...prunings and eye candy

• The Big Picture is an awesome photo-journalism arm of Boston.com where you can waste hours flipping through large format pictures of excellent composition on a smattering of subjects. My current favorite, of course: 2009 Tour de France. (forwarded by a reader)
  

• Sashae's Flickr photostream of cyclists and their bikes. It seems primed to become (gasp) another Cycle-Chic blog though of the fixed gear and grungy urban-chic, not the 'artistically' monochromed and leather saddled-chic to which we have become accustomed. (via Prolly)
  

• This prototype tail-light that paints colored lines on the road with lasers to help drivers be aware of clearances you require when they pass. I thought that this was just another product enabling hipsters to further customize their fixed-gear bikes until I saw this video. Considering that the lines don't fade under headlights and ambient light, I will definitely get one of these if they decide to make them in multiple 'colorways'. (via altitude)
  

• Students at MIT are developing batteries for electric cars that can be fully recharged in 10 minutes flat! Let's see if the government squashes this as quietly and efficiently as they did the EV1. (via Inhabitat)

• Using Wiimotes as tracking devices, Japanese researchers have figured out how to create touchable holograms utilizing a "phenomena called acoustic radiation pressure" to create sensations in a user's hand. I wonder how long it'll take for this to turn into hyper-realistic, interactive porn... (via physorg.com)

• The great hipster silk route has widened to accomodate a new watering hole in the form of Der Schwarze Kölner, a new beer garden that has just opened on Fulton and S. Oxford St. Considering they offer liter mugs, I may have to stop in tonight for a cold one or three. (via NYTimes: Ft. Greene/Clinton Hill blog)
  

...the weekend sanity (installment 7)

I really didn't do much of anything this weekend. My boss doesn't feel it's necessary to pay me on time anymore and the moohare was up in Boston, so I was at a loss for what to do with my scarce funds and ample free-time.

I joined a (different) few friends who were biking up to go camping on Bear Mountain on Saturday morning and accompanied them as far as Nyack, not wanting to get back to Brooklyn too late. I have to say one of the weirdest feelings I've felt recently was when I rode back through Manhattan on that Saturday night after having biked over a hundred miles to Bear Mountain and back. I've never felt so out of place as I did looking haggard and dripping sweat at traffic lights in the village, as perfumed young socialites and wannabe players strutted by.

The ride through New Jersey was the same as it always is, so I opted to forgo bringing the camera since it would just be a reiteration of previous posts. However, Instead of taking the Williamsburg bridge, as I had on past trips, we used the Manhattan Bridge and cut across Soho to the WSH. We rode from Bed-Stuy along Flushing toward Dumbo, passing the impound lot and turning onto Sands st.

The last time I rode on any of these streets, they were either in complete disrepair or under construction (which is frequently worse for cyclists than simply dealing with the crappy roads). For that reason, I usually commute from Prospect Heights, where I live, through downtown Brooklyn to access the bridges. That route has become a force-of-habit and my commute is getting to be a little stale; so to shake things up a bit, I took a fairly different route this morning in order to present this double-edition BLRI!!!!

As I do most every day, I rode Vanderbilt Avenue northbound after turning off of my picturesque, brownstone-lined slice of Brooklyn. I usually opt to use this avenue at the outset of most of my trips by bicycle because it boasts both well-maintained bike lanes and conscientious pedestrians. It should be noted, however, that the amicability of the locals and light traffic seem to breed salmon (especially of the sidewalk variety).

Despite the infestation of idiots, Vanderbilt is a great street to ride, especially given the new Brooklyn Bike and Board shop between Bergen and Dean which enjoys a steady flow of business from weekend warriors, displaced hipsters, and commuters alike (and which was the subject of a recent LBSR).


Continuing across Atlantic Avenue, the bike lane sadly disappears and one must forcefully seize a lane from the clutches of vile Livery cars. The road quality is dramatically lower than before despite passing through what is in my opinion, one of Brooklyn's most beautiful neighborhoods, Fort Greene.


While I'm no fan of Neo-Gothic 'Architecture,' I've always enjoyed having silly buildings (like this private school) in and around my neighborhood, if for no better reason than to have something to joke about. It's useful in the way those kitschy Urban Outfitters trinkets are; a springboard for sematic debates about the rediculousness of consumerism and the wayward souls who are comforted by it.

Continuing past the BQE toward the Brooklyn Navy Yard, I was surprised to see a motorcycle shop x vespa dealership collabo (I'll be damned, they're growing in popularity):


It is my opinion that while scooters are a more reasonable choice of transport in congested cities than cars are; their continued use of gasoline and the haughty sense of self-righteousness they foster in their owners are just plain bad for society. (OK, I started to go off on a tangent about how much scooter-ers bug me, so I'm gonna reserve that for a later post).

After passing the police impound lot on Navy St, I turned onto Sands St. which has been wonderfully re-designed as the most bicycle conscious street NYC has presented me with! For that reason, this street will hold top-slot as the only A+ I will ever issue (unless if course this becomes the norm and then there's just no point in continuing the BLRI except to bitch).


I can't believe we actually have this kind of bike lane in Brooklyn! These are without a doubt the best kind (I bet Arup designed it)! As far as I know (and I bike a lot) this is the first of it's kind in NYC, as it is a noticeably brand-spankin'-new iteration of what has been done for years in places like Copenhagen.

Sands St., though a measly two blocks in length, has been transformed into what is arguably the best solution for cyclist - motorist altercations. Notice how the bike lanes are separated by a median and are located at the center of the road instead of in the door-swing range of parked cars. Also note (if you can) that the bike lanes, median, and stripey area are elevated about 6 inches above the car's lane. This is exactly what needs to be done with all streets to quell the incessant bickering between cabbies (who of course need to drop off and pick up passengers somewhere) and the cyclists they routinely cut off.

Unfortunately, most streets here are one way (despite what one would gather from the bourgoning salmon population) and despite its simplicity, this method of bike-lane separation may not work everywhere.

Continuing over the bridge and up through the city along my usual route, I decided that in the day's spirit of new routes, I'd try to ride up Park Ave instead of turning on 13th and taking 6th Ave as I normally would. I had tried this the very first day I commuted to work by bike and didn't have the grapes to try it again, though I was much less experienced with cycling in Manhattan at that point.

Now that I'm a bona-fide city cyclist, Park Avenue seemed like a walk in the park compared to 6th Ave (which you'll remember was recently awarded the BLRI rating of F), despite not having any bicycle designations or markings.

I think as long as you're comfortable riding between cars at around 20 mph Park Ave is definitely safer than using the 'bike lane' on 6th or the dumb separated paths on 8th or 10th. Speaking of which, has anyone else noticed that there are virtually no good bike-paths to take you downtown?

Until next time friends, mind the traffic.

...Breezy Point - Photo tour of Brooklyn

I played hookey today. Called in sick, made breakfast and saw that moo off on her trip to Boston.

Since I rode the subway in yesterday to give my legs a rest, I was antsy to spin the pedals a bit. On the few days every month that I find myself on a train, I'm struck by the bland normality of it all.

So in a fitting rebuttal to the previous day's lack of cycling, I decided to go check out the Rockaways and Floyd Bennet Field. I took my usual route to Prospect Park and after a half lap, I rode out onto Coney Island Ave and swung over to Bedford via Ditmas Ave, where one could easily be fooled into thinking they were in middle-american suburbia, as that Moohare recently pointed out.


Check it out, there was even a bona-fide strip mall somewhere along the route


Though in keeping with its Brooklyn-ness, there were plenty of salmon and aging-jew-minivan-operators to test your patience. Riding on Avenue U to hook up with Flatbush, I was surprised at the lush pastoral ambiance of south brooklyn...


I continued down Flatbush across the bridge over the Belt Parkway and was sternly admonished for riding in traffic (despite the fact that I was travelling at-speed or faster than traffic most of the time) by passing beach-goers. I relented and entered what I discovered to be an ample yet shoddy bike path leading to the marine parkway bridge and the rockaways beyond.


Though it was wide and sparsely populated on a friday, It was littered with trash and other irritating debris that made me regret getting bullied onto the sidewalk. However I quickly forgot about my frustrations because once on the bridge I was greeted with awesome views of the city to my back, and an unmuddied Atlantic Americana at my face.



Heading out to the point after crossing the bridge, I meandered into what I can only assume was some sort of gated beach community x hobbit 'collabo'. I realized this because happening upon the continuation of Bedford Avenue across from the mainland, I noted that the rockaway-ers are both fiercely patriotic, and habitually pedestrian...




Despite the obvious inconvenience of living on a pedestrian-only street, I like the set up and wish more places were like this. I didn't venture to the beach here, thinking I could make it all the way out to the point. Unfortunately, I was wrong; two sour women 'manning' a toll booth at the end of this street demanded I return from whence I came. I should've paid closer attention to the signage...


Fearing for the life-span of my drivetrain and needless arguments, I turned around and proceeded back across the bridge, the road bed of which is curiously made of steel grating so when cars whizz by on it, it makes the eeriest wooOOOooo sound.

Spooked and frightened I rode back up toward the city past a destination i have long desired to visit, Floyd Bennet Field.


Two of the original airplane hangars have been renovated into a sports complex similar in kind to a gym. The other four were in such disrepair, I was hardpressed not to go exploring.



But nothing was better than getting out onto the runways. despite the grass filled cracks in the pavement, I've never before biked on something so wide and flat ( ok, thats a lie, I did grow up in Houston after all). I easily hit a sustainable 26.5 mph, flying around the base with reckless abandon.


I saw this guy there sailing a tricycle, it appeared.


I was very curious about this land-boat and was determined to know more about its construction until I saw it break.


The guy at the helm started shouting explatives so I rode on, not wanting any part of his negativity, however justified it may have been.

As usual, the ride back was much the same as before, except instead of riding up through Prospect Park again, I took Bedford the entire way, past imposing public housing projects that signal one's return to the jungle.

... Video Wednesdays (on Thursday)

I think bicycle races are really exciting but I know that like golf, lots of people find it tests their patience to watch them. Frankly, I'm with them on that; for the most part, bike races are pretty boring until the last ten km or so.

I only like to watch the grand tours to report on them here and to hopefully be lucky enough to witness rare or possibly news-worthy action like crashes, attacks and my personal favorite, the sprints.

When you see a bike race as filmed from a motorcycle keeping pace with the peloton or a helicopter overhead, the speed with which the riders are traveling loses its impact somewhat. That's why i was glad to have stumbled across this video of the Post Danmark Rundt at Copenhagenize earlier today:

Tour of Denmark 2008 - Bicycle Race from Colville Andersen on Vimeo.

Though I'm reposting this video for an entirely different reason than Mikael did; I really enjoy the angle and anonymity of this video. I'm not so interested in the reactions of passing Copenhageners as I am with how it shows how brutally fast the end of a road race can be... a blur of wheels and smooth claves, gone in little over 7 seconds (save the stragglers, of course).

...back from nowhere

Sorry about the recent lack of posts. I've been pretty busy for a change, working on getting my parent's beach house to a build-able state and hunting for new employment as I had mentioned last week.

Alas, the transition from 'architect erk' to 'bike mechanic erk' isn't going as smoothly as I'd planned, especially considering the recent upswing in available freelance telecommuting positions for draftsmen such as myself. While I'd be very content doing zen shit like polishing bearing races, It would be sweet if I could snag a job where my commute is 20 feet and the local lunch spot is my kitchen, imagine the freedom!

Fear not though, soon there will be an ebb to my workload and I can resume blogging about the frivolities and tomfoolery of society and it's denizens.

One subject that has piqued my curiosity (and will surely soon be the focus of in-depth cultural analysis by yours truly) is the dramatic spread of hipsterdom throughout the country.

Only a few years ago, tight pants, day-glo throwback sneakers, and garishly patterned sweatshirts were merely a novelty of the late-eighties-early-nineties, places like NYC, and other dense urban places populated by kind-of-artsy 'twenty somethings'. Now, when taking bike trips and such to more rural locales, I notice that the hipness has been latched onto by youngsters everywhere.

This notion that it's hip to be hip ironically lies in stark contrast to what was previously deemed hip in the era to which hipsters seem to ascribe themselves. I don't usually take issue with most of the fashion faux pas I see (as I'm certain that to some, I probably look like a tool of one subculture or another), though some trends I find troublingly popular and under critiqued.

One such trend is girls wearing is 'mom-cut' jeans and shorts. You know, the ones with three extra inches of fabric above the natural waist and extra lateral room for post childbirth hip expansion?


I'm really not sure why this is becoming a 'hip' look. I can't speak for everyone, but when I see chicks in pants like this, I throw up a little in my mouth. Certainly, more shapely women can appropriate this (aesthetic?) mode to sexier ends, but for regular people with regular rumps, pants like this are just about the most unflattering thing one could wear.

I suppose if your goal is to quell cat-calls, then wearing these would likely aid in your de-sexification to positive effect. The flip side is that the wearer is rendered sexually mute and will experience difficulty securing a mate of the opposite sex; so maybe carrying mace or a rape whistle would be a bit more reasonable in everyday circumstances.

However, I am nonetheless worried about this influx of high-waisted pants. Has there been a spike in cases of Oedipus complexes amongst male hipsters? Because usually men aren't attracted to saggy butt-cheeks and cinched bellies, this must be the case. Either that or (the more likely scenario) women just don't really care what guys think and dress more so for each other in an unspoken, platonic fashion competition.

Whatever the case, please, women of the world, heed the satire of SNL!



My only hope is that like these women, hipsterdom is acting out a wardrobe deadpan comedy (WDC from now on) as opposed to truly and wholeheartedly liking antiquated failures of fashion. Who knows, Pharrell seems intent on pushing this wave of bubblegum bullshit to the breaking point by opening kitchy stores like the new BBC/Ice Cream store in SOHO.

'til next time friends, ride safe.