New Bike!

So I got a new bike, quite unexpectedly, but here's some pictures Ali and I took this afternoon breaking it in. Ali got a newish bike too (a new fixed gear)!

new charge plug! It's all the same parts from my old frame, but it's still awesome!

ali's same trek, new set up!

Bike Rage Musings

After a keen comment about the dubious effects of honking back at cars, Cara and I had a discussion and I've come to a few conclusions.

First, some background. In general, I am a pretty non-violent person. It's less a belief system - tho' I do think it's a good one and one I often aim for - but more simply my nature. I don't get angry easily or often. One reason for this is that I have very few absolute ideas. In other words, I see very little as simply good and evil. Instead, I see many many shades of grey and justifications. While something might not be what I'd do in a situation, I often can't blame a person for their attitude.

That said, bikes happen to be one of the few things that I see as an absolute "Good". So while it might be easy to suppress any violent urges about things I might not have much attachment to, when someone attacks bikes/biking (i.e. me on a bike), I tend to react...poorly. So, naturally, my inclination is to lash back out.

This is further compounded by the nature of the interaction. First, it is remote. This is not a face-to-face by any stretch of the imagination. It's like both driver and biker have been reduced to mere objects. The driver sees a biker in the way. I see a life-threatening machine that has just insulted one of the things I care deeply about. Thus, we violate the social contract. If someone was walking slowly in the sidewalk, odds are you wouldn't yell at them to get out of the way.*

Secondly, the interaction is effectively one-sided. While in theory, biker and driver are equal, one has all the advantages (I'll let you decide who I'm talking about). One is protected by 3,000 pounds of metal, can see the other one from a higher vantage point, has all the time they need to make a statement, and is insulated against any counter-arguments by a sound-proof booth. In this situation, I can't help but be more frustrated than usual. In this impromptu debate staged on a busy street, I'm handicapped with a frickin' gag.

Finally, while a horn does have utilitarian uses, these uses are usually lost in a sea of road rage. It's one thing If I accidentally merge into a lane right in front of someone; those encounters are not the ones that drive me yumpy. When I'm being honked at in these cases, it's simply an expression of disapproval.

Thus, I feel like I'm pretty justified in seeing a honk as a (hopefully only) verbal attack in most cases. Up to this point, my innate reaction has been one of boiling wrath. But is that the best one?

I can say from personal experience that shaking with ire isn't fun. So yeah, hardly an effective reaction. Furthermore, most times the driver can't hear me if I shout back; or if they hear me, they simply hate me more. And while a really creative curse will make me feel a little better (as does honking my horn), it really has no effect in the long run. Engaging people like this is what they want. They want you to feel bad! Therefore, the best reaction is, as my anonymous friend pointed out, simply staying quiet. Yelling back at them, crazy as it seems, is actually positive reinforcement for them! The real negative reinforcement is simply not letting them get to you. And hopefully, with enough of it, they'll simply stop doing it. And while it may not seem satisfying at first, think about it this way - your response is simply being in the road. Being out there with traffic is the ultimate active response.

So, to you, Mr. Anonymous Poster On My Last Blog Entry, I say thank you. Today is new leaf day!

All that said, I still like my mega blaster. It really does make a really unexpectedly loud sound and it's alotta fun. But I won't be using it to honk at cars anymore. Just for fun! Besides, the Memphis Municipal code section 11-24-6 states that "No person shall operate a bicycle on any city street unless it is equipped with a bell or other device capable of giving a signal audible for a distance of at least one hundred (100) feet." 'Course, it goes on to say that "a bicycle shall not be equipped with nor shall any person use upon a bicycle any siren or whistle." But hey! It's not a siren or whistle, it's a MEGA BLASTER.


* - Of course, in some cases, the honker would say that bikes don't belong on roads, while people are supposed to be on the sidewalk and shouldn't be mad at someone else who happens to be moving slowly. This person is simply ignorant, but it's hard to communicate that fact in the half second you have while they whizz past you.

Mega Blast Horn!

I don't know about anyone else, but I effin' HATE getting honked at whilst bike-ridin'. I can't help but get my hackles in a wad; basically, it's like someone's saying, "YOU DON'T DESERVE TO BE HERE. GET OUT OF MY WAY." As if this wasn't enough, you have no way to respond, no way to assert your rights to the road without resulting to shouting yourself raw or crude body language. Where's a commuter to turn?

MEGA BLAST HORN!



This little baby cost me two bucks at Kroger, and it's LOUD. Like, really loud. Once, I was riding behind some friends and blew it and they thought a semi was about to run them over.

So now, while I still can't stop people from being assholes, at least I can show my displeasure with them in a more vocal manner. If ya can't find it at Kroger (I somehow can't see it as being part of the normal stock, especially considering I found it in the soda aisle) try Walgreens or some Dollar stores. Or heck, order one online. Here's one for $2.39! Or if you want a louder, bigger version (the site says you can hear it from 2 miles away) try this site. Sorry in advance if you click on that one, the website is pretty obnoxious.

Sweet Action Recycled Messenger Bags

So ya want one of those fancy messenger bags but don't wanna shell out the sixty-plus smackers for a really nice one? Make your own! Check out Make magazine's video showing how to make a messenger bag outta old plastic bags! Ours turned out totally boffo (thanks to Cara - I'd definitely never used a sewing machine before this.)


The whole famdamily!

Check out the individual shots after the break.

You have like 3 hours!

You've got about 3 hours to get some new free kicks from Chrome! Check it out on Prolly.

In other news, the Tweed ride was rather dashing (tho' with no mashing). Both of the finalists for the Brooks saddle they were giving away wore fake mustaches - why didn't I think of that? It's not like I can grow a real one anyway.

But anyway, the turnout was pretty good, maybe like 30 people? Maybe more, I'm not too good with quick headcounts. Enough to block traffic anyway, which is always fun.

Events Round Up

So there's enough bike-centric things coming up in Memphis that I'm forgetting what's going on and when I need to ask off for work, so here's a quick rundown!

March 17: Tweed Ride, 7pm @ the Peddler
March 23: Public Meeting, Cooper-Young Bike Lanes (& other community stuff), 6:30pm-8:30pm @ Peabody School
March 26: Critical Mass, deets TBA (tho' possibly 5:30pm @ Overton Park)
May 16: Funday Sunday, 11am-4pm @ Mud Island
May 21: Bike To Work Day

Most of this stuff can be found over on fixmemphis, I just wanted to gather it all together for my own (and hopefully others') ease. Hope to see ya there!

Crusty Scabs in New Orleans

While on vacation, I was lucky enough to get to ride a bit in New Orleans for the first time, and it does not disappoint. Maybe it was just the French Quarter, but there were bikes EVERYWHERE. Although, if I have to hear another Who Dat I might just vomit. Nothing against the Saints specifically, but oh em gee es tee eff you pleeeeeease just for a sec.

But yeah, New Orleans itself was great. Obviously it's got the whole tourist thing going on, which would normally be a bit of a turnoff, but I think being on a bike gave me the feeling of gliding over all of that. I know I'm no local, but being on a bike made me feel like one. The city itself has a very crusty, scabby feel. I'm not consciously trying to evoke Katrina, but I can't help it, it feels like a city that's been through a lot. It's not run-down so much as simply lived-in.

Well, except for the roads. THOSE were run down. Sheeeesh. I'd always heard that New Orleans' roads were bad, but this was beyond bad. The worst roads I ride on in Memphis were better than the best roads there. I dunno if 23c's would cut it there, at least without patching tubes daily. Luckily the bikes we rented were relatively hefty:



A coupla neat hybrids. It had been a little while since either of us had ridden with a freewheel, but I think for the first time in a city with no guide, it's actually preferable to fixed. Being able to just coast and look around was very nice. Plus, they fitted the bike culture there a bit more than our bikes would have. Like I said, there were tons of bikes, but almost no skinny-tired road bikes at all. Most people seemed to sport heavily customized mountain bikes - we're not talkin' about customized parts, more like crazy shit welded all over the bike and milk crate baskets. We also saw a guy on a very nice tall bike, as well as a few fixed gears, but even among fixed gears the culture differed a bit on the crusty side. We pretty much only saw conversions - no track frames at all.

We rented our bikes from the pretty-dang-rad Michael's Bicycle. This place pretty much ruled - the staff were friendly as all get out and it was stuffed with the gills with all kinds of great stuff, from the new Chrome bicycle shoes and bags to Surly frames. It's a pretty small space, but they managed to pack it with pretty much everything I like. Definitely check it out if you're in the area.



And of course we got to visit the marvelous Plan B, which I'd only been able to read about in the Chainbreaker zines up to this point. It's pretty much a lot like Revolutions in Memphis. Unfortunately, we weren't able to visit during shop hours so we only got to poke our head in, but it still looked pretty nifty. Anything infused with that intoxicating odor of bike grease is pretty much ok in my book, and it was basically everywhere.



Also housed in the same building as Plan B was the Iron Rail, a kinda of book co-op/anarchist bookstore collective thing. Lots of zines to read! All in all, it's a pretty awesome place for a collective.

One of my only regrets is that we didn't really know any locals there, so we had to just blunder around on our own and hope to find cool stuff. Plus, we were only there for a day, and so didn't have time to really see all that much. Maybe we can wing down for the next polo tournament or an alley cat or something, 'cus New Orleans was awesome.