Working the show

IMG_0828One of the great things about doing all this cycling media stuff as a “hobby job” is that it seems like a vacation when I take time to attend an event. The glamor of cheap hotels. Living life with one pannier full of camera gear, and the other full of clothes. Ahh…. it just doesn’t get much better than this, right?

Truth be told I love doing this stuff, and hopefully you get the benefit of seeing things from our perspective – the perspective of Just Another Cyclist. So stay tuned for pictures and stories for the North American Handmade Bicycle Show.

Want instant gratification? Keep your eye on @JAnoherCyclist on twitter, and of course pictures on the Instagram account.

Nobel Peace Prize for cycling?

Can you win the Nobel Peace Prize for cycling? Possibly. If you are the Afghan Women’s National Cycling Team. This tough group of women face challenges daily that will make your next urban traffic dodging exercise seem trivial.

They are already in the running for the National Geographic Adventurers of the Year award. But their story has reached new levels of exposure with the help of documentary film makers and the movie “Afghan Cycles.” But the nod in the form of a nomination for the Nobel Peach Prize has really garnered headlines. Keep reading →

Bike Cage Etiquette

Bike cage etiquette can be a tricky thing. Those of us lucky enough to work in a building that provides a locking bike cage (but not lucky enough to work in a building that lets you take your bike indoors) have some definite advantages. However, there are two particular scenarios where the balance between being nice to your fellow cyclists and conscious of everyone’s stuff can be at odds. Keep reading →

Top 10 posts ever

Blogs are a funny, fickle mistress. You produce content. You struggle to maintain the balance between journalistic/artistic integrity and SEO so that people can find you. You throw out terms like “journalistic/artistic integrity” as if you actually had them. You try to be funny. You try to speak to your readers.

But at the end of the day there really is no predicting which of your works will catch on and which won’t. It is nearly impossible to predict which of your stories might get posted to reddit, providing yet more eyes on your stuff. One Facebook share gets thousands of page views, another zero. Such is the Wild Wooly Web. Keep reading →

Full sphere video

Not just 360° left-to-right, but up and down as well. This is neater than neat. Use the icon in the upper left corner to move the perspective. It works when the video is playing or stopped.

Zipcar bike racks

zipcar-with-yakimaI got a surprise yesterday: a Zipcar with a bike rack. I had no idea that was even a thing, but I’ve sure wished for it in the past.

I’ve have been carless (that’s without a car, not careless) for quite some time. Which also means I have not to be paying San Francisco parking tickets for quite some time. But there have been times when I wanted to get somewhere away from home – with my bike – that required a drive. That makes a Zipcar with a bike rack just about perfect. I couldn’t find any official announcement from Zipcar regarding the availability of cars with bike racks in San Francisco, but they apparently were available in New York and Portland several years ago.

Keep reading →

Audi Outrage

The new Audi A3 plugin hybrid. I’d actually be inclined to respect it – if not for some idiotic advertising.

So many things wrong with this. Keep reading →

Feel good story of the day

If you love grandmas, bicycles and dudes turning a good deed, have we got a story for you. Call it your feel good story of the day. It all started on one of my favorite Facebook groups: Look At My Bike Leaning Against Stuff. The group is about… well… just that. People post photos of their bikes. Leaning against stuff. Pretty straight forward. There are a couple of rules – pictures are of bikes only – no people. Drive side out lest the critiques will critically criticize. Etc etc etc.

But as with many things, a small act of humanity and compassion gleamed through like a shining beacon (cue symphonic musical sweeper) Keep reading →

Does MY car qualify?

UberAd

Ad asks “Does Your Car Qualify for Uber.” I don’t know… does it?

Sherman - the Cargo Bike

Sometimes it is just scary

I love riding my bike. I feel quite comfortable riding on the streets of San Francisco, or the country roads of California’s central valley. From my perspective, what negative interactions I’ve had with cars have generally been due to simple mistakes – misjudging speed, not looking in the right rear view mirror when turning right, etc etc. I’m the guy that spend a lot of time complaining about how dangerous others make cycling out to be. I’m the guy urging everyone to stop the fear mongering.

But then someone has to be an asshole. And that can be just flat out scary.

Keep reading →