bike friendly, redefined

how we did the live from harlan episode

pretty high tech, eh?

dallas county supervisor mark hanson joins the whiner's club

bikeiowa.com has posted a story about dallas county supervisor mark hanson, in which he whines about being perceived as "anti biker."

take a moment to read it...

okay, good, thanks.

wah! wah! wah!

my guess he would describe himself as an "avid cyclist," which further proves my point.

1--NO REAL CYCLIST WOULD HAVE HIS NAME ASSOCIATED WITH SUCH AN ASSININE PROPOSAL. IF HE TRULY IS OPPOSEs IT, HE shOULD HAVE CLEARLY STATED HIS POSITION AT THE MEETING WITH CYCLISTS.

2--THE TOPIC IS ROADS, NOT TRAILS, DUMBASS.

jesus, people like him really piss me off.

QUICK! before they come to their senses!

i swear to god, i've got an official ragby blog--at the register!!
and here's the link to the first post. read it now, before it's too late.

i've been talking about it since day 1

it's your des moines bike kollective at work

doing bike repair and maintenance at the homes of oakridge on a sunday afternoon. see and read all about it here.

anatomy of a team victory

a report from the clear lake road race, by all9yards.com team members chad vandelune and lane anderson:

CHAD VAN DELUNE writes: I don't usually do this, and my writing sucks, but I am so proud of how the cat 1,2 team raced sunday at clear lake that I want to share the race from where I was. five all9 riders (lane, d-lip, jared, kurt, chad), 75 miles, no hills, serious west winds, 1 big loop. Right at the start, Josh madson attacked, and Lane and Lou went with him. We had already decided that if we got into a break with Lou we would not work. It didn't make sense to help drag him to the line when he had no team. So Lane was doing just the right amount of work to keep the break going. Best quote of the weekend, Shrek says "Lane doesn't even work on RAGBRAI". Back in the pack, green was trying to keep the pace steady and protect Jared. Bikes to You seemed to be protecting Sean Walker, but Lee kept attacking. Kurt did a great job covering Lee, and finally about 20 miles into the race, they got a gap. The pack let them get about a 1:30 up the road, and then we decided to keep them there. Bart came back on the motor bike and said 4:45 to the leaders, and 1:00 to the chasers.
This news must have made Lee decide to wait for us, because he and Kurt came back soon after. At this point Jared-- our protected rider--was getting a little nervous. I could tell he was strong and could win the race if we timed it right. This is about when Clark decided he needed to get a chase going to have a chance to win. He finally got away, but by himself. It took the pack a few miles to decide who was going to chase, so he got a good gap.
Finally, Bikes to You decided they would help bring him back, so Dave, Kurt, and I worked with Walker and Tater. We caught him with about 30 miles to go. At this point we didn't know what the time gap was, but still couldn't see them. I talked to Walker, and told him we were pretty happy with our odds in the break, and we were done working. Dave, Kurt, and I had done the Lion's share of work, and i, for one, was starting to cramp.
Then Walker goes to the front and drives it for a good seven miles or so. We thought they were working for him, but it turned out they were trying to get Lee the win.
With about 15 miles to go, Lee attacked hard, right before the cross wind section, and Jared and I both jumped. This was our chance to get Jared across to Lane. Jared was very fresh, and took long pulls--but not too hard. I went to the front and pulled as hard as I could, and then let up to get Lee to pull.
Lee's pulls were very slow and short. I could tell that Jared could ride away from him at any time, but we didn't want to do it to soon.
Then we started seeing some riders up the road. We couldn't tell if it was the break, or some other category. The motor bike finally showed up and gave us splits: "1:15 to the break and 1:45 to the pack." At this point, i knew we could get Jared to the break to help Lane. Jared and I kept getting closer, and when we got within maybe 30 seconds, I told Jared to jump.
I knew he could ride across, but you never know about Lee. He is really good at playing dead.
Jared shot across to the break, and Lee couldn't make it. [This is where I checked out so you will have to get the rest of the story from Lane or Jared.]
LANE ANDERSON continues: When Jared got to us, I made sure he felt good, and then I attacked our group with about 1 mile before the tailwind finish section. This was my plan for 65 miles, even without teammates, because I had done so little work, but having Jared there guaranteed the win.
I got a good gap, and Bart let me know Jared had dropped Lou and was coming up alone. Jared got to me with about 1.5 miles to go and it was celebration time. Thanks, guys. That race was an excellent illustration why cycling is such a great team sport.

dove nel mondo sei? [where in the world are you?]

to my visitor from verona, italy: benvenuto! Spero che vi soggiornò per ascoltare la mia radio show. vorrei sapere cosa pensi. e torna a presto.

clicca qui per il podcast pagina: http://kxno.com/cc-common/podcast/single_podcast.html?podcast=kimwest.xml

grazie di nuovo. arrivederci.

--kim

golden throat at work, the clear lake twilight criteriums

or as governor hedley lamarr said, "work, work, work, work."

episode 6: from my telephone archives

jeffrey bock [l] and bill rumme [r] in the studio
recording episode 6, which can be heard anytime right here.

if you don't listen to my radio show...

kickstand cyclery

enjoy the entire strip, from its beginning

i just hang MY bikes from hooks in the rafters

how i'm spending my weekend

be there! you'll hear and see about it here and here and here.

learn about it here.

bike safety quiz

how many did YOU get wrong?
[answers are given at the bottom of this post. for the love of god, DON'T CHEAT!]
Each year approximately 800 bicyclists are killed, and 600,000 are injured in motor vehicle-related crashes. A bicycle is not a toy: it’s a vehicle. Use the following quiz to test your knowledge of bicycle safety. Click on the following each question to see the answer.
Q1. Are there any times when you don't need to wear a bike helmet?
Q2. Name at least three safe bike riding practices.
Q3. Riding your bike in the dark is dangerous, but if you have to ride at night, what can you do to make yourself more visible to drivers? Name at least three safe bike riding practices.
Q4. What kind of things should you check before beginning to ride?
Q5. Where do most bicycle crashes occur?
Q6. When riding your bike, it is important to stay alert at all times. Name three road hazards you should watch out for.
Q7. Is it OK to ride a bicycle while listening to audio headphones?
Q8. What is the most serious type of injury for cyclists?
Q9. Always be a courteous cyclist. Remember, _________ have the right of way.
Q10. Be safe, Be _________ !
Q11. Always go with the flow of traffic, and stay to the ____________ .
Q12. Before entering a roadway, you should look ______ for traffic.
Q13. Always check _________ you before changing lanes.
Q14. Your bicycle helmet should fit __________ and cover your ___________.
Q15. When making a turn, ___________ your moves to others.

.....

extra credit:

how many ANSWERS did the test constructors* get WRONG?

.....

*test stolen from the FDNY
Answers to the above questions
Q1. No, you should wear a helmet every time you get on a bike.
Q2. 1. Ride single file. 2. Obey traffic signs, signals, and lane markings. 3. Signal your moves to others. 4. Check for traffic at an intersection; 5. Stay alert at all times.
Q3. Wear clothing that reflects the light; make sure your bike has a front headlight that is bright and white; and equip your bike with reflectors on the front and rear, and on the pedals and wheels.
Q4. 1. Inflate your tires properly and check your brakes before riding. 2. Always wear neon, fluorescent or other bright colors when riding during the day. 3. carry your books and other presentations in a bicycle carrier or backpack.
Q5. At intersections.
Q6. Potholes, wet leaves, storm grates, cracks, gravel, etc.
Q7. NO
Q8. Head injuries.
Q9. Pedestrians.
Q10. Seen.
Q11. Right.
Q12. Left-Rignt-Left.
Q13. Behind.
Q14. Snugly/Forehead
Q15. Signal.