So I learned to take my lights off every time I parked my bike. Looking back, I realize I was very lucky my years in San Diego. The only lock I had was a thin rope lock, which could barely fit through one tire and the frame, and could easily be cut with a pair of hedge shears.

Last year I was in a rush to get to San Francisco for work and hastily locked my bike at the El Cerrito Plaza BART station. I came back to the East Bay that night to find that my back tire had been stolen. I was furious. I had locked the front tire and the frame, figuring it would be too much of a hassle for a thief to steal the back tire. Besides, wouldn’t it be obvious to other people at the station? Apparently not. I have heard since that EC Plaza is actually a hotspot for bicycle thefts. I reported a case with the BART police, knowing deep inside that it was a futile gesture.

One day in San Francisco, I saw a bicycle locked up in an ingenious fashion which I now utilize every time I leave my bike out. It requires a rope lock and a U lock. I hook the U lock through the back spokes and over the frame securely onto the bike spot, or pole, then thread the rope lock through itself and back onto the U lock. It is hard to describe, here is a diagram.

So now my bike is completely secure, or so you would think. There is still the matter of the seat, which always kind of worries me. In fact, upon returning to EC Plaza BART station again one time recently, I was distraught to see my seat was removed. Luckily, someone had simply taken it off and put it on a bench. Either someone was just playing a little prank, or perhaps they were issuing me a warning. Another time at the Plaza (like I said: bicycle theft hotspot), I got off BART and saw someone riding away fast on a bike, with a bike rim in his hand. I yelled at him but he was too far gone. I then saw the bike which he had stolen it from. Moments later the bike’s owner came down and I told him the story of getting mine stolen and how I had just seen the person riding off. He took it a lot better than I had. I recently read that in 2011, more than one bike a day was stolen in Santa Cruz. Check out the article here. You can never be too cautious with your bicycle security, even if you feel you are in a safe neighborhood or will only be away from it momentarily.  People seem to be willing to go to extreme measures for bike theft nowadays. “How far,” you may ask. Well, check out this video:

There have been some awesome innovations in biking technology this year. Check out these cool lighting systems someone came up with. Or how about this nifty accessory to have your iPhone available while you ride. One of the positives of the poor economy lately is that it is forcing people to turn to alternative modes of transportation. Naturally, with more people biking comes more technological advancement.

One good thing about Europe’s high gas prices is that it turns people away from cars. Never thought I’d say it, but perhaps our gas prices should be higher. People get very power happy with their hands on a steering wheel and foot on a gas pedal. We become so accustomed to it that we forget that it’s a huge, powerful piece of metal that we are pushing along very fast. Every day I see hundreds, if not thousands, of cars driving along with only one person inside. This is ridiculously inefficient. Many of these people aren’t even going that far. With the terrible traffic here in the Bay, especially the East Bay stretch of freeway from Richmond to Emeryville, the time difference between cycling and driving is probably not even that significant. Your body will thank you for it.

In an overweight nation, changes must be made. Sitting all day at a computer is bad enough, but compile this with driving home to a TV screen along with eating fast food, and we are creating a recipe for our own demise.

But, as I said, things are improving. I have high hopes for 2012. Forget about that end of the world nonsense. We’ve witnessed and survived plenty of “raptures” in the past. However, I do believe a more collective consciousness is developing, and it will prove to have positive benefits. We shall be the beneficiary and bicycles may be the benefactor. I have been focusing more on my breath recently, breathing strictly though my nose in order to create and maintain an internal heat. Every breath, especially when I ride. I intend to ride more this coming year, especially now that I am occupied with an office job. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend, in preparation for an awesome year!

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving” ~ Albert Einstein

I was just digging through some old boxes of my dad’s and discovered some really awesome headband/ear covers that are super crucial for this brisk air. I definitely ride with gloves on so my hands don’t go numb, but my ears are often still forced to endure extreme wind chill. These headbands should make a world of difference!

At least the rainy season has yet to begin. How do you protect yourself in the rain? Some sort of fender over the back tire to prevent mud splashing onto your back is a great idea, especially if you’re on the way to work in nice clothes. There are also numerous options for waterproof pants or shoes. There are even capes available that allow for ventilation to avoid the swampy humid feeling that arises when pedaling aggressively under several layers of clothing.

But more importantly, we must calculate the additional road space required to stop on wet asphalt. As I ride, I tend to assume that everyone else on the road is going to make a maneuver that endangers me. If that sounds paranoid, just this weekend I was riding with a friend, my buddy moved directly in front of me very suddenly and I had to skid a little bit to avoid a collision. It was nothing serious, and I made no point of it to him, but these little habits of caution are the type of action that avoid escalation into larger incidents.

One day after work last winter, I had to ride home in a sudden torrential downpour. Luckily, my house was only a couple miles away. Even so, I ended up completely drenched from my waist down. I had worn a waterproof jacket on top, but regular jeans and sneakers on bottom. My socks were literally saturated, which has to be one of the worst feelings. I was reminded of Lieutenant Dan from Forrest Gump, who was adamant about the necessity for clean, dry socks: “There is one item of GI gear that can be the difference between life and death: Socks.” I tend to agree with his sentiments, and love the feeling of a fresh pair of warm fuzzy socks. When I finally got home from my rapid ride though the squall, I was lucky my dad had a fire roaring. I immediately changed into dry clothes and made myself cozy by the fireplace.

Weather is an extremely powerful phenomenon, and humans have generally done a pretty awesome job of adapting to it in order to thrive in places like the Himalayas.

There are times, however, when an alternative route probably should be taken.

Like this:

This all changed last year when I saw a helmet in action. The best part is that it was strapped to my buddy’s head. Three of us were riding along the street, going hard and fast for no apparent reason. We were actually on our way to the bar where a friend of ours is the tender. I believe it was the eve of St Patrick’s Day. We were not even intoxicated…yet.

My friend had recently switched out his wide mountain bike tires, opting for thinner rubber to make riding on roads more efficient. I was riding behind my two compadres as we sped along. Suddenly, we came across train tracks cutting across the road at an angle. Upon crossing them, my friend’s front tire instantly dug into the crevice, caught the edge, and the frame collapsed underneath him.

It all happened so quickly that he fell just like a rag doll. What would have been his bare temple smacked hard on the asphalt. Luckily, his helmet took the brunt of the impact.

We were on a road with no cars, which was important because it took my friend a minute to recuperate. We moved the bikes over to the sidewalk to sit down and asses the situation. He was almost completely without injury. Even his bike was less harmed than one would think. We determined that his helmet had really done him some justice.

He then looked to me and asked “Gabe, where’s your helmet?” This sparked a change of heart in me regarding my biking habits. After a few minutes of recovering and coming to terms with what had just happened, we continued to ride, albeit much more cautious. We ended up getting pretty tipsy at the bar, and luckily, caught a ride home in a friend’s car equipped with a bike rack.

I was very thankful to still have my friends with me that night, having seen first hand the effectiveness of bicycle safety. Later that week, I went to a shop and spent $40 on a simple helmet. Considering it may save my life someday, I’d call that a bargain. Forget about looking cool, I honestly feel that as I ride now people look at me with a little more respect. Please, wear a helmet!

Here’s how they test helmets in Portugal:

Do you ride with a helmet? Have you ever seen one in action? Please share your stories/opinions below.

Do me a favor today, and pop over to th GJEL Accident Attorneys’ blog. They’re running a quick survey about bike helmet use, and I’m interested in the results. I figure the more people who respond, the more representative the results will be. So, if you have a few moments, stop over. The permanent link to the survey post is here. They’ll be running the survey until May 27th, then publishing results on May 30th…stay tuned!

So my last post was mostly me complaining about how I was going to miss my mountain bike. And I do miss her. In fact, it is only today that I seriously started shopping for a new bike to take her place. I’m planning to hit up some demo rides (Mike’s Bikes is having a Specialized and Cannondale demo this weekend) and see what feels good. I’m also considering the move from a hardtail bike to a full suspension.

The whole process has been taking time. Time to accept my loss of the Tassajara, time to to reflect on whether I want a women’s specific bike or not, time to think about the whole hardtail v. full suspension deal. And now, just 2 minutes ago, in the blink of an eye, the whole process zoomed to a tentative completion.

That’s because Chainlove, an amazing ODAT site (ODAT stands for one deal at a time) had a fabulous deal on a Titus Motolite Custom Mountain Bike. Orion said it was too good to pass up. And we could always return it, or sell it on craigslist for what we paid for it, because it was a great deal. Not to mention he could put it on his Delta credit card, and we could get our plane tickets to Wisconsin for free (we’re going back in May for a wedding). So I took the plunge. So now, we officially have a Titus to add to our bike collection.

*Gasp!*

It’s done. It’s over! The decision is made! I have a new bike coming to me in just a few days time! I will build it lovingly, I will give it lime green pedals and lime green water bottle holders, and it will be mine! And if I hate it, I may trade with Orion, who has a Klein Palomino. Or I can resell it. But really, I hope I love it. Here it is:

Do you love it? I’m not 100% sold on the shiny paint job. I’m not 100% sold on full suspension. I’m not 100% sold on getting a men’s bike. But I kind of love it just the same. Because now it’s mine. I think getting a new bike is sort of like having a child. You don’t really care if turns out to be a boy or a girl, or if it has blue eyes or brown eyes. You just care that it’s healthy and yours. At least that’s what I hear. We have no baby plans around here!

Of course, as I said above, this is a tentative completion of the bike search. I may really hate how this bike feels when I ride it. And that’s ok. I just need to get out there and ride. I’ve been feeling pretty lost without my bike, and I’m happy to be considering the prospect of hitting the trails soon. I’m still going to the demo rides this weekend, and I’m still shopping around. But my cyclist’s soul is a little more at ease now that it knows I’m on my way back to riding the trails on a bike that’s mine.

Now, I’m writing about bamboo bikes in what seems like a context that couldn’t be more different. While the Earth Institute uses bamboo to build bikes for those in Africa who don’t have the money for or access to other bikes, the Bamboo Bike Studio allows those with plenty of cash to build their own trendy bamboo bike to be ridden around wherever they live. Except that maybe the context isn’t totally different.

From Bamboo Bike Studio’s website:

One weekend is all it takes to fabricate a frame from bamboo— a renewable and performance-positive material growing right in our backyard— assemble the components, and roll away with a custom-fitted ride, tuned to your body and cycling style. And the cost of the class directly supports the Bamboo Bike Studio’s efforts to seed the first bamboo bike factory in Ghana, where reliable and cheap bicycle transportation can dramatically improve access to jobs, commerce, education, basic food and water resources, and health care.

According to an NPR story on the Bamboo Bike Studio, people are coming from as far away as California and England to build these bikes. And why not? After all, you get to build the bike yourself and learn valuable lessons about how bikes are built in general. The bikes look cool, too. They look as though they’ve been taped together, but really the joints are connected by a material that soaks up epoxy. Much of the money you pay for your class and materials supports getting other, less well-off people on bikes in Ghana. And from the testimonials I read, it’s a comfortable ride, too.

But though you can customize your bike with tape or lights, you’re still just using mass-produced items that anyone else can buy. Your bike is special because of how you put these items together, but wouldn’t it be cool if you could really personalize your bike so that it was unique and different from any other bike out there?

Sounds good, right?

Welcome to the world of custom bikes. For some, a custom frame with a custom paint job is the way to get a truly custom bike. But much as we all want a custom frame, we can’t all afford one.

Does that mean you’re stuck with a boring bike? Maybe it did once, but not anymore!

Instead, you can get a custom designed head tube badge!

Designer Isabelle Eyman is based out of Emeryville, and has been designing custom head tube badges for a few years now. She designed the badge seen on the right for a custom frame builder who was also based out of Emeryville–it was a way for his brand to be distinctive. But she also does more personalized badges for individuals too. If you’re looking for a way to get your bike to stand out in the crowd, this is definitely it. In fact, it’s arguably easier to incorporate different styles of art into a head tube badge than into a frame, which after all, must still have the proper engineering to function as a bicycle. These gorgeous head tube badges are really like jewelry for the bike–beautiful, personal, and unique.

One of my favorite designs by Isabelle is actually the one she has on her personal track bike. It’s really just a simple frame that’s just the right size to hold a mini tarot card. The idea behind the badge is that on race day (or any day, I suppose), the rider pulls a card from the deck, and that’s the card for the day. It can be slipped into the head tube badge as a predictor of how the day will go, or a reminder of fate or destiny. It also has some roots in the fixed gear culture, because the original spoke cards used by fixie riders were usually tarot cards. It’s a great personalization and update of that cultural phenomenon, and it can  be continually changed for easy and unique personalization.

Of course, a personal head tube badge isn’t as cheap and easy a solution to lack of personalization as changing your bar tape color (less than $10 for new tape!), but it is infinitely more stylish and more personal. There’s currently a bit of a wait (about three months) for personal badges from Isabelle. That’s because the design process takes time (and approval from you), and the work involved in these detailed pieces of jewelry for the bike takes time, too. Just take a look:

But if you can stand to wait a couple months, you’ll definitely be pleased with your results! To see some of Isabelle’s head tube badges up close, please visit the exhibit Urban Renaissance: New Vistions of Jewelry and Sculpture which is currently running at Arts and Crafts Cooperative Inc., located at 1652 Shattuck Ave in Berkeley.

Photos Courtesy of Isabelle Eyman

The overall message was that in bike thefts have been on the rise in Alameda. In fact, from January 1st of this year until September 1st, there have been 261 bike thefts. That number is up from 121 thefts during the same period of 2008. These statistics are bad news in and of themselves. But for some reason the bicycle news gods have been trying to give me really bad stuff to write about lately, so in addition to the fact that way more bikes are being stolen, I am given another super-troubling statistic: of the 261 bicycles stolen, only 66 were locked.

Seriously? That’s just a hair over 25%.

So what were the other 75% of people thinking? So many of these thefts could have been prevented if the bicycles were properly locked. It’s easy to forget to lock your bike when it’s resting comfortably in your backyard or on your porch. Even the Trusty Boyfriend had a bike stolen off our porch when we lived in Madison. The bike was on the porch, the Boyfriend was inside the living room that looked out on the porch. He fell asleep on the couch, the bike wasn’t locked. The next morning, the bike was gone–even though the Boyfriend was about 10 feet away from it at the time.

I’m fortunate enough to have never had a bicycle stolen. I grew up in a neighborhood where bikes were left all over, without locks, and it was no big deal. When I moved to Madison for college, the annoying people hosting the orientation sessions kept telling us “$10 bike, $50 lock! $10  bike, $50 lock!” like it was the official campus slogan or something. I can’t say I’ve ever spent quite that much on a lock, because a good u-lock and/or cable can be had for less. But I’ve always locked my bike. And I’ve always locked all of it. That means putting a cable lock through both wheels and the frame. And if I have a U-lock with me, I use that in addition to the cable lock. The only thing a thief could make off with is my saddle, and only if they had a wrench. If I’m locking a bike outside, it always has bolt-on parts, not quick-release! Another nifty thing is locking skewers–the Trusty Boyfriend has these. They require a special tool to open them–like a wrench that is unique to that particular pair of skewers. It’ll keep your wheels from getting stolen, so that you have the freedom to use a less cumbersome lock. The Trusty Boyfriend uses this handcuff-type thing (we get more weird, um, personal questions about that particular lock than anything we own. Minds out of the gutter, people!).

Long story short–lock your bike! At home, at stores, at restaurants, in parking garages, at your buddy’s place. Whatever. Lock it!

Photo Courtesy of: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nauright/ / CC BY-SA 2.0

I’m new to Emeryville, but I have some city pride, already! I’m volunteering on a candidate’s campaign for City Council (she wants more bike paths!), and I support local businesses. So when I found out about MonkeyLectric, I was super excited. They’re local Emeryvillians (who are not, despite the “villian” part, evil) who make the coolest bike lights I’ve ever seen. Seriously.

Check it out:

The lights are super rad–and they’ll help cars see you from the side, something a traditional blinky light doesn’t do very well.