June's Mpls. Critical Mass

The Worlds Top Biking Cities???

More "Best Bike..." from Travel & Leisure magazine. This could either be an opportunity to have a rousing argument about which cities are really the best "bike cities" in the world. We could argue over what measurements to use in detirmining, once and for all, which cities are indeed the most bike friendly. Is it miles of bike lanes? Or we could use surveys to determine which cities have the most commuters. Or maybe just who has the most Chic cyclists. That would be fun. I welcome it. Me, I just think it's cool that another magazine has hopped on the Cyclelution and is putting the idea of riding a bike in the minds of all those auto dependent people out there. Planting the seeds. The more people who come into contact with bikes, the more people who will eventually break through the car-haze and hop on one. And the fact that Minneapolis gets prominent mention is just a very small part of my motivation for posting this "best of..."... really! ;D

Photo courtesy Phototake/Alamy

Reversing Expectations

I often see cars hauling bikes.

Not bikes hauling car...

parts.

But things are changing, it seems.

Moon-Rise

Yehuda Moon is back! Ya don't miss em til there gone. Boy, did I miss the Yehuda Moon and the Kickstand Cyclery. I think I'll even subscribe, this time!

Bicycle Built for Two: Kent Tandem ~ Fixer Upper

A coworker of mine used to fix up a lot of old bikes. A lot being, he had a whole barn full of them. He gave many of them away, some to Africa. A few years ago, he decided to move onto something else(tractors) and has been weening down all his bike stock. He was known as the guy to bring old bikes to, in his town. People are still leaving bikes at the end of his driveway. I'm guessing that's how this tandem ended up at his place. If anybody has any interest, please let me know. He's not greedy so I'm sure the price will be right.

Can Bikes Have More then Two Wheels?

What makes a bike a bike?  Is two, and only two wheels a requirement?  

Stormy and pal.

Friday night, I ran into Stormy.  He just started up a bike cab(Pedicab?) business this year.  It's called Shotties and is available from 3pm-3am daily(612-328-3878).  He'll push you all around town, if you show him a little generosity.  I'm saying it here.  I will be giving him a call.  Perfect for dates.  I think that we need many more bike cabs.  I wish him luck!

Ah!  The Beer Bike.

I'm feeling a little woozy...

On my way home, I came across this party on wheels.  Pedalpub let's you have have a mobile party.  The pedal pubs came, of course, from the Dutch, who love to drink and pedal... especially at the same time.

Can you go too Slow?

The Slow Bicycle Movement must be having powerful effect on me.  On Friday night I went to see to see the Minnesota Bicycle Festival Criterium race in Uptown.  But I don't know if I saw a bike race.  All I saw were these blurs as they wizzed by, followed by a big gust of wind.  Wow, that was fast.  And then they were gone around the corner.  A few minutes later they would return, briefly.  Whoosh!

Maybe my efforts to slow down on my bike and enjoy the ride, has side effects.  Perhaps I've slowed down too much or maybe too quickly.  I wonder if it's reversible?  Maybe I don't want to.

Is that a face?

Special Bike Premere in Mill City

The fashion in bicycles is changing.  The old styles are now, new ones.

The Globe Brand Bikes has premered an interesting line of bikes, in Minneapolis this week. I haven't got a close look at them, but the retro features(baskets, hubs, etc.) offered, are what caught my interest. Globe is a part of Specialized.

that's why they call Mpls the Mill city

It's nice to see another brand going after those mellower riders out there, that would like to have a nice and practical bike. Smart move by Specialized. They know they'd better hop on the cycle chic wave. It's nice to see manufacturers moving back to fully outfitted bikes, with fender, racks, and baskets. I hope they are making a good quality product. I'm going to keep an eye out for them, this weekend.

a bicycle built for 2

There's more on these bikes, at blogs Bike Design and Urban Velo. If you want to see more pictures of them, Globe has a Flickr site with plenty of pics.

All photos are property of of Globe Brand Bikes in accordance with Creative Commons.

Nice Bikes Around Town

If I were going to smoke, it would be on a bike like this.

Chrome bike

Extra tall

White stripes match seat