact that most cyclists are invisible to motorists.  When we are noticed, it’s when we’re perceived to be breaking the law (and, often, that assumption is a reflection of the motorist’s ignorance of the law).

“I strongly oppose cyclists sharing the road with motorists. It is not only unsafe, but inconvenient for drivers. Cyclists tend to act as though the rules of the road don't apply to them, and as though they possess the same presence on the road as automobiles. It is amazing that there are not more cycling-related fatalities in our area. Cyclists belong on paths, and nowhere else.”

Good start to the usual rant of the four-wheeled hegemony, complete with the convenience of the motorist taking precedence above anybody else.  But, there’s a twist:

“Before you chastise me for being anti-cyclist, I would like you to know that I am an avid mountain biker who rides more than a thousand miles a year, and I have been an assistant manager at a local shop for years.”

Oh good!  Thanks for the statement of solidarity, buddy!  And how convenient that your particular cycling obsession doesn’t involve riding on the road.  If all mountain bikers were like you, you can bet I’d think twice before being supportive of keeping trails open to mountain bikers in national forests!

There was one letter this morning which didn’t target cyclists.  Instead, it targeted pedestrians:

“Cars are my number one concern when I'm bicycling in the District, but I also get very nervous in the presence of pedestrians who blithely jaywalk and don't ever see me coming.  It seems to me that they are watching or listening only for cars when jaywalking and pay no attention whatsoever to bicycles. The worst area for such near-encounters is Pennsylvania Avenue NW, between 17th and 19th streets.”

OK, I think that’s fair enough, but I’d like to add something here:  Bicycles are to pedestrians what cars are to bicycles.  You can cause them significant damage, and assigning blame won’t prevent that damage from occurring.  Take care not to hurt anyone (or yourself)!

-- Posted by Chris