Sorry about this late news but I just received it.
TONIGHT, Wednesday January 9, Hobee¹s Restaurant in Palo Alto will host the entire BMC Cycling Team for dinner at 6pm at the Town and Country Village location - 855 El Camino Real, 327-4111. The team will be available to speak with people and sign autographs. The BMC Racing Team is a mixture of neo pros and riders with professional experience. Lead by American veteran Scott Moninger, the most successful active racer in the U.S. to date, and Swiss rider Alexander Moos, the team is likely to make a noticeable first impression on the domestic Pro Peleton.
Watch Ken's Spare Cycles blog for photos of Team BMC in Palo Alto tonight.
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
NYC: Huge bike boxes
See what new bike facilities are available in New York City, as reported by Streetsblog:
Bike boxes are a reserved space just for cyclists at intersections. They are marked ahead of the car stop line and behind the crosswalk to improve cyclist visibility. Bike boxes allow cyclists to filter forward and get in front of motorists so they can position themselves correctly for a turn. They're used at intersections with heavy traffic volume (cars and bikes) and frequent turning conflicts.
In New York, these bike boxes are on a one way street. Bike lanes are also marked on both sides of the one way. Read more at Streetsblog.
Bike boxes are a reserved space just for cyclists at intersections. They are marked ahead of the car stop line and behind the crosswalk to improve cyclist visibility. Bike boxes allow cyclists to filter forward and get in front of motorists so they can position themselves correctly for a turn. They're used at intersections with heavy traffic volume (cars and bikes) and frequent turning conflicts.
In New York, these bike boxes are on a one way street. Bike lanes are also marked on both sides of the one way. Read more at Streetsblog.
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
Bicycle news
There's a lot's going on the world of cycling in this second week of 2008!
Cute story in the SF Chron: Kids Bike Sex Change. It involves duct tape and scissors. Spray paint is much easier and faster.
Reno, NV: Don't let the cold keep you off your bike.
Debate: who pays for cycling facilities?
"Attack dog ripped my bicycle to shreds."
A decent enough list of bicycle vacations, even if the site looks a little bit spammy.
I like this policy of an open work area at bike shops, but I can understand that mechanics need to get the work done.
Bike Hugger chronicles the bicycles seen at the Consumer Electronics Show.
Planet Bike has installed photovoltaic panels to generate electricity. Planet Bike's newly commissioned 10 kilowatt solar power system began generating electric power atop the company''s headquarters in Madison, WI. They expect the 48 panel system to more than offset the company''s energy needs and Planet Bike plans to sell nearly 2/3 of the sustainable electric power back to the city's power grid.
Trailer bike recall: Instep Pathfinder, Schwinn Runabout, and Mongoose Alleycat. These are all manufactured and distributed by Pacific Cycles and sold mostly through mass market retail outlets (e.g. Target and WalMart) and bike shops. Info on the recalls and affected models at Instep, Schwinn, Mongoose. The coupling connecting the child trailer to the adult's bicycle can fail, causing the child's bike to fall over.
There's also yet another recall from Cannondale: 2008 Scalpel mountain bike frames can break. See all Cannondale recalls here.
Raleigh Bicycle History (posted at my request).
Photo: Abigail Anderson Beyond Thunderdome by David Schloss, used with his permission.
Cute story in the SF Chron: Kids Bike Sex Change. It involves duct tape and scissors. Spray paint is much easier and faster.
Boston motorists blame bike lanes for traffic congestion. It's not as if there are too many other cars on the road.
Okay, so it's sad that this cyclist was killed in traffic. But does anyone else think it's kind of cool that this guy was 83 years old riding a bike around town?
Okay, so it's sad that this cyclist was killed in traffic. But does anyone else think it's kind of cool that this guy was 83 years old riding a bike around town?
Debate: who pays for cycling facilities?
Aussie cyclists: Railway bike ban briefly lifted.
San Francisco Caltrain bikestation grand opening (though it's actually been in use since last summer).
San Francisco Caltrain bikestation grand opening (though it's actually been in use since last summer).
"Attack dog ripped my bicycle to shreds."
A decent enough list of bicycle vacations, even if the site looks a little bit spammy.
I like this policy of an open work area at bike shops, but I can understand that mechanics need to get the work done.
Bike Hugger chronicles the bicycles seen at the Consumer Electronics Show.
Planet Bike has installed photovoltaic panels to generate electricity. Planet Bike's newly commissioned 10 kilowatt solar power system began generating electric power atop the company''s headquarters in Madison, WI. They expect the 48 panel system to more than offset the company''s energy needs and Planet Bike plans to sell nearly 2/3 of the sustainable electric power back to the city's power grid.
Trailer bike recall: Instep Pathfinder, Schwinn Runabout, and Mongoose Alleycat. These are all manufactured and distributed by Pacific Cycles and sold mostly through mass market retail outlets (e.g. Target and WalMart) and bike shops. Info on the recalls and affected models at Instep, Schwinn, Mongoose. The coupling connecting the child trailer to the adult's bicycle can fail, causing the child's bike to fall over.
There's also yet another recall from Cannondale: 2008 Scalpel mountain bike frames can break. See all Cannondale recalls here.
Raleigh Bicycle History (posted at my request).
Iranian university mountain biking team to compete in Malaysia.
Obligatory link to Jennifer's bicycle haikus about folding bikes.
Obligatory link to Jennifer's bicycle haikus about folding bikes.
Photo: Abigail Anderson Beyond Thunderdome by David Schloss, used with his permission.
Lateral apical postalveolar flap
While reading the Wikipedia article about the Japanese language, I encountered this sentence about how Japanese pronounce the "R" sound:
My mother is Japanese -- when my wife and I chose names for our children we rejected names that my mother and her family could not easily pronounce. My wife (a speech pathologist by education) thought of naming our first child "Postalveoloar Flap" as a sick joke. It must have been the drugs. Or it could be that all speech pathologists have a sick sense of humor. Stutterers can have difficulty pronouncing "stutter." If you have a lisp, you can't say "lisp." I'm sure there are other examples where somebody who suffers from a speech disorder can't pronounce his disorder. Maybe that's how they test if the therapy works or not.
When I posted the cat bicycle image the other day, I neglected to mention Frank's picture of the invisible bicycle.
Some other Japanese language blogs I occasionally follow include Honk de BONK, Fun Cycle, Hatena Diary, J'adore le vélo, and Hole in the Wall. Gambatte!
The 'r' of the Japanese language (technically a lateral apical postalveolar flap), is of particular interest, sounding to most English speakers to be something between an 'l' and a retroflex 'r' depending on its position in a word.Now, I dare you to say -- out loud -- "lateral apical postalveolar flap" with a lateral apical postalveolar flap. In other words, say that phrase the way a Japanese person would. The 'l' and 'r' are pronounced identically. With 'l' don't stop your tongue against your teeth as you normally do; and on the 'r' your tongue should be more forward of the soft palate than normal. There's some irony that if you form your 'r' and 'l' with this lateral apical postalveoloar flap, then you can't actually pronounce 'lateral apical postalveoloar flap.'
My mother is Japanese -- when my wife and I chose names for our children we rejected names that my mother and her family could not easily pronounce. My wife (a speech pathologist by education) thought of naming our first child "Postalveoloar Flap" as a sick joke. It must have been the drugs. Or it could be that all speech pathologists have a sick sense of humor. Stutterers can have difficulty pronouncing "stutter." If you have a lisp, you can't say "lisp." I'm sure there are other examples where somebody who suffers from a speech disorder can't pronounce his disorder. Maybe that's how they test if the therapy works or not.
When I posted the cat bicycle image the other day, I neglected to mention Frank's picture of the invisible bicycle.
Japanese bicycle blogs
A new bike blog I discovered is "Hit the Trail". Sagano is a recent transplant to the Bay Area, where he enjoys road cycling and hiking. He's also recently discovered the fun of mountain biking in the Bay Area.Some other Japanese language blogs I occasionally follow include Honk de BONK, Fun Cycle, Hatena Diary, J'adore le vélo, and Hole in the Wall. Gambatte!
Monday, January 7, 2008
This week in cycling
Monday night in San Luis Obispo: Monday Night Mountain Bike Ride, 6:30 p.m. - 9 p.m. 1422 Monterey Street, San Luis Obsispo, CA 93401. 805-543-1148 for details.
Thursday in San Francisco: Bike Ed Day One from the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition. This is the "day 1" course for League of American Bicyclists' Bike Ed Road I certification. Each class is free, but registration is required.
Friday in San Francisco: Critical Manners ride at 5:30 p.m. northeast corner of Larkin & Grove.
Early Bird Criterium continues next Sunday in Fremont, California. Details.
I may add a cycling calendar sidebar, focusing mostly on California events but I'll include other important national and international events. If you have items for inclusion on this calendar that are not already on the Cycle California calendar or Quick Release TVs calendar, please feel free to contact me with your event information.
Thursday in San Francisco: Bike Ed Day One from the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition. This is the "day 1" course for League of American Bicyclists' Bike Ed Road I certification. Each class is free, but registration is required.
Friday in San Francisco: Critical Manners ride at 5:30 p.m. northeast corner of Larkin & Grove.
Early Bird Criterium continues next Sunday in Fremont, California. Details.
I may add a cycling calendar sidebar, focusing mostly on California events but I'll include other important national and international events. If you have items for inclusion on this calendar that are not already on the Cycle California calendar or Quick Release TVs calendar, please feel free to contact me with your event information.
Sunday, January 6, 2008
A billion dollars per day
The United States spends almost one billion dollars every day on imported crude oil and petroleum products. I disabled the Energy Use widget shortly after the New Year -- after seeing 10 digit values on the 2nd day I figured I had an arithmetic error of some kind in the code. I couldn't imagine that we actually send that much money overseas every day of the year so I assumed the code was wrong.
I went back to the official numbers from the US Department of Energy and confirmed that we indeed spent $900,000 every day on imported petroleum and petroleum products. I've changed the code a little (removed some extraneous calculations and slowed the timer interval to ease the burden on your computer), but other than that the arithmetic is unchanged from before.
While we're talking dollars, did anybody hear this news that the U.S. dollar is no longer accepted for payment at many tourist sites in India, including the Taj Mahal? Supermodel Gisele Bundchen also won't accept her pay in dollars, preferring her pay in euros instead.
On a happier note for American business, the weak dollar means foreign tourists are flocking to U.S. destinations. I already knew this -- every ex-pat Dane I've met in the USA immediately buys or leases the biggest American SUV available and gets a huge home in the suburbs -- but it turns out those stylish and morally superior bike-riding Danish people really like to drive when they visit the United States.
The weak dollar also makes American exports less expensive, encouraging exports of American products. If you're an American missionary dependent on American dollars for your support, however, you're kind of hosed economically.
Photo: Cycling Manual Chapter 1 by Scott Mucci in Cupertino. He has lots of other cool Bay Area cyclocross and road racing action photos on his blog -- check it out.
I went back to the official numbers from the US Department of Energy and confirmed that we indeed spent $900,000 every day on imported petroleum and petroleum products. I've changed the code a little (removed some extraneous calculations and slowed the timer interval to ease the burden on your computer), but other than that the arithmetic is unchanged from before.
While we're talking dollars, did anybody hear this news that the U.S. dollar is no longer accepted for payment at many tourist sites in India, including the Taj Mahal? Supermodel Gisele Bundchen also won't accept her pay in dollars, preferring her pay in euros instead.
On a happier note for American business, the weak dollar means foreign tourists are flocking to U.S. destinations. I already knew this -- every ex-pat Dane I've met in the USA immediately buys or leases the biggest American SUV available and gets a huge home in the suburbs -- but it turns out those stylish and morally superior bike-riding Danish people really like to drive when they visit the United States.
The weak dollar also makes American exports less expensive, encouraging exports of American products. If you're an American missionary dependent on American dollars for your support, however, you're kind of hosed economically.
Photo: Cycling Manual Chapter 1 by Scott Mucci in Cupertino. He has lots of other cool Bay Area cyclocross and road racing action photos on his blog -- check it out.
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