"Um...My Hands Are Glowing. Is That Normal?"

A lot to talk about this week including: Dutch and Army Bikes, the impending arrival of the Flying Pigeon, shants vs. pants and my undying love for the milk crate.

For now though...

Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you the Glo-Glove!!

I don't own a pair of these (yet), but they are most definitely on my never ending list of "bike stuff I MUST have as soon as I can scrape more of those damn nickels together." I'm not sure how comfortable they'd be for everyday riding but at the very least, they would be good for a night ride in high traffic.

According to the specs, they're visible up to 1 mile with a "search light" (I'm guessing we can substitute headlights here) AND up to 4 miles with Night Vision Goggles!!! Finally!!!! I can't tell you how many times I've wished those people driving with their stupid night vision goggles on could see me when I indicate a vehicular left turn in front of them! Now, thanks to Blumenthal Uniform Company Inc., THEY CAN!!!

Because this clearly a law enforcement / civil service type website, there is no mention whatsoever of these possibly being of use to a cyclist. But the upside is, while you visit the site you can browse for your favorite brands of body armor, drug tests, handcuffs & restraints and defense spray!!

Do The Test

This might be the best public service announcement I've ever seen. In other words, we need more of this here. Ok smarty, put on your smart hat on and pay attention to the balls...

Welcome To Fantasy Island...Michigan?

Looking for a vacation spot this spring? Check out Mackinaw Island.

From their website...

On your first night, under an unbound sky ablaze with flirting stars, your troubles merely drift away. Waking to the sound of horse hooves on silent streets, the fail-safe plot you dreamed begins with the daylight. Wrapped in all its graces and grand passions, you’re on Mackinac Island.

O.K. Flirting stars, troubles drifting away, horse hooves and whatnot. Sounds good. A little flowery, but good. But read on my friend, read on...

Mackinac Island is the truly "all natural" theme park of America. Limited to transportation of horse and buggy, bicycle or foot, surrounded by water, it has escaped the vast changes of time.

Whoaaaa horse and buggy!!! Back up. No cars? You mean to tell me there are no freakin' cars on the whole damn island?! As Mr. Roarke would say: "Smiles, everyone... smiles!"

I must admit it's not the biggest island out there (think Catalina, only smaller), but hell, to roam the (8) streets for one day without inhaling bus fumes and dodging Hummers? I'm sold. Sign me up Tattoo.

My Bike Picks For This Weekend

If mass night rides are your thing, there are a couple of options on Friday, with Los Angeles Critical Mass and the return of HollywoodRidazz.

On Saturday, C.I.C.L.E. is hosting another of it's Beginning Bike Handling Skills Workshops. This is a great way to hone your bike riding skills (and get some if you don't have them to begin with!) from friendly and more importantly, certified instructors.

On Sunday, join the T-Bone Tony Benefitz Ride (he broke his arm on a group ride recently) in the LBC.

Go To Hell...mets!!!!

Warning: If you think that wearing a helmet is oh so very tres un-cool, then you may not give a rats' ass about the following post.

An article in the most recent issue of Urban Velo mentioned a cool site with a good mission. H.E.L.L. (helping people live longer) is a group (well, two guys at least ) that's raising money to purchase and distribute free helmets to anyone who wants one. You can donate to their cause, request a helmet or purchase one at cost for a mere 25 clams at their site. I think this is GREAT IDEA!

And by the way...Don't you think it's time to get over how cool you think you are and just wear a friggin' helmet already?

I'll Show You Mine...

I was already familiar with Gmaps Pedometer, which is a pretty slick little hack using Google Maps to plot routes for activities. But after playing around with the most recent incarnation of Google Maps, I was able to do what I've been wanting to for a while now: Plot multiple routes on the same page! 

I still haven't seen a map app (ok that's just fun to say) that's dedicated to bicycling, but this seems to be the best way for me to look at my most commonly used routes all at once without confusion. I've only added my main commuting stand-by routes so far, but I'm going to keep adding more as much as possible until the tentacles spread all over the city. Muuuuuhuuuhhhahah!!!!

Here's a link to what I've done so far. The Usual Routes

It's not the most intuitive app to figure out at first, but once you figure it out, it's pretty easy to draw routes, change their color and opacity and lay them across the grid. Pretty sweet!

Go to the "My Maps" tab to start routin'!!

Nuts At The Wheel

Here's a site that I stumbled upon a while back. Nuts At The Wheel is a site where you can report people who are driving like their, you guessed it, NUTS!! It sounds like a good idea in theory to me. I don't know if any prosecution of drivers comes from these reports, but at the very least, it's good web space for cyclists to vent after a hairy encounter on the roads.

Click on the Reports tab if you want to call someone out!

Because sharing is caring (or something like that...)

I was bitten by the bicycle bug about a year ago. Sure I'd ridden bikes all of my life, but I'm talking about a serious bite here. Like a chunk of my ass is missing serious. Obsession would be one word for it, but I'm averse to hyperbole so let's say...Infatuation.

So I've spent the last year eating, sleeping and well...you know...BIKES! Growing up in Los Angeles, I used to love driving a car. Now I have nothing but contempt for the concept. Once I realized that I can get nearly everywhere I need to be (and most places I WANT to be) on my bike, my beast of a mid-sized SUV lays rotting behind my apartment, waiting for it's inevitable demise.

I thought It would a good idea to share all of the things I've discovered about bicycling over the last year of obsession...I mean...infatuation with as many as people as possible, to give people a place to find all of the stuff I had to dig up that was buried deep in the internets and to share my experiences and new finds along the way. So here goes. Hope you all enjoy.