Party Bikes

These are some bikes I was hanging out with at the party last night. Kudos to them for not driving, and Kudos to all the people that walked over.

Buying A Bike In 4 Steps

A lot of people come into the shop and say they want a bike, but when asked, they don't really know what kind of bike they want to ride. This is a $400+ decision so it should really require a little bit of thought. Here are 4 easy steps that will help you finalize the decision:

1. IMAGINE YOURSELF RIDING. Are you slinging up mud while barreling through a forest trail? Are you contesting the sprint on the morning ride? Cruising on the bike path, pulling the kids in a trailer, riding to work, or are you trying to drop a few pounds? The thing with bikes is they are designed for specific riding conditions. There are only a couple of bikes that can handle multiple terrains. Once you can verbalize the way you see yourself on a bike you can narrow down the many different bike choices.

2. POLL YOUR FRIENDS. Getting out by yourself can be a little intimidating so find out what kind of bikes your friends are riding. This can be a good way to find a riding buddy; getting a bike similar to theirs will allow you to ride at a similar pace, where one person won't be working too hard.

3. BE PREPARED TO TEST RIDE. Would you buy a car without test driving it first? Why are you gonna buy a bike without taking it for a spin and seeing how it feels? Wear something that will allow movement but don't wear anything super baggy that could get caught in a chain. In addition to making sure the bike works properly you can make sure you feel good on the bike.

4. ASK EVERY QUESTION YOU CAN. The employees are full of knowledge so pick their brains. Is the seat at the proper height? How do you take off the front wheel? What if something breaks? What can the bike shop do for you? There are lots of questions that might get left out of the conversation. The employees don't know how much you already know about bikes so help them out by asking lots of questions. It's kind of like an interview where you are the employer and the bike shop is the employee: they want to work for you in exchange for your money!

Now that you've found a bike that rides great and feels great, you are ready to purchase. You've also formed a relationship with your Local Bike Shop. Keep in touch with them, friend them on facebook, etc... Shops have weekly group rides and will often host events like demos (where you can test ride the best bikes out there) and Ladies Night (where just women can gather and learn maintenance and riding tips).

Tandem Bicycle

Runs On Fat

Source: stumbleupon.com via Kelly on Pinterest

Ice Cream Sunday

Kyle has asked me to lead this Sunday's Ice Cream Ride from Revolutions to YoLo. It's a bit more involved than just a trip down Cooper St. but I promise I won't lead you down any alleys or trails.

I haven't participated in an ICR since two years ago (time flies!) when we rode to Baskin Robbins on Summer a few times.

Here's a map of previous rides, we might make some slight detours but will generally stick to this:

View Ice Cream Ride in a larger map

Bicycles Flood Pictures & Videos

Steven sent me this pic and video of some BMXers hanging out pre-crest. I can't tell at all who's there, but they did manage to pop off some nice tricks:

Jesus's Bicycle

Danny Wilson snapped (maybe snaked is a better word) this photo when the Mississippi had yet to crest. He thinks someone else set the bicycle there and was going back for their camera when he swooped in and took the picture.

Any idea on who the original photographer might be?

Got any flood pics with bicycles in them? Let me know! - fixmemphis@yahoo.com

Bicycle Swap Meet

Check the facebook event page for all the up-to-date info!

Survey Time

Take this Bicycle/Pedestrian survey meow.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/BikePedUpdate2010

Ditch Pictures

Part I: Always be prepared.

I awoke at 8:15 to make sure my light was charged for my first ditch ride (I was out of town for the previous ride); it wasn't. Thankfully I still had an hour or so before Taylor arrived so I plugged it into the charger and set about organizing the rest of my supplies. I was never a Boy Scout but I do like to be prepared:

Spare tubes, spare tire, multiple CO2's, batteries, water, knife, headlamp, and a handpump. I didn't have a first aid kit but I know I can always make due with some water, a t-shirt and some electrical tape.

By the time Taylor arrived my light was sufficiently charged and we headed over to Dennis'. They were set up and we made our way to the in-progress greenline.

Even though the line isn't officially open there are plenty of people already enjoying the space. Right when we hopped onto the line a couple passed us on road bikes. They may have been riding 25's but they certainly weren't cross or mountain bikes. The terrain is loose gravel so I'm sure they weren't having as easy a time as we were.

Kudos to them; and to the father and son riding extremely slow. I feel bad because I passed them as some other riders were heading our way. I think I scared the dude in front as I cut back across to the right side. I stopped at the entrance and while we were waiting until everyone was out of eyeshot (we didn't want anyone seeing us actually entering the ditch) Dennis thought it would be a good idea to splash me with water. So I think it's a good idea to post this picture of him laughing. Laugh on, crazy face, laugh on.

Part II: Enter the Dragon


The GPS was no help. No one wanted to wait around long enough for it to find the satellites but we felt confident that with our knowledge of Memphis city streets that we could just poke our heads up and

know where we were. We took off riding, ducking and dodging low branches, criss-crossing the small stream by popping wheelies over it where the debris wouldn't allow straight line. We rode for quite a while like this and even ducking through some tunnels, none of which we more that 30 yards long. We could always see the light at the end of the tunnel and none were so low that we uncomfortable riding through. Until we came to one tunnel.

We stopped for a second and poked our heads up to see where we were. We saw a playground and figured we were looking at an area of Poplar. So I figured that when we took this new, longer and lower tunnel we would be riding under campus and come out near Southern.

One should never presume anything. Riding through this tunnel proved more difficult the further we went in, not onaccounta debris but for the low ceiling. It got to the point where we were laying on our top tubes, one foot on one pedal and pushing with the other, craning our necks to see where our lights were pointing, calling out pieces of wood and rebar that had been strewn about the floor. We were relieved to come to this one point where we could stand up and stretch. Johnny looked down and found a hammer, recalling earlier exploits in the ditch by Phil, Hal, Bobby, etc... Dennis put it nicely when he said something like, "If I had known we were going to be leaned over for so long I would have stayed in that spot for longer." We rode for quite a while longer, occasionally taking a break, squatting and letting our necks rest. After several 'how much longer's' and a few 'maybe we should turn back's' we saw a light. Thankfully the rebar was loose enough so we could bend it back enough to get our bikes and bodies through.


Part III: Urban Trespassing
We rode for a little bit longer and came to an even smaller round tunnel. Time to climb out. Luckily it was fairly easy to get out, though standing on fences proved precarious. We ended up running cross style through someone's back yard and hopping their fence. It was a very 'Ferris Beuller's Day Off' kind of feel, minus girls in bikinis.

Remember how we thought we were going to pull out on Southern? Wrong. We pulled out next to Shady Grove just before a police officer drove down the street. I think being in the dark for that amount of time disturbed our sense of space. We rode down Shady Grove and passed Memphis Thunder on some kind of Labor Day training ride. Maybe it was just a joy ride because they weren't going very fast.

And that's all. We'll let you know the next time we go.

Huntsville Lucky Cat - June 5th

Our friends in Huntsville are at it again! Looks like a great time with a lot of great sponsors!

More info here.

Really, we are fixing Memphis

Bicycling Magazine just released it's list of the Top 50 Bike-Friendly Cities. Memphis is no where on the list. But a simple search for 'worst bike cities' on the website reveals Memphis as #2. You have probably heard about this.

What you may not have heard about is the work that everyone is doing to change that:

MATA (Memphis Area Transit Authority) has installed bike racks on their buses. The website says 34% but in a recent meeting John Lancaster said that about 136 buses or 85% of the buses have bike racks.

The Memphis & Shelby County Health Department Pollution Control, Air Quality Improvement Branch has set up a rideshare program that can now pair you with a bike buddy. Once you register you can even see how much money you save and your environmental impact by choosing how you commuted that day. forinstance, the 8 trips I've commuted in April have had a 33.74 lb reduction in greenhouse gases.

The CCC (Center City Commission) is coordinating a grand scale Bike To Work Day for May 21st. The goal is to help people make that first step and show them how easy it is to commute by bicycle. City officials like Councilman Shea Flinn are expected to ride!

And then there are columns in the Commercial Appeal calling for a "Motorist-bicyclist Utopia."

Cooper-Young plans to have the first real "in-city" bike lanes.

Greater Memphis Greenline, Inc. has already broken ground on a 6.5 mile section of unused rail lines to be converted to a hike/bike path. In the future they plan to use that greenline as well as others to connect Overton Park, The Fairgounds, and other midtown destinations to Shelby Farms and beyond.

These are just SOME of the efforts to make Memphis more bike-friendly. So it's not like Memphis is trying to be in last place. Changing takes a lot of people with positive attitudes. Get in touch with one of the groups above to see how you can help fix Memphis.

My friend Zac was hit

...in the face by a University of Memphis student. You can read the full article which appeared in Friday's Daily Helmsman here. There should be a follow-up on Monday with the offender's name, that is if University officials have located him. Though it shouldn't be hard to locate a 6'5" 250lb man if you have his license plate number, unless of course you don't want to find him. I'm just saying that the officials have the pertinent information and it shouldn't take a week to track down a student. Is the University protecting an athlete? Shouldn't having had your near perfect basketball season record stripped away be enough warning that you shouldn't try to cover things? This is all speculation and hopefully we'll find out Monday. If you can't get to campus to grab a copy you can always follow up with dailyhelmsman.com.

In reaction to this assault we are planning a bicycle rally on campus in the near future. Details are still being worked out but it would most likely consist of an early morning (8 AM) moderate paced group ride around campus (Patterson, Zach Curlin, Central), an information booth on campus throughout the day, then another moderate paced group ride in the afternoon or evening (2 or 5 PM).

If you are upset about the obvious lack of knowledge of the law (especially from Keitra Jones who works in Police Services) the please write a letter to the Daily Helmsman here.

If you need to reference City of Memphis or Tennessee State cycling laws you may follow the links we posted last year: Cycling Laws... Again

New Polo Grounds

My friend Andrew came into the shop today and told me that he and some of his friends have been playing polo at the lot next to Dollar General (next to CBU) on Central. A group of us went and checked it out tonight and played a couple of games. It's wide open which makes play longer and it's lit so we can play for a while. There were a couple of times when the ball went under the fence but was easily retrieved. Cones are already there and I distributed mallets to the people who showed up. There are 3 mallets left, 2 of which I think are probably claimed (Kermit and Rocky have dibs) so that leaves one mallet left which will be an extra.

We're going to play tomorrow at this new spot at 6:30PM, to allow everyone to get off work (Chase) and ride over. There is plenty of room to hang out and watch so if you've never played feel free to drop by.

Fixed Gear: Savannah, GA

Emily and I just got back from a fine beach vacation in Hilton Head, SC with plenty of sand castles, alligators, beach cruisers, sunsets and fruity drinks in a rainbow of colors (which we were more intent on drinking, rather than taking pictures of them):




One day while we were there we took a drive over to Savannah, GA (about 30 minutes away) and shopped and took pictures of bicycles. Savannah is home to SCAD (Savannah College of Art and Design) so you can imagine the number of "hip" art-school kids with fixed gear bikes. I'll preface these photos first with an apology to anyone whose bike I captured that isn't an art-school hipster and actually rides for the love of it, for the work of it (shout to Brett, a Savannah Pedi-cabbie who was super nice to talk to for a while), or for the transportation of it. Savannah is beautiful and I want to come back and race and play polo (everyday!?) and just ride in your bike lanes and park in your abundant bike parking, but it seemed that a lot of the bikes I saw were strictly trying to be cool. Here's what I mean:

I never thought about grabbing my bars from underneath but I imagine it would make you pretty aero:


Or, "I'm gonna chip to hell my sweet-ass Merckx with this un-sheathed chain." Two condoms are needed here: one for the chain and one for the owner so he doesn't reproduce:


However this is the worst:


Where did that derailleur go? It must not have been any good. What does Dura-Ace mean anyway?



However there were some good looking bikes around like this guy:



...and his rather smart basket:



Or this Fuji Track Pro that was (regrettably) spray painted white:



And overall Savannah looks like an enoyable place to ride:



I mostly took pictures of fixed gears and single speeds as there were WAY too many cruisers. Check the rest of them on my flickr.

Live From Memphis

...put up a nice edit focusing on the bicycle culture of Memphis.



Lots of familiar faces. Read more here.
Live From Memphis

Josh Beckemeyer's Bike Movie

Tonight at Odessa there is a free film from local BMX rider Josh Beckemeyer. It's free and BYOB. I will be going there after from the Peddler Bike Shop Tuesday ride so if anyone wants to meet me in Overton Park around 7:30 we can all ride over to Odessa together. Here's more info from Odessa:

Start Time: Tuesday, July 21, 2009 at 8:00pm
End Time: Wednesday, July 22, 2009 at 12:00am
Location: Odessa
Street: 2613 Broad Ave
City/Town: Memphis, TN

Phone: 9018599464
Email: odessamemphis@gmail.com

Come by Odessa for the Memphis premiere of Beck's latest movie. (I saw a sneak preview and it was incredible.) For all you Bicycle Film Fest folks, you're not gonna want to miss it. For everybody else, you still don't want to miss this. It's also the dude's birthday. So come on by.

Doors at 8pm. Film will start a little while after that.

Free admision. BYOB.

Stolen Bike Recovered!

A trusted customer came into the shop yesterday with my friend Brandon's Scott S40 Speedster. It was given to him by someone else and he ust wanted to air the tires up and ride it once then give it to another person, as it was too small for him. I took it to a stand and my memory clicked. I called Brandon and he read the serial number from his records and it was a match! I informed my customer that the bike was stolen and he's now helping to track down the theif. The theif may not be apprehended but at least for now Brandon has his bike back.

This Thursday Night!

This Thursday will be several people's last Thursday Night Ride for a while. Chase, Dennis and Jevans will be leaving for their tour soon, Anthony is taking off to travel the world, and Josh Gorman is moving to Washington, DC! This will just be a fun ride, moderately paced, all are welcome. Come wish your friends happy trails!

May is National Bike Month

We'll be celebrating bicycles all month long (and in particular at the end of the month with the Bicycle Film Festival in Memphis) there are certain things you can do to help promote cycling. The main thing being bike to work. Bike to Work Week is May 11-15 and National Bike to Work Day is Friday May 15th.


Visit the League of American Bicyclists for more info.