We’re here in Chicago for the NACCCs and have been wandering around talking with people and shooting as much as possible. Extensive photo coverage will follow, but here is simply a teaser. The racing throughout the qualifiers was competitive and gave a glimpse of the extent of the main race tomorrow. Polo is doing quite well, with stadium lighting allowing the 35+ registered teams from across the continent to play into the night. Suffice it to say, a good time is being had all around. “Welcome to Chicago!” We’re thrilled to be here.
Update: The polo gallery has since been posted.
Urban Velo may officially run on the unorthodox combination of punk rock and hip-hop, but we have a soft spot for any and everything music and bicycle related. From September 10-20, Milwaukee singer-songwriter Peter Mulvey will again take to his bike for a concert tour around Southeast Wisconsin. By biking, rather than driving, the roughly 535 miles to the seven shows on this Wisconsin tour–with mileage ranging from 35 to 95 biked miles a day–he will save .15 metric tons of CO2. While that might not sound like much, take a closer look: a typical seven-show tour for Peter involves driving close to 3,000 miles, and/or an airplane flight, all of which ultimately emit roughly one full metric ton of CO2. So on this tour, he’s saving .15 metric tons vs. emitting one ton, so let’s go for broke and say he’s actually saving 1.15 tons by leaving the car at home. No too shabby for a bike ride. The tour is sponsored by Wheel and Sprocket who not only provided and recumbent bicycle, but also a custom aluminum guitar case. Have at it Peter, we wish you the best!
With thousands of modified versions of their popular Pista track bike on the city streets, Bianchi has decided to save consumers the trouble of adding flat bars and made a new off-the-shelf model available. Bike Hugger also recently posted some photos of the flat bar equipped Pista.
Word on the streets is they’re reintroducing some sweet steel road bikes for 2009, too. For more information in 2009, keep an eye on www.bianchi.com.
Out of the Pacific Northwest comes Traitor Cycles, a new entrant to the urban cycling market. Concentrating on high end steel, the initial offering consists of two frames, the fixed Ringleader and a disc-only ‘cross bike, the Ruben. Soon to follow are a pair of lugged frames and a full line of components.
Traitor Cycles is a spin-off of the rider owned Transition Bikes and promises to bring the lessons learned through a few years of creating freeride bikes to the pavement. We expect good things from Traitor, and will be taking a closer look at the new bikes in a few weeks at Interbike.
Thats right, this weekend both of us from Urban Velo, that’s Jeff and Brad, will be attending the NACCCs in Chicago. Catch us at the polo tournament, the racing events or maybe even a party or two if you can. We’ll have copies of the magazine with us, but more importantly would love to meet any readers living in or visiting the windy city.
From bikeradar.com:
A Buckingham cyclist was fined £2,200 on Tuesday after being convicted of dangerous cycling in the town, an incident leading to the death of 17 year old Rhiannon Bennett, say BBC reports.
…
The charge of dangerous cycling is the most serious cycling-specific offence and carries a maximum fine of £2500 but no prison term can be imposed.
The definition is riding so that ‘it would be obvious to a competent and careful cyclist that riding in that way would be dangerous’.
Be sure to read the entire story. It is surely a shame any time a person is injured or killed on the roadways no matter who is ultimately at fault. Keep in mind that minor fines are commonplace as the penatly to motorists who kill cyclists and pedestrians due to their own negligence once the anti-bike crowd starts calling for our heads.
This coming Monday, September 1st, there will be a team-based test of pirate olympiate-esque-ness. The event is a fundraiser for the Women’s Center & Shelter of Greater Pittsburgh.
For more information, visit www.pghpiratebike.com.
Here’s an interesting, albeit slightly odd looking, take on urban transportation. According to Tim the Masi Guy, “We still have some development to do on this and it IS NOT (currently) intended for the US market; this is a special custom bike produced solely for our Japanese distributor.”
“Mini-Velo is a “huge” category in Japan and some other Asian markets. The bikes are smaller, which works with a population of smaller riders. But it is also very popular with commuters because the bikes are much easier to carry on to buses or trains and easier to take into an office or apartment. In Japan especially, space is very limited, so compactness is very important.”
Get more info over at Tim The Masi Guy’s blog.
Last issue Wheelgirl.com sponsored a t-shirt contest where winners received a set of Phil Wood hubs. Greg from Brooklyn ended up taking home the grand prize, but there was certainly some tough competition.
Check out all the cool designs that were submitted over at Wheelgirl.com.
A while back we let you know that Tim De Frisco would be shooting some Denver bike messenger portraits. The shots are up on his blog and the results are pretty impressive.
The new issue comes out September 1st! Subscribe now and we’ll mail your print copy as soon as they come off the press.
Last week I learned of Brady Clark and Mykle Hansen’s invention, the Speed-Vest. The idea is that the cyclist’s speed is displayed on their back, which in turn shows motorists that bicycles aren’t slowing down traffic all that much. The speed vest got me thinking, “What other messages could this be used for?”
Urban Velo contributor Andy Singer recently called me to ask if I knew anyone who imported Christiania Cargo Bikes to the United States. (If anyone knows, please post a comment below.)
Although I had heard a little about the amazingly well-engineered cargo bikes, I knew very little about their origins. Which led Andy to tell me a little about Freetown Christiania. The town, formerly a military base, is a car-free part of Copenhagen. Home to activists, pacifists and purveyors of alternative lifestyles, Chrisitiania is also the subject of much controversy (especially with regard to liberal drug use and resistance to government intervention).
Check out www.christianiabikes.com for more information.
Our woman on the streets, Jen from Cycle Jerks, just filed a report from the Democratic National Convention in Denver. On the good side, there’s some great art being exhibited and 1000 bikes on the streets, free for anyone to use.
On the negative side, there are so many cops they don’t know what to do with themselves. They do know how to use their police issue mace, though…
Rather than repost it all here, just get it straight from the Cycle Jerks website.
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