You will love these: SKS Raceblade Long

The rainy season is here already, and these look just fabulous. Standard short Raceblades are IMHO the best snap-on fenders by far so I have high very hopes for these. And for the record, I've tried Crud Roadracers but really couldn't get them installed satisfactorily on any of my bikes despite hard efforts.

Seen at Eurobike, read and see more here.

Yeah, f**k you too.

Like this, two days going now. Drunken attempt at parking your Saab, anyone? Ok, this can also be a prank as the doors of the car are unlocked.

Pelago Bicycles: Stavanger

Pelago Bicycles' randonneur / commuter type bike Stavanger, brand new for 2010. Not exactly my type of bike - not just yet, at least - but looking mighty good nonetheless. It's actually so new it's not even on their site yet.

And yeah, it's not fixie nor even single speed but who cares because Pelago are my homies reppin' my hood Vallila, Helsinki baby!

Ripaus took the photo at Go Expo 2010, thanks.

Times Square Bombing: NYPD Crackdown on cyclists?

What's going on in NYC? First Monster Track main race gets cancelled, then someone on a bicycle set off a bomb at the military recruiting station in Times Square and as a concequece, blogs report that an NYPD bike crackdown is already underway.

"This report was found in the used bike section of Craigslist on Tuesday morning. Listed for sale at $1 on the Lower East Side was the following:

Cops are ticketing bikers at Delancey 
Reply to: sale-595068813@craigslist.org
Date: 2008-03-04, 9:50AM EST

Cops were flagging down people coming off of the Williamsburg bridge and ticketing them for running red lights this morning. I just thought I'd put the word out.

The cop informed me that this summer they may be looking to 'crack down' on bikers more. Just to make a point, I'm going to court to protest the ticket I received. The whole thing is just really silly; they want people to bike more, they do not provide "safe" bike lanes, and they punish people who bike. In order to bike safely in the city, you must break regular traffic laws. How they expect any biker to get across Delancey in morning rush hour from the far left lane (where there is no bike lane or shoulder) to the right without running a red light when the rest of traffic has stopped is beyond me. None of this is helping in the "us vs. them" divide between those driving cars and cyclists. About 3 other bikers and I were standing with the cop, and I have to say, it was refreshing that no one had a terrible attitude. Biking puts people in a better mood."

In any case, what's worse is the fact that if you look at my photo up there on right, you might recognize certain resemblance with suspected hooded bike-riding bomber... No, it wasn't me!  

Help Getting 'Bike There' feature added to Google Maps

Please click here, support the good cause and sign this Online petition. Googlemaps is great but it could be so much better, for us cyclists too...


"To:  Google, and the Google Maps team

We would like a 'Bike There' feature added to Google Maps - to go with the current 'Drive There' and 'Take Public Transit' options. 

The feature would take into account actual bicycle lanes from the locality being mapped, and it would automatically plan a route for a bicyclist, possibly even providing the cyclist options for either the most direct route, or the most bicycle-friendly (safest) route. The Google Maps-based third party site, byCycle.org (http://byCycle.org/), provides these features for two metro areas - Portland, Oregon and Madison, Wisconsin, and there are countless other mapping initiatives around the world aimed at accomplishing the same goal. We hope that Google will consider building this feature into the core Google Maps service. 

There are many reasons why this feature would be a wonderful edition to Google Maps. Among them, some of the most influential would be to: 


* Make bicycling safer for millions of bicyclists around the world. 

* Empower world citizens to better adapt their lifestyles to face the challenges of global climate change.

* Help Google realize its core mission of 'organizing the world's information and making it universally accessible and useful.' 



By implementing the 'Take Public Transit' option, Google and the Google Maps team have shown themselves to be concerned and capable world citizens; a 'Bike There' feature addition to Google Maps would be the ultimate statement in support of sustainable development. 

For more information on this feature request please visit the Google Maps 'Bike There' website (http://GoogleMapsBikeThere.org/).



Thank you, Google and the Google Maps team! And thank you, petitioners, for joining us in attempting to realize this very important goal!
Sincerely,

The Undersigned"

Sprocket Man says: Think Bicycle Safety

Sprocket Man says: Think Bicycle Safety.

Click that, read and learn. Even if he has more gears than necessary and his bike coasts, it's all good.