Candy Cranks

This…

plus this…

will make my 2010 touring wheelset.

36 spokes with 3-cross lacing pattern.  700×28C tyres.  AND I’m going to build them myself!

Luxury acessories brand, Liberty of London, has teamed up with Target to produce a line of apparel & home decor for the masses. Check out this fun cruiser for $199, not a bad deal. Makes me want to pack up my picnic basket, put on a ruffly dress and go for a ride! Would you ride this whip?

Get em here!

About a year ago my little sister Carla decided she wanted to build something. Brainstorming for something that would be useful, she decided to try making a bike rack for our living room so we wouldn’t have to untangle our bikes from the pile every day. She had a little help from our dad in building the outer frame and hauling the wood, but the rest she did herself, including the design, which she measured out to fit under the window. I think she did a pretty good job, hopefully you can see that through the shitty pictures, and it’s so nice to have, especially when I’m leaving in a hurry out the door or we have guests over.

While walking to the subway this rainy night, I noticed bike racks I hadn’t seen before on West Broadway in Tribeca. I didn’t have my camera, so I’m posting a photo from Curbed. The bike racks appear to reclaim sidewalk used as for ventilation for the subway, which I think is clever. And, in addition to looking modern and interesting, they incorporate a seating element.  Go NYC! We still have a long way to go to make drivers drive less like maniacs, but it makes me glad to see this kind of small, bike-friendly developments across the city. According to the Curbed article, they were installed in 2008. What do you think? (Photo from Curbed)

Start Time: Monday, March 15, 2010 at 1:30am
End Time: Sunday, March 21, 2010 at 1:30am
Location: Rice University

Description
Its the time of the year that you all have been waiting for! Willy Week is just around the corner. This year its going to be wilder than ever, so GET YOUR TEXAN GEAR READY!

Monday:
Picnic and Concert w/ The Sour Notes, The Erin Jaimes Band and our very own, Tristan Clement, Lovett Sophomore as DJ.
Central Quad 5-8p.m.
Willy Week t-shirts and belt buckles will be sold!

Tuesday:
Beer Debates with Dr. Jose Aranda, Dr. Andreas Luttge and Chuck Throckmorton
Willy’s Pub @ 8p.m.
Co-Sponsored by The Annual Fund for Student Life & Learning
Willy Week t-shirts and belt buckles will be sold!

Wednesday:
Beer Bike Trivia.
Willy’s Pub @ 11p.m.

Thursday:
80th Birthday of Willy’s Statue w/ cake in the quad and showing of the turning of Willy’s Statues, ‘180: The Spin on Willy’.
Academic Quad, Noon-2p.m.
Kyle Morrow Room, 12:30p.m. and 2p.m.
BRC Auditorium, 7 and 8:30 pm.

International Beer Night
Beers from around the globe! Including Australian, Czech Republican, English, Irish, French, German, Indian, Italian, Japanese, Thai, Dutch, Chinese Beer amongst many other.
Willy’s Pub @ 10p.m. - 2a.m.
Sponsored by The Annual Fund for Student Life & Learning

Saturday:
BEER BIKE
enough said!

Thanks to our sponsors:
Princeton Review
Chipotle
Red Bull
Einsteins Bros. Bagels
Taco Cabana
The Fruit Palette
Rice University’s Annual Fund

For more information on Willy Week events, visit:
http://rpc.rice.edu
http://rpc.rice.edu/content.aspx?id=252

This is what the winning bikers will receive and can be purchased by undergraduate students for $7 (or $5 with a purchase of a $5 Wild West Willy Week T-shirt. They are $15 for faculty, staff and alumni.

T-SHIRTS!

Times a coming for the 4th annual April Fool’s Day Race. To all that have played before, you know the rules. To others, its pretty much an alleycat race thru the city with unexpected twists… Bag and lock will be needed. Hella prizes to all that compete.$8 to play. Sponsors confirmed so far: Obey, Freight Baggage, BlueLine Bike Lab, Feetbelts, Aggieland Cycling, FlwRider Hong Kong, Velocity, EYESORE, Houston Bicycle Company, DUAL, BlackGoldCycling, Saint Arnold Brewing Company, GirlBikeDog, HATER, Under the Weather, the HBMA and Lone Star. More TBA

Side events and the premiere of “DEATH PEDAL 2″ to follow race. After party and ceremony to take place at The Moon Tower Inn.

Date: Saturday, April 3, 2010
Time: 3:00pm - 7:00pm
Location: Houston, TX
Street: start location TBA

COME OUT TO HOUSTON AND GET YOUR RACE ON!!!

The original Houston Girls Ride AKA Chix on Fixed! Cruisers and non-fixies are welcome the name just happened to stick well with the ride! Add Chix on Fixed to your facebook to get updates on dates and times of rides!

ITS HOUSTON’S FIRST CANDY CRANKS POST! So we had a ride to the St. Arnolds brewery and then to the blossom art gallery off of nance, and then we ran into this ingenious ride. He calls it a pedal party. AKA the mobile bar! check out their website for more details!

http://www.pedal-party.com/

What do you think of this mobile bar?

Nothing says old (but new) class like the Moto Guzzi. I can imagine a gorgeous thing riding this beauty wearing a brown leather jacket with grandpa elbow patches. mmm! 

bikeexif.com

May 22nd 2010 - 10h00 AM - Merlion Park.
More info, HERE.

I came across these on a blog called Italian Cycling Journal, I thought these were pretty genius considering that sometimes I do ride in high heels…not the greatest idea but I dont always carry an extra pair of shoes with me when im out.

What do you think about them?

while the US got google cycling maps today, us here in Toronto got Ride the City. At least it’s something.

The thing I find with these mapping programs though is they don’t route you through any streets where you may be biking the “wrong” way on a one-way street.

…So my question is: how often does your cycling route make you bike the “wrong” way on one way streets? Myself, it happens many many times a day and I feel safer doing that than biking on main arterial routes. I’d love to hear how other folks around the world view this issue.

Mick from ifeellikealittlekid has been riding through South America and it looks like he’s been having an amazing time.

A small selection of some of the great pics Mick has taken so far.

Rio De Janeiro, Brazil

Iguazu Falls, Argentina

Argentina

Chile

Salar De Uyuni, Bolivia

Death Rd, Bolivia

Ecuador

Looks incredible Mick! So jealous See more of his travels here.

Photos by Dave Pittman

Mick already has his next trip planned, he’s heading over to do the Paris Roubaix in France along with 15 other riders from around the globe. The riders will all be on fixed bikes and the route covers 260km, 53km of that being on cobblestones.

Good luck Mick! More info on the Roubaix ride.

I had trip away to Melbourne for the weekend to catch up with some mates and do a bit of shopping. Melbourne’s a great place to ride, it’s flat, designed in a grid and it’s lot more bike friendly than Sydney. It not only has large bike paths clearly marked, it has great shops, cafes, bars and coffee. A mate recommended the “Seven Seeds” cafe which served up quite possibly the best coffee I’ve ever had. I know, big call, but it was amazing and I’m pretty fussy with my coffee. The food was delicious, the cafe big and airy but the stand out feature had to be the indoor bike parking. You could hang or park your bike anywhere along one of the inside walls, brilliant!

Melbourne has a lot a great features but it’s not really known for it’s weather, Tarn and I experienced every season in one day and what display it was. A beautiful warm sunny day soon turned grey as some ginormous clouds darkened the sky.  We were on our way to Pony Bikes and just made it inside before the rain came down. This was followed closely by hail that was absolutely insane, some of the biggest hail stones I’d seen came crashing down all over the city. Cars were dented, trees were shredded and the streets were flooded, the accumulated ice, leaves and rain made Melbourne look like a giant Mohito which was fine by me, it’s my fave drink

Tarn and I dropped into Pony Bikes to say ‘Hi’ to Sasha and check out her bike shop in West Melbourne that’s been open for about a year now. It’s female run shop and Sasha has been working in the bike scene for over a decade. The shop looks great and Sasha’s work is ace, she specialises in custom builds, repairs and maintenance.

Pony Bikes leather jacket by 002.

Sasha at the helm. Thanks for saving us from the Hail Sasha, see ya soon!!

Hey Laydees, Pikey Bags, Headset Clothing, South Florida Fixed and Prolly is not Probably has a photo competition running with some smart prizes up for grabs.

“The give-away is for a Headset Girly Riding Hoodie and a Pikey bag, both pictured above. This contest is for the ladies ONLY. The rules are simple; submit photos of yourself working, or racing. No pretty in pink type shit. We are looking for ladies that actually ride their bikes. The more serious the better. Submit photos to the comments section and we’ll pick a winner. Working messengers, serious racers, or just awesome ladies that use their bikes as a main mode of transportation! Fixed, road, whatever. We want to see cyclists who love riding their bikes!
The hoodie is a size small and the messenger bag is a perfect-sized everyday bag.”

Submit your photos here.

Want to help plan the Brooklyn waterfront greenway and bike access? See the following announcement:

Community planning workshops for the Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway, led by NYC Department of Transportation, will begin on Thursday, March 25th. The community workshops will inform DOT’s master plan for constructing the greenway, so please mark your calendars and tell your neighbors. Four workshops will be held, one in each broad geographic area along the planned 14-mile route. Brooklyn Greenway Initiative and Regional Plan Association are co-sponsoring the workshops.

Greenpoint/Williamsburg (CB1)
Thursday, April 22nd
6:30-8:30pm
Brooklyn Brewery
79 N. 11th Street