The Lounge of Terrestrial Wheelmen

[George]

Too quiet in here! And no pictures of FaF's new ride. Tsk, tsk...

Today's craigslist find:

Clown Bike Tall Cruiser Bike - $200



Some recent ride pictures are below.

Spoiler:

On the way up...







Those are cows on a ranch that borders this public trail.



The Flat Earth Society meets up here on Tuesday evenings...



Watch this guy jump the fence right in front of me...darn trail hog! :shakes fist:









I didn't get a picture of him in the air, but here he's landing on his front legs after clearing the fence with ease.









He went that-a-way. Those scrubby bushes are home to lot of wildlife.

So, where are your pictures, ya bunch o' slackers?

[Tom Servo]

My latest one is over in Notable Car Sightings

[George]

Wow.

You win.

[Tom Servo]

I'd disagree, your ride looks ultimately far more pleasant than mine, Espada sighting aside.

[George]

Looks like I had more traffic to deal with than you, judging from your one picture only.

Here's a short article with two videos about old guys riding bikes at MTBR.com: Video: 82-year old Alf and 80-year old dad ride mountain bikes

“I started mountain biking when I was 70 years old. I had just had cancer and I decided I needed some exercise to keep me well or try and get me fit again.”

[Tom Servo]

Today's one of those days where I regret being lazy about the GoPro.

Was riding home from lunch on a bikeshare bike. Coming up to a four way stop where I'm going to make a left. Visibility's bad here, so I come to a stop, there's a car coming from the opposite direction who also has a stop sign. I start going, suddenly realize he's not slowing down. He's probably doing 35 in a 25, and I barely make it in time as he gives me the finger while blowing through the stop sign.

I think "fuck this guy" and turn around, chasing after him. Not easy to do on a bikeshare bike, but I catch him at the next intersection where he's trying to make a right onto a busy boulevard. I pull in front of his car and demand he roll the window down (probably not my brightest move, but adrenaline is a hell of a drug). I yell at him that he had a stop sign, he insists that I'm only "claiming" he had a stop sign. I yell "YOU CAN SEE THE STOP SIGN FROM HERE!!!", and he shrugs. I tell him not to move as I take pictures of his license plate so I can report it, then leave. He was probably in his 80's, I'm trying to find out if I can, as a non-relative, force him being retested by the DMV.

I make it a couple of blocks and get to an intersection near my house. Last traffic light before I get home. It's one lane each way, most people are turning left, so they line up on the left hand side, right side is usually open. Can't really count on people using their turn signals here (or anywhere else in this god-forsaken city), so you generally look to see who's peeking around which side. Light turns green before I get there, and everyone's staying lined up left, so I go up the right side. Right as I get next to a car, the driver pulls to the right to go around left turning traffic, forcing me into the curb and I fall onto the sidewalk. I guess at least she looked apologetic.

On the plus side, I appear to be unhurt (a little road rash on my ankle from where it hit the curb), and it's a bikeshare bike, so my bikes are fine. Still, it's enough to make you say, in the immortal words of Bikesnob, "fuck it, I'm leasing a Hyundai."

[Cam]

[George]

Wow.

[George]

Bike shop theft story out of Boulder, CO:

Thieves stole $250K worth of bikes, gear from Boulder shop, owner says

[Tom Servo]

Damn, that sounds like he'd taken plenty of precautions to avoid that. Hopefully he's got good insurance.