North American Handmade Bicycle Show

So I went to the NAHBS yesterday in Nap town. Woke up early to get out there. I saw some interesting stuff. I think I was expecting something a bit different though.

Heres a nice commuter bike. They were all about the front rack.

A bamboo bike. Apparently these are made in developing countries and then sold here in the US.

A nice chain guard detail. Very sophisicated.

An old school style fork from a company out of Fort Collins.


A cool builder from MASS. called Alternative Needs Tranportation. Some really nice commuter bikes with rack and lights. Really nice high end hubs too.

A nice piece from Velo Orange. I really like that basket.

This was one of my favorite things. These guys from Portland, Signal Cycles made this wine rack holder. A really beautiful rack.

There was a lot more there. Tons of 29ers. I don't think I saw one 26 inch wheel there. Really high end commuter, road, and fixed gears. Unfortunately no one really brought out many touring frames or anything new in the cargo arena.

Professional Engineer

So I've created a file of a bike frame in Pro E that's allows me to change the geometry for any rider's dimension. It's limited right now to using 700c wheels, so it's a road bike frame. But I'll be able to plot it out and make a jig from it. More precise than drawing it up in illustrator.Here's the frame without all the construction planes so far. Obviously not done but all the important dimensions are there.

Arts and Crafts

So I got my Adirondack pack basket making materials in the mail yesterday. I need to find a large pot to boil water in so I can stain my reed, but it looks like its going to work out.

I also started looking at geometry for my touring bike frame. I still don't know if I'm going to lug it or just weld it together. My welding and brazing skills are kinds similar: bad. I'm modeling the geometry off the Trek 520 and the Surly Long Haul Trucker. I hope to model it in pro e.

Bike Lanes are Stupid Part III

Ok. So I am taking back my hatred for all bike lanes. I now rep them in the suburbs. It's so nice not to have to dodge hockey mom vans. I rode to my coworkers house this morning via the bikes lanes on guadalupe and parkfield, and I've never had such a pleasant ride through the suburbs.

Sweet Website

Kelly told me about this awesome website.

So far I've seen stuff on bike touring, guns, and gardening. It's tight.

Bike Lanes are Stupid Part II

Since coming to Austin I've been really about the bike lanes more specifically hating on bike lanes. Last night when I was riding home from the Born Ruffians show I just straight didn't ride on them. Here's an article from Momentum Magazine about bike lanes in Northern European cities. I hear a lot of people ask why we can't be more like them, and our land has just been developed differently than land in Europe. This article, though, brings some good urban planning solutions to the table that could work in urban and big city environments.

Most people here live in the burbs, and it just sucks riding on those. Anderson Township (that's where I'm from) recently made a bike/walk trail that goes along Five Mile Rd. The problem is is that its a trail from nowhere to nowhere. It's along a road that has a speed limit of 50 MPH, and you have to drive to get to points on it unless you live by Turpin High School, the library, or the mall (and not a large population live by any). It's clearly a recreational path. I try to use it on my commute over to UC and it's just straight harder than riding down Clough Pike (a winding road with blind turns). Our sights are just set in the complete wrong direction. How about a bike trail that's actually useful?

Bike Lanes are Stupid and Other Stories

So somehow Austin got this rep of being really friendly to cyclists. One thing is there are a ton of cyclists here. Lance Armstrong has ties to Austin. Also they have bike lanes all over the city. Bike lanes are a good thing right? Well, you're wrong.

First of all bike lanes seem to facilitate a mindset in drivers that bikers aren't vehicles on the road, and they belong in bike lanes. It demotes cyclists to second class road citizens.

Second, bike lane placement is terrible. This is a three part point. First they seem to end at the worst places. The lane on Guadalupe only goes sporadically on sections of the road, so you have to merge with cars. This is especially a problem at the intersection of either 24th or 25th i'm not sure, where the bike lane ends. You are at a light and you have to merge with traffic. They are not happy about this usually as you merge at 10 miles an hour in between Daddy's Escalade and the Ford 350 towing the horses. Second, the lanes are either on the side of the road in the gutter or between the road and the parking lanes. I was just riding back from lunch up Guadalupe, and you pretty much fall into the curb because of how cracked up the side of the road is. Not to mention the fact that the sides of the roads seemed to be banked more, so physics tells your bike it wants to ride in the gutter. All the glass and debris gets pushed into the bike lane too. I have some tires with a layer of kevlar, but I still get flats when I hit chunks of glass. If they are between the road and the parking lanes then you just have problems with parked cars pulling into you, people stopping to park, and getting doored. Third, if you're riding on the right side of the road, how do you make a left turn. You have to merge into two lanes of traffic, and then make your turn. Usually merging into traffic when there's a perfectly suitable bike lane does not sit well with drivers. Why would you drive in their lane?

So, what's the solution?
Riding in traffic. Once you get over the fear that someone is going to jack you from behind, you have to get over the fear that someone's going to jack you from the side. But seriously, if you obey the laws, assert your position on the road, use signals and lights, and can overcome the fear of the corolla screaming by that won't hit you, riding on the road is the safest place for cyclists, drivers, and pedestrians. For now.

This does bring up a new point though. This system sucks for the roads to run efficiently.

Right now you have a pretty good system most of the time for motor vehicles. Theres a successful interface that includes lanes, signals, and signs. Then you also have a successful system for pedestrians. There are side walks along streets (well, if you live in the city) and crosswalks and signals marked at the intersection of the motor vehicle system and pedestrian system. These two systems are divided as such because of the capabilities and usages of motor vehicles vs. pedestrians. Theres a third system that is also starting to be implemented in some places for cyclists. Right now, though, it kind of just uses the same system for the motor vehicles, and then not even all the time. Like when the lane runs out.

This same idea also extends into the world of the law. There should be different laws for drivers and cyclists, just like there are different laws for drivers and pedestrians. I got pulled over in Newtown, Cincinnati, Ohio for running a stop sign. The problem with this is that I have to put a lot more energy from my body into coming to a complete stop than a motor vehicle does. So I ran the stop sign and the cop was a dick about it. I found out that that infraction could have gone on my driving record. A four year old can ride a bike. Are they going to fine them on their driving record? O yeah, and the cop had it in my mind that the reason people get thrown stuff at on bikes is their own fault. Yeah, when i see someone breaking a law I throw a bag of day old fast food at them. WTF? Since when is vigilante law accepted? Batman doesn't throw fast food at the Joker.

Anyway my point being is that cars, bikes, and pedestrians are three different forms of transportation with about two and half systems to accommodate them both in infrastructure and legally. We need to rethink how everyone can get places with their chosen mode. One thing I said before is until then we gotta respect each other.

Riding for My Life Out East Austin and Maker Faire

So I went out to East Austin this weekend with my friend Joe to go to the Maker Faire. This was so inspirational and I can't believe I even saw this stuff. I'll post pics and describe it, but I may not do it justice nor do I have the amount of pics I should have taken. This fair pretty much sums up my interests in life. It had everything HPV's, folk music, Legos, Robot Wars, sh*t that shot fire, catapults, spear throwing, spinning and weaving, life size mouse trap, 16 oz cans of beer, and a lot more that I probably didn't even see.

The first thing were the human powered vehicles slash human powered rides. A group called Cyclecide was there with their bike rodeo. They had human powered carnival rides and I believe they were responsible for a human powered snake train, a human powered peacock train, a giant fly bike, and a windmill type thing that had guitars attached to it that would play as you pedal (not pictured).





Next was a bunch of electric powered cars, an art car (a car with yarn glued to it in intricate patterns pictured below), and robot wars.
There were these guys that were making throwing spears like the way they would make them thousands of years ago. I was talking to him and unfortunately people don't hunt with them much, but there is a following of people that are just enthusiasts. There was also a vendor showing off their canvas tents that were supposed to be an alternative to a yurt or a tipi. I don't know if I would use it as an alternative, but it was light and only had two poles. Another vendor in the housewares section was a group that made their own cleaning supplies out of household items. I need to look into that more so I don't have to rely on P and G.
Then there was a huge area with a bunch of CNC, laser cutting, vinyl cutting, and crafts thus related. A few people were repping a DIY router. Some even had 3 dimensions. There was one project that came out of MIT that was a shelter structure that was completely CNC'd and snapped and slotted together made out of wood. There was a huge showing from MIT Media Lab. I hear about them a lot in the open source and research world, and they have some cool projects that come out of there. I need to do more research on that.
Sorry for that picture.

Lastly was the music. It was folk music! The bands played on this stage converted from a old fire truck and completely run by solar power.
The first band was a cajun or tejano band I'm not sure which one, and in the folk style they were playing in the "streets" of Maker Faire afterwards. The next band was the most amazing thing I might have seen in Austin so far. Joe and i were walking out of this area where they had some DIY speakers and we were dodging a field of hippie hula hoopers as Joe said, "We'll it looks like we've seen about everything we should get going." All of a sudden out of south came a marching band. They had horns, saxophones, and a drum section and they were all dressed up in old band uniforms. On further investigation they had electric instruments with speakers attached to their heads. The lineup included, a sousaphone, saxophones, trombones, trumpets, a drum line, an electric mandolin, an electric guitar, accordions, and electric fiddle, and then various axillary percussion. They were running around the grounds and playing their music. They would scatter and all of sudden a horn section would appear on the bleachers or behind the crowd. They're from Chicago and they're called Mucca Pazza. Later they played the rest of their show on the stage.

Their sound was influenced by jazz, eastern European folk music, and some soul.

So overall this day pretty much was a fair of all things Johnathan Kroeger is interested in and stuff I've been reppin lately: diy bikes, folk music, minimal architecture, and, well, everything I've described in this post.

We ended up back in Austin at a bar down on fourth that Joe knew the bartender at. The Bengals got slaughtered by the Steelers (boo) and the Red Sux lost (yay!) I definitely didn't get everything here (I still need to rant about my hatred of bike lanes) so this is just and overview of the entire experience.

Riding Down South if I Wear Out 99 Pair of Tire

This is the last one for today. Let me get up on my soap box before I write this... ok. Here we go.

So I came to Austin, TX about one month ago. I've since parked my car behind my house and have just been getting around by bike (It's hard to stand on this soap box when you're on your high horse too.) So how is riding in Austin. Well everyone was repping Austin as a bike friendly city. Sike! Not so much. I'd say it's pretty much average in terms of cities to ride in. I get honked at, cut off, and pains in my groin from the potholes.

I've also been on the various Austin bike blogs, craigslist, been riding 20 miles plus solo around the city, been riding with critical mass and other such rides full of shenanigans and I would say I'm pretty much sick of the bike/car animosity around here, and really everywhere.

What the solution? Laws? Law Enforcement? Infrastructure? New forms of human powered transport?

I would say understanding for starters. Not only understanding from our fossil fueled friends but also from our aerodynamic spandex friends, our badass faceplanting bmx friends , our cuties on cruiser friends, and our hipster fixie friends.

People just get so pissed about the topic of bikes on the roads. We are all allowed to be there. Some people drive cars, some people can keep up with those cars, some people can't keep up with them. Some understanding from bikers could come from the fact of how do you pass someone on a bike? I don't even really know how. I just pass people but when I'm driving I know how it can give a jolt when a 4 cyclinder camry is redlining trying to pass you and you feel like they're going to hit you. Some understanding from cars could come from the fact that the person on the bike is doing a lot more work than you are. Put yourself in that other person's shoes.

We'll until next time don't look up when the wild geese come flyin from the west.

O and I've been talking to different people in Cincinnati. A bike festival is hopefully in the plans for next June. Bike Kill? Slaughterama? Six Day Party?