Big bikes...

I've had an interest in so called 'utility' bikes since i saw the xtracycle, but said interest has been tempered by how many flights of stairs i'd have to carry it up or how i'd convince my lovely girlfriend that a huge bike in the house was a good idea...

however, there is a possibility that i'll have a garage soon and subsequently all the space i need to indulge my wildest bike dreams (maybe not the funds tho...). dreams that could also include a 'real' road bike with gears and EVERYTHING and save my karate monkey from it's 'for sale' status at my LBS...

anyway, as i don't drive (and don't wish to) i think the whole utility thing is a viable option (if you have space) and the inclination.

i was impressed with the kona ute on first view - now i'm not so sure, i love the surly big dummy - but perhaps not the price and the grandaddy of them all the xtracycle is always worth consideration...

so, i have found some amazing info at 'out there biking' but i'm wondering if anyone out there reading this (if in fact anyone is reading) has an opinion...

The pictured beauty by Tony Pereira is from here btw.

The end of the war

i've always found bike snob humourous, i don't necessarily agree all the time, but i guess that's the point...

i did find this one particularly funny though...

Ah... spring is here...

or it was yesterday morning, bright blue skies, crisp air... i beamed all the way in.

we're back to rain and grey now. but hey, it perked me up no end, made me realize that cycling home in daylight is only around the corner!

i did have one 'hiccup' yesterday though, a bit of a run in with a taxi driver, in that he was determined to run in to me. i had made the mistake of being in the right lane, but sadly the same lane as the taxi which wanted to turn left into london bridge station. he couldn't wait a couple of seconds, hell no, he sat on my tail, quite literally.

so, as you can imagine, i kept peering over my shoulder.

as he turned, he shouted 'you got a problem?'

i have quite a few, i need to stop smoking, i perhaps drink too much, i like chocolate and pretty much anything that's bad for me... and i hate the way donkeys like you treat cyclists.

sadly, i didn't have much time, so i just shouted 'yeh, why are you driving so fucking close to me?'

to much his witty rebuke was a muppet-esque hand movement, i believe suggesting i was 'all mouth'.

this got my goat somewhat (and to be honest i had a bit of a shitty day) so i got off my bike and waited on the road i knew he'd come down after dropping his passenger. sure enough, he comes down the road a few minutes later, sees me, smiles and drives straight past.

okay, let me get this straight, i'm all mouth, so here i am, let's discuss why you feel the need to push us into the margins, why
you feel the need to drive so dangerously, what you think your passenger is thinking of you right now...

now i'm no fighter and i wasn't looking for any kind of comeback further than a few well chosen words, or badly chosen obscenities. but you didn't provide any, you scuttled off in your metal cage. well done big man... full of the joys of spring...

Pedestrians

please stop (and look and listen for that matter).

twice today, yes, twice, i narrowly avoided hitting people. the first, at london bridge decided to run across the road as the lights changed. i foolishly thought they'd stop when they saw me, no, they ran, panicked a bit, froze, then had another pop... cue screeching of brakes, sliding and a glancing blow. nothing to hurt, but enough to scare the shit out of me (and them).

then tonight, 50M from the same spot, a bunch of people decide to cross after the cars in front of me (oh yeah, the wait for them). they don't rush, they dawdle, now what am i supposed to do? this is downhill, the road is wet, i brake, slide (again) and slow... what do i get? vacant, empty, dead eyes...

PLEASE stop doing this it's fucking dangerous for both of us (believe me it will hurt if hit you, i'll make sure of it), just treat me like a car, i'm supposed to be there, you're not.

The tabloids...

... had a field day with the whole cameron thing. don't get me wrong, i think the guy is a prick and the whole ride a bike with a car behind is indefensible...

BUT

and it's a reasonably large but, i won't condemn his actions on his route in. fuck, i would have jumped the light he stopped at.

i think people need to realise that you have to ride aggressively, or is that defensively, in london.

pushing yourself to the front is the only way to avoid the inevitable scrum that has no thought for your safety.

anyway, velorution as always hasve a very informed take on this.

oh...and please, you've got money, get a decent ride.

Top tips

yet more top tips from the wonderful commute by bike site

It's spring

so why, when we're eating easter eggs, is it snowing,hailing and generally being weird?

i got caught in a biblical hailstorm on friday after stopping off to buy chocolate products, then it's snowed pretty much all weekend. i'm not going to bang on about global warming and perhaps suggest that you all use bikes more than your 'gas guzzlers' - but - i will say 'this is weird...'

and i didn't get to clean surly (again)

Be aggressive

I always thought aggressive riding made sense, not in the traditonal fitness rider sense where you career past everyone (in your football socks and massive white trainers) in a reckless fashion...

no, something more sensible, taking control, trying to remove dangers... anyways, commute by bike have done a very good job of explaining what i mean... so, i can duck out and get a beer now... cheers to Tim Grahl!

how many fucking times...

i know you hate me.

i know you think i'm dangerous.

i know you won't believe we don't all wear luminous lycra whilst fantasizing that we're ascending that col...

but please do believe this:

I AM NOT THE DANGER. YOU HAVE SEVERAL TONS OF METAL, AN ENGINE AND AN ATTITUDE. STOP IT.

we're not all smug, believe it or not, i ride my bike because i enjoy it, not because i have swampy/eco warrior fantasies. i don't set out to annoy motorists, i do enjoy passing them, but hey! you could do that too if you ditched the car. i don't take risks, but i do make moves to get me out of your way.

stop this shit, there is no reason for motorists to hate cyclists and constantly bleat about them, we jump the odd red light, we push to the front (for our own safety) and some of us *gulp* wear lycra.

get a grip, you're driving a polluting, lethal, hunk of metal with scant regard for your own or other's safety. let's think about this one.

oh! and the article that prompted this is here

gleamed from cyclelicio.us

Day 1

well... day 1 of the experiment didn't go too well, i chose not to document this morning's journey foolishly thinking my puny mind would remember this evening... on the sofa... with a beer...

don't get me wrong, i remember bits, i remember the bus on commercial street that sped past so close that i'm sure it nearly clipped my ear, i remember the pedestrian... oh, hang on was that yesterday...

on the way home similar happened, i got in, had a shower, opened a beer, had my chicken noodle soup that the lovely keito kindly made... watched millionaire... now my mind is peppered, rather than rammed.

i do remember the woman who pulled out in front of me, who i cussed and then realised she had plenty time, it was just the way she toyed with her hair whilst driving that annoyed...

anyway, what i'm getting to is...

i think this day-to-day annoyance, frustration and general cussing is becoming just that, day-to-day and subsequently instantly forgettable. this does make me sad, i have moments (on velo) where i become deeply, deeply depressed by the inconsideration, the lack of care, the desire to maim because you're simply 'in the way' but i also have moments where i'm deliriously happy to be on two wheels, not four, or more,or tracks... which i have to do tomorrow, i'm already dreading it, the £7.80 charge and the angry commuters...

so, what i'm saying is, does the annoyance cancel out the joy? or do they create a weird equilibrium? i dunno... i'm just a cyclist...

i still plan to make a 'cock chart' and i still plan to document this... i guess i just need to... umm... plan things a little better...

This is a test

Gleamed from velorution (again) very nice bit of work...

Stop, look AND listen

mr pedestrian, you hate us, we're dangerous, we jump red lights... we're evil... you're innocent, blameless... now please climb down from your ivory tower...

when you cause a pile up with two cyclists (my workmate and her partner), please have the common decency to stop, perhaps see if everyone is okay and maybe even help them lift themselves and their mangled steeds out of the danger zone.

you caused it, have some decency you steaming pile of shit.

then you can climb back up and start raving about the biggest threat to streets of london... ummm... the cyclist... grrrr... or something scary... like rrraahhhh....

I appreciate the sentiment...

.. and the beautiful artwork.

insightful and often profound strips at yehuda moon

Real Statisics & Facts (Idiot Percentiles)

once again i find myself apologizing to the ether (and perhaps one or two people who MIGHT still check my blog...). i've been slack with this blog...

i have a home with the lovely keito, i'm taking legal action against the kind person who owned my last one and trying to gather some cash (to replace the ridiculous amounts i've spent finding said home).

all my other big priorities have taken a back seat, with the exception of beer and cigarettes - they've become close friends, especially bikes, they've fallen by the wayside (no pun intended). Zeus (as you may have seen) has moved on to the great velodrome in the sky, karate monkey is about to go on ebay and hopefully to new owner who can do him justice...

this leaves me and cross check... he's in a new mode, as my only bike he has to be more comfortable, he's flexing some straight bar action and some rather lovely new levers from paul comp.

we're quite happy together... but we'll be happier when my new airnimal arrives and zeus gets reincarnated (he's more of a donor) :-)

anyway, i've got some big plans this year to document the high concentration of dicks on the roads. ultimately i'd like to take some video footage of the worst i see, but in the meantime i plan to create some cock charts, i.e. capture with graphic devices the number of times i feel the need to say 'cock' on my commute, then offset it against the percentages... i.e whether it was deserved or was i just being plain mardy (this will be judged after the ride, coffee (or beer) in hand),

so, check back, we'll see what the stats say...

oh! i used it a lot today, especially at the taxi driver, who turned in on me, then indicated, then looked... i'm sure that's the wrong way round...