Candy Cranks

The Roll it Forward initiative is a project of Mayor Menino’s Boston Bikes program and the Boston Public Health Commission.  Funded by a stimulus grant from the National Institutes of Health, the project seeks to make cycling a more accessible transportation option for low-income communities.  By distributing bicycles and providing proper bike safety education, the Roll it Forward program promotes a healthier lifestyle of increased physical activity and fewer trips by car.  The bikes from the program serve as a family’s first step in adopting cycling as an ongoing activity for health and convenience.

The Goal:  Roll it Forward aims to collect, repair, and distribute up to 1000 bikes to Boston’s neighborhoods by the spring of 2012.  Help us reach our goal by donating your old bike(s)!

Safety Education:  Every recipient of a bicycle from this program will be fitted with a helmet and will be required to demonstrate safe bicycle handling skills.  Roll it Forward has partnered with the long-time bicycle education and advocacy group Bikes Not Bombs to provide hands-on demonstrations of safe and courteous cycling and proper bike fit.  Bikes not Bombs also provides further education on bike mechanical skills to anyone interested in learning more about their new bike.

Donations and Repair:  Many bikes collected by the program may not be in full working order at the time they are donated.  Roll it Forward has partnered with several of the best local bicycle shops to ensure that each bike that comes out of this program is safe and ready to ride.  You could get valuable discounts by donating your bike through one of our shop partners.  Visit the partners page to learn more.

Bike Distribution:   This is a program for Boston residents of all ages, not just kids.  We’re therefore looking for bikes of all shapes and sizes.  We have partnered with many local agencies and groups to ensure that bicycles are distributed to people who have a need and who will use their bicycles.  We’re working with local public schools, youth programs, and the Boston Housing Authority to ensure bikes and education go to where the need is greatest.  If you work with a program in the City of Boston that would like to partner with us to receive bicycles, contact us.

So I headed out for the maiden voyage on my Surly Pugsley mountain bike this past weekend.  If you’ve never heard of a Pugsley, it is a bike with huge fat tires ridden at very low pressure. The tires are perfectly designed to ride through snow, sand, mud and pretty much anything else you can think of. For various reasons, the bike has been collecting dust in the garage for 2 winters, but I’m no less enthusiastic about it now that I’ve given it a proper test ride in the snow. SOOO MUCH FUN!!!
My point for this quick post is to comment on the On One Mary Bar.It is this ridiculous looking sweeping riser handlebar that makes the bike look like a cruiser. On first glance, I planned to remove it just because it makes the bike look goofy. But since time did not allow me to get to the task, I rode it as is. You know what? I loved the damn bars!! The snow, I’m sure, makes a difference. I could see that the handling in snowless technical terrain might feel different, but I think I’ll even set my pride aside and give it a shot when the snow melts too.

So here’s to lookin’ goofy on a bike!

With our crazy warm and snowless weather, we’ve got no excuses not to get out and ride!

Illuminations Bicycle Tour:  A winter night ride amongst warmly lit homes, Saturday December 18, Meet at 6:50 pm at the Somerville High School Main Entrance. Depart PROMPTLY at 7:15pm. Bike lights required and dress warmly. Holiday lights, costumes & festive cheer encouraged. Heavy rain, wind, snow or ice cancels bike tour.  A Somerville Arts Council & Somerville Bike Committee joint event.

I was doing some Christmas shopping on one of my favorite sites for handmade items:  www.etsy.com.  There were so many beautiful items, but this one really caught my eye.

I’m fresh on the heels of my first cyclocross race and it was tons of fun!  http://x-blog-x-team-x.blogspot.com/2010/10/we-interrupt-this-lazy-off-season-to.html
One of my teammates dug up this footage from an old 1950′s cyclocross race.  AWESOME.

Once again, I’ve come back from the last big race of the mountain biking season and tried to forget about all things bike related.  My hiatus from biking didn’t last long this time as I quickly got wrapped up in the excitement of cyclocross racing.  Next thing you know, I’ve got a cyclocross bike and I’m giving my first race a shot this coming Saturday.

A quick note about the Shenandoah Mountain 100: (dirty faced pic of the finish below.)  I can’t even begin to explain how amazing the volunteers were at this race.  Folks weren’t kidding when they said that the volunteers do everything for you but ride your bike!  Unfortunately, it was not a great course for a single speed and the gear that I selected. Although I suffered, I DID survive long enough to finish…13 hours, 25 minutes and 43 seconds. DONE!

Have a good summer biking story to tell?  Enter the Summer Story Contest and maybe you will come away with some cool prizes.  Deadline is September 10th, so hurry!  More information here.

I’m finally recovered from Pat’s Peak 12 hour race.  The course was about 5.5 miles that crisscrossed up a ski slope and shot you back down.  The goal was to do as many laps in the 12 hour time period that you can.  The race ran from 12PM-12AM, so night time laps were included which usually aren’t my favorite.  I intended for it to just be training for the 100 miler on Labor Day, but I got caught up in the competitiveness of the race and managed to pull off a win over the geared girls on my SS!!  Here are a few pics from the race.