"...a kind of rustic enhancement." Her bicycle, that is.

It's still another bicycle chic in NY article from the Times. Watch the slide show; a few of the items are sorta charming....

Grewal astounds again!

Posted by John Wilcockson of VeloNews in CO or perhaps Las Vegas at midnight last night, 50 year-old Alexi Grewal, badboy bike racer and prophet, is taking up where he left off decades ago. I had just heard from the guys at Turin Bike Shop that he'd ridden a mountain bike in an arduous paved-and-dirt-road race in the mountains (Crooked Roubaix) on flat pedals and hiking boots - and finished well. I think this might be for real. Honestly, I hope it is....

Thanks, John G, for the heads-up! Allez, Alexi!!

Abandoned velodrome discovered in Detroit...and you can race on it - if you dare

This big-attitude piece is from big-attitude Hell for Leather, a motorcycle web site with an east coast flavor. Read the piece and check out the photo gallery. See if you want to ride a scooter, moped or road bicycle on this track....

Old Farts Ride photos by Several Old Farts

Sunday, October 12th, in Danville CA: the start of the annual Old Farts Ride, originally a yearly reunion for '60s bike racers but thankfully extended to welcome latecomers like this blogger. Here's a link to more photos of riders and friends and a few bikes. Enjoy!

Young man in Yorkshire recyling auto seatbelts into...

Toe-straps! Imagine, a decade into the new Millennium, this guy is making...toe-straps! Next he'll recycle old smartphones into those steering wheel knobs with hottie photos in them.

This Guardian blogger's commute got longer...and longer

So he asked his readers for suggestions on how to make his 10-miles-each-way commute more fun... And the comments/answers? Brilliant! They're not (most of them) about fun. They're about... well, take a look. Read the blog and click on the comments.

"I thought I'd hit an animal," the Escalade driver said,

"but when I got home, there was a bicycle stuck underneath my car."

The young lady she hit was 30 and the Green Party candidate for US Senate from Maryland. From the Baltimore Sun....

The race of truth

Here's an unusual NY Times piece about how we do and how we think about it.

Not much joy from latest distracted driver statistics

Here they are, from the NY Times, with statements from the remarkably sympathetic Ray LaHood, who MUST be a rider, huh? Hoo-ray for Ray!

Bicyclists: Don't Tread on Me!

DVC is Diablo Valley College in the San Francisco East Bay. It's sidewalk cyclists again....

Latest Bicycle Paper piece

Riding with a local non-racing bicycle club, I've learned that many of the club members have acquired few cycling skills and little understanding of how to operate their (often quite expensive) bicycles. So I wrote this for the Bicycle Paper and after asking permission, offered it to our local advocacy group, BikeDenver, and to the club, Denver Bicycle Touring Club - for free.

BikeDenver will use the piece on their web site and in their newsletter, I'm told. Denver Bicycle Touring Club has not responded to my three emails, not entirely a surprise.

Hope you enjoy the piece. It's about how to use bicycle gears. It's not intended for beginners, but for regular riders who've never figured it out.

About to leave

Here I am on my Suzuki, about to leave the September 12th Old Farts Ride. I'm in Danville CA, headed for Mountain View CA, to visit with Tamar's brother and his bride of not-yet a year.

I look like I've bowed my head in prayer, hoping for a safe trip. But no. I've just started my bike and I'm probably checking the odometer mileage for a hint of my fuel level.

This is a Steve Yee photo. Steve is a bicyclist and motorcyclist or he might not bothered taking this shot. I have dozens of other OFR photos, a few of which I'll share soon.

He dreamt of a...bicycle

Great story from Nicholas Kristof in the NY Times this morning.

Who wants a 50lb bicycle? Thousands do. Millions, maybe....

Can you hear me now? Of course, I'm on a land line....

From the LA Times, a wry, well written piece about telephones by Stephen Randall, deputy editor of Playboy.

As the Sept 12th Old Farts Ride approaches...

The ride hosts and coordinators are John and Tena G, of Danville California. The ride is an annual event. I've missed at least a decade of them, living as I have in Arizona and now Colorado. Here's a note Tena sent today to the OFR listers. I'm putting it up on my blog page to give you an idea of the bonds that existed then and still exist now among old bike riders. FYI: I know some of these folks and don't know others. Most raced in the Bay Area and/or nationally in the '60s and '70s.

Sept 4th, 2010

Everyone asks if Bob Tetzlaff and David Brink are coming. I called and talked to Bob Tetzlaff and David Brink this morning. Bob will be here and David is 90% sure but he drives a double trailer truck for Fed Ex. He and his driving partner had just been in PA and were in Texas when I talked to him this AM.

Mike Cone is coming from Hawaii, Ken Spears is coming from Anchorage, Jon (Schneider) Longcore and Allan Tinkham from Albuquerque, Tony McMillan from British Columbia, Maynard Hershon from Denver, Bruce Schatmeir from Portland, Bill Tout and Karl Schneck from Ashland, OR and many locals!!! Ed Kinney just moved back from Virginia and will be coming. George Dyer from Montana too.

So far, we have 84 yes's. And I just sent another email to the no's to reconsider and to the people who have not responded at all yet. If there is someone you'd like to see, please let me know their name and I can forward you their contact information and let you know if they are coming or not.

Some of you were "probably" coming so I hope that this helps persuade you to come. See you next Sunday.

Tena G

Tamar after dinner at Kerry's in Golden; Maynard and his Suzuki dual-sport at Wondervu, CO

That's Tamar at our friend Kerry's after our barbecue dinner the night before the Four-Stroke Single Nat'l Owners Club Thumper Cafe in Wondervu.
Yep, that's my blue tank and the tip of my saddle. Tamar and I are in the foothills in scenic Wondervu, 40 miles from our Denver home. That's my old Nolan flip-front helmet on one of its last outings. Sigh. Kinda nice with the yellow helmet and the yellow umbrellas behind me....

In the stands at the 2010 Indy MotoGP

In Corey's shot, this is Tamar and I high in the stands at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. We're luckily sitting in the shade on an oppressively hot and humid day. We sat just above turns two and three, where the big first-lap crashes occurred in the Moto2 event, if you watched the racing on your TV.

On my wrist, you see a red Ducati band, allowing me access to the huge Ducati pavilion, maybe six or seven tents huge. Ducati does a great job of boosting the brand at events all over the country.

...this land was made for you and me.

Timothy Egan in the NY Times writing about the huge, spectacular areas of the country that are preserved by law for you and me. Inspiring reading.

The dependably brilliant John Wilcockson on Laurent Fignon

From VeloNews Online. Enjoy.