...the weekend madness (installment 8)

Boy it was a wet one this weekend; Friday saw me tromp through the rain on the rugged streets of LIC's waterfront to that interview I mentioned last week; and of course since I want the job, I needed to arrive looking presentable which, combined with the all-day downpours, necessitated taking the subway again.

Needless to say, I was getting tired of being forced indoors by the time Saturday rolled around, so a few of us braved the drizzling rain and went down to Red Hook where the cool breeze and soggy atmosphere lent a Homer-esque mood to the day (Homer as in this, not this; just to be clear).


I only wish my new Rapha cycling cap (aka breeze-induced-fro prevention device) had come in the mail earlier so I could have appeared all poignantly grey-scaled against the solemn maritime backdrop, much in the way Rapha depicts their products in use.


If you're not familiar with Rapha or their products, they claim to make "the finest in cycling clothing in the world..." and while I haven't yet tested the worth of that claim, I do know that they're one of the very few companies a cyclist like myself can turn to for reasonable cycling gear that doesn't make you into a rolling billboard for enterprises you have no stake in or reason to support.

However they do make it a point to advertise with seductive photography and the organization of "gentlemen's races" around the country wherein eleven teams of six rider compete on an open course (meaning cars, uncontrolled intersections, etc..) in a picturesque environment.

Here's a video of the gentlemen's race in New Paltz NY earlier this year...

Rapha Gentlemen's Race - New Paltz, NY from RAPHA on Vimeo.

I find it interesting that while it's been dubbed a "gentlemen's race" the brusquely competitive reputation of New Easterners precedes them even in what is essentially a for-fun race. I've taken note of this as well when I do laps at the parks or ride up to Nyack, as I did again this weekend.

The "me first" attitude of New Yorkers really bugs me sometimes and becomes really obvious when coupled with the seemingly grouchy nature of roadies in general. When I first started riding seriously, I definitely got my fair share of 'asshole roadies' yelling at me to hold my line or shooting me disapproving glances for other reasons I couldn't figure.

Now, having ridden quite a bit with cyclists of all types, I've found that not only are the curmudgeonly racers right, they're justified in letting you know. One has to respect the fact that everyone rides a bike for an entirely different reason; some do it as a random leisure activity, others do it strictly for fitness, and others still do it simply to travel pleasantly from place to place.

Roadies gripe at other "less serious" cyclists not so much because of some haughty self righteousness, but because the majority of people on bikes in the US have absolutely no idea how to operate one and as such, present a danger to those who do. If all cyclists observed but a few frequently forgone rules of the road, everyone would be much happier.

1. Ride right, pass left: you'd be surprised at how many apparently "experienced" cyclists can't follow this simple rule... If you feel like you're being overtaken a lot, you need to be on the rightmost side of the path because you're slow. Deal with it or ride faster.
2. Don't pass-n'-stop: If you are riding behind someone you'd like to pass, make sure you're not going to have to slam on the brakes right after you overtake them, cause doing that's just mean.
3. Make your intentions known: Hand signals, yelling, eye contact, whatever... the prime cause of enraged roadies is being cut off or run into by someone going half their speed without so much as a glance over their shoulder to check for overtaking cyclists.
4. No half-wheeling: This is more of an etiquette thing, but it's also extremely dangerous to have your front wheel overlapping another cyclist's rear wheel... If sudden movements are made, you're both going down. If you want to chat with someone, ride directly side by side. that in mind,
   
5. No jerky movements: If you are riding around other bikers, sometimes you have to just accept rolling over that manhole cover or pothole you'd normally swerve around. Keep a straight line whenever possible.

What I'm proposing here isn't that everyone accommodate the customs a select few riders, but that we all be courteous to our neighbors. Since in this country we're brought up believing that bicycles are more toys than anything else, this can be framed as simply good sportsmanship.

Bad sportsmanship is not only ungentlemanly and distasteful, but can really damage your performance as evidenced by Serena Williams' tirade yesterday (justified as it may have been). Right or wrong aside, there's no appropriate excuse for hindering the pursuits of others for personal convenience or aspiration.


Obviously doping tops the list of unsportsmanlike conduct because it obscures the successes of clean athletes, but unsporting behavior also applies to social decorum. Kanye West and Rep. Joe Wilson are the most recent examples of this and they would do well to aspire toward more gentlemanly conduct in the future.

For this reason I applaud Rapha in their campaign to bring a level of civility and normalcy to the often neon-logoed world of competitive cycling. Perhaps more cyclists will don classy, logo-free gear (assuming they can afford it) and perhaps the growing interest in tweed garb will usher in a new era of cycling dandiness where the bicycle isn't shunned as a dirty, childish, or pedestrian (in the social sense) way to perambulate.

(On that note, be sure to peruse the photography at Velodramatic for more poetic visions of road cycling in the Rapha vein by a staunch fan of theirs)

Til' next time remember, nothings more stylish than the mild-mannered confidence of a pro in control...

...keepin it real Thursdays

Today I found a video of the realness I had discovered and re-posted on Tuesday evening which was quickly removed from YouTube for what I can only imagine are legal reasons.

Well, that's all the realness for today because I actually have (for a change) things to work on for a job interview in Long Island City tomorrow afternoon.


While I desperately need gainful employment, I worry (as one always will) about a number of things in the event that I like the place and they offer me the job.

First, I fear it may be a bike-hating office that will either frown upon my cycling to work, or demand that I lock it up outside in a shady industrial waterfront area, which needless to say, I'd be none too stoked about. Though with a little luck, I may wind up with (gasp!) job satisfaction and a place to park my bike (and shower, but there's a snowball's chance in hell of that being the case). Interestingly, I found out recently that the bicycle accessibility law that was passed (a) doesn't go into enforcement until December, and (b) only applies to New York County, not the outer boroughs.

Also, This may afford me the opportunity to expand my BLRI and LBSR reports since LIC isn't a place I frequently visit; and I'd have two opportunities daily to observe the goings on of hipster culture in all its hues as my commute would necessarily cut straight through the heart of Williamsburg.

I suppose the downside of all this would be that the bloggin' would likely have to be placed on the back burner unless I can find time after work or on lunch breaks to post things.

Anywho, wish me luck; I'll report on it all tomorrow. 'Til then, ride safe and don't forget your fenders this weekend, it looks like it'll be a bit soggy out.

... notariety!

Wow, unlike last week and the week before, these past few days have shaped up to be a bit more interesting than usual. The weather has become cloudy and dour, reminding me of the autumnal Septembers of my youth, back when the planet wasn't in quite as dramatic ecological decline.

Though the cozy colors of fall haven't yet shown themselves, I notice the weather turning cooler and the mornings becoming noticeably chillier... Hopefully we'll have a broader transition between oppressive heat and cutting cold this year than years past, though one can only hope. If we do get a gradient of weather that carries us predictably into winter, I've got at least a few more months that I can ride the Allez to and from work comfortably.

Riding through rain, sleet, or snow for months on end isn't something I'd really want to subject any mechanical device to, so naturally I've been flirting with the idea of buying a beater to get to and from work on and run errands in an effort to protect the road bike from less than ideal weather and temperatures. Since I'm not made of money like many cyclists are, I can't really afford anything that won't annoy the crap out of me without the replacement of a lot of parts, at which point I would honestly be better off just buying a built-up used frame from an LBS like BByB.

Fortunately for these apprehensions, I discovered a promotion by Specialized for their new brand Globe, which is geared (pun very much intended) toward urban commuters.


It seems that in an effort to generate grass-roots publicity, they're [loaning?] bikes to bloggers in exchange for being mentioned in posts a couple times per week. Of course, seeing as I now ride my bike seven days a week, that would be as easy as being a corrupt police official in New York.

You're supposed to post a link to your blog on their facebook page and show an interest in cycling to some degree which struck me as a deviously clever scheme to get "fans" of their company who have yet to actually try their product by cornering the facebooking crowd (thats basically everyone these days right?).

Anyway, seeing an opportunity to break into the time honored blogging tradition of reviewing stuff for companies, I of course became a fan of globe bikes and posted a link to here on their wall along with zillions of other bloggers and bloggers-to-be. Then this morning I logged in to facebook only to find that Globe bikes finds JSYNYC to be a "Cool blog."


They went on to say that they'll be making their decisions soon (if that was obscured by my excitement) and I do hope they let me review one of their new rides. Of course, I wonder which variety of "urban bike" (which for some reason translates into single-speed these days) they'll pair me with should they deem my posts conducive to their pandering.

Anyway, if they read this or not, I'll say right now that the free bike is going to be the default bad weather bike and the Allez will stay high and dry in the apartment. I'm sure they expect the bikes to come back with some amount of wear, because to properly understand the strengths and limitations of any product, one has to use the hell out of it. I think carting me to and from work on salty streets is about as much abuse as any bike could get, especially considering I ride hard enough to wear through a brand new chain in less than a year...

They might front me one of these dapper looking be-racked bikes which comprise the majority of their lineup:



I don't know if I'll be using it as beach furniture or for hauling casement windows, but I do have a very real need for added carrying capacity that will be much needed in coming months. However, I kind of hope to get one of the "Roll" bikes that appear to have a more aggresive frame geometry than the slow pedalers above, even though they're cheesily pre-fab single speeds.


It boasts a flip-flop hub for when you decide you're skilled enough to ride fixed, and white tires for added style. Also, I'm proud to announce that they offer this frame in "kiwi" which looks to be pretty darn close to the BADA55 'colorway' that I use to point things out or grade bike lanes on this blog. While I'm not one to be loud and outgoing about my clothing or accouterments, I think it would be magnificently ironic if I pedaled around on a garishly painted green bike as opposed to my usual black and white bike (oddly, they also offer the Roll in the ghost-bike 'colorway' as well, though that seems a little morbid to me).

Anyway, heres hoping I get a bike worth the trouble of twice a week saying "...so I rode the Globe in today..." And if you post semi-regularly, I encourage you to benefit from the marketing ploys of bike companies as well; one can never own too many bikes.

...YES!

I just had to re-post this late-breaking video of street justice in action.Judging by the surroundings, it looks like it went down somewhere in LES, a known stomping ground of messengers and the fixed scene in general... not people you really want to fuck with, to say the least.

Bike Thief vs Street Justis from triple on Vimeo.

Video via Prolly... thanks Prolly

While i generally deplore outright violence and vigilantism, I have to applaud these guys for standing up to a bike thief and teaching him a lesson. The NYPD pretty much doesn't give a damn about cyclist's rights, and as I've noted before, filing a 'police report' does more for insurance and proving your tardiness to your boss than it does justice.... At least not as effectively as a fist to the kisser and a stern warning, "DON'T STEAL BIKES!"

...SHIMANO!

Amid all the loud, annoying nonsense this weekend past, I staved off extreme boredom by buying more new shit!

I had noticed that my chain was wearing down after the daily abuse I put it through, so on Sunday I went and got a Shimano Hyperglide chain as a replacement for my previous stock one.


Again, after consulting the late Sheldon Brown, I came away with a deep understanding of the finer points of drive train maintenance and theory. One of the most profound statements I've ever heard regarding shift quality is that your derailleurs don't do the shifting, the chain does. At first this seems a little odd, because surely the sole function of a derailleur is to shift gears right?

If you think it through, what the derailleur does is move the chain so that it can shift gears by hopping up or down the cassette to an adjacent sprocket. Thusly, the chain is where all of the actual shifting of gears takes place, and verily, it is frequently the culprit of many of the discomforts of a well-used bicycle.

Taking this advice to heart, I bought and installed the highest-end chain available; which at a measly $45 is one of the best places to spend the extra buck on your bike. I immediately noticed a profound improvement in my shifting thanks to Shimano's latest technological advances.

Their brilliant engineers have developed a kind of chain that can shift very quietly and smoothly under full power, as opposed to having to let up a little on the pedals as in older drive train setups. In order to further facilitate smooth shifting, they also developed Hyperglide cassettes with oddly shaped sprockets that appear to be broken or missing teeth, though are carefully engineered to quietly accept the chain as it moves from sprocket to sprocket.

This is probably one of the most overlooked aspects of bicycles since chains are usually grease-covered pant-leg enemies, though many similarly discreet advancements have been made by Shimano and have since become standard fare in bike componentry.

Having read up on the curmudgeonly Campagnolo and their famed snootiness, I have developed quite a bit of respect for Shimano as a multi-national corporation. Most innovations in any technical field are introduced in the "top-down" manner, where the latest improvements are available only on the most ridiculously expensive components until they gain notoriety. These improvements then eventually trickle down to the lower end components that regular people like me can afford until they are proclaimed "industry standards".

Shimano worked in the opposite way for many many years, where they focused on using heavier and cheaper materials to focus on improving the basic functions of drivetrains. If the innovations caught on (and they did) they would bring it to their more finely crafted and expensive products to cater toward those concerned with outright performance.

Using this marketing strategy they've introduced and continue to manufacture the very best in modern cycling equipment such as Shimano Total Integration (STI) brake/shift levers, Shimano Pedaling Dynamics (SPD) clipless pedals, Shimano Linear Response (SLR) brakes, Freehubs, etc...

Basically everything that you take for granted while riding is thanks to Shimano and their egalitarian business practices.

Then again, some people like to paint themselves as 'purists', rejecting anything that dares challenge the good name of Campagnolo. Personally, however, I am a staunch Shimano customer and Campy parts are as welcome on my bike as Obama is in middle-American classrooms.


(Oh yeah, I just discovered that true-to-form, Campy is copying Shimano's new electronic shifting with their own version... way to innovate, huh?)