I commuted to work yesterday on the Soma Double Cross, then met up with my wife to go mountain/cyclocross biking in the evening.
You can read my ride report on MtnBikeRiders.com and you’ll learn why I’m loving the Soma Double Cross.
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The 2010 RIde of Silence currently has an official 295 rides world-wide on all 7 continents in 22 countries and in all 50 of our United States.
Let the silence ROAR – Wednesday, May 19, 7 PM, 2010 – One day. One Time. World wide.
This year Auckland, New Zealand, officially leads the rollout of Rides of Silence around the world.
Since the first Ride of Silence in 2003, the Ride of Silence has grown to become an internationally organized annual cycling procession honoring those that have been injured or killed while cycling on public roadways. The goal is to raise awareness that we – ALL CYCLISTS – are here, and to ask that we all share the road. It is a free, slow-paced, silent ride of about 10 miles, to honor for those who cannot ride with us.
Participants are asked to wear black arm bands to show solidarity with victims and their loved ones, and red arm bands to signify a personal injury from a bike/motor vehicle accident. All participating cyclists are asked to wear a helmet.
On Tuesday, Congressman Earl Blumenauer (3rd District, Oregon) demanded attention to green development AND attention to bike fatalities(~2:30 into video) captured by CSPAN (May 18, 2010, YouTube video). This short video is truly inspirational, giving the efforts of the Ride of Silence effort the national level support from one of the biggest bicycling advocates we have in Washington, DC. Earlier this spring Congressman Bluenauer also wrote a very powerful endorsement calling this event the “National Ride of Silence”. This year each Ride of Silence location in the U.S. could read Earl’s endorsement before or after their Rides and thus give all participants much needed comfort and confidence in the direction of our government.
Sadly, however, we have more occasion to ride in silence as we memorialize the tragic cycling fatalities in the news that acomes from our neighbors to the north in Montreal, Canada, where in just the past few days they’ve experienced 2 horrible road tragedies claiming 4 bicyclists, 3 in one crash alone.
Let the Silence ROAR tonight at 7pm in communities around the world. If you cannot find a Ride of Silence near you (see Locations), please consider organizing one in your own community.
In Illinois, Governor Pat Quinn has issued a Proclamation declaring May 19, 2010, Ride of Silence Day! 
Within the Chicago area, we have five confirmed communities hosting Rides of Silence: Chicago, Arlington Heights, Downers Grove, Evanston and Joliet.
One Day. One Time. Worldwide.
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California DMV released this video 2 weeks ago, perfect timing for Bike to Work month. Enjoy!
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The Chicago Green Festival is this weekend (May 22-23, 2010), a time to celebrate what’s working in our communities. This event showcases more than 350 diverse local and national green businesses.
And the best part…
COURTESY OF THE CLIF BAR 2 MILE CHALLENGE: BIKE TO GREEN FESTIVAL FOR FREE ADMISSION!
http://www.greenfestivals.org/chicago/
http://www.facebook.com/GreenFestival
The Chicago Green Festival® is a joint project of Global Exchange and Green America. In addition to highlighting local businesses (including our friends at PoCampo), more than 150 renowned speakers will appear for insightful panel discussions and presentations. Attendees will also enjoy great how-to workshops, green careers, a Fair Trade pavilion, Youth Unity Pavilion, kids’ activities, delicious organic beer, wine and cuisine, and live music. Find out how Midwest neighbors, community nonprofits and city departments are working together to make their cities healthier places to live.
Here are the details:
May 22-23, 2010
Saturday – 10am – 7pm
Sunday – 11am – 6pm
Navy Pier
600 E Grand Avenue
Chicago, IL 60611
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Brake pads. Those little devices are something we generally don’t think about until something goes wrong…squeaking and grinding against our rims or being unable to stop when needed. I faced both of these situations within my commuting fleet, and so it was with great interest that I agreed to test the “squeal-free” brake pads and V-brake shoes from Velo Orange.
VO wasn’t terribly forthcoming with details about the pad compound…they had some research documents as they were developing these products but didn’t share them with us. So, I don’t know anything about the compound used and the hardness rating (durometer). I can say that the pads feel about as firm (using the trusty “fingernail test”, which really doesn’t tell me anything) as other major-brand pads in my parts bins.
The black brake compound has tiny flecks of a tan-colored material mixed in…I don’t know what that material might be or if it improves braking ability; it’s just something I noticed. The pads have the required shape to fit modern Shimano-style pad holders, including the little scalloped depression at one end for the holder’s setscrew.
The V brake shoes have the same tan-flecked black material and come stock with orbital washers and spacers to simplify toe-in. These are the threaded-post models; straight-post models for traditional cantilever brakes are also available.
In the spirit of VO, I installed the pads on a genuine French bike…my 1971 Astra citybike. This bike is equipped with the original Weinmann sidepulls, which aren’t particularly powerful even on a good day. Luckily, I had some spare Kool-Stop pad holders and bolted the combination right on. Here they are installed and ready to accept a wheel:
I installed the V-brake shoes on the front end of the hardtail mountain bike I occasionally commute on — this bike was in DESPERATE need of new shoes as you can see here:
The VO shoes have a bit more overall length than the stock pads being replaced. I thought I might have some fork leg clearance issues, but didn’t. That extra length had a positive effect on braking performance, too…everything felt more solid up front.
The conditions I ride in are fairly flat, and at this time of the year very dry. Most of my riding consists of stop-and-go city riding and a good bit of “urban assault” riding in the green spaces, parking garages and city structures when time allows. Come summertime, I expect to spend a lot of time slogging through torrential rainstorms.
Well, how do they work? I’ve ridden both bikes for a couple months with pads and shoes installed, and I can honestly say that I’ve noticed a pretty big improvement in braking performance. Both bikes stop more quickly; in the case of the mountain bike, I don’t get any of the banshee-like wail I was used to with the old shoes. On my Astra, the anemic Weinmann sidepulls now feel like they’ll actually stop me in a panic situation! In both cases, there were no squeaks or squeals from the very first ride…some other pad/shoe brands tend to squeal for the first couple rides until the pad is broken in. I haven’t had an opportunity to ride either bike in the rain yet, though, and this is often the best way to truly test a brake pad for performance. I’ll report back once I’ve had a chance to get wet with them.
Are they the best pads and shoes I’ve ever tried? Well, the jury’s still out on that…I do have a salmon-colored favorite that lives on many of my other bikes, but I would strongly consider these VO models as replacements when my other pads wear out. Besides, they’re a great deal whether you need the pad inserts or the pads/holders or the shoes — substantially less than a couple of the other big names.
The pads definitely work!
You may notice that when visiting the Velo Orange product page, their pad compound is show as brick red rather than the black of our review pads. VO claims the compound is unchanged; the brick red is just a more appealing color to them.
Please click here to read our review disclaimer as required by the Federal Trade Commission.
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Today is the first day of Bike To Work Week.
OCTA has a great resource for bike commtuers and if you pledge that you’ll ride your bike, you can win stuff and you get a coupon for $25 off from your next $50 purchase from Jax Bicycles.
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Our dear friends over at Let’s Go Ride a Bike just announced their LGRAB Summer Games:
How to play, you ask?
It’s easy. There are three main categories, and six events in each category. Complete events in each category over a three week period, and tell us about it via blog post link, email or photo addition to our Summer Games Flickr Pool. Entries must include a story and a photo of each event you complete. If you enter via a post on your own blog, please link to this announcement in your entry, include one of our badges and let us know via email.
Anyone who completes at least two events in each of the three categories will be entered to win the Batavus BuB by random drawing. We’re also giving away prizes as readers complete each category.
Get the skinny on the events, rules and other contest ephemera by visiting Trisha and Dottie’s article on the Summer Games. This is a great event and participants are virtually guaranteed a good time playing along!
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Some of you may know that I got laid off in the beginning of January. While I’ve had plenty of things to do to keep myself busy and on the bike, I am happy to announce that I finally got a new full-time job, and I’m back to the daily ride.
My previous job was about 15 miles away. Although I had the option of using the bus, I’d usually ride my bike the whole trip with the exception of winter, when I’d ride to the bus stop, for a round trip of 6 miles instead of 30. I was also working across state lines, which, in my case, meant I paid taxes to two different states and had to fill out three tax returns instead of two.
My new job has me doing similar work to what I was doing before — I keep bad guys out of the company’s network. This time, though, I actually work in the same suburban town I live in, with a 6 mile ride each direction. And it’s flat. Not good for training or getting in shape, but it’s almost perfect for bike commuting. There’s actually a bus that gives me door-to-door service in the morning if I need it, but it stops running long before my shift ends at night.
I have some more gear I’ll be testing out during Kansas City’s official Monsoon Season. Stay tuned.
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As reported in a dozen other places, the Florida Legislature snuck in some alarming additions to the Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles Bill (HB971).
Unbeknownst to Florida Bicycle Association, a mandatory bike lane use provision was included in the Highway Safety & Motor Vehicles bill. The bill also allows local governments to permit mopeds, golf-carts and other motorized vehicles on sidewalks and trails.
Commute Orlando has perhaps the best description of why these additions are dangerous…not only for cyclists but pedestrians and other road users (including motorists!). Take a look at their site to read more of the details. On the Commute Orlando site is information to contact Gov. Charlie Crist about this proposed bill and there is also an online petition and email-generating applet in the comments section of that article. Act now to preserve our current rights as cyclists!
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I found this interesting video that was posted at a local forum. My favorite part was around 6:18 where it shows how they stamped the chain ring.
Gazelle 1925 from Gazelle Bicycles Australia on Vimeo.
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