Coupla beers + summer nighttime bike ride for a handful of miles in the pitch dark = 25mg Xanax + first hill of your favorite roller coaster.
Category: Bicycles
Essential Reading from Reddit
Every so often, Reddit really pays off big. This thread is proof. The original post, below, is terrific. The comments that follow are equally as good. The whole thread is worth your time.
That’s the Whole Point, Isn’t it?
Just In: Major Taylor, The Extraordinary Career of a Champion Bicycle Racer
A while back, I asked the good people on Bikeforums.net if they had any suggestions on good books about bicycling. They came through strong, with numerous suggestions that I hope to work my way through over time.
This one was the most intriguing to me, though. I’ve heard and read lightly about ‘Major’ Taylor in scattered articles here and there, but this lays out his whole story. I’m 75 pages in and the detail is really quite extraordinary. This is an author who has done his homework and Taylor’s dumbfounding story is personified drama.
Full review is pending.
Morning Links
Just one this morning. It’s long. It’s excellent. It’s so worth your time.
No More Cars | I’ve Seen a Future Without Cars, and It’s Amazing. This is a must read. Brew a beverage of your liking, settle in, and read it all the way through. Absolutely fantastic.
If the Year 2020 Was a Bike
Morning Links
Stomped | Watch what happens to a dude who asks a community of bike riders “Uhh, what’s a cyclist?” and then, without a hint of irony, gives a stereotypically elitist definition.
Movin’ | Yamaha has introduced a new electric power-assist road bike that moves crazy fast.
Long Read | National Geographic does a nice overview of How Bicycles Transformed Our World.
Bike Paradise | Did you know that Tucson, Ariz., has a 131-mile bike path that connects many of the city’s parks, shops, bus routes, trailheads and schools? Yeah, me neither.
Pic of the Day | Posted to r/xbiking on Reddit by kdvorkin. All credit to them.
Yoshizo Shimano, Former President of the Bike Parts Giant, Dies
Yoshizo Shimano, the fourth president of the nearly 100-year-old bicycle parts manufacturer and the man who made Shimano into the global behemoth it is today, has died. He was 85.
Shimano was the third son of company founder Shozaburo Shimano. He became president in 1995, following his brothers Shozo and Keizo. Shimano today is a household name in bicycle parts with $3.3 billion in annual sales.
Read More on Nekki Asian Review.
Late to the Reddit Party
I realize I’m a skosh late to this party, but I’ve just discovered the joys of Reddit. You may make fun of me now, I’ll wait.
Done? So soon? K.
I know it gets a bad wrap for some of its nether regions, and rightly so, but there are some good subreddits I’ve just found that I like a lot. Here they are, in order of my enthusiasm: r/xbiking; r/grammar; r/bicycling; r/cycling; r/bikeporn.
If anyone has suggestions on subreddits while I navigate through this, let me know.
For Sale: Touring Bike and Rare Bridgestone
It’s time, I know. It’s well more than time to finally clean out the basement of two bikes I just don’t use. I know. Stop bugging me about it, already.
I’ve put these beauties up on craigslist — here and here; on bikeforums.net, here and here and on Facebook Marketplace, here and here. Despite a nationwide dearth of good bicycles, I’ve not had a single call yet.
They’re both nice, good looking and in perfect running condition. I just don’t ride them since I’ve built up my daily XO-2.
If you know anyone looking for Bikes for the Vertically Challenged, let me know.
