Wednesday, April 22, 2009

The Indignity of Commuting by Bicycle on Earth Day: Guilt Complex, Complex Guilt

(I don't wanna know.)

Last night I was watching television when I came across something called "Car of the Future." Excited, I fired up a bowl of popcorn, poured myself a beverage (Rémy Martin VSOP cognac and chocolate milk with a twist of lime, my favorite drink), settled into the La-Z-Boy, and began to watch. Tragically, a few minutes in I realized it wasn't that movie where Michael J. Fox goes back in time with the guy from "Taxi." I was actually watching PBS, and this was an episode of "Nova" featuring those Click and Clack guys from the "Car Talk" radio show.

In my buzzed and relaxed state, reaching for the remote seemed like an insurmountable task, so I figured I might as well watch. Fortunately, it was also narrated by John Lithgow, so by squinting I was occasionally able to fool myself into thinking I was watching "Footloose." Anyway, John Lithgow talked about our dependency on oil for our motor vehicles and the various alternatives being explored, while Click and Clack amiably visited various scientists and entrepreneurs to see these alternatives for themselves. The show was interesting, though it was obviously a repeat, since Bush was still president and everybody still seemed to be taking GM seriously. "Car of the Future" was followed by "Frontline," which was about pollution in the Chesapeake Bay and the Puget Sound. By this point I was so drunk on my TV cocktails that I was burping up chocolate milk and popcorn all over my lounging smock, and was too incapacitated to raise my head, much less change the channel. Like all episodes of "Frontline" I've seen, it made me feel hopeless and despondent. This in turn led me to drink more TV cocktails (I didn't have to get up--I pour them from a pitcher next to the La-Z-Boy) and before I knew it I had passed out.

The next thing I knew it was morning. Eventually I collected myself enough to embark upon my morning commute, at which point I realized why all the environmental stuff had been on last night: it's Earth Day! Predictably, there were more bike commuters out there than usual, including people using trailers like this:

I suppose I should have been pleased to see this, but instead it just made me feel despondent again. Many people say that commuting by bicycle is an environmentally friendly endeavor, and as such they ride their bikes places in order to help "save the planet." However, according to the "Frontline," there's all kinds of horrible stuff in our water that really doesn't have anything to do with driving or not driving. Basically, just scrubbing yourself with the wrong kind of soap or using the wrong kind of lotion (whether for moisturizing or foffing off is immaterial) is enough to murder a bunch of killer whales. This is to say nothing of the chicken waste. Yes, the Chesapeake is being choked to death by chicken manure, which continues to flow unabated due to the insidious yet comical chicken lobby backed by none other than father-and-son chicken doppelgangers Frank and Jim Perdue. So how is towing a bunch of crap in a bicycle trailer supposed to help that?

Personally, I don't think about the environment when I ride. The only reason I ride is because it's fun and fast. But the "Frontline" thing had freaked me out. When I thought about it, I realized I really didn't want to do anything that was bad for the environment. Unfortunately, though, since simply washing your taint in the shower is enough to destroy the world, it seemed the only thing I could do to be environmentally friendly (or at least benign) was pick a small plot of land, never leave it, and subsist entirely on rainwater and whatever plants I could manage to grow. Even then, I'd have to figure out what to do with my waste. I supposed I'd have to compost that. But this life sounded completely horrible to me. The only conclusion that I could draw was that I'm a scourge on this planet and I should remove myself from it as soon as possible. Thanks a lot, "Frontline" and Earth Day.

Then it hit me: I could just do what other people seem do, which is congratulate myself for riding my bike anyway, even though it really doesn't matter much one way or the other. Perfect! Suddenly I was "saving the world" too, and it felt great. The only thing more fun than riding your bike is riding your bike with a purpose. Not only was I no longer a scourge on the planet, but I was actually better than my fellow human beings! I was beaming like a hippie at a jam band concert until I got to the "sheltered" bike lane and was impeded by a garbage truck:



If the bike lane represented my newly-discovered moral high road, the garbage truck represented reality. I couldn't really get mad at the garbage truck either, since the simple fact is that refuse must be collected. However, before the bike lane got "sheltered" I could have just zipped around it. Now, though, I had the sidewalk at my left and either a concrete island or a row of parked cars on my right. Sure, there's still room to pass it, but that room is also being used by sanitation workers, and people getting in and out of their cars.

My high road was blocked. I was riding on Earth Day, but where had my bike come from? The parts were made in factories, and then shipped from overseas. They were then shipped again to bike shops by trucks, and in some cases even shipped again by trucks directly to me. Certainly the totality of the Ironic Orange Julius Bike had to represent the equivalent of thousands of car trips, right? And here was this ridiculous bike lane, now a manifestation of the absurdity of my delusion that I was somehow "saving the world."

I guess the truth of it is that you can choose to use a bike as a tool, or you can choose to use it as a symbol. It could be a symbol that you believe in "saving the world," or it could also just be a symbol that you're fashionable, as illustrated by this photo of the Ralph Lauren store on Bleecker Street in Manhattan, taken by a reader:

These Pistas don't say "I'm saving the world." They say "I create a character and a persona for myself and my possessions are props." While you may not actually do active things like ride bikes, you like to look as though you do and you may even like to keep bikes nearby so if you're inadvertently photographed there will be one in the shot. I suppose I can see why this appeals to people. As I'd already experienced, deluding yourself into actually believing you're saving the world is hard, but kneeling in front of a bike that matches your outfit is easy:

Instead of fretting over whether or not I was aiding and abetting killer whaleicide on the way to my destination, I should have been picking crowded corners, leaning my bike against a wall, kneeling in front of it, and staring pensively off into the distance.

Of course, as we saw last week, the current leader in the bike fashion popularity contest, the track bike, has a formidable challenger: the Dutch city bike. As that Times article mentioned, clothing retailer Club Monaco is now selling Royal Dutch Gazelles (those are bikes, not actual gazelles) and a reader was kind enough to photograph the display for me:

According to the Club Monaco X Royal Dutch Gazelle collabo "microsite," these bikes cost about $1,000. There may be cheaper city bikes out there, and they may be equally practical, but they all fail where the Dutch city bike succeeds, and that's in allowing you to create a fictional backstory for yourself. Can you pretend you're on your way to a Cold War rendez-vous with an Eastern European femme fatale on a Jamis? Maybe, but it's a stretch. Of course, as I also learned last week, fans of Dutch city bikes don't like when you imply that to some extent they're fashion accessories, even though fans of Dutch city bikes also endorse the concept of "cycle chic." I guess that, while they enable riders to be fashionable, it's not acceptable to say the bikes are themselves fashionable, just as it's acceptable to say riding a bike can help you "save the world," even though it's not acceptable to point out that the bikes are themselves environmentally unfriendly.

But what if you want a practical bike that is also fashionable and is manufactured in an environmentally friendly fashion? Well, you better have a lot of money to spend. A reader recently forwarded me this Seven Earth Day special, which is built in an extremely smug fashion and costs $5,900:


I don't know enough about manufacturing to say if this stuff makes any sense or not, but I will say that the price tag alone is enough to choke a killer whale. Seems to me the most "responsible" thing to do is keep an old bike going for as long as you can:



Incidentally, we have now reached a point where people are putting riser bars on absolutely everything. Riser bars are to urban cyclists what peanut butter is to stoners. "You know what would taste great on that? Peanut butter!" To me, this bike is like a slice of pizza with Skippy on it.


PS: Speaking of guilt, Fatty's contest is ending today and they're a hemp fiber strand's width from their goal, so if you still want in you can donate here.

148 comments:

BadBeard said...

Badbeard1st!

Anonymous said...

Big F'in deal

Matthew Ruscigno said...

WHAT WHAT

Anonymous said...

BOO-YA!

ant1 said...

Nice work BadBeard. Two podium spots for team name1st!

kale said...

anthematocrittesting1st!

Anonymous said...

Tyler!

Back on the program...

ken e. said...

i don't believe!

Casey Tibbs said...

My bike computer doesn't get internet. What gives?

BadBeard said...

Name1st1st!

ant1 said...

Snobby - "and then shipped rom overseas."

Danny Felts said...

YEAHHHHH

Luck E. Seven said...

Guilt?!

I'm freaking invisible today, as validated by 6 drivers on the way to work. Grrrrrrr!


A

ant1 said...

and bacon is the new peanut butter.

baloo said...

earth day is for smurfs you true blue bastards stay green, also top 20?

hillbilly said...

shipped rom overseas

Anonymous said...

je suis haute vingt

hillbilly said...

damn you ant1st!!! even beat me on the typo!!

Nigerian biker said...

Sheesh, you don't like spoke cards and you don't like riser bars. What's with all the hate?

Birdwatcher said...

I can't hang around for this crap. Bald eagle season opens today and my .458 Winchester is ready to go.

mikeweb said...

Hincapie

Ghanaian Biker aka Cool The Kid said...

People get lost in BSNYs posts... they are not decrees of official standings of items in the biking world, they're merely HIS OWN observations + opinions. If BSNY saying "riser bars are so 2007" actually makes you question whether or not to get a set, the problem isn't w/BSNY

I do think riser bars are silly though as drops are so much nicer on big hills, and fixed gear tricks are pretty silly. Bikes are cheap enough to get an actual freestyle bike rather than throw risers on a fixie

ant1 said...

Maybe they (seven) use some of the $5900 to buy carbon offset credits, plant trees, or some other act that would make the purchase of that bike less of a waste of resources (isn't maximizing limited resources the essence of greenness?). Not that I have anything against wasting resources, I do it all the time. I just don't claim to be green. (I claim to be black from the waist down, in case you were wondering.)

mikeweb said...

We weren't

Doug V said...

How is titanium related to Earth Day? Hmmmmm

b said...

The titanium bike description is a laugh. Titanium frames are apparently horrendous for the environment during the entire production process. I am currently looking for a reference on that.

Anquetil's Mother said...

Jeez, BSNYC, I'm going for a walk now. Barefoot and naked.

Anonymous said...

Hey, Snobby, if I win Fatty's contest, can Prolly come with us?

derp said...

:( on the pistas in the window, but hopefully they'll give them to their retail staff after their little flag-waving game is done


sigh. i like my pista, cheap and fun to ride

kale said...

Does seven know what the ecological cost of titanium refining? How about the way steel and aluminum are very easily recycled...

It takes a sanctimonious blogger to point out the rest of our flaws. Dammit, and that Frontline show was awesome wasn't it - especially in my IKEA HDTV lounge. Who knew that doing stuff with things caused shit to happen...

rezado said...

I've got risers on my unicycle. Somtimes I rub peanut butter on them to make them extra tasty. Yum!
http://www.unicyclist.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=23695&stc=1&d=1196221818

Anonymous said...

But peanut butter is good on everything...

ant1 said...

Don't lie mikeweb, we all know that's all you and Frilly think about, and Seany, according to some people's interpretation of his reaction to yesterday's post.

kale said...

b-

TiOx + Cl2 => TiCl4 + Mg => Ti + MgCl2

ant1 said...

"Who knew that doing stuff with things caused shit to happen..." Genius.

kale said...

I forgot to balance it with the massive amounts of CO2 that is released...

ant1 said...

Kale - How I've missed redox. thanks for the reminder.

Anonymous said...

The Dutch bicycle article has unwittingly stirred up some controversy in Denver. You'll find the comments to be the juiciest part.


http://boulevardier4eva.wordpress.com/2009/04/17/bicycle-fashion-and-fighting-bike-patriarchy/

Craig "Bamboozeler" Calfee said...

I think I know a better material...

hillbilly said...

yeah, who knew seany was all hot for the men? i mean, i guess i did, but...i'm kiddin ya, seany, c'mon!

oh, and spoke cards w/out participating in a race is the most annoying shit

Anonymous said...

Anon 2:04: That's what the dog said.

brother yam said...

killer whaleicide = orcacide

hillbilly said...

i think van halen said it best when they asked "where have all the woot woot gone?"

Anonymous said...

Hey there Ghanaian Biker aka Cool The Kid

We're not lost! BSNYC has a a large following of people who feel just the way he does. That's why we love it here...because when he writes, many of us smile, shake our heads and say: "bang on".

all the best.

Anonymous said...

hillbilly-

you know where I can sell these monstertrack cards?

Anonymous said...

i'm lost... which way is the bathroom?

Anonymous said...

While some riders of Dutch bikes may not like to think of the bike as an accessory, at least Club Monaco is up front about it. If you click on the 'partnership' link on the 'microsite' they describe the bike as "The Ultimate Urban Accessory"

hillbilly said...

anon 2:18, ooh! i'll take em! cool, thanks! just don't tell

Slappy said...

WOW, deep today! Wish I had some Wednesday Weed with that.

Anonymous said...

Rémy Martin VSOP cognac and chocolate milk with a twist of lime.

How many of those will bartenders have to make tonight ???

Trendsetter.

O ' Bama said...

"should have instead been picking crowded corners, leaning my bike against a wall, kneeling in front of it, and staring pensively off into the distance."

chortle.
so new yorkish

MINGUStheMECHANIC said...

4/20 and earth day a glorious green week.
In a backhanded effort to be green last night and not have to leave my apt to go spend 4.50 on liquid plumber i tried the vinegar/ baking soda collabo and I was surprised to find it worked on a stubborn drain. Now i need a green solution to clean out my graffix.

Dutch bikes are like pt cruisers and vw bugs- ok for teenage girls, lesbians and the gender confused but thats it.

Luck E. Seven said...

I don't know about all this Earth Day BS.

For me, the guilt comes from today being Administrative Professionals Day.

Should I palp a cheap suit on my environmentally unfriendly, non-DCB conveyance while I WARK out?

Someone told me there would be peanut butter on pizza in this comments area. Where'zat?


A

mikeweb said...

If you're concerned about your 'chemical' footprint, I would imagine trying to reduce plastic consumption as best as possible is a good start.

ant1, I still say you have the best blog ever. It's pure beauty almost moved me to tears...

RANTWICK said...

Biking and using commuter gear can and is bad for the environment, as bike forum people will be happy to tell you. Here's The Inconvenient TruthDonating to Fatty's contest now...

Rantwick

kale said...

Mingus-

Salt with a little bit of water works for ok the tarry resin, or you can just dump it out when you're done instead of stashing it behind your lazyboy for weeks on end.

Luck E. Seven said...

Mingus-

Try isopropyl alcohol for the graffix. So clean that you'll turn green.

Just sayin.


A

Anonymous said...

Antoine, Time Out! After watching the Danny vid, I was thinking about NYC & Snob's scatt. Well, if Prolly was there I could have one of my burning secret desires satisfied--learning how to ride fakie.

Make no mistake though, I do spend way too much time thinking about 'that'.

Tell me if this has already been said...

How many hippies does it take to screw in a light bulb?

Anonymous said...

Looks like NYC is getting 200 more Dutch bikes! There really could be a conspiracy here.

Anonymous said...

As others have pointed out, titanium is extremely not green. Its refinement process requires chlorine, magnesium, and petroleum-based products, and the raw material must be heated, cooled, mechanicaly processed and heated/cooled again before it becomes the raw blanks that a manufacturer can use.

Anonymous said...

hmm Snobby, you're only $179.99 away from Fatty having guessed you're exact worth!

grog said...

so, anyway, it was a little man on a little bike, and it was getting bigger, and bigger, and bigger, then, pow, it hit me!

ant1 said...

Thanks mikeweb. I tried my best to get to the bottom of the timeless "what, really, is a blog?" question. After much studying and introspection, I realized that my goal was unreachable. That true blog is merely a concept, and I am just a man. Hopefully others will be able to benefit from my journey.

Anonymous said...

"Limited Edition" Seven. Right. Seven will more than happily build as many stupid, overpriced commuters as there are people willing to pay $6000 for a commuter bike. Seven will build any poorly designed, "customer is right" overpriced bike you want.

Anonymous said...

Is titanium mined? Also another no-no for the eco-set. It is light though and quite expensive. Palp away ecofreak you look so good, no one could fault you for riding such a monstrosity. (see 30-Rock for pretty people's world view)

Mark said...

Plenty of room on that pass. I thought city was all about skinning thru traffic,people and what \ever other god foresaken things live there.

danny macaskill said...

Prolly coulda swerved round that truck.

prolly said...

danny macaskill coulda hopped up that truck

b said...

Okay, I managed to find an older article outlining the current method of production and how they are developing a better way to refine Ti.

http://www.technologyreview.com/read_article.aspx?id=16963&ch=nanotech&a=f

Anonymous said...

How can you make something that isn't real?

Anonymous said...

I always knew bike snob was the "Man" and knowing he is a PBS watcher I say elect the guy President. PBS is definitely liberal biased but anyone with a brain can see though all that bullshit

Anonymous said...

Um, that's a fakie bunnyhop tailwhip rolling out of another huge trick.

RANTWICK said...

Only $55 to go in Fatty's contest!

I don't have $55!

RANTWICK

leroy said...

Fashion concerns on Earth Day?

I don't get it.

Only last week, a young hipster standing in the Second Avenue bike lane and facing the wrong direction responded to my polite shout out, that he saw me.

Then he added as I went by "Nice outfit."

It just goes to show you, some of us can make even baggy tights look good.

And who would have thought a budding "Project Runway" judge would be camping on Second Avenue to dispense critiques?

Is this a great city or what?

Or maybe this just means one doesn't need bike to be both a symbol and a tool.

jflo said...

Oh Earth Day - here in L.A. they've simultaneously declared it Car Free Day outside of my office and are giving out fruit trees. Seems to fit w/ the bike as accessory idea and no real concept of how you would actually transport a tree w/o a car.

NatMc said...

Between 1 and 5. But how do they get in there?

ringcycles said...

Um, since our globe rotates every 24 hours, isn't every day earth day? It doesn't really matter what the hippie-enviro-nuts want to do on 4/22, each day is still defined by that basic spin. Unless of course your dialing in from a different planet. But then wasting this ones materials won't matter much.

NatMc said...

...that was @ Tell Me If This Has Already Been Said, 2:31 btw...

Anonymous said...

Dream of better lives the kind which never hate
Dropped in the state of imaginary grace
I made a pilgrimage to save this human race
Never comprehending the race had long gone by

ant1 said...

anon 3:01 - the lower case i in Ti is for imaginary. Start paying attention in math class dude.

ringcycles said...

Oh, so just go ride/rub/stare pensively while squating next to your favorite bike. Stop worrying so much.

RANTWICK said...

That's it! 5K for Snob exposure via Fatty's contest; who woulda thunk it?

That is very cool.

Billy Oblivion said...

One better than Dutch Bicycles:

http://www.coldwarremarketing.com/vehicles.asp?s=Bicycle

Cold War vintage Swiss Military bikes.

Anonymous said...

Snobster,

WTF, "lounging smock"? Did the Bicycling editors make you change "Snuggie"?

LK said...

OFF WITH THEIR HEDS!

Anonymous said...

Is the Dutch bike the contemporary bike equivalent of the VW Beetle - I mean, they both weigh about the same.

DCBs SUCK said...

Over there at the Club Monaco X Royal Dutch Gazelle collabo microsite, Culture has everything to do with a bunch of Beautiful Godzillas.

Anonymous said...

speaking of suspicious cups of urine at payphones...
true story. i know of a young woman who, Dinkens era, moved to the city. she was calling around looking for apartments using payphones...one payphone she put to her ear, and it had a sticky substance on it... human feces! i kid you not. this was near the west 4th street subway stop...
the best part is that she was from the midwest and stuck it out! damn, i am from jersey and if that happened to me i would never set foot on the island again. tough...

Surly Bastard said...

Fatty's contest just Danny-McJumped your gap-of-inadequacy. Hope you feel better Snob. Just don't wear the Chicken Suit until the poop-pollution thing blows over.

BikeSnobNYC said...

Surly Bastard,

I actually feel worse because I know I'm not worth $5,000. It's less pressure being undervalued. Oh well, I'm off to drink a few gallons of tap water--which, according to "Frontline," contains various pharmaceuticals. Hopefully that will help me relax.

--RTMS

hillbilly said...

anon 3:22, lounging smock preceded snuggie, snuggie wasn't even a twinkle in her eye when snobbie started talking lounging smock. or "talking smock" as the kids say

Anonymous said...

NYC's water is ok - It's from upstate reservoirs and not a river. It just means that you need to beware of prison runoff and Hot 97 deficiencies.

Anonymous said...

If you are going to carry a life time of props with your UUA then a trailer is the way to go.

Semper Paratus.

Also good for moving trees, either intact or bits at a time.

dr2chase said...

BSNY,

(ALL) Steel. Chaincase. Vintage (quadrant shifter, no-chrome bars). Not Dutch. Found in the trash.

http://gallery.mac.com/dr2chase/100060/IMG_2808/web.jpg?ver=12037116060001

Take that, Club Monaco.

Udder said...

I'd ride a bike made from radioactive plutonium bars without a second thought- even on Earth Day- if it somehow made the bike better or more fun.

As for the Dutch, most of them are cheap, fat, belligerent, drunk or stoned and should not be revered. Their bikes reflect the general slovenliness of the people.

Anonymous said...

I bought my titanium frame used (so it's recycled!). Good thing all that environmental destruction didn't go to waste. I commute on it too.


Anyway, except for bamboo, what frame material isn't somehow mined?

southpole said...

did i mention i can do an elephant trunk skid with both feet on the pedals and hands on the handlebars

Fred said...

Hmm, I don't think crabon fiber is mined. It's produced by factory farms of crabon beetles who spin the fibers from their anuses. Typically, crabon beetles subsist on old dental x-rays and a moist effluent harvested from the chammy's of the pro peloton. It's all pretty green, really.

Luck E. Seven said...

101st!!!


A

samh said...

> Seems to me the most "responsible"
> thing to do is keep an old bike
> going for as long as you can:
Well put, Mr. Snob.

Unknown said...

how to feel good about riding your bike after watching Frontline: by riding a bike instead of driving, you reduce demand for vast expanses of pavement (parking lots, wide roads, sprawl). pavement, and the car chemicals that drip off of it, is the leading cause of urban water pollution. also, the environmental impact of a 20 lb. bicycle is nowhere near the impact of a 4,000 lb. car.

yay!

Banger said...

Amen BSNYC, Amen.

It may have been summed up best by Jim Burlant, "Cycling is like church - many attend, but few understand."

mander said...

100

One small editorial quibble Snobby, your sentence about the Eastern European femme fatale scans like she's the one on the Jamis. Funny stuff as usual though.

Anonymous said...

DCBMX - the next frontier for tricks...

Or not... but I'd like to see a video of someone doing some and somehow incorporating the luggage rack in a massive tailwhip.

No indian burns though.

And extra points if you wrijving some clipless wooden clogs while you do it.

red neckerson said...

i always knew snobbie was a republican with all theis reight wing nut bullshit

peeple thinks all rednecks is republicans but thats becos peeple are dumshits

any redneck who is member of a union would vote for a dead possum if it had a d behind its name

also everbody in viper is democrat becos none of us has helt a job in over 20 yers

me and ricky helpt save the world by riding on our bikes with our rifles so we could shoot at the stop signs out in the country hell theydont need them out there no ways

Anonymous said...

Again, Seven sucks and they are a joke. Completely played out company, grappling for gimmicks to remain a fringe custom frame builder. Litespeed please buy them already and be done with it.

Anonymous said...

I have discovered the most amazing of substances . . . Peanut Butter Crack.

I invented it 3 days ago. The manufacturing process involved a frayed lamp cord, a whipperman 10S1 SS stainless, several containers of soyatoo vegan whipped cream, a 12' bull whip and several jars of Peter Pan and Skippy Lite.

The only problemo is that I've lost all memory of recent event? Last thing I remember is working on a titanium and carbon fiber spoke-card with some dude from Boston. We were charging $3,200 for a plain card and $39.99 for the Tyler Hamilton autograph model.

PS - The next morning after smoking all of that PB Crack I found that my three gold fish and dog are MIA?

Anonymous said...

They have been selling these flying pigeon bikes on CL for months now.

I agree with whoever said that these are for lesbians, and the gender confused.

Look for them all over Chelsea blocking the "safe" bike lane on 9th ave.

ronnie raygun said...

aren't airplanes horribly pollutey? now i have to cross my fingers and hope that i don't win the fatty contest. i might as well take off my flying smock right now.

Anonymous said...

"any redneck who is member of a union would vote for a dead possum if it had a d behind its name"

Red, that's a good schtick, even if it is getten purty tarred, but your ignorance is showing. I mean real ignorance of rednecks, not the act.

red neckerson said...

well howdy naybor, just what part of the country do you park yor pickup?

Anonymous said...

This isn't that kind of site, Red!

Anonymous said...

I have to be honest and say that I ride a bike because (1) I love doing it, and (2) for the exercise. I'm not really doing it for the environment. Also, while I certainly am carless, I probably wouldn't be if I could still afford to keep a good car.

That being said, whatever the reason, I do cycle or walk most places I go (or use public transport when I have to), and I *am* carless. So, compared to most people, I'm probably not doing to badly environment-wise compared to most people.

Given that, it really galls me that my local supermarket decided to start charging for plastic bags today. I have a firm belief that silly little measures like this are encouraged by governments to appease the little people while the truly big causes of environmental damage are allowed to go on virtually unabated.

jolene said...

that dont seem like the red i no hes a good guy is you all over yor oxycontin and poppers binge or wait that was me but i still vote ron paul or that clinton guy

Anonymous said...

MY GOD> KARA GOUCHER IS SO FREAKIN HOT!!!

Anonymous said...

No heads on the Ralph Lauren Hi Couture 'sanitized for your protection' Uber Models*? Hipster fixies hanging in the background? What message is Lauren trying to convey here?


*I'm from the out-back (upper upstate) so I don't get all this inside bikee suave NYorkolodite humor? Please help?


Sing Me: Hand Solo

S.K. said...

You said 'taint' and then referenced marijuana! How am I supposed to read this with my kids in the room?

Anonymous said...

"Rémy Martin VSOP cognac and chocolate milk with a twist of lime"
I might have to try that.

s.

Anonymous said...

Ralph put the wrong Pista in their display window.

http://www.bianchiusa.com/09-bicycles/09-d2-special/pista/09-d2-pista-flatbar.html

Anonymous said...

Yew kin call me Tex, Red. That red 'nuff fer ya?

the barkeep said...

do yourself a favor and skip the lime. Also, maybe use some decent cognac... heck, use armagnac.

Anonymous said...

If tomorrow, the next day, the day after that & every day for the rest of your life, isn't Earth Day, then you are not paying fucking attention.

signed: way less than perfect but trying hard.

Philip Williamson said...

It's time for the It's It "it's its" reminder that it's its for a possessive. If you want to say it is, it's it's.
Don't feel bad - they made the same mistake in the Bridgestone catalog, but not the one that has the article on the environmental impact of titanium, aluminum and steel.

Anonymous said...

I have to sell my track bike and buy a dutch cruiser.Damn I can't keep up with these trends.I'm going to buy a hummer

red neckerson said...

me and ricky we goes up to looeevile twist a year for the state fair and the gun expo and we sees lots of this kinda shit

white pickup truck check

cooler in back with ether keystone or bud if they is well to do check

trailer with lawn care equipment check

driver with baseball cap covering mullet check

ford employee parking permit on back winder check

member uaw bumper sticker check

obamer 08 bumper sticker check

down in texas you might not be liken this sorta thing but kentucky aint no texas thats what im saying

mikeweb said...

Dang! I still love those old Bridgestone catalogues.

Scott said...

Oh god, the dutch bikes are in NO way track bike-esque fashion accessories. Don't get so hung up on the fashion aspect. They work equally well with normal clothes.

What are you supposed to do when it is 20 degrees out and the road is wet? That doesn't work on a fenderless pista, but no problem on the dutch. The dutch is a bike a normal person can ride to work in all year in normal clothes.

Anonymous said...

um, NO. lesbians = not clunky Dutch bikes. beginning riders, fahsonistas of both genders, inclinations, and the confised, yes.

talk about wanting to go slow...

Anonymous said...

Riser bars are my salvation!

Their existence allows me to ride stock mtn and commuter frames instead of custom.

My legs are much longer than the rest of me, plus I have back injuries that require a more upright position. Bikes that I would have had to sell, I am still able to ride.

Just call me pterodactyl.

Tex said...

I see, Red, but then I know way too many redneck union members that voted for Bush, were all excited about Caribou Barbie, and so on. I know, it don't make no damn sense, but they do it anyways.

Surly Bastard said...

Tex, forget it, Red's right on, even though he's sometimes delusional from the Keystone, drugs, and Jolene influence he's got it nailed. I think you're looking for another site.

By the way Red what the hell are you posting at 5:30 in the morning? New drug?

Tex said...

Sometimes delusional? Jist Some-times? Hint: Red ain't the only one around these parts what fits that description.

ant1 said...

Surly - rumor has it Red started his own meth lab.

Surly Bastard said...

I didn't want to say Red might have a meth lab, but the 5 am post pretty much tipped it. The Obama sticker and the Confederate flag on the mailbox in front of Red's lab is really nothing more than an expression of man's struggle with the duality of his existence and has nothing to do with politics.

mikeweb said...

Like "Born to Kill" on your helmet and a peace symbol on your body armor?

ant1 said...

or a green seven.

Luck E. Seven said...

or a headless fashion mannequin in white rubbing an anti-gravity-equipped Pista.


A

ant1 said...

or a bike "snob" rubbing a scattante :).

Luck E. Seven said...

or a known WARKer turning his nose up at peanut butter-topped pizza.


A

Anonymous said...

An audience with Grant Peterson

Carolyn said...

Congrats on being a Blog of Note!

Carolyn

Omegha said...

Keep update bro.. i'll back again

JWP said...

I’m embarrassed to admit it, but I know where this whole Dutch City Bike trend started—with Wallpaper* magazine founder and renaissance douche Tyler Brulee. Three years ago he was praising some 50-lb. olde-timey Scandiavian pedal tractor as the greatest thing on two wheels.

ebed said...

Hi...,

What a nice job you got there..
Beautiful pictures indeed..
Somehow you succeed in mixing biking world and daily lives into your shots..

Two thumbs up!

Best regards,..

Shalom!

Blogger said...

My good friend Mark Kabbash is bonkers over biking. He has purchased a large biking apparatus which allows his sun to peddle along behind him. He will be in a New York biking event coming up in the next few weeks. You will see him peddling along with his son towed behind him.
I like to ride a bike around, but a passion, no! Maybe it was a passion when I was a kid. I had the coolest 80's predator dirt bike. It was chrome with Sky-Way TA mags!

Unknown said...

Frog Prep. Look into it.

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