Weird coincidence
This afternoon in the workshop I got a call from Joel, the drummer from Afrolicious and Pleasure Maker (Thursdays at the Elbo Room). I met Joel when we were on the 2-Mile Challenge tour together. He said,
“Sorry I couldn’t make it to your gig last week, I was working.”
“Doing what?”
“Moving.”
“Moving? Like for cash?
“Yeah.”
“How much they paying you?”
“18 an hour.”
“Dang, I’d offer you work at Rock the Bike, because we need help with assembly and packing and shipping right now, but we normally pay only $12.”
“That’s OK man, I’d totally work for you, because I believe in what you’re doing.”
“Really? Thanks Joel.”
“No problem. And you should come by the Elbo tonight.”
“Thanks, I’ll try to make it around 11. Can you put me on the guest list?”
Then I got home, had dinner and got a text from Julia about an event at Cellspace.
“OK I’ll swing by, but I’m going to Elbo later.”
The exhibit at Cell Space was an incredible cardboard city about 20 feet by ten feet, with a miniature helicopter floating around. There was a miniature remote control helicopter flying through the skyscrapers of the cardboard city. It’s up until April 17. Gotta go see it!
Anyway, after checking out the city, I suggested a cruise so we left. It was me, Julia, and Tyson, whose chain sounded like a chorus of crickets. We had a great ride up to Billy Goat hill, and watched the city. It was late so I had to coax them to come with me to the Elbo Room. But it was a downhill cruise awaiting us so it wasn’t that hard. Three abreast on Cesar Chavez was really nice. Julia was saying we felt like a bike gang. The Plush Red Down Glow on my my mom’s Electra was sweet. Sometimes it’s good to ride a totally simple bike. I can see the appeal of fixed gear bikes. I just love me knees. Anyway, we roll up to the Elbo Room. The woman at the door let all three of us in. Sure enough, Joel was in his element playing along on traps with Afrolicious. During a set break I got to introduce him to my friends and catch up a little. We danced until 1 or so and then cruised. I sprayed Boeshield on Tyson’s chain and said goodbye.
I headed upstairs and parked in front of the computer like I normally do when I should be sleeping. I checked the What’s Hot page on Rock the Bike. I noticed a comment on my post about JoyRider clothing, entitled bicycle fashion:
“Bravo! A clothing line that is not centered around spandex! At Velo Vogue, we also applaud cycling in normal fashionable clothing. Clothing lines such as Joyrider will help de-marginalize cycling for transportation! Looking good!”
So I clicked the link and sure enough it’s a hip little blog about San Francisco bicycle fashion, with lots of fun photos. And there at the bottom of the page, ladies and gentlemen, was Joel Elrod, riding with a companion in Golden Gate park, wearing a black hat and a cool T-shirt:
Read More
Why don’t ‘they’ make more stylish clothing for commuters? ‘They’ do.
Do you wonder why they don’t make clothes for bike commuters with more subtle style, less spandex, and fewer bright logos?
They do. Sometimes you just have to wait until ‘they’ come by your workshop community looking for welding help on a clothing rack.
Nan Eastep heads up Joyrider Clothing — a custom line of clothing and bags for city riders. This is the front of her new bike bag, which features a really spacious roll-down bag, some nice front pockets for phone and wallet, and a structure that hugs your sides to support the weight as you rock back and forth on climbs.
http://joyriderclothing.blogspot.com/
Jacquie Phelan gives the low down on women and bicycling at Velosport in Berkeley
Geoffrey and I headed to Velosport after work to hear Jacquie Phelan, the former women’s mountain bike champion, discussing her experiences as a woman in the world of mountain bike racing. Here are a few highlights:
At 15:35: “I am a racer… I’m intensely competitive. I’m more motivated when I can tell the person next to me has an issue with me passing them. It’s like getting a caffeine suppository… Maybe it’s the testosterone… There’s got to be a safe place for that to come out… So you don’t actually beat people up…”
At 22:00: A woman in the audience who has worked with Jacquie in the past relates a story of Jacquie pulling her Eldridge Grade (Mount Tam) with a bungie cord.
At 28:00: Jacquie tells a story about Honda sponsoring the Safe Routes to School program in Marin Country. The son of Joe Breeze notices that, in the instructional DVD she was required to play, all the cars are Hondas except for the one that mows down a little kid on a bike.
Read MoreSheldon Brown made me feel proud to be from Newton, Mass
I heard the sad news that Sheldon Brown, one of the Internet’s enthusiastic purveyors of cycling knowledge, has died. If you’ve ever tried to figure out the difference between 7-speed and 8-speed chain, V-brakes and cantilevers, chances are you ended up in encyclopedic pages of www.sheldonbrown.com . And if you were a kid growing up in Newton, Mass, Brown’s bike shop, Harris Cyclery, is where you might have bought your first mountain bike. It’s certainly where my dad took me. As a teenager, I worked at a competing shop in neighboring Belmont; I don’t have strong memories of Brown.
Sheldon Brown’s internet sensibilities were ahead of his time. By placing such importance on quality information, he gradually built a loyal following of mechanics both professional and homespun. His site is also surprisingly easy to use.
To give you a sense of his character, here’s what Sheldon Brown, here’s what he had to say about the quirky plastic eagle zip-tied to his helmet in the above picture (shown on every page of this site):
”
My “Panache” is a plastic eagle which probably began life at the top of a small flag pole. It is a road find. It is held on to my old Bell Image by a plastic zip tie.
This is a marvelous conversation piece, and has broken the ice on a great many contacts with strangers. Someone on the ‘net once said he thought it was cool, but that he could never do something like that, ’cause he still cared what people thought of him. Well, I too care what people think of me! I hope people will think that I am:
- Independent minded.
- Original.
- A person with a sense of humor.
- Somebody who doesn’t take himself too seriously.
I believe that Igor conveys these attitudes as well as any clothing accessory could.
