Depending on who you are, you'll be either dismayed or relieved to know that as of today I am officially on vacation. While it's possible I may pop in for a random post if I have something compelling to share, for all intents and purposes I'll be gone until Monday, December 31st when I'll resume regular updates. In the meantime, I plan to ride, rest, catch up on emails (feel free to drop a line), and observe my annual holiday tradition of gathering loved ones in a cold dark room, watching Werner Herzog movies, and silently reflecting on our own personal shortcomings as human beings.
I want to thank everybody for reading and commenting. I'm constantly thrilled that so many people visit this site, participate in it, and in some cases even enjoy it. Ride safe--I'll see you out there.
--BSNYC
115 comments:
See ya!
Happy Holidays to you and yours from South Africa.
(Great blog, BTW.)
mele kalikimaka!
bikealbany.com
holla!
Thanks for the Holiday cheer - rest up and come back with a vengence for 2008.
aww the spirit of Christmas touches even the dark heart of the Bike Snob..I'll forgive you, but just this once!
We will miss you! Hope you have a great holiday.
a devoted reader
aguirre the wrath of god is a perfect antipole to annoying holiday cheer.
happy holidays, bikesnob and fellow commenters.
is this the vacation you got for selling out?
go drink some narragansett. and i mean the whole can, not just half of it.
I always thought it was intensive porpoises
Your postings are always fun to read.
Have a great vacation and merry christmas from Montana. (where it was one fucking icy bike ride this morning !)
BSNY - have a great Christmas (if that's what you celebrate!)and Happy New Year! Wish me luck riding my new TT bike!
Herzog makes cycling movies?
Once you have shown them all the Werner Herzog films it will be time to move on to Rainer Maria Faessbinder! While listening to those old Stockhausen lps.
We all look forward to more great product reviews, more venom and more startling metaphors in 2008.
A tip o' the Euro roadie pirate bandana to you, BSNYC!
Happy Holidays to all!
BSNYC -- you know, come to think of it, "Even Dwarfs Started Small" would be a pretty good complement to "It's A Wonderful Life."
Heck, it's a pretty good metaphor for .... Oh, never mind.
Have a great vacation!
happy holidays from Oaktown! enjoy yer vacation - we'll miss you!
Happy Holidays, and to quote the t-shirts my mom had airbrushed for me and my dad after he cut off the tip of his nose in a spinning front wheel:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/22286118@N00/2127284326/
oops...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/22286118@N00/2127284326
damnit:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/
22286118@N00/2127284326
woogie christmas
yeah 20th!!
Have a good holiday.
Ta muchly.
RB
Merry Christams and many looong fixie skids!
hehe..."christams"
sounds like jesus breakfast cereal...
Thanks for all the humor, looking forward to more next year.
Happy Holidays.
Merry Christmas and a happy New Year to Bikesnob and every other bike rider out there. Stay safe, dry and warm.
Feliz navidad!
mele kalikimaka as well. may the christmas season warm the cockles of your heart (actually that sounds a bit gross). hopefully the gross commercialization of christmas will welcome you back with a new venom in the coming year. i am a bit concerned about the pistadex in this holiday season though.
BSNYC is the second most consistently funny thing on the internet, right after the onion.
And a happy Festivus for the restofus
Man, I was sure that Snob was a fellow Yid, but now I hear he's taking Christmas vacation? What am I to make of that?
Fitzcarraldo with the in-laws is definitely my favorite way of celebrating the Holidays.
Happy Hoo-hah BSNYC, and a healthy New Year too
Have a great holiday - work is about to become a little more unbearable now without my lunch-time BSNYC reading but I'll survive.
How'd you get a picture in NYC without people or cars? I thought people in NYC were like spiders (they say you're never more than 20 feet from one).
"I feel like I'm in Fitzcarraldo"
"That movie was flawed"
Merry Christmas, mate - have a good one.
Have a great holiday!-)
Happy Holidays snob thanks for all the great posts, Ill be enjoying my vacation as well avoiding a computer an and enjoying the outdoors. Will be looking foward to hearing from you in 2008!
Happy Holidays. I have really enjoyed your Blog. Funny, compelling, interesting, entertaining, educational...call it what ever you want. It is a good read.
Merry Christmas, Snobby, enjoy your time off.
I packed a gift basket just for you with a festive chain with alternating green and red links, a matching top tube pad and a slightly used carbon bottle cage (I did NOT over-torque those bolts installing it - and in any case with a little duct tape it should still hold a bottle).
Cheers.
Snob,
Hopefully Santa brings you the free ride bike of your dreams.
Cheers,
Karl Rover
Merry Christmas and/or Chappy Chanukah Snob!
I always thought "Night of the Hunter" would make a good xmas movie.
Back to work for me.
Syadiloh yppah!
IMO, Werner the character is much, much more interesting and engaging the Werner's films. Example, watch "Incident at Loch Ness". Not even a decent film but Werner has so much face time that it's fantastically entertaining.
My all time favorite Herzog film? "The Great Ecstasy of the Woodcarver Steiner" - this 20 minute short gets me every time. The pinnacle of Popul Vuh set to Herzog's images. "Heart of Glass" would be a close second.
WWWR? (What Would Werner Ride?)
nn
Happy Christmas/Hanukkah/Winter Solstice (or another festive occasion of your choice) to BSNYC & all of us fans. Texas hits a high of 72 degrees this afternoon, time to get a ride in methinks.
Merry Christmas to all, and welcome to the off-season for any other cyclocrossers out there.
Happy holidays from your "blinkie-lighted siblings"! You deserve a break from us knuckleheads...the lovers and haters among your regular commenters.
...like a good bike ride, this year has had it's ups & down, but in the end ya gotta say 'that was great'...
...my best for the holidays & the coming new year, bikesnob...
...cheers, mate !...
Happy Holidays! Just remember to come back -
Happy holidays, BSNYC. Just remember not to wince when you unwrap that shiny new top-tube bad... I'm sure they meant well. Besides, you can always regift or trade it in for cash against that pair of pink Deep V's you've been looking at.
Bad/pad... whatever. Fraudian slip?
Thanks Snob!
Happy Much Ado and a Horrible Nothing.
Can't resist a recommendation - Herzogs "My Best Fiend"
Documentary on him and Kinski.
Great.
Keep blogging - best part of my surfing is stopping by your site.
Hey bikesnobber
U know what would have been a good move?
Perfect gift for the holiday?
BSNY tube top protectors
Rich with irony, perfect for cheap fixie conversion riders like myself
Anyways enjoy your vacation.
Awh shit...this might be the darkest week of my entire life. Bikesnob, you have no idea how much you mean to me/us. The day I was the first person to post a coment was one of the top five in my life (right up there with the day I was introduced to your blog). I'm afraid that, as addicts are known to do, I'll simply replace reading your blog with something equally satisfying/thrilling/hillarious, heroine perhaps, or possibly BASE jumping -- but hopefully my will power will hold out until 2008. Thanks, and keep it up.
...if it's any consolation, tonight marks the winter solstice & while tomorrow is the shortest day of the year, ergo, every day after that is incrementally longer...
...now that is worth celebrating !!!...so happy solstice, faithful bloggers...
Ahh, the shortest day of the year! It means I get to use my 3,000,000 candlepower headlight more than any other day! Toss some eggnog in the water bottle, set my six red and green blinkies to flash, and out for some celebratory riding! Merry Christmas everyone!
Merry Christmas, Snob. Thanks for the great blog.
Have a nice vacation. In fact, everyone, have a nice holiday!
Sorry to stiff you with no gift this year. And you've given me so many. Fewer things make me laugh anymore, but reading your blog has. Thank you for those priceless gifts.
Damn you mele kalikimaka people! I'd love to be soaking up the sun on a nice beach.
THANK YOU Bike Snob for a great blog. Happy holidays and as always ride safe.
BSNYC
Thanks for sharing your blog. You are an amazingly talented guy and funny as hell.
My hardcore 62 year-old, soft-ride riding, bikini-top wearing triathlete, father-in-law even manages to laugh along. You got skills.
Happy Holidays from PDX, home of super badass fixies.
Hey Bike Snob,
It's highly likely that you've seen this, but just in case...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2885aR6o6s
http://www.katu.com/news/specialreports/12619171.html
Link to "Are breakless bikes safe"
"I actually like it a lot better," said bike messenger Adam Leckie. "I feel like I have a lot more control."
Have a good Winter Holiday!
-Kicks
Thanks for the blog, stay out of Bicycling!
Dude. Cool to see your positive sentiment . . . and all of the positive responses here. You make me remember that even tough I don't race anymore, or sometimes don't get to ride (period), that it's an awesome sport/pasttime. Also, memories of my old home town are always a trip.
Nick
Oh great, Christmas and now this. Fine! Have a great time. We'll just wait around until you come back.
Bike Snob, thanks for the memories, I feel all warm inside,... and I'm leaking from my eyes. Happy rides to all and to all, and to all a good night.
Have a great vacation Snob.
But please come back more bitter and twisted and as funny as a silk embroidered top tube pad.
You've even made it as far as "Hicksville" UK!!!!
as i wait for my robyn byrd escort, may i thank you for your insight... even though your roadie sided... hey... we dont all wear spandes or ride fixes... 6speed achient schwinn 4 life...
you make my mornings that much easier...
chain smokin huffin commuter just trying to spare my moto's fuel.... what an ensightfull ass you are!
Happy Holidays! Rest up or maybe go for a ride.
hey bikesnob!
just wanted to wish you a merry xmas and a happy and safe holiday!
thanks for all the great blogging thats has kept me thoroughly entertained in 07. looking forward to next year.
take care
alex
Happy Holidays Bike Snob, I hear Santa reads this blog and made a special red Aerospoke for you this year.
http://fixedgeargallery.com/2007/dec/2/NabeenSingha.htm
check out this complete idiot
It will be a long, cold holiday without the BSNYC to warm my chilly heart. Come back soon!
Best of the festive season from the Land of Oz. I lift me glass of Sparkling Shiraz (don't laugh you should all try it) to all and have a safe silly season ( even those who define silly..... FG's/ recumberants/ etc you all know who you are)
Merry Christmas, happy holidays and party on. Thank you for the insight, and outsight, this year.
just wanted to say that i thoroughly enjoy your blog :)
happy holidays!
From this previous link:
http://www.katu.com/news/specialreports/12619171.html
"The people who have the brakeless bikes aren't the ones crashing or getting into bike accidents," said Ryan Weaver with River City Bicycles. "It's the ones traveling at high speeds with coaster brakes."
Ahem…ah …what? Is this Professional bike person saying that most of the bike accidents in Portland are caused by people speeding on these:
http://www.electrabike.com/cruiser/
Huh?
Does this guy:
http://www.rivercitybicycles.com/mod.php?mod=userpage&menu=1503&page_id=49
Not know what a coaster brake even IS?
And this dude OWNS a bike store!
I think I'm going through withdraws. I didn't know it would be this bad. I didn't know it would be this bad. It's getting c-c-cold...my whole body hurts...I feel like I'm spinning....I can't see anything -- only darkness! BikeSnob, I'm scared!
Happy Holidays to you and your family BSNYC, from way down here in New Orleans!
Great blog reading, and comments from everyone.
Happy holidays BSNYC, enjoy the vacation. I recommended your blog to this site and I believe it's just been added. You made the top 10!
http://bikingcircle.com/community
Merry Christmas Snob.
See ya later.
-B
working at a seattle bike shop on christmas eve, i got an early present: the super commuter of the century.
full suspension Marin mountain bike, made to accept 700 c wheels (armadillos of course), full fenders, drop bars + TT-bars (pointing downward) 80mm adjustable stem
long live the yellow vest!
Streetsie Blog of the year! Congrats BSNYC!
... gathering loved ones in a cold dark room, watching Werner Herzog movies, and silently reflecting on our own personal shortcomings...
I think we all recognize this plot-line from "It's a Very German Christmas, Charlie Brown". A classic, ja?
Happy holidays, all.
woogie woogie!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
hyup! hyup! just testing my google log in
2nd try
Nothing like "holiday season" depression and a MIA Bikesnob to get a guy in the mood to commandeer an online 'comments' forum and stir up a little chatter. So, here are some remarks on the great fixed gear brake debate:
First, regardless of one's answer to the question, "is it really stupid to ride without a front brake?", there is a completely separate question of whether we need a law requiring a front brake on a fixed gear bike.
It seems pretty clear that enforcment of the Portland bike brake law is not a response to any wave of accidents involving fixie riders, and is probably not motivated by genuine community concern for the well-being of bike messengers and/or "hipsters".
Particularly when it comes to petty traffic laws, cops pick and choose which rules to enforce. And, as virtually any African American male can tell you, petty traffic laws can be used to target particular groups of people. Shocking, I know.
So, do we need a brake law because "we all have to pay for the brain injury of some idiot who didn't have the good sense to ride with a brake/helmet/light/etc."? Go see Michael Moore's movie 'Sicko'. We're not paying that much, even for people who really deserve help. About all the fixxers are accomplishing is a guarantee that they'll lose if they or their surviving family members try to sue the driver who cut in front of them. So, I'm voting for "no law necessary". I'm also voting for spending 30 seconds in the presence of a survivor of a traumatic brain injury. More than long enough to learn why you don't want that.
Last, if you're part of a group that's being targeted, and you're being singled out for something non-hereditary, you probably have choices. In this case, you can choose civil disobedience, and freely and openly accept the consequences of wilfully violating what you believe to be an unjust law. Or, you can spend the small change to install a cheap bike part. Or, you can whine about how you're not doing anything wrong, and you can't understand why the police keep hassling you. I personally think option one is simultaneously foolish and admirable. A combo I like, for not entirely rational reasons. Two is smarter and safer, and my own chosen option. Three is common, really really common, and really annoying in my opinion.
Speaking of laws, the chances of getting mowed down by a teenager driving-while-texting just got a little slimmer in Seattle. After January first, you can get a ticket for that. That law I like.
Happy Holidays BSNYC!
seatleS&M-
I'll bite; I don't think it should be required by law to have a front brake on a fixie (too many laws already)... However, there could be a valid reason for having such a law. Compare the front and rear brakes on most (if not all) passenger vehicles; the front brake is where the majority of stopping power comes from due to forces during braking.
A much better law to have on the books would be the bicycle commuter tax credit, which got axed from the Energy bill.
Okay... I'll play along too.
According to Ohio Revised Code (where I live) bicycles must obey all the laws of a vehicle operating on a similar roadway including equipment laws. Since all automobiles operating on a street or roadway are required by law to be equipped with an adequate brake that should apply to a bicycle too.
Ref: ORC §4511.55 "Persons riding bicycles must obey all traffic rules applicable to vehicles" and further ORC §4511.56 "Every bicycle must be equipped with an adequate brake when used on a street or highway."
You don't want a brake, fine. That sounds like a track bike to me, go find a track. You want to play in traffic, you have to follow the rules.
Hey dude,
Happy new year and happy holidays from Panama. Being one of very few bike commuters down here, your blog is a nice way to connect with the global bike community.
So, do we need a brake law because "we all have to pay for the brain injury of some idiot who didn't have the good sense to ride with a brake/helmet/light/etc."? >>>
**********
I am gonna bite too. I for one, do not ride fixed but I ride in traffic and I don't ride with a helmet. I wear headphones and I sing. My b/f rides a track bike but he rides with a front break.
Do I think there should be a law in place? No. It won't be enforced. It's stupid.
full suspension Marin mountain bike, made to accept 700 c wheels (armadillos of course), full fenders, drop bars + TT-bars (pointing downward) 80mm adjustable stem
long live the yellow vest!
Justin – I deeply wish that you had grabbed a photo of that!
It seems pretty clear that enforcment [sic] of the Portland bike brake law is not a response to any wave of accidents involving fixie riders, and is probably not motivated by genuine community concern for the well-being of bike messengers and/or "hipsters".
Ahem… when was that made “clear” – not in that article surely? There probably ARE a wave of accidents involving novice fixie riders and yes the sainted messengers, how could there not be? The only quote is from a bike store owner (interested party – it’s a fixie shop) who blames it on “coaster brakes” – does that make ANY sense at all?
Though you mention the chances of being killed by a texting teenager you do not mention the real reason that these laws might be created – so that a person on another bike, or in a car or on the asphalt stands a better chance of not being plowed into by some moron on a fixie who can’t stop.
Gary! That is just amazing – what a moron the esteemed congressman is, and how sad that speech is. Still, I don’t think the two laws are an either/or choice.
Dewey, Cheatum, & Howe – that’s pretty much what I was trying to say. Why are you posting as these guys though:
http://www.calcon.net/demos/history.htm
?
judi said... “I don't ride with a helmet. I wear headphones and I sing…” ………..Do I think there should be a law in place? No. It won't be enforced. It's stupid…….
Speaking of stupid.
Hint: Singing = ok; no helmet = stupid.
Judi, Judi, Judi,
Are you freakin' nuts? Get a skid lid and use it!!
I really miss this Blog.
I think riding with headphones and no helmet is cool - about as cool as drooling all over yourself and having to wear a diaper the rest of your pathetic life!
Hey Skidmark, I don't give a shit what you think - I didn't ask you. Who are YOU to judge ME anyway?
Anon - I do have a helmet (in fact I have 3 of them) and it is worn, just not very often.
It's my choice!!!
And I think if people want to ride without a break, then let them.
why oh why do we call riding a fixie without a hand-break "breakless." I stop mine pretty goddamn well, thank you very much. And if anything I'm a little more cautious just because I know that if you use too much brute force on the legs, you can break your chain (I hear anyway, I'm not that much of an ogre) or launch yourself into a skid. But sh*t happens any way you cut it. Therefore: fixed gear bikes *do* have a break. If you don't know how to use it, that's your problem.
PS snob, can't wait till you're back. You're snobbish sarcasm and satire is sunlight in my seattle sky.
sigh. Effin a.
Judi, you're posting on an online comment board, and you write a blog; you open yourself up for everybody to judge you. I just made a documentary about cycling crashes and getting hit by cars. Helmets save lives.
On the other hand, there is another study that concluded that when it comes to how much space a passing car will give a cyclist, the widest average margin was given to cyclists with long hair and no helmets.
The majority of braking power comes by stopping the front wheel. Unless you're riding in a velodrome, care more about being cool than your life, or you only use your fixie for bar spins, just get a front brake.
Judi,
Thank you for your vitriol. Pretty much confirms my suspicions. btw, I'll repeat one of bsnyc's pet peeves - using "break" when you mean "brake".
Maybe when you don't have a "brake" you "break"......ouch
What the!?
I just read about you in Bicycling mag.
Look forward to future posts.
Happy New Year from New Mexico.
Judi did Santa bring you that concussion you were wanting for
Christmas?
Skidmark you are hilarious-- you are also correct.
Danimal I'm afraid of you. Because you can't stop. Because you're an idiot.
Judi,
Despite your lashing out, we do want to see you still posting here next new year...so use one of the 3 lids...pick one and wear it.
As for the brakes, enforcing such a law will be difficult. However that is not a rationale for not having it (think seat belt laws when we started out).
Unfortunately we all believe we ar "better" than we actually are. That's your ego again.
Sadly I've had to bury countless young soldiers, usually victims of speed and/or lack of safety equipment. Interviewing their friends revealed that most often they knew of this behavior but the victim thought that those rules did not apply to him.
The worst is facing those young families who lost their loved one in a senseless accident. So if you're too proud to wear it (or use proper brakes)for yourself, do it for the ones you love.
That way you can spend many more new years in eachothers' arms insted of visiting their grave.
My 2 cents based on loads of sad experience.
Ride safe!
Honestly, wearing (or not) is a private choice, but it should be an easy one. Helmets are so light and well ventilated that there is no sense in not wearing one. It's not like wearing body armor so that you might save some road rash in case you fall. That would be excessive, and provide little pay off. We're talking about a simple, easy to use device that provides HUGE payoff if it ever needs to do it's job. Should be a no brainer, so to speak. As far as the front brake thing, get over yourselves. I think we should legislate that you can only ride a fixed gear on the road after upgrading to a 4 on the track.
Don't want to put a brain seive on, that's your choice.
The only person you're impacting is the poor road maintenance guy who'll have to hose your face off the blacktop.
My step-father was killed in a motorcycle accident. He wasn't wearing a helmet but to be honest, the injuries he sustained would have killed him regardless of the head trauma. Realistically, a bicycle helmet is probably unlikely to save your life but can cetrainly help keep you from eating through a straw the rest of your life.
The brake is different. Helmetless riding doesn't impact many others, do what you want with that.
The brake is there to keep you from impacting someone else. What the hell is the problem? Are fixies that much of weight weenies that they care about the 300g that installing a front brake would require? Hell, just put it on the bike just in case. If you can stop by locking your legs and want to pull off a sweet skid, go for it. But when the neighbor kid runs out into the street in front of you you'll have it there to use.
Judi, If people want to ride without a break, that's their choice. But I think they should ride with a brake.
Thanks
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