Keeping a spare pair of disposable gloves in your bag is a good way to keep your hands clean if you’re facing an impromptu repair on the way to work, too…changing a flat inner tube or having to handle a greasy chain is no problem if you’ve got some gloves handy to ward off the grime!

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"Look, this rack was nice enough to grow a roof for me!"

Yello mighty Bike Commuters!  Mir.I.Am here working double duty as a green “snarchitect” and cycle lady today.  As the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) rating system is becoming more and more prosthetic… err, prolific in the states and abroad, snarchitects and designers are incentivized to provide more bike racks and showers for cycle monsters in their buildings.  Here in Honolulu, all new construction projects that are publicly funded are required to meet a minimum requirement of LEED Silver rating.  An easy way to contribute towards achieving a LEED rating for a building is to provide secure bike rack parking close to the building entrance and showers for a percentage of the occupants!  Not all LEED rated buildings are required to provide this amenity, but it is usually included… (secret fist pump under my desk each time I get to nerd out and specify bike racks at work!)

Crowded "Bike" bike racks in Waikiki

Of course, as bike commuters, we know that the statement “If you build it, they will come (by bike and then take a shower)” is not necessarily true!  New racks and showers for buildings may not transform cities into Mini-Apples overnight, but it’s a chest-bump in the right direction.  As we all know, not all bike racks are created equal, and not all cyclists are equally enthusiastic about showering after a commute…   Sometimes I spice it up at work and arrive looking like I drank a bottle of Sriracha on the way over and don’t change into my office attire until my 4:00pm meeting, but that’s just me!  SRIRACHA FACE!!!!  Witch hazel in your swamp crotch isn’t for everyone.

Architects and builders listen up, straight from the mouth of the cycle monsters, here are some of our fave bike racks that help us commuters LOCKitUP!

Most Bikely Bike Rack: Dero Bike Bike Rack – nothing screams bike rack like a bike-shaped rack!  These are the ones installed by the city and county of Honolulu around the island.  They can hold up to four bikes unless some idiot has locked their moped to it illegally.  It works well in situations where you have lots of long skinny space, like sidewalks.  I like them because the height of the “wheels” makes it easy to tie up your steed through the rear wheel and triangle of the frame.  I have seen some bikes fallen over next to these racks that have been only loosely cabled.  My only gripe is sometimes the are positioned a little too close to the street side and you have to squeeze in between parked cars ad the rack to try to get to your bike.    http://www.dero.com/products/bike_bike_rack/bike_bike_rack.html

Easy to spot from faraway, functional for multiple locking points, AND fun for Japanese tourist photo ops!

Green is the new Black Rack: Dero Recycle Rack made from 96% Recycled steel rebar!  As you can see, the racks come in two shapes: bush or tree.  Always a plus for bush-hugging architects like myself.  (I’m over hugging trees, that’s so 2010).  Steel rebar rack holds up to two bikes. The loops onthe tree seems small to me in the photo as I’ve never used one personally.  However the steel rebar has a much smaller diameter than most racks so maybe they would work well for cycle monsters using mini U-locks for their frames.  This is a smaller rack than most and requires only one connection point to the concrete, which could be advantageous for designers with tight space planning requirements.    http://www.dero.com/products/recycle_racks/

From the Dero website… where’s the lock!?

Stealthy Designer Bike Rack: Forms+Surfaces  Olympia Bike Rack is a nice choice for a bike rack that can double as a bollard!  For designers that want something more discrete and architectural (read: no wavy racks or fence racks), Forms+Surfaces also carries a variety of options.  Maybe this one is a little too discrete, but seasoned bike commuters know how to lock it up in any situation (in a tree, top of a chainlink fence, handrails or my favorite is a fat crippled horse). I personally prefer anything with a vertical post so I can loop a cable through the front wheel, helmet, and use the vertical post to secure the frame and the back wheel in my U-lock.  http://www.forms-surfaces.com/olympia-bike-rack.  Looks like the slot in the center leaves room for pedals and keeps your ride on all two wheels.  Ooooh, rack envy:

What Makes a Nice Rack: And because it is 1:30 am Pacific Grandma Time and I only have one brain (currently maxed out on MSG/noodle/rice overload), here is a cut and paste to an article for those of you interested in reading about how to choose a nice bike rack for your next building.  Check it out if you have the energy to click here.  If you have a lot of energy and some friends over, you can read it aloud since reading is not really a spectator sport.

Ok Bike Commuters, paste some links into the comments box if you have any opinions on your hometown racks, your fave place to LOCKitUP around your neck o the hoods, or maybe what you don’t like in a rack!  Us architects and designers would be much obliged….

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Yet, I refused to bust out the mittens and admit that cold weather had finally arrived. No siree!!! I left the mittens at home, put on my fleece gloves with lobster outer shell combo and set out. (And I probably would have been just fine if I hadn’t made a stop along the way that required me to take the hand coverings off entirely to lock my bike.) By the time I arrived at work, however, my fingertips were getting blue and hurting. Never a good sign.

Then I had a discussion with a fellow bike commuter who told me that her feet were really cold on her ride in to work today. We shared our stories of woe and wondered how it is that we still can’t get our clothing and gear right to stay warm – after years of Chicago riding. We also mused about how effective mittens seem to be over gloves…. and wondered “do cycling-specific mittens exist?” She claims to have seen a pair years ago, but I have never seen such a wonderment.

In my random searches for newer and better tips to keep my hands warm, I stumbled upon some tips posted on an Instructables page:

The easiest way to keep your feet warm is to wear rubber boots over your shoes. For the hands, rubber gloves over some knit gloves. Sometimes insulated rubber gloves are good enough.
(source http://www.instructables.com/id/Warm-Feet-and-Hands-for-Winter-Cycling/)

Now I don’t have insulated rubber gloves (yet!) but I can say that waterproof overshoes do help keep the feet warm and dry. Even my Bogs boots are great (though provide minimal traction on the sole to grip anything, especially wet pedals).

As I continued in my quest for hand protection, I even found the Exhale gloves that allow you to blow warm air into them to keep your digits toasty (and these newer models are tech savvy enough so you can use them with your smartphone!).

In my accessory arsenal at home I do have a pair of BarMitts for road dropbars, but my faithful commuter – Toro – is equipped with bullhorn bars and I have yet to find any such mitts/pogies that will fit the bullhorn handlebar setup.

For the ride home I decided to not be so stubborn and to try out the mittens a co-worker had gifted to me after his wife didn’t want them; I’d been keeping them in a drawer and had almost forgotten I had them. Although they seemed a bit snug (fingertips and thumbs both at the end of the mitt with no additional room), I figured the evening bike commute home would be a good test to compare them to the warmth of my glove/lobster shell combo.

The verdict? Technically it’s not a fair test — since the temperatures were about 5-degrees warmer for the ride home and wind was at my back. Overall, though, I’d say the mittens won – even this slightly snug pair.

Mittens – for me at least – pose a slight inconvenience. Though much warmer, when I wear mittens while riding my commuter, the mitt part seems to always remain draped over my brake lever, since all that material seems to be too much to easily fold my hand back in around the handlebar. Since my fingers have plenty of freedom within the mitt, I usually end up curling my fingers within the mitten to grip the bar. It’s not the most secure grip, but it seems to work on my flat bar brake set-up.

mitten draped over brake lever

mittened hand properly gripping handlebar - not an easy task in bulky mitts!

PLUS – even with the mittens, I suffer from cold thumbs! Tucking the thumbs behind the handlebar for warmth does help to block them from the wind but they still get cold.

I better figure out if there is a better solution to my cold hand woes, because the worst of winter may still come in 2012, if this Chicago weather forecast holds any truth! At least I know my trusty oversized REI mittens will keep me warm… I had just been hoping for a solution that allows me greater dexterity and protects my thumbs too.

For more about cycling in mittens, see Noah’s post about mittens from last December.

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3M Scotchlite tape - what a stealthy reflective cheap trick!

Okay Midnight Riders… it is wintery and darker than usual at the end of our work days this time of year.  In the spirit of digging up things in our past like you all have been posting for our Bike Commuters 2000th post Giveaway, here’s the follow-up to our article on Reflective DIY Tape! So: for Raiyn & his stealth reflector bling power and all the other Bike Commuters out there, I finally got ahold of a photomaker and snapped some photos!  I also got ahold of a magic wand. Check out the the effectiveness of the easy bibbity-bobbity-boo Scotchlite 3M reflective tape Makeover:

Version 1: No flash, living room lights on.

Dayman.

Version 2: With flash, living room lights off, awesome magic sparkle power ON.

Fighter of the Nightman! aAAAaaaa!

ShaBAM:  bright at night, but the 3M reflective tape blends in during the day too!  For more archive digging, check out my favorite BikeCommuters.com gateway articles, Moe’s Rear Blinky Comparo or Jack “Ghost Rider” Sweeney’s Planet Bike 1W Blaze Review. Stay bright, night commuters!

Hasbro... maybe they will make a "Lite-Brite" movie since they already made "Transformers"

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As posted on the event listing:

Have Fun While Making You and Your Bike More Visible!

Join us for our annual Make It Reflective Workshop:
Learn about passive vs. active visibility, get tips on what to use and where to place it, update your favorite coat or bag with extra-sparkly visibility.

Who: Experienced cyclists who sew will help make both you and your bike the most obvious moving vehicle on the road.

What: Bring what you want modified (bikes, clothing, bags, outerwear, helmets, etc.)

Where: Active Transportation Alliance at 9 W. Hubbard St. (4th floor)

When: Dec. 5th from 5:00 pm until 9 pm (stay as long as you like, but plan on at least 15 minutes per item being modified).

Cost: $5 (donations are greatly appreciated to help defray the costs of materials).

For more information, contact Jane Healy at repto at aol dot com.

This workshop is the second one this season; I missed the first one held on November 6 – just in time for the time change and onset of more darkness.

And such an event is just one of many events already on the Bike Winter calendar.

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APEC protesters and HPD Bike Officers side by side, by Matt Ursua

With all the animosity between Bike Commuters, Rollerbladers, Mopeds, Pedestrians, Car, Trucks, Buses, and Trolleys encountered on my daily commutes, I’m surprised that others haven’t realized how far a little Aloha can go!  In past weeks, presidents galore have been abounding in Honolulu, clogging up the streets, protesting, making front-page headlines, and creating extensive roadblocks in Waikiki and Ko’Olina thanks to APEC (Asian Pacific Economic Craziness).  Here are some tips for the world citizens to help keep their sanity in traffic: Ride Aloha, Live Aloha! 

Thanks for the photo, Kate B! I had the same one on my BMX, but it cracked and died.

1.  Bike V. Pedestrian -  Cyclists, a bell or a shout out is helpful here.  If you start getting bike path rage along Ala Moana beach park, consider RL’s advice and take it slow…  If auditory warnings are being blocked by impenetrable headphones and Lady Gaga earwaves, wait for a large enough opening and zip past without giving them the finger!  Pedestrians, “on your left” does not mean jump direcly in front of the bike.  Just one-two step to the right to allow the cyclist to pass you on the path!  Courtesy shaka as you pass for good measure! 

2.  Bike V. Car – I’m going to share my all-time favorite bike commuter Aloha move  that seems to put traffic-angsty drivers at ease.  It’s like a Bike Side-Step.  So you’re riding in the right lane (I like to ride aligned with the back right tire of cars, a tip I LGRAB’ed from Dottie) and you come to a stop at a red light.  You are first on the line with cars behind you.  I turn around, do some attmpeted sign language to determine if the driver wants to turn right (blinker, what’s a blinker in Honolulu?) and then move over to the left side of the lane to allow the car to pass.  Wave and smile to encourage the driver to pass through…  Even if they cannot make the right turn before the light turns green, this move is like when your grandma gives you candy in church – an unexpected surprise that makes church tolerable and makes you adore your grandma!  Strangely enough, my grandma was diabetic and I had ADHD, so I’m not sure if it was a good idea for everyone else, but I thought it was awesome.

Who drew these cheesey cartoons!!? Will they draw one for me of the Bike Side-Step?!

3.  Bike V. Bus:  Some people tell me horror stories of drivers of TheBus in Honolulu, how they intentionally persecute cyclists up hills, or honk and scare the living sh*t out of you when they zoom past.    Some people tell me stories about a-hole cyclists who almost ran them over on the sidewalk as they stepped off the bus.  Well, Some People, have I got news for you: some cyclists are a-holes, and some bus drivers are a-holes.    Major Digression/Minor Rant:  I don’t think I am an a-hole cyclist, so don’t tell me this story expecting apologies.  Similarly, I would not tell stories about terror-children on 8-hour international flights to my friends with kids expecting airline vouchers.  So, lovely Bike Commuters, consider several options to deal with the Bike V. Bus scenario.  I often avoid streets laden with bus thoroughfares and opt for the back roads.  Or, you can just slow down a bit to avoid bus-frogging all the way to your destination.  As for the honking, this can’t be avoided!  Apparently it is a local rule that buses honk twice to alert cyclists that they are passing.  Hold on to your spandex for that one, Honolulu commuters, HBL already asked the Dept. of Transit to delete that rule from the training book when we met with the cartoon mayor… TO NO AVAIL!

Or we could just make a bike bus....

I had a great ride in today, where I stopped (yes I stopped, and put down my goofy foot) at the last 4-way stop intersection before my office.  There was one car and one truck, and they both gave me extra Aloha and let me cruise through first, waving me on by.  Thanks lady in the big silver pick-up, I will remember you the next time I feel like flipping the bird at some a-hole driver.  A little goes a long way!  No reason for road rage when we only have first-world traffic jams!  I don’t think I could ever go back to the motherland:

Beijing 2010: longest traffic jam ever on the way to grand opening of City Wok!

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From fall through springtime in Chicago I either always carry with me in my commuting arsenal (water resistant pannier) OR am already wearing on my body (esp on the colder winter days) the following items: extra glove liners + extra gloves or mitts, wool knee warmers, a Warmfront, extra wool socks (in case one pair gets wet), rain or wind pants to block wind and keep the road spray off my clothes, silk or wool long underwear for top and bottom (I especially like SmartWool and L.L. Bean wool), beanie cap that covers my ears, Hedz headwear, and wool/fleece balaclava – topped off by my most visible layer…. a hi-vis wind- and waterproof jacket. I rarely have a need for any more than 3 layers worth of clothing – base, mid and outer suffice in any weather; so while our skin may consist of 7 layers, for me, the gear only needs to be 3 layers deep at most … most of the time. (If you live in a much warmer or colder climate, I realize your needs for layering may vary; please adjust your technique accordingly and share with us what works for you in the comments.)

When I first started to bike through the colder, yuckier weather months in Chicago, I did a lot of my own research for what to wear and soon learned about the fine art of layering. (My go-to resource at that time was a blog authored by a woman in Alaska living a bike adventure life and recording it in her blog – I think it was called Up In Alaska; she has since moved and renamed the blog to Jill Outside.) A few of her posts detailed her layering technique and gear. Another site that has also helped me over the years is the Icebike website, brimming with strategies and gear designed to keep you warm (without overheating) while out bike riding or enjoying other winter activities for long periods of time. Last, but not least in deserving credit, is Chicago’s Bike Winter — a grass roots effort that has supplied me with how-to knowledge and an awesome DIY fleece balaclava designed to keep as many Chicago cyclists pedaling through the winter as possible.

If Jill could make it work for rides in Alaska and these Icebikers and fellow Bike Winter-ers could do it, I knew I could apply the layering strategy to my Chicago commutes; below I provide you with the layering technique that works for my urban bike commutes and the importance of each layer.

Chicago’s recent bout with chilly, windy and damp fall days reminds me that I really do have all I need already in my wardrobe (even though I’m always thinking of the next best gear or tip most of my winter “gear” is not really cycling specific gear). Take a photo gallery tour of these layers I recently wore during a damp fall commute (temps in the high 40s/low 50-degrees):
Base layer: long sleeve microfiber shirt (easily substituted for wool or silk on chillier days). A good base layer will wick the sweat away from your skin so that you don’t overheat OR get chilled from damp skin. Wool and silk are also naturally odor-resistant = bonus! I’ve learned to avoid cotton next to my skin at all costs, since it tends to keep the perspiration close to your skin.
Mid layer: vest (or wool or cashmere sweater in winter). A mid-layer helps insulate. This layer continues to challenge me during the fluctuating temperatures we get during the spring and fall, but in winter I usually turn to a cashmere or wool turtleneck sweater. During warmer months, I may forego this layer or opt for just a vest or stick to a cardigan sweater that can be zipped or unzipped as needed.
Bottom: REI cargo pants (with long underwear when the mercury dips below freezing). Depending on the level of chill in the air, I adjust my wardrobe – from jeans to lighter weight khakis to stretchier fitness style pants. As a female, I also have opted for wool tights and a skirt – and have found this combo to be just as warm as pants. I also keep a pair of wool knee warmers (or leg warmers in you prefer) around just in case I need a little more buffer.
Feet: midweight wicking socks (I live in wool hiking socks come winter), Vasque waterproof hiking shoes (and NEOS overshoes in the worst of it!). Just the other day I wore mid-calf Bogs boots with a neoprene liner. Once it’s freezing and below, my feet prefer the thicker socks and waterproof shoe. For commuting I don’t usually ride with clipless pedals, and in the chill I prefer the added warmth of regular hiking/winter boots – just make sure they allow your foot/ankle enough mobility for pedaling. You may even want to ride on wider BMX-style pedals to accommodate the clunkier footwear.
Hands: Gore bike gloves (new this year!); Headsweats lobster shell gloves (mittens and hand warmers on standby for temps below freezing). Up til this year I used a pair of wool gloves I acquired at the Army-Navy Surplus store and paired those with the shell gloves or with a pair of REI mittens. Mittens keep my hands warmest on the sub-freezing days. Hand warmers helps when it drops below zero.
Outer layer: Loeka (or other waterproof) commuter jacket with pit zips, Marmot rain pants. A jacket -even on the coldest of days – need not be thick and heavy. The best outer layer provides maximum wind resistance so as not to allow the chill in and is also waterproof; a sports-oriented jacket will have pit zips to allow added ventilation and help prevent your body from overheating. Given the lack of daylight during winter, I stick with hi-vis and reflective jackets to keep me as visible as possible to fellow road users.
Head: HAD microfiber tube to cover my neck, REI Novara cap (new to my arsenal this year… and I wonder how I lived without it all these years!) to cover my head and ears, helmet. In winter my layer below the helmet is a wool/fleece balaclava; sometimes I use the microfiber tube like a neck gaiter beneath the balaclava and will pull it up over my nose so I’m not breathing in the bitter cold air. My mom always stressed keeping my head warm; to this day, I cannot argue with my mom’s advice. For me, if my head and neck are warm, the rest of my body seems to naturally be warmer.
And last but not least Eyewear: Sunglasses with an amber tint in daylight AND clear or yellow tint glasses in darkness suffice for me most of the time (all my sunglasses have come from Solar Eyes (an online retailer)); in the winter I switch to ski goggles (rose tint works day and night even navigating the well-lit urban roads at night).

As I mentioned above, as a female I love having the option to wear wool tights and flashy rubber boots to spice up my winter cycling wardrobe, too, when I feel so inclined.

One final note: it’s best to feel slightly chilled during the first few minutes on your bike. If you start out already warm, you could easily overheat. I find that less is more to avoid overheating. Folks at work think I must be so cold given my thin layers, but I assure them that by the time I reach the bus stop at the corner, I’m already warm from generating my own body heat; those folks waiting for the bus are the ones who look so cold just standing there. Rather than overdress, it’s best to carry an extra layer, so you can always stop and put it on if you need it or if it turns chillier for the bike commute home later that day. My commute is about a half hour each way and in the stop-and-go traffic of the city, so I’ve adjusted my layering accordingly. Those of you with a shorter or much longer commute may have other tips and tricks to share. Noah shared a few of his tips last year, including starting a log of weather conditions and your clothing choices.

Since my gear – most of it not cycle specific – seems to be accounted for, it gives me time to ponder getting a bike with disc brakes this upcoming bad weather season…. to at least improve my stopping power in the dampness. Then again…. I could finally try adding a more full coverage helmet (like a Nutcase or Bern)… options….

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Typically I ride a road bike with narrower tires and a more forward position. For bike commuting and recreational riding around Chicago and the Midwest, my bikes suit me well. I do have a project bike in the works that would position me in a more upright position, but I rarely take any bike off-road.

But my weekend getaway introduced me to a few new bikes and to riding along crushed stone trails.
Meet my hybrid rental:

New Hope Cyclery rents these Trek hybrids from their store for hourly, 1/2 day and daily rental periods and suggested riding the Delaware and Raritan Canal Trail, which is mostly crushed stone
.

I took their advice and crossed over to the New Jersey side of the Delaware River, rode down to Washington Crossing State Park and crossed the Delaware River again to ride back up the tow path on the Pennsylvania side – to complete the roundtrip loop.

No bike riding across the bridge!

Paying tribute to Washington at Washington Crossing State Park

Having fun on the bike rentals (no- that’s not me poppin’ that wheelie!)

The next day I ventured upstream to Frenchtown, NJ, to rent a tandem bike from Cycle Corner (advertised on the local area visitor map).

Upon entering Frenchtown, I felt like I was in bicycle heaven. Everyone seemed to be out on bikes – whether they be visitors or locals. Bikes and bicycle riders decorated the town.

The shop guy happily showed off and adjusted the Electra Tandem Bike – cruising in smokin’ red style!

Riding along the trail on a bicycle built for two:

I did ride in the rear for this outing, but took a turn in the captain’s seat. Getting going was a bit wobbly at first but was fun once I got going… then I had to stop again (not the easiest especially with the rider in back).

The end result of this vacation getaway? SMILES all the way.

For me it’s always fun to get away and enjoy new adventures. I’m grateful for the vacation from my own bikes and even more so for the opportunity to ride different bikes! (For this bike trip I did take my own helmet and gloves so that I knew I’d be comfortable riding with my own gear; I just had to sign a waiver to turn down the shop’s helmet.) A while back Miriam visited Chicago and explored the bike rentals from Bike and Roll.

What bike travel adventures do you have to share?

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So: Back in April I had some time on my hands. I had just finished writing my third novel in March, and I got that pesky 60th birthday thing out of the way as well. What to do? What to do? Hey, I know, I’ll build a bike!
You know me. I “build bikes” all of the time. That is to say, I take an old bike frame, slap some used parts on the thing and wheel it out to the curb with a “FREE!” sign on it. This new/old bike is usually gone within about ten minutes and I’m done. This time, however, the build was substantially different.
My friend Charles Brown builds recumbent bicycles out of boxed and laminated plywood. I have razzed him for years about building a prone instead of a recumbent, so that’s what I did: I built a prone. That is to say, I built a bicycle upon which you lay (lie?) on your stomach, arms out in front of you, and you pedal with your legs behind you rather like swimming. I dubbed it Project Underdog, as you tend to go down the road flying really low to the ground like Superman after a very rough night. Kinda like Underdog.
My neighbor Rudy donated a box aluminum girder to the cause to be used as the monobeam frame, and I bought a 20” wheeled full suspension mountain bike from Goodwill for $20 for the rear triangle, the wheels and other assorted bits and pieces. Chainwheel Drive , City Cycle, The Energy Conservatory and Re-Cycle Bicycles were all sources for parts for Underdog. Plus, you know me- I had a few things in the garage. Home Depot, Lowe’s and Harbor Freight provided the rest, as did JoAnn Fabrics (the foam padding for the hip pad).
I annoyed the neighbors to distraction through the month of May running my pneumatic cutting tool, air wrench and bench grinder. It was like Heavy Metal Heaven in the garage. Even I wore hearing protection. It was that loud. My compressor got a serious workout, as did I. Finally, after much cutting and drilling, Underdog came together on Memorial Day- and pretty much everything fit! Wow.
There was still a bunch of tweaking to do, and those extra-long tandem cables to buy, but the bike got built- AND IT WORKED. Ah, but how did it work, you ask? (Go ahead, ask.) Keep in mind that Underdog is 80 inches long and only 30 inches high at the top of the handlebars. It weighs in at 35 pounds (it’s got a couple of feet of heavy steel angle iron on the back end, along with 16 strong bolts, holding it all together). It’s a six speed with 100 psi road tires and the profile of a Steam Punk torpedo. Ok, so it looks really cool, but how does it ride? I’m glad you asked.
A number of people asked me, as they saw Underdog under construction, if I thought it would be tough to balance. I had no idea. At least it was low to the ground, so if it couldn’t be balanced, I didn’t have far to fall. That beats the snot out of how my high wheeler adventures ended up all those years ago. I will say this: I was seriously concerned with how low to the ground this thing was. NO ONE was going to see this thing on the road. If it was even rideable, was it safe?
Initial short test flights (in the garage and driveway) held on the evening of June 5th proved that it was at least rideable- but perhaps not the ideal machine for a 60-year old man to be playing with. Still, I rode it. It has a high stall speed, and it wants to go fast. Brakes are going to be very important. So is having plenty of rolling room. I need a longer runway for this thing. Much longer.

(more photos available by visiting my Flickr set entitled “Underdog”)

Took the 99.99% finished prone bike, Project Underdog, out to the park today for its first real shake-down cruise. Had about two dozen friends and well-wishers show up for the fun, and let me tell you: It was all that and a bag of chips. The bike performed above expectations right from the start.
I immediately removed the 6″ long, 16″ wide hip pad I had made for it originally (my thighs kept hitting it), and went with the 6″ wide, 16″ long “sternum pad” that was Plan B, built earlier this week. With that much narrower pad it place, I did the 5/8ths mile upper trail loop with ease one the first try! Underdog FLEW.
As more people stopped by, a few were brave enought to try it, but with mixed results. Some could, some couldn’t. Matt Moffit and Byron Gillett did very well on the thing. It very interesting to watch the machine in action without being on it.
Designer’s note: While your toes are VERY close to the ground (I may make a pair of custom toe clips for the thing) your knees are much higher off the ground that you might think- so no worries there. And it wants HIGH gears- I left it in top cog for the day, and you have to watch and not drag the inside pedal in a turn. The chase bikes- two guys on fixies- had trouble keeping up with me on the route. Go team!
For now, the plan is to upholster the sternum pad in black vinyl tonight, and then look into making a pair of custom super-short toe clips for the narrow track pedals. That should just about do it. It’s taken two months to build from the very first initial sketches done back in early April, and the thing will look great either hanging over the workbench or out in the park, terrorizing the locals. What fun!

Crazy stuff, for sure! I wish I was still in the area to give ol’ Underdog a test spin of my own. Anyone else out there created a weird and wonderful two-wheeled machine? If so, we’d love to hear about it!

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One lovely afternoon, boyfriend tells me that he gets free shipping through the Jungle Website if he spends a couple more bones so do I want anything from Jungle Land?  YES PLEASE!  Last week the postal service delivered our Jungle package and it was this…

3M reflective tape for less than three bones each!? I'll take two.

Praise to the Amazonian Jungle Goddesses for taking my (boyfriend’s) sacrificial three dollars for a 36″ long sliver of Ruban Adhesif Reflechissant! Or, thank you tricksy false Amazon.com for convincing us to spending more money on your website with promises of freedom of shipping…   With this new gift bestowed upon me, weekend crafties were in order.  Finally!

Yes I had one of these, and it is now dead after two weeks of approximately 1-hour night time commutes. Time to change a battery!

Super Tangent: I ADORE BLINKY LIGHTS.  Brian (aka boyfriend) will often enter the LBS with me in search of something simple like a spare tube, a shopping trip he envisions taking only 5 minutes tops.  It always ends with him dragging me away from the blinky lights display; I can sit there -literally- for a half hour playing with Knogs, Planet Bike headlamps, and those ghetto spoke multi-colored LEDs that die after 6 hours of commuting. **GASP! Shiny Things!!! Yes, yes, I do need more than two headlights.**  I also dig reflective and neon colored shiz  and don’t care if this makes me a visibility dork…. My next reflective purchase will definitely be a pair of these hotties at Art n Flea from Vamos Threads.  Needless to say, I freaking love reflective and hi-viz anything!!!  On to the DIY part.

Please excuse the hipsta-matic photo qualities, as I have yet to purchase a digital camera of considerable quality (my current cameras include broken underwater digital camera from WalCrap, outdated Kodak Polaroid, cell phone without internet access)… Thus, we are relegated to the use of boyfriend’s so’called “iPhone” and emailing photos back to myself.  Bear with me, bike commuters.

Some tools required for the DIY “Get Visible” installation:

This photo was apparently taken from a DIY scene in 1776. *Dirty cutting board optional, clean cutting surfaces are also acceptable.

STEP 1: Cut a hole in the box.

STEP 2: Put your junk in the… oh wait. No, step two is measure the length of piece you want to cut against your bike frame.  Here is a picture of me and the bumblebee Scott Speedster doing just this, way back… back in TIME.  Like 1972, considering the amber glow from the hipstamatic iPhone thing.

Really, accuracy is not much of an issue...

STEP 3: Now you cut it using your fangs!!  Like this:

Anything semi-sharp with the exception of a plastic spork should do it!

STEP 4: Apply willy-nilly!  I stuck these reflective tape pieces all over my bike-parts that were white so it has the same bumblebee Scott Speedster label-whore design as the original.  Maybe if I happen upon a large amount of scrap reflective tape, I will just bling the whole damn frame!  Another idea for acquiring reflective tape comes from this Instructable, where they suggest hitting up your local safety equipment store and asking for reflective sign scraps for free!

Hopefully this increases my visibility.  If any of you Oahu riders happen to see my Bumblebee Speedster cruisin’ around Chinatown, take a pictha with a flash so we can check if this reflective tape works… Lacking photography apparatus at the moment.  Anyone else have super easy DIY tips on how to get visible like the crazy headband  chick in that video?!! (Seriously watch this lady, she is cracking me up!)  I’ll start with Vamos Threads reflective leggings…  In the meantime, maybe it’s time to change the battery in my Spoke Light:

TRON TIME!!! Blinky crack party!

Hopefully this post will show you how 15 minutes, some shadow fangs (or scissors) and reflective tape can add a little bling to your frame without breaking the bank.  So easy, why did I wait 2.5 years?  Maybe it’s the fact that I only clean my bike once per season… oops!  Wham BAM!  Mir.I.Am.  Catch you next time my cycle monsters.

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