Team Lope Tyre Clubbe

Of course I’m referencing Kramer here, but anyway…

…here’s one of those tales you come across here and there about overkill on the part of the cops when coming down on a driver, making up infractions or utilizing the catchall ‘reckless driving’ excuses, coming up with 4 or 5 things to cite you for in a single stop… but here it’s on a bicyclist, and from the admittedly one-sided version below, it’s flagrant and untoward:

http://www.animalnewyork.com/2012/this- … ooks-like/

Not that i think all cops are on the attack. I’m personally very pro-police. I’m just anti-meanie.

This treatise on Friends of TLTC Drunk Cyclist’s site had me at "Like if a robot was riding a bike, cupcakes wouldn’t matter.”

http://drunkcyclist.com/2012/06/27/cupcakes-powertap/

remember a while ago when i reported on the SPECIALIZED PURIST WATER BOTTLE? well, apparently i wasn’t the only one stoked on it’s advances beyond basic bottle "tech," because MASH now OFFERS them, branded and featuring their often-used SF topo map, however this time, it’s only the north half of the city, which, as stated on their blog, "hosts some of the cities [sic] steepest city streets." the cap is specialized’s "mo-flo," which delivers 50% more water per squeeze than other valves, and has a removable poppet for easy cleaning. this is listed on the site as being for summer, which begs whether or not they’ll offer the watergate cap or big mouth cap in different seasons, or just leave it up to you.

i’ve wanted to get a couple purists for a while now, and even though i feel like this would kind of over-MASHify my bike, the technology used in the purists, along with the graphic being the half of the city in which i live, is a really big selling point, so i’m nearly certain that i’ll snap two up when they’re back in stock.

i think THIS is totally rad. described on their site as "an analog take on what strava can do for cyclists. by marking MASH approved climbing sections, sprint sections, and course markers, riders can share their adventures on the road with these small placards."

this is another step in MASH’s beautiful journey from a rag-tag handful of messengers and savages to a legit crew of dedicated cyclists pushing the limits, while keeping it grass-roots. i really, REALLY respect this crew.

So swaggery I had to go around the block and shoot it twice. Mountain bike camp with a LIMO DEPLOYMENT VEHICLE.

Go Tam Bikes!

I’ve written about how my ‘FAP’ or Front Atachment Plate, connecting the tongue of the Xtracycle Free Radical frame to the main bike frame was a short term solution, requiring something more robust going forward. I looked into cannibalizing the guts of a comfort saddle, and a few other ideas, but in each case what makes the scheme infeasible is just how tight that area is to work with. The plate system I used to start with only had a few mm clearance from the chain in the second ring, and no clearance in the granny gear, and that doesn’t even include chain bounce. Each direction, you have a very tiny area to work with to create this assembly to fix the tongue in all directions.

My fabricator became available, and came over last week for a design session. He’s an extremely knowledgable builder and had some great ideas that essentially allowed us to economize the shape I had sketched by about 40% or more. The clearances were a concern. He estimated that he would be having to do some hand filing to get the shape to fit around the stays securely and clear the derailleur, assuming we can’t move the derailleur up a spell as it is. So, today he came over to collect the bike and get going, as we had agreed it would make sense for him to have the bike to fiddle with and improvise as needed that fitment. The shapes are made, it’s just time to get the thing assembled.

Wee-Z seemed concerned, also delighted, at Longjohn being loaded up into this truck and hauled off. She kept asking me where it was going, and I said I had Longjohn committed. But fromthere, she started saying SHE was committed. So I expect a call from the state any day now.

Anyway, we appear to be on track for the hopeful deadline of next week, as Wee-Z and I are scheduled to be in the 4th of July parade thereon.

This Public press release was about… uh… well.. something…
I got as far as the first pic on the left and rebooted.
Kernal PANIC.

http://blog.publicbikes.com/2012/06/cal … dium=email

This may be what we saw hints of in MASH’s recent overseas tour photos… a new collaboration between the boys and Cinelli, this time on a cross version of their signature frameset. I’d have liked to have seen disc mounts, and hope for a variant scheme (perhaps the California bear paint from their race Zydecos) but still, pretty rad!

http://prollyisnotprobably.com/2012/06/ … scx-frame/

I love the MASH bulls, no question.
But these might be the prettiest bars ever to adorn a CinelliXMash frame.
No breaks…

Available here:
http://shop.mashsf.com/products/scatto- … track-drop

I’ve been practicing my opposing skid lately, with some small successes. I can get it on a bit of a skid hop, and sometimes for longer periods out of the saddle, if I’m on Crook Type 3 with the long bulls I can only maintain it for a second, but I’m working on it. I’m really craving ambidextrous skidding so I don’t have to wait for the right leg to be in the right place for a proper skid, say under duress.

It reminds me of trying to learn the drums: getting parts of your body to perform tasks with timing that seems really uncomfortable until it isn’t. Or, razor shaving your scalp in the mirror. Similar.