well any way here’s the story via gawker, who’s probably responsible for making the bikes sell out.  Downside is that it’s a hit for legit bike makers/shops.  Upside, maybe more folks on bikes… Major Upside, a healthy hit to the ego for the hipster.  Welcome to cult mass production.

Then join the facebook group letting him know that you don’t think his comments about running down cyclists are funny!

Facebook Group: http://www.facebook.com/#!/group.php?v=info&gid=379899676399

Audio Here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7wnBoWOfAU

Transcript Here: http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thewashcycle.com%2F2010%2F03%2Ftony-kornheiser-allegedly-condones-running-down-cyclists.html&h=095712ad0310d8b5572c03b8d2e28615

Contact: ESPN 1-888-549-3776

Prevention: Yieldtolife.org

TV On The Radio – “Bicycles Are Red Hot”

Red Hot Chili Peppers – “Bicycle Song”

The Beach Boys – “It’s A Beautiful Day”

Tom Waits – “Broken Bicycles”

Danny Elfman – “Theme from Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure”

Pink Floyd – “Bike”

Kraftwerk – “Tour De France”

Flobots – “Handlebars”

Madness – “Riding On My Bike”

Queen – “Bicycle Race”

and 

Honorable mentions: “Narrow Your Eyes” by They Might Be Giants; “This Charming Man” by The Smiths; “Pretty Good Year” by Tori Amos; “Midnight Bicycle Mystery” by Deerhoof; “Slow Bicycle” by múm; “Tony’s Theme” by Pixies; “Apology Song” by The Decemberists.

Get the full article and listen to the songs here.

Be Somebody!

- Salty Dog

http://ridefortheplanet.blogspot.com/

~~
This morning I felt the soft rays of the late winter sun and thought back to my playful and sun-filled days as a child in San Diego. My heart was warm.

I heard the morning songs of unseen birds.  I remembered that the world wants nothing more from me than it wants from the birds.  Just be and sing your song.  My purpose was clear.

I said hello to a dozen people and stopped to visit an old golden retriever who was laying in the morning frost. I was deeply connected.

I smiled the whole way, and I arrived to work as the happiest SOB in the building, maybe even in the entire city….

This is why I ride!

- Salty Dog

Angeles Police Department Chief Charlie Beck told a group of bicycle advocates that department-wide training would be implemented to highlight the rights of bicyclists on the road and ensure that officers know how to deal with incidents involving bikes.

Beck’s statements come amid growing complaints from cyclists that their rights are being infringed by drivers. It marks the first time top LAPD brass has publicly addressed the issue.

Beck said bike riders are “our most vulnerable commuters” and that the police department needed to do a better job protecting them.

“We hear you, we know we need to do a better job for you,” Beck said.

Assistant Chief Earl Paysinger said the training would include a document that would be included in official department policy outlining officers’ responsibilities in dealing with cyclists on the road. He said it was still unclear what would be in the document but said he hoped to meet with bicycle groups and have it ready within 30 days.

Paysinger also said that in less than 45 days the department would create a computer-based “e-learning” agenda that would be mandatory for all police officers to help them better recognize problems and issues involving cyclists.

Paysinger also pointed to other actions the LAPD had recently taken involving bicyclists – creating a working group with advocacy groups, appointing an official liaison within the police department and ensuring that all incidents involving bicyclists are handled by each bureau’s traffic division – as evidence the LAPD had begun to take bicycling safety more seriously.

Beck’s statements came during a transportation committee meeting Wednesday afternoon. About 20 cycling advocates, including some from the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition, came to the meeting to address Beck after they completed a bike ride to call for justice for victims of hit-and-run accidents and to protest what it says is unfair treatment of cyclists.

Councilman Bill Rosendahl, chairman of the transportation committee, said it was a “historic first” to have the chief of police listening directly to the experiences of cyclists and promising reform.

“Today is the beginning of a new day with the LAPD,” Rosendahl said. “My hope is that six months from now an officer will know the rights of cyclists as well as the rights of motorists.… I think the LAPD, like pretty much the citizenry in general, has had the car culture.”

The ride traced the route that local cyclist Ed Magos used to take on his daily commute to City Hall, where he works in the information technology department. Magos was injured Jan. 6 when he was struck from behind while cycling on 2nd Street near Figueroa Street in downtown Los Angeles, according to the coalition. The motorist stopped but then drove away. The motorist later went to an LAPD station but was not charged with a crime.

–Ari B. Bloomekatz

Photos: L.A. Times file

Photo by James Broadway.  BTW, congratulations to James for having a new baby girl this week!

Cyclist are a peculiar bunch.  We can’t let a ride just be a ride. It’s impossible for any of us to admit that a bad day on the bike is due to anything but external circumstance that we have not control over.  We all do it.  At the beginning of a ride we lay out at least one disclaimer of why we’re not going so well.  If it weren’t for this disclaimer you’d be inflicting all sorts of pain on the rest of your mates, so they should consider themselves lucky.

It’s not PRO to rock up and announce to everyone “I’m on fire guys, watch out!”.   It’s all about lowering expectations.  This way if you pull a magical ride out of your ass you’ll look like superstar.  “Just imagine how I would have smashed it if I was on form!” you can say.   However, if you really do ride as pathetically as you said you were going to, then you’ve already laid that on the table.  You can’t lose.

Here are the top 13 disclaimers that I hear (and give) on a regular basis:

1. “I’m coming back from a stomach virus” (every PRO is always getting over a stomach virus)
2. “I haven’t ridden my bike in weeks”
3. “I’ve ridden 1000km in the past week!”
4. “I can’t get my heartrate up so I’m gonna take it easy”
5. “My position feels strange today.  I couldn’t generate my usual wattage”
6. “I’m over my racing weight”
7. “I’m on a recovery ride”
8. “I’m creeping”
9. “I didn’t eat breakfast”
10. “I ate too much breakfast”
11. “I didn’t have my morning coffee yet”  (my personal favorite)
12. “I’m on my heavy training bike today”
13. “I’m so hungover. I was out until 4am partying but I was still able to meet up this morning”

Last night I raced and used the good ol’ “I’ve got a stitch” excuse.  Worked like a charm when I mucked up the sprint. 

I leave you with a video that was sent to me last night that will surely inspire you to get out on the bike this weekend:

Thule “Bike Spot” from Nathan Avila on Vimeo.

“Yeah, that’s one of the great exciting things about places like that, you have to be super alert because everything is coming at you from all directions, and you’re working on those gaps and you shoot through it and it disappears.  You’re working within …. you know that the gaps are going, it’s like watching a wave break or something; it’s going to be there for that amount of time (snaps fingers) and it’s gone and it’ll never be there again.  And Hyde Park Corner or any of the big complexes really excite and I like that.  Berkeley Square is another one.  You ‘switch on’ to Berkeley Square as soon as there’s a gap …. those moments when you know it’s all happening, they’re really exciting because all your sensory hairs stand up, you’re listening and looking … it’s all crucial (interview, with bike messenger, 11/15/05).”

I just love the comparison of the traffic flow to that of a wave.  Enjoy the ride!

- Salty Dog