While you all were maybe racing at Fort Ritchie Crit on Saturday, I was at the Grand Opening at our bike shop in Luray, conveniently timed to coincide with the town's annual Festival of Spring.

Yes, those are rubber ducks!  It's true, there's a place a mere two hours from Washington where you can get quality bike shop service, go on some awesome bike rides, AND watch a rubber duck race.  The people need their entertainment.

Anyhoo, back to the Grand Opening.  We had everything.  From nutritious bicycle-themed cupcakes....

...to knowledgeable staff, spreading the word good word of two-wheeled transportation to the public, including both adults...

...and kids...

If you look closely, you might notice we set up a raffle.  Two dollars got the lucky winner a selected bike of their choice.  The winner isn't portrayed here, but today, there's one happy kid in Luray, believe you me!  Plus, all the money went to the family assistance fund for our neighbors at Page One, the local charity thrift shop, and the Lord Fairfax Community College Page County Scholarship Fund.

- posted by Chris

There’s been a lot of talk lately on the MABRA listserv about the relationship between motorists and cyclists on the road.  It’s a bit misplaced, as many of the constituencies on that listserv aren’t so much about cycling on the road other then during group rides and races.  I’ve been reluctant to comment on the listserv, as I don’t want to fill up people’s mailboxes with information that isn’t particularly relevant to racing in the Mid-Atlantic region.  I do, however, have some strongly-held views that appear to run contrary to many of the dominant personalities on the listserv.

The commentary was precipitated by the death of a cyclist in Chicago killed by a motorist who, police say, likely ran a red light.  A human reaction to such a tragedy is sadness and anger.  Next, for me, comes outrage – and, in this case, a little bit of annoyance with my fellow cyclists.  Matching some quotes from officials in the news articles about the tragedy which seem to focus the blame on the cyclist rather then the motorist, we get a quick lecture on the listserv about how we cyclists actually invite aggressive driving by such antics as weaving in and out of traffic at Hains Point.

The comparison is silly, of course, because the vast majority of interaction between motorists and cyclists is not with some hot-shot at Hains Point, but a regular commuter on the street during rush hour.  Without a doubt, there are many commuters who weave in and out and, as I read recently someplace, “blow” through stop signs.  But there are many who not.  This is human nature; different people behave differently.

But, more to the point, I don’t buy for a minute the notion that the behavior of motorists would change if I could suddenly wave a magic wand and cause all cyclists to obey traffic laws.  Motorists aren’t modifying their behavior in reaction to cyclists.  Remember that, for the most part, cyclists are invisible to motorists.  And all this assumes that motorists know what the laws are with regard to cyclists – a pretty huge assumption, indeed.

Does this mean we shouldn’t obey traffic laws?  Absolutely not.  But, obeying traffic laws ought to be done because you think that’s the right thing to do.  

I am, I must say, deliberately casual about obeying traffic laws because there isn’t a single motorized vehicle on the roads today whose driver is obeying the traffic laws – next time you’re driving a car, check out how fast 25 miles per hour really is, and remember that’s the speed limit for most streets in the District.  But that’s not the only reason – there are, in fact, several points in my daily commute where the safest way of riding my bike in traffic is actually in violation of traffic laws (for instance, running a red light at one corner in order to get to the left lane of traffic makes it a lot less likely that I’ll get squished by a car going well past the speed limit).

There’s so much more to say on this topic, but I’ve probably said too much already – better here then in your mailbox, right?!

- posted by Chris

i haven't written much about this here but i really do enjoy playing bike polo with the dc street pirates.  it's physical and fun and fast and no more dangerous than your average downtown crit.  there's a pretty huge tournament going on this weekend downtown in dc.  if you're in the area, or even if you're not, you should really stop by and check it out.  they have teams coming in from all over and the competition will likely be awesome.  you roadies who think you've got fantastic bike handling skills: you're especially invited.  i think you'd find yourself pretty humbled, pretty fast.

rush rink is in between 12th and 13th on D street SE.

check it, man....

The landmark political fact of our time is the replacement of our middle-class republic by a plutocracy. If some candidate has a scheme to reverse this trend, they've got my vote, whether they prefer Courvoisier or beer bongs spiked with cough syrup. I don't care whether they enjoy my books, or would rather have every scrap of paper bearing my writing loaded into a C-47 and dumped into Lake Michigan. If it will help restore the land of relative equality I was born in, I'll fly the plane myself.

not that i am, but if i were revising the manifesto, and looking for text to add, and i'm not mind you, but in a purely hypothetical sense, i would add the above text without hesitation.  similarly, in a purely theoretical framework, and again, not that i am, but if i were going to make a comment about the current political horserace that's going on, and i'm not mind you, but in a purely hypothetical sense, it would repeat the last paragraph of the piece above, word for word. 

and that's saying something because i'm not usually all about biting other people's rhymes.

so i'm riding in this morning and i make friends with someone named george and we're just cruising along and he starts telling me all about where he works in antarctica and about some of the experiements that are going on there sponsored by nasa and nsf and others.  the most interesting one involved algal filaments producing biodiesel.  i found this fascinating and tried to learn as much as i could from him between vienna and ballston where he jumped off.  and i had planned to research this further, only to find that one of my favorite blogs has written a nice post involving the same concept:

link

as i have posted previously, i don't hate cars on principle, i hate the wasteful society and philosophy that drives our whole car-centric transportation system.  it seems to me that renewable energy is soemthing that everyone can get behind.  now if only i can get my cluster association to approve the placement of my new solar panels in my neighbor's parking spots...

-sg

this one is for the unholy roleur....

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7357874.stm

venceremos!!!  hilarious, and more than a little ironic that kissenger ended up being right about that domino theory!  a tsunami of latin american socialism is lapping at our shores and the forecast, the forecast is for change!  time to get on the bandwagon people and run with the winners...

Located on the other side of the Blue Ridge from Washington, DC, south of Front Royal, is Luray, Virginia.  Washington area cyclists may be familiar with Luray as the mid-way point for the Sky-Mass ride, known locally as the Luray Classic.  Luray is the county seat of Page County, which is defined by a corner of the Shenandoah Valley known as the Page Valley.  It is also home to Page Valley Cycling, which is promoting the Page Valley Road Race in August (co-promoted by Racing Union).

Some of the same ambitious people promoting the Page Valley Road Race have now also opened a new bike shop at 20 West Main in Luray, called Hawksbill Bicycles.  I ought to know, because I’m one of those people.  You saw the tease here last week, generously posted by Dear Leader. 

All the details aren’t down yet (our permanent sign, for instance, is still in the works), but this weekend marked the first day the shop was open to the public.  Our grand opening celebration will occur in May – look for more information here later. 

I’m pretty excited about it, and I’m thrilled to be associated with such talented people running the thing.  David Duke, the President of Page Valley Cycling who also happens to be an associate member of Racing Union, is the shop manager.  He studied at East Coast Bicycle Academy in Harrisonburg under Les Welch, and he’s an even better mechanic then he is a bike racer.  And he’s a damn good bike racer.  Our business manager, my other half, is a marketing genius whose talent is now focused on the noble task of bringing bikes to the people.

David’s wife Lois, pictured here at the shop, is another partner who brings a fresh perspective and a rare ability to always see the good in others.

You can see one of those fresh ideas is that we do not discriminate.  We carry Cannondale, Felt, Marin, and Redline bicycles of all varieties, but we’ll also cheerfully repair your kid’s used Roadmaster, bringing to it the same seriousness we’d provide a carbon frame thoroughbred.

The night before we opened, we worked well past midnight, but at around 10:30 or so, David and I were working on the front display area and a guy in a beat-up old hybrid came riding past us, loaded down with a sleeping bag and provisions.  Long story short, the rider was on the road, permanently it seems.  Instead of a train-jumping hobo, we found a pedaling hobo.  He came by the shop in the morning at our invitation, when we tuned up his old Huffy.  Despite everything we tried to do, it was clearly on its last legs.  David then escorted up the street to the local thrift shop, where he snagged a vintage Peugeot road bike for ten dollars generously collected from two patrons at the thrift shop.  A few more generous people later, and that road bike was outfitted with a rack more appropriate for his heavy load, provided by our shop at cost.

If you believe that one good turn leads to another, the assistance we gave Willy to get back on the road might be a positive omen, a talisman for our shop’s good karma and future success.  At least that’s what I think.  At the very least, it illustrates our commitment to bicycles for everyone.

Extra special thanks for the support providing by my Racing Union friends – Bryan for the logo design; Scott for his grunt work and valuable advice; Michael for his moral support; and young Ben Gibbons for his award-winning diorama design of the shop floor.

--Chris

there is a lovely new bike shop going up soon.  this post is a bit of a spoiler as I expect there may be some formal announcement coming but this place is going to be sweet.  no details for now, but i can tell you first hand that it's going to be good...

and how do i know?  well good peoples is the main thing.  and a good space.  and check the beer by the drill press.  hotness.  that guy can work on my bike anyday.  i've actually been in the shop, done a smidge of work to help it get going.  it's in a beautiful old building, right next to a creek with a cycle path.  an ideal location.  retail setup is still evolving...

the people make the shop, and in this case, i don't think they can fail.  i am a bit concerned that i do not see any sort of construction permit signs...

but oh so right.  cars in general, not so great.  but really, really, really fast cars?  so great.  soooooo great.  as i often say, it's like staring directly into a rainbow.  for those familiar with the modern history between cart and irl, the recent news is, well, better than what was before.  at least, as this link shows, they are trying to make it interesting.  for formula 1, that might work, but for other stuff, there's great beauty in the chaos of the start.

reminds me of when we ran cyclocross races over in bowie.  every race began with people putting their bikes down on a 50m marked line.  then backing up 50m more and, at the horn, running to their bikes and trying to get going.  so great.  soooooo great.  getting the holeshot required a supreme exertion.  we would never do anything like that anymore.  cross is all serious now, with points and ranking and callups.  it used to be that a well placed (and well made) six-pack was more than good for a callup.  no more.  the tyranny of the serious reigns supreme.

we need another bike race in this area with a le mans start.  it needs to be a 3 mile circuit race, which is somehow engineered so that you are constantly climbing, all three miles, with 2 half-mile deep gravel and mud sections.  and there should be a le mans start.  i think i need to make that bike race happen.  and the awards cermony would be in a hot tub on the back of a flatbed with some great band jamming.  yessir.  now that's a bike race.

-sg

update: before you freak out and get all up in my area, read this link.  and then, if you still think it's not cool, then, and only then, will we talk.  until that point, i will take no more mail on this topic.  i'm busy.

http://www.usacycling.org/forms/TerrWarRelease.pdf

the new boilerplate.  impressive. 

"we have to race them over there so we don't have to race them here."

that's not bad but I'm sure you can do better.  bring your best caption in the comments.

-sg

today is the birthday of cesar chavez.  i will not include a link to his history and palmares as i suspect the majority of our readers have some idea who he is.  for those that do not, a quick spin through wikipedia or other online archives detailing the achievements of those who strive for justice should be elucidating.  for those who fail to understand the distinction between the social concept of justice and the man's concept of justice, here's a primer for h. rap brown...

cesar chavez, like many in this tradition, was a dignified person who understood what needed to happen and worked tirelessly to achieve it.  in states like california, cesar chavez day is an official state holiday.  it's not a day off, it's a day on: a chance to celebrate the life of one who left things better than he found it.  this is a very active period as the birthday of francis perkins falls on April 10th so this is a time when many of us are making a big push to have people open their eyes and think about the courageous individuals who have made such tremendous sacrifices to get us where we are.  it's regrettable that the phrase standing on the shoulders of giants has so little meaning now.  our collective attention span is measures in picoseconds, about the lifespan of some physics particles of interest.

it's good that you all browse the real news at the people's portal because the MSM ain't getting the job done.  with two such titanic figures in the movement to better people's lives, what does the post choose to cover?  how best to help the indigent?  more mind control.  this article is a smack in the face.  my favorite line, admittedly taken out of context, but still funny enough to make me shoot coffee out my nose:

Those with satellite and cable subscriptions, as well as those with newer digital TV sets, should not have to do anything to keep watching TV.

yes, that would be a good outcome for them wouldn't it?  another gem can be found on the second page where a general discussion about the lack of awareness about the impending end fo analog signals yields this hysterical bit of hyperbole:

People are going to start to get super-alarmed and panicked.

that would be funny, if it wasn't so utterly devoid of self-awareness.  televsion, and the "journalists" who appear on it, have as a whole not really been all that good at mobilizing people.  the last time i can seriously remember people being shocked awake was when anderson cooper lost it on tv while reporting on the aftermath of katrina.  and you can see what sort of true mobilization that yielded.  in these times, education about social justice must be done in spite of the media, not because of it.  take a few moments each days this week and do just a bit of digging and learn some new things about someone who really made a difference in people's live. drop me a line and tell me who you were reading about.  we'll summarize it as the week goes on....