Friday Funnies - Stuck Like Glue

Laughter is the best medicine.



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What Exit Do You Live Off Of? - Jersey Edition

With the return of warm weather, at least for cyclists, some of may be considering upgrading your current collection of cycling jerseys.  Or for those of you who are starting to cycling seriously and riding significant distances you may be thinking about investing some clothing more suited for cycling.  After many years of cycling for transportation I started riding recreationally and bought some shorts and jerseys.

As a rule I stay away from cycling team jerseys and full kits: shorts and a jersey.  Lets face it unless you are a paid rider for the team its kind of a pointless jersey. The same goes for jerseys that are nothing more than billboards for companies.  Are you being paid to do this? If the answer is no, then don’t provide free advertising. Personally I tend to stick with solid colors and or something with a truly unique graphic design.

However in a somewhat snarky article I found on Gizmodo; Nine Cycling Jerseys that are Totally Unacceptable, that introduced me to the concept of novelty cycling jerseys. There were definitely several that caught me eye and I hope to purchase in the future.

The Star Trek jersey spoke out to the Science Fiction and Star Trek fan in me. I’d love to see some sort of group ride with a few of the lead riders in the blue(science) and gold (command) jerseys with the main bulk of the riders wearing the ever expendable red jerseys of security.

As a child I loved to watch the Speed Racer cartoons, the Mach 5 was capable of doing amazing things in races that were beyond all imagination. As well as the mystery of Racer X. The Speed Racer jersey is a great way to let your inner child have a voice.

For those of you who are a budget conscious or looking for something more iconic. Then all you need is a white cotton t-shirt and some iron on letters to make your “Cutters” jersey from the film classic “Breaking Away”.

With a little imagination and an Internet search you’ll be amazed what you can find. Amazon and E-bay have some very unique designs available if you spend a few minutes searching. Let your jersey speak for your personality instead of a team or corporation.

Friday Funnies - Fiat

Some times you just have to laugh.

What happened to the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia?

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Over the years the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia has evolved and changed. Gone are the days when it was once an organization that boldly advocated bicycling and the rights for cyclists to ride on the streets of Philadelphia. Once they took on city government and local media, now they surrender giving away more than the end result is worth. What was once an organization that prided itself on building a community within Philadelphia is now more concerned about placating its wealthy suburban and urban donor base.

The early signs of decay occurred when Philadelphia Inquirer opinion writer and professional grumpy old man Stu Bykofsky started writing columns in 2009 about how bike lanes and bikes caused congestion, all cyclists broke the law by either riding on the sidewalk or running red lights. The BCGP attempted to educate Mr. Bykofsky, which he turned into more material for his columns. The slightest hesitation or misstatement was a sign that the BCGP was lying.

At the same time a various members of the Philadelphia City Council attempted to pass bills that were intended to take punitive action against cyclists. Attempts included banning fixed gear bikes, levy $1000.00 fines against the owners, and register bicycles like cars complete with license plates. When all of these failed, the city council upped the ante by creating a bill in 2011 that would allow Philadelphia City Council to make the final decision regarding the installation of any bicycle lane that would remove parking or a lane of travel for cars.

In an effort to hide what the city council was attempting the bill was announced the just before the 2011 Memorial Day weekend and held the vote a few days after the weekend had passed. The BCGP marshaled its resources and prevented this bill from passing. In 2012 the Philadelphia City Council introduced the same bill using the same tactics, this time the bill passed with the blessing of the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia. In return the BCGP got some inclusion of pedestrians and cyclists on to the Philadelphia Complete Streets bill and that cars parked in bicycle lanes would be ticketed.

By giving the Philadelphia City Council complete control over the installation of future bicycle lanes they could easily turn Philadelphia into patchwork system of partial bicycle lanes that connect to nowhere. Whether the Philadelphia Police Department and Parking Authority will ticket cars parked in bicycle lanes remains questionable at best.

The BCGP is starting to lose its credibility to speak and act on behalf on the cyclists who live and work within Philadelphia. 

Gone in 30 Seconds

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Sometimes bicycle theft happens so quickly, just a quick snip with a bolt cutter and no one even notices. Other times it can be incredibly obvious and no one is going to even bother to call the police. In the past a statement like this would have been hard to prove, but with the creation of YouTube, now it’s just a matter of waiting for someone to post a video.

Since a picture is worth a thousand words then video must be worth 10,000 words. Want to see how fast a bike can be stolen watch the video below; the thief walks in, checks for anyone watching him, and rides off with the bike.

While I feel for the person who had this bike. Even if your bicycle is within arms length of you all it takes is a few distracted moments and your bike is gone. Always lock your bicycle to something; taking it inside is no protection from theft.

In 2005 Casey Neistat and his brother Van locked their bicycle in a series of locations with lots of pedestrians and proceeded to steal it using a variety of tools; hacksaws, bolt, cutters, and a grinder. To see if anything would happen, not only did nothing happen, one person even offered advice when he was using a hammer and chisel.

In 2012 at the invitation of the New York Times Casey Neistat went back and tried this again to see if anything had changed. This time in addition to the same tools from last time, he stole his bike in front of a police station and had a black friend steal his bike. At one point the police actually show up, but only after he spent 9 minutes cutting a bike lock with a grinder. Although with a cutting wheel on the grinder it would have taken him two minutes.

Owning a bicycle means at some point it will get stolen and there are things you can do to make it as difficult as possible to steal. So a potential thief will move on to another target, any cable lock or chain you buy in hardware store can be cut with a bolt cutter. You need to invest in a high quality Kryptonite u-lock or chain, Kryptonite rates its locks based on the level of security you need.