when i am not bringing the powerful, revolutionary word to the people, or bending my back, toiling alongside my brother and sister campesinos in the field, or fighting the tyranny of the status quo, i like to look at internet cat pictures.

my LOLmanifesto will be the next great iteration in collective organizing and social engineering.  it will completely transform the language and modes of our efforts.  it will be like staring directly into a rainbow....

okay, you're a major media outlet and you decide you want to write a major media article about how unsafe the city is.  using your standard major media techniques and sitting at your major media desk, you go through your stock photography (natch!) to find images which really drive home the point.  remember your plot points: summer, crime, danger, violence, neighborhood.

i'm frankly rather mystefied over what the editors of the post are seeking to convey here.  and i'm not being deliberately obtuse to make a point.  is the person on the bike supposed to represent danger, or be an embodiment of violence?  is the issue that he's riding on the sidewalk while families are playing?  that makes no sense.  i'm not sure how the photo helps to validate the "plenty of evidence" assertion.  what is going on here?

if you crash and bend your crank on a fixie
and you cannot bend it back on the street,
then you cannot ride home pedaling in half-circles
nor can you roll it home
you will carry it

Any thinking person who has bothered to look at it will find the ranking system developed by the governing body for cycling to be so statistically suspect, it’s just laughable.  The universe of sanctioned races from which the statistics are drawn is so small, the measurement is meaningless.  I’d like to blame USA Cycling for this (and I do, insofar as the fact that they invented the system), but the fault really lies with who isn’t reporting race results.  Well, that, and which results count, as determined by the powers that be. And what’s up with the points system they’ve made up?  It’s a mystery. 

 

Nonetheless, as a sort of joke, I like checking out the ranking every now and then, just to see how far down (or up) the list they have me.  Indeed, for several years, based on the one or two race results that managed to get into the system, I was number one in my zip code – first as a Cat 5, then as a Cat 4.  Somebody who doesn’t know how meaningless the ranking is could be forgiven for being impressed by that.

 

The system is responsive at least, constantly recalculating the results.  Why, just this morning, I noticed they had the wrong zip code for me.  The simple act of updating that number moved me from number 1 to number 2 in my zip code for Masters, and from number 7 to number 2 in Cat 4 road racing.  Victory can't be too far behind!

 

The problem is this:  When there’s crap being entered into the system, there’s crap that comes out.  In my case, the one crit result they have listed for me is Carl Dolan, where indeed I’m listed in 21^st place in the Masters 40-49 race.  This, despite the fact that I did not even participate in that race!  From the ridiculous to the sublime.  It has been suggested to me that this system of standings also show that Clinton has more delegates then Obama; I think it's more like Kucinich has beaten them all to the line.

 

-- posted by Chris

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