Google maps has added biking directions and an overlay layer to see bike paths and recommended streets, cool! In the past I’ve used the walking directions to get the most appropriate route on bike, but this is much more detailed.
My fair city of Hattiesburg MS shows the Longleaf Trace Rails to Trails, but no recommended streets. I wonder if they lack the data… or that they recommend no one ride on the streets here. My future home of Austin however shows lots of data. Check the official video for more info:
Cyclelicious posted this earlier, I think this is extremely important as it concerns the rights of cyclists everyone, and especially those in Texas.
Richard summed it up about as good as one can, so I’ll quote him:
I am part of a group trying to raise funds for a worthy cause, a fight against an injustice done to a Texas cyclist. Some of you may know him. His name is Reed Bates. Until recently, he penned the ChipSeal blog.
The police have stopped Bates numerous times in and around Ennis, Texas. Most notably, he was arrested and jailed for the ‘crime’ of riding a bicycle on the road. He was riding on the roadway, not the shoulder, so the county sheriff’s department decided he had to be taught a lesson.
In short, he was arrested and convicted of impeding traffic while operating a bike on public roads. I don’t have to tell anyone what a horrible precedent this sets for us in a world already hostile to our rights.
Reed is now working on an appeal and needs our help to do so, I urge everyone to chip in what they can.
It’s no secret that riding a bike instead of taking a car is good for your health, wallet, and the planet. But just how good is it? One number crunching cyclist decided to find out.
Jonathan, who runs CarFree.us took a look at 36 days he either biked or took the bus. I recommend reading the whole article, but the highlights are:
$471.49 saved in gas, registration, insurance and maintenance
In a previous life I dabbled in race cars a bit. Having seen what goes into the design of certain cars, it is interesting to see this video detailing the design of a Scott time trial bike and all the details they must consider. For being much less complex than a car, the design process is no less involved.
This morning I saw a really cool cargo rack posted on Urban Velo. Dubbed the Half Rack, this one has a really great feature in that it doesn’t require any braze ons like most front racks. It mounts up top on your brake caliper bolt, and on the bottom to the QR skewer or axle bolt. This is great for lots of bikes that would normally require lots of clamps (which is how my current front rack mounts).
It can be a bit sad when you sell a bike. Yesterday I sold my 2008 Giant Sedona to a co-worker.
I purchased it new in May of 08 as a way of getting around while I fixed my car. I enjoyed riding a lot, but assumed that would lessen once the car was fixed.
That car never got fixed or replaced.
The Giant became my only means of transportation; it got me to work when it was 100+ or snowing, took me on my first “long” ride of 80 miles, and a couple overnight camping trips. For a simple comfort bike, it wore a lot of hats and handled a lot of abuse.
After buying my Schwinn, I never rode it again, so selling it was not a hard choice. A co-worker was interested in getting a bike and was threatening to buy something from Wal-Mart. I convinced him that spending a little more on a used bike would be better for him. I hope he enjoys it.
Goodbye my old friend, we’ve seen a lot of miles together…
I don’t buy energy gel that often, but when I do it tends to be a costly purchase. At $1.25 locally, they add up very quickly. I was happy to see this video posted at Confessions of a Bike Junkie detailing a quick and easy way to make your own. He claims it’s 1/5 the cost of commercial gels and better for you because it’s all natural. I’ll have to give this one a try.
I’ve been using a set of Rivendell Wool Semi-Tights for cold weather rides for a couple months now and I feel I’ve had them long enough to write up a review. As I transition from purely recreational/commuting riding into randonneuring and serious training rides, I started to acquire real cycling clothes.
The one part I was lacking was something for my legs on cold days. Normally I would just wear jeans, but that can get uncomfortable after a certain distance and doesn’t do such a good job of keeping out the cold. I finally made the decision to buy some tights to wear over my newly acquired cycling shorts. I looked all over to find a good set but could not decide on what to get. After looking at all the lycra/spandex options out there, I decided to check out wool.
Wool has a reputation of insulating even when wet and being great at wicking away moisture from your skin. Rivendell had a set of what they call semi-tights, which are not as skin tight as a normal set, but still very snug. When they are on they don’t look much different than any other set of tights so they don’t look out of place in comparison to other clothing.
My first ride was a late December ride I made at 5:00am. It was 20F outside and I was skeptical I would stay warm. The ride started out a bit uncomfortable, but a couple miles in I felt fine. These did a great job of keeping out the cold. A couple hours later I was very impressed.
I’ve also worn them under my work pants several times on really cold commutes. They performed very well for that. The only issue I had was when worn under jeans, they picked up a lot of lint that no roller could remove. I spent a lot of time picking bits of fuzz off with my hand one-by-one. I suppose that’s just the nature of wool though.
Most recently I wore them on the entirety of the Mardi Gras 200k brevet. The temperature ranged from the low 30’s into the mid 50’s. They kept my legs nice and warm in the cold as expected. Mid-day they got very warm but because of how well it wicked away sweat, it was never uncomfortable.
The only bad thing I can say about them is that they do tend to ride up a little in the cuffs which leave your ankles exposed if your socks are not long enough. This happened on the brevet but never became an issue for me. Perhaps in colder weather this would be something to consider.
At $55 these tights are very reasonably priced. While I can’t compare with synthetic versions, I can say that I’m impressed with how well these have performed. I recommend these if you need something to keep the cold away from your lower half.
I’ve been using a set of 
