‘had to run a short errand and then I went for a ride in the snow!  The temp was around 34F and the roads were just wet, not icy.  I tried to layer a light wool shirt under a heavy one and it was too much – we’ll go light and medium next time.  Legs were wet so a little chilly, but not bad.

Saw two roadies out and about as well.

Distance: 10.1 miles  2009: 1141.1

Prices for bikes are really cheap for anything which is made in Taiwan, which is a lot, in particular Giant and Scott.  Most are about half price of what they are in Japan.  Almost all the shops are Giant distributors and are marked by Giant signs, like  shops in Japan are marked with Bridgestone.

Trek bikes are a lot more expensive, the frames made in China, shipped to the States to get assembled, before being sent back to Asia to sell.

Shops can order anything you want from the catalogue as long as it isn’t a large size.  Most frames sold in Taiwan are small or medium frames and larger ones are sent to North America and Europe.  If it is a large size you want, it could be a wait of a few months before the next shipment of bikes is available from the distributor. 

Went to the Shilin Market before catching the flight.  This is a must go to place in Taipei, even if markets aren’t your thing. 

It’s cold tonight. And rainy. There was talk of snow, but that was mostly just fantasy. Regardless, it meant I was driving downtown tonight. And for a party with other bikers. I figured I’d have to park a few blocks away, skulk in. But first, I had to ride my bike to my car. It was cold and rainy and dark, and I quickly locked up to this nice rack outside of Harry’s Ace Hardware on Magazine. The sign reads, “Bike Parking for Harry’s Ace Customers.” Well, I wasn’t a customer tonight. And it didn’t look like anyone else would want to use it. I decided to just go for it, park there even though I wasn’t actually a customer. And then I was wondering if they could really enforce such a rule. Can they really tell bikers they can’t lock up here? I do like, though, knowing this business arranged to have these racks put in. Three cheers for more bike racks, and thanks, Harry. I drove down to the bar for a party, got my cell phone stolen, and then drove back to the bike and back home, a bad taste in my mouth, hoping tomorrow goes a little more smoothly.

By Jason Norman

SAN JOSE, CA—Popular MTV show “Pimp My Ride” takes beat up cars and gives them a complete makeover to fit the personalities and interests of their owners. Now bike shops are using a similar formula to cater to more and more young customers who ask how their fixed-gear ride can be pimped out.

Willow Glen Bicycles in San Jose, California, buys no-name fixie frames from Asia and customizes them to order with parts from brands like Brooks, White Industries, Paul Components, Phil Wood & Co and Nitto.

“At times it’s been carrying the shop,” said Dick VanDerLuit, owner of Willow Glen Bicycles, of his burgeoning fixed-gear bike customization business. “It’s this early 20s group and they have a bit of money to spend.”

Putting together a complete fixed-gear bike that fits their taste and style isn’t cheap—costing upwards of $3,000 for high-quality parts and accessories. However, Willow Glen also offers brands like Soma that can keep the costs down for the thrifty consumer.

Another shop leading the custom fixie trend is L.A. Brakeless on Venice Boulevard. This shop, too, brings in no name frames, sort of.

Local framebuilder Larry Hammerness supplies hand-built frames to order to L.A. Brakeless that range from $800 to $1,000. Store manager George Gregor said there’s no shortage of young consumers—ranging from 17 to 27 years old—gobbling them up and pimping them out.

“They build them up with custom parts,” Gregor said. “They have quite a bit of extra money to spend on their hobby.”

Before, fixed-gear owners had two color choices for parts: silver and black. These days, however, manufacturers offer a wide palette of colors to suit the most unique of tastes. It’s perhaps what BMX offerings—and the culture—used to be in the 1980s.

“These kids ride and hang around our shop all the time,” said Gregor, who will see the same kids roll by the window at different times during the day. “We have couches in our shop; we have videos playing. It’s like a fashion thing. They show it off at school, work.”

And speaking of parallels between BMX and the fixie scene—a freestyle movement is brewing within the fixie crowd. All that flatland trickery that was synonymous with BMX freestyle bikes during the 1980s is now happening on fixies. “That’s where it’s headed,” Gregor said.

Specialty bike shops aren’t the only ones hitching their wagons to custom fixies. Online retailer Republic Bike is selling its frames for as little as $399, and allows consumers to “pick, choose, swap and decide and we’ll build it, box it, and ship it out. Built by us and you,” according to its Web site.

Republic also sells its bikes through clothing and accessories online retailer Urban Outfitters. Company officials declined to comment for this story.

One distributor that’s benefiting from this fixed-gear customization trend is Southern California’s Euro Asia, which offers roughly 2,000 items for fixed-gear riders (see story on facing page).

Euro Asia offers its own proprietary frame designed for track racing but used by fixie riders called Bare Knuckle, which retails for between $750 and $795.

“It’s a way for consumers to express themselves,” said Dave Lundegard, who handles marketing for Euro Asia, about the growing popularity of customized fixies.

Probably no city is more known for self-expression than San Francisco. And probably no shop does a better job at fulfilling that need than American Cyclery, which has two locations in the Upper Haight district.

Tyson Mitchell, buyer for American Cyclery, said the shop last year built up one customized fixie a day. “I think it’s peaked in San Francisco,” Mitchell said of the fixie scene. “It’s saturated in the city.”

But American Cyclery’s customized fixie business is still going strong. Young adults are buying affordable Páke frames, perhaps removing the decals and spec’ing them to their liking.

Customers come from as far as California’s Central Valley to get their custom fixie, but Mitchell sees that day coming to an end soon. “It will move to the suburban shop,” Mitchell said.

As I looked at the small, green, plastic coffin in my hand, a joyous smile spread across my face. Inside were the delicious “bones” of a compresses sugar skeleton, just waiting to be pit together… and then eaten.

I hadn’t seen one of these little candy coffins since I was a very young child and holding one now brought me flying back to a mental image of the route I would take to bike to the store when I had managed to get my hands on some money and needed a sugar fix.

My childhood home was in just about the perfect place when it came to possibilities. If I went out the back door, I had only to walk to the back of a dead end road before I was looking at trees to climb, fields to cross, ancient stone walls to follow and abandoned railroad cuts to walk along as I enjoyed the birds, forest and quiet. If I went out the front door, I was in suburbia. Little developments in neat blocks with architecture that told you definitively what decade the construction took place in. It also was a rich environment to find friends in.

The neighborhoods were old enough to still have some charm and life to them. Not like the dead and sprawling house farms they’ve been making since the late eighties. Their weird, arching roads with cliché’ names taken from flowers, states of happiness or saddest of all, the farm they paved over. Here the streets ran in efficient, square blocks and were named, I’m guessing, after some of the various developers or possibly the initial inhabitants. The houses were closer than they would be if built today, but it made for a closer community as well.

What it also had was a good, old fashioned, neighborhood store of the type that is pretty much gone now. It’s name was “Stop and Shop” and as local lore had it, though the much larger grocery store chain had told them that they couldn’t use that name, our little family run corner store had been there first and had all the rights in the world to use that name. For whatever reason, that made us, as the kids of the area, stand in awe. OUR store was first! Cool!

The trip there wasn’t a very long one, unless you were reduced to walking it. On bike, it took perhaps ten minutes and the route its self was pretty enjoyable. Zigzagging though the quiet neighborhoods, it wasn’t uncommon to pick up more friends as we went until a convoy of bicycles driven by candy crazed children finally descended on Stop and Shop with coins jingling in pockets and mouths already salivating. The steps themselves up to the front door were special. The door had been installed at a forty-five degree angle on a corner of the building. The steps were made round and radiated down from the entry, like the layers of a cement wedding cake. I always noticed the steps as I padded up them and wished that my own stairs at home could be so cool.

Inside, it was exactly what you’d expect. This was before the days of scratch tickets and lotto machines and I’m reasonably sure that there were no magazines for sale either. Instead, there were the racks of potato chips, a small meat counter, milk in the back and beer down the side. You could also get ice cream from a cooler, but we had arrived with the candy display in mind and the racks and racks of it never disappointed.

The owner, a bearded and stern looking man by the name of, Homer must have made at least half his money from candy sales. Right in the front, near the register, there was a wonderland of confection. Compressed or liquefied, flavored, sugary treats were abundant in their numbers and diverse in their types.

Necco Wafers
Bottle Caps
Smarties
Sweet Tarts
Wax lips
Jaw Breakers
Big League Chew
Canada mints
Tart N Tinies
Nerds
Hot Balls
Gummi Bears
Juicy Fruit
Hubba Bubba Bubble Gum
Tootsie Rolls

And on, and on, and on….

Homer knew what he was doing when it came to ordering candy and he never, EVER let us down. Most of the hard candy stuff cost five cents each, though the usual candy bars and packs of gun naturally cost more. The best part was that he also kept a good supply of penny candy. That is to say, candy that actually cost one penny per piece. Some years ago I mentioned penny candy to someone a good deal younger than I only to meet with a befuddled look and the question, “What’s penny candy?”

Ok… I feel old now.

The penny candy was naturally at the bottom of the food chain, desirability wise, but still, it was nice to have to round out your pickings for the day and it filled out the little brown bags of hyper-powder that dangled from our handlebars as we zoomed home, shouting.

After paying Homer with our collection of scrounged pocket change, we’d hop back on our mighty steeds, new baseball cards firmly attached to spokes, and ride off into the sunset. Well… actually to the pond that was a little better than half way home. We’d sit in the grass, happily rotting our teeth on Twizzlers and Pixi Stix, arguing the benefits of Star Wars versus Star Trek or what ever else struck our fancy and throwing rocks at anything that disturbed the water’s surface. Hey, we were boys on a sugar high. What else would you expect?

All of this comes back to my little plastic, sugar filled coffin. I had almost forgotten about Homer but this made me recall him and realize that he had not only done a good job with the staples of a sugar addicts desires, but he had been seasonal as well. When Christmas rolled around, he got Christmas themed candy. When Easter came close, Cadbury eggs appeared at the counter. When Halloween was in the air, for one year at least, Homer bought these little coffin candies, and I had bought one.

This year, I took it upon my self to buy my Halloween candy for the night’s festivities and perusing through a catalog I came across them. They came twelve to a box and were not cheap. There was no way I would have bought them for that price when I was a kid, but I’m not a kid anymore… and I’m better at justifying dumb purchases.

I gave them away to kids whom I knew or who had really great and obviously homemade costumes. I like to reward those who put in the effort. By the end of the evening, they were all gone, except one. That one I had grabbed from the full box and set aside. Later that night, I happily put the puzzle like candy skeleton together and laid him to rest in his little coffin and there he lies, slowly loosing body parts as I pass and remember that he’s there. He’s delicious.

The Stop and Shop is gone now and I live far from there anyway. Homer was no spring chicken when I was a kid, so who knows if he’s still around either, but I’m glad for the memory. I’m also in his debt for making me a connoisseur of fine, compressed, flavored sugar, no matter what form it may take.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a grave to rob.

It was exactly two months ago today (61 days, but who is counting) that I hit the ground just a little bit too hard, oops.

I’ve been riding on the indoor trainers for a few weeks now, and as it was a beautiful day here.  So, while the guys were doing some little tweaks to the car I snuck out for a short ride.  Other than Gary Bockman jumping out from behind a porta-potty to scare me (and nearly tip me over), everything went very well.  I did a couple of small efforts and had no pain – my heart rate came up easily (and as expected). 

back on the bike within 2 months!!!

All is well in my bicycle world.

 We’ve all seen the adds on TV, newsprint etc “Mountain Bikes Only $150.00, $200.00 or even under $400.00″ but what are we really gettng at these prices. There is a difference between a Mountain Bike and a bike with fat tyres and sum super cheap suspension that is badged “Mountain Bike” For yours and your family safety take a close look at what your buying.

Ask you retailer some key questions like:

 Is this bike TRAIL READY?

Does the so called Moutain Bike have a sticker on it saying”Caution Not For Off Road Use?

Does the warranty covered or Off Road Use?

What is this bike designed for?

Riding Off Road, light trail etc can and should be fun and safe, riding a bike on off road that is not designed for that purpose can be dangerous.

The good news is that some leading brands do sell Trail Ready Mountain Bikes just under the $400.00 mark and some times even less on special, but do yourself and you’re wallet a favour by taking the time to check that you are really getting what you thought, it wil be cheaper and safer in the long run.

Ostensibly, Chief Lewis has plenty to smile about - in the first nine months of 2009 crime is down 12%; the chief was lauded by national news in September for his handling of the Annie Le case; and internally he's garnered respect for reestablishing the integrity of the department - but are there true quality of life issues still being ignored?

The latest issue of the Blue Review is now available online. Inside the report, Chief Lewis cites some pretty impressive statistics. Which is nice because that’s the only way to find them. If you go to the official NHPD website via City of New Haven and look at the “latest” crime statistics you get this report from 2006. Is that really the “latest”?

Well that’s okay,  do you have FAQs? Too bad, that link is broken. Looking for Crime Prevention & Safety Tips. Oops, that link doesn’t work either. Well, at least the missing persons page opens. Oh, wait, these people all went missing in 2004 and 2005. Hey, maybe that’s good news. Maybe no one has disappeared since then.

When you finally open the Blue Review and find that it’s been framed with some nice holiday-themed clip art c.1995, you start to think, maybe what the department really needs is some smart IT support.

Oh, what’s that? You thought you could find the Blue Review on the department website? Silly civ, it’s not there. I found it on the New Haven Independent. The same Independent that has become responsible for providing crime statistics through its special section, Crime Log, since the department has failed to provide such detailed reports and maps to the public. If you want to subscribe to the Blue Review send your e-mail to javery@newhavenct.net.

(Also, if you share my concerns about the Department’s webpages, feel free to contact the city’s webmaster: akardana@newhavenct.net. Then again, all evidence leads me to believe that the city created the website in 2006 and then left it to fend for itself. And now, it’s got some serious abandonment issues to deal with)

Anyways, Lewis tells us crime is down 12% overall from last year and that it’s in large part due to the 78% increase in traffic stops.

Well, that’s actually good news. A 78% increase in traffic stops seems like a concerted effort to make our streets safer to travel. Of course, that’s wishful thinking.

I’d be naive to claim that the increase in cars being pulled over for moving violations has anything to do with the Chief’s concern for the safety of pedestrians and cyclists. Rather, it seems that he has found a completely effective method of catching illegal gun owners and drug dealers. There’s nothing wrong with that, it’s just not something the safe streets movement can claim as a victory.

Lewis’ efforts to ramp up traffic stops has nothing to do with safe streets activists’ pleas that he take a serious look at driving habits. Rather, it is an excuse to profile and weed out crack slingers and gun clappers.

Again, there’s nothing wrong with that. I don’t think anyone is going to argue about there being less drugs and guns in New Haven. But, wouldn’t it be nice to see an NHPD campaign that targets dangerous driving (i.e. speeding, DWI, texting/cell phone use) simply because it is a menace that directly contributes to the quality of life, or lack thereof, in the City of New Haven.

Guess what, chief. It’s not just gangsters who like to drive fast. Even the most law-abiding citizens rarely follow the city’s 25mph speed limit. Yet it is this very law, the speed limit, that assures everyone the equal opportunity to use our streets for travel. You shouldn’t have to travel in fear just because you don’t travel by car!

The current infrastructure, not just in New Haven but all across the nation, is discriminatory, plain and simple. And in addition, it promotes and perpetuates a practice that has been proven to eradicate our health and sustainability as a species.

Thus, it is important to remember that the safe streets concept extends far beyond our safety on the roads. Of course, by making our streets safer they become more attractive to the average user. More importantly though, attracting pedestrians and cyclists and discouraging automobiles will inevitably have the effect of making existence itself more robust and vivacious.

If anyone responsible for the safety and administration of the city of New Haven truly cares about “quality of life” they would already be aware of the degradation that automobiles cause, and they would be entirely committed to reversing it.

Check out some amazing bikes here.

The weather has been pretty nice this fall which makes for good riding.  I took these pictures the Sunday after Thanksgiving.  I’m not entirely sure where I was riding, but it was south of Northfield on gravel roads. I rode for two hours covering 30 miles. The Temperature was 33-35 F.  These country roads have a lot of nice hills.Valley Grove church

Forgive me father it has been too long since my last blog entry.

A strange week, and one in which I realise I’m still very much finding my feet in the world of freelance writing and journalism. As it stands, the work is trickling in steadily- I’ll not be buying that Caribbean island just yet, but at least there’s money coming in. What is causing me trouble is a lack of direction. I know what I like to do, but sadly (not for me) that’s pretty much anything. I’m one of those people who like to tackle new challenges head on and learn new skills. Life – in my opinion- is all about experiences.

So, suffice it to say, I’ve a wealth of material to write about, which is proving useful, but I’m lacking in the specific focus required to be a ’specialist’.

Question is, do I really want to specialise, or do I want to continue grabbing life by the horns and riding that steer, as it were?

It’s a fact that I could happily bleat on about bicycles all day, and books, but you could just as easily substitute travel, film, art, food, cooking, dance, theatre or animals and wildlife for either of those.

I think I’m happy to be a jacqueline of all trades mistress of as many as possible.

It’s the weekend and its going to be filled with- you guessed it- bicycles, books, some cooking, hopefully a good film (I’ll settle for lots of explosions and special effects though), Christmas shopping, more bikes, more books and some quality time with the cats.

Test

I would like a bike. I have decided. I would like to be able to get up in the morning and cycle to university with the wind in my hair, and the dirt up my leggings.

People who ride bikes always look so smug, not only are they fit and healthy they are not polluting the environment.

I would like to parade around, wobbling in the skinny red line freaking out cautious drivers.

This is my thought for the day.

So we’re playing this weekend at the court at the base of Petrin! 12:30 SHARP! As discussed last time, please be on time or let us know if you won’t be making it. If anyone has access to 4 traffic cones, or knows where we can pick some up, please leave a comment and let me know.

So what is the common rate for getting flats on a road bike? So far since I’ve had my bike, I’ve had to replace my rear tube 3 times in since October with maybe 300 miles ridden on it. It might be from having a pinch, being deflated, or just a bad tire? When I got the bike, they didn’t come with the stock Bontrager wheels that came with it, instead I got left with some *spectacular* base model Kenda tires and Xero Lite CXR6 wheelsets. I think that will be somewhere I will have to invest some money in order to ensure a durable ride. I know that flats are bound to happen and everyone fixes them from time to time. More often then not, even? That frequency is something I ponder.

Anyway, so I am wondering what is a good budget wheelset to consider without going overboard on budget. I am seriously amazed just how much of a money pit this sport can turn out to be. Considering that some of the wheels and the tires you invest in are just as much as those you can put on a car or a motorbike. How do you know what your budgets limits really are and when you do spend that much, what is the duration of the product? I love biking but wow, all you want is money, money, money! I guess it kinda works out like any other relationship. Cheap blow.

Well, the Christmas season is here and the weather is nice and chilly out. The new year is going to bring out the adventurer in a lot of people due to certain New Year resolutions, the big “2010″ year to make something happen and just a fresh start. It’s going to be exciting next year. A lot of new frontiers for myself and a couple projects I’m working on and possibly in my career as well. It’ll be interesting, that’s for sure. I need to get some winter riding clothes. Suggestions?

Ok, so for me, riding a bicycle is usually a solitary act. I don’t love riding with other people–I’m not good at pacing. I prefer heavily-trafficked routes to the side streets with their potholes, unlike most of my friends, for whom fear of the motor vehicle outweighs all else. And I’m a stickler about being a law-abiding cyclist, which means no, I do not want to ride the wrong way down that one way street (S., I’m looking at you). But today I rode my bike down to the Tidewater Building on Canal to talk about riding in the city with nine other folks who regularly pedal around here. Turns out, all the things that drive me crazy drive others crazy too. And it turns out I’m not all that law-abiding either. Asked repeatedly what would make me obey all stop signs, traffic or not, I kept saying, “nothing.” I enjoyed this brief foray into group activity, but was also happy to leave, clip in, and head off on my own way. I stopped in front of this statue on my ride back toward the river. It was 5:00, which meant heavy traffic on Canal, and rather than try to talk on my cell phone and ride at the same time (there’s not a law against it, but there probably should be), I hopped off and walked my bike. I’ve ridden past Molly Marine a hundred times, but I’ve actually never really noticed her. She was erected in 1943, in honor of women marines, the very first statue honoring military women in the entire U.S.. Huh. Sometimes it’s safer to get off and walk. Who knows what you’ve been missing, speeding by on a bike.

After experiencing the rush of jumping on the back of Shawn Giles‘ Superbike last Friday, and then dicing around the track with Lincoln, who was riding shotgun with Kevin Curtain, I have got to say the ride home in the Volvo was about as interesting as just about anything on Channel 9.

For those of you from OS, channel 9 is a local TV station that pumps out the most mind numbingly crap TV known to man, or woman or even dog.

They serve up their ‘20 to 1′ bullshit almost nightly, which is akin to taking your brain, putting it in a blender, then eating it.

What really hurts is that this crap must rate, or they wouldn’t bother. Or maybe people are just so mentally comatose by the utter garbage that they are forced to watch, they just don’t care anymore.

I think that instead of watching TV, for any reason except to view the latest Top Gear genius (the UK one, not the Aussie ‘oh, I will now try and be witty, natural and edgy, just like Jeremy’ shit) everyone should get on a motorbike and go for a ride.

Anywhere will do. Better if it’s an old bike. Something porno. Like a CBX1000 or a Katana 1100, chicks love guys that ride them.

At least you’re using your brain, even if it’s only to work out how to get the fucking thing going when you’re still 40 kilometres from home and it’s broken down.

And secondly, if you don’t own a bike, get an old TV, the older the better, then put it next to your other TV – the one that works. Turn on Channel 9. Then look at the old shitter, then Channel 9. Do this at least five times. I bet you end up watching the old one.

Why? Coz you’ll be thinking of your last great ride and dreaming of your next and not stewing your brain on the latest 20 to 1 ‘Hollywood celebs – whose done the most coke and crashed the most cars?’ special.

Or at worst, watch 20 to 1 whilst riding pillion on the couch. It’s even better than being on the back of an SBK bike. You can take that to the bank.

De’ils on Wheels is the name of this project – it’s a reference to Kirkpatrick MacMillan, who invented the bicycle in 1840. The story goes that when he rode into the Gorbals and caused a stramash, they thought he was the “De’il (devil) on Wheels”.

Our workshop is open for a new crop of De’ils to put together their wheels (Monday and Tuesday 5-8pm, Wednesday Thursday 1-6pm) but we need more bikes!

Workshop photos and more details of what we’re getting up to will follow… stay tuned – sign up to email notifications by clicking on the button.

Oh yeah, I entered three photos into the 2009 People Powered Movement Photo Contest… Click on each photo below to vote for them.

http://www.peoplepoweredmovement.org/site/index.php/photo-contest/category/C26/P768/#9

http://www.peoplepoweredmovement.org/site/index.php/photo-contest/category/C26/P768/#10

http://www.peoplepoweredmovement.org/site/index.php/photo-contest/category/C26/P768/#11

A few weeks ago Tim and I attended a highly inspiring talk by Alex Steffen at Town Hall.

We had hoped to go with  Julian of Totcycle (family bike folks represent!), but that fell through. For Julian and others who couldn’t make it, check out  a few of these to get a flavor. Alex is also the keynote speaker at three of the major events during the Copenhagen summit, so if you are in the neighborhood…

The entire evening was magical: introduction by mayor-elect Mike McGinn in his first post-election appearance,  the inspiring and motivating talk by Alex, yummy beer in eco keg cups from Fremont Brewing, followed by hop-lubricated conversation with like-minded Seattleites interested in changing the city. Plus all of this bookended with rides to and from downtown with my favorite cycling buddy.

We left Town Hall filled with hope for positive changes in Seattle. We all have a lot of work ahead of us if we want to grow Seattle into a dense sustainable city designed with people in mind.

How are we going to do this?

A few points Alex made resonated with us:

• Encourage density.  Well planned big cities designed with people in mind are much more sustainable than suburban sprawl. Large cities have everything you need within a short walk, bike ride or bus from home. Cars aren’t needed when you live in a large city. Just look at New York
• Young people are key to the city of the future – do what you can to attract them and keep them here. When young people decide to stay (rather than move to Portland), they reward you with their energy, creativity and enthusiasm to make the city better
• Encourage nightlife. (see young people are key) Part of making a city livable is to make it livable at all hours.  When people are out appreciating art, supporting live music, and yes even drinking at bars, they are sending a message that the city is a safe, exciting, fun place to live.

Portland lives these last two points. Mayor Sam Adams has said he welcomes youth because he knows that they are future resource for the city.  Many of these young people may even be unemployed, but according to Mayor Sam, that’s OK. They can participate in arts, civics causes, and share their youthful enthusiasm. And then when the economy does grow they provide a built-in a pool of talented workers, committed to the community, and ready to help take the city to the next level.

We can go even further here. Steffen has a grand goal for Seattle to be carbon neutral by 2030. To make this admittedly lofty target a reality, everyone must decide to actively bring about change in our community. We at Car Free Days are thrilled say on record that we are dedicated to being part of the solution, and part of Seattle’s brilliant future!

No matter where you live, some things you can do to improve your city or community:

• don’t be a NIMBY , encourage density because well designed compact communities are more sustainable than sprawl
• leave your car at home on occasion. (you don’t have to do it every day, even one or two days a week makes a difference)
• ride your bike (it’s fun and once you try it you’ll want to ride more and more and more)
• take the bus (let someone else do the driving, reduce auto-induced stress during your commute and read a book or work or knit or whatever it is that gives you pleasure)
• get involved (citizens can bring about change and we are much stronger in numbers than we are by ourselves)
• attend public meetings and make your voice heard (see get involved)
• Talk to your neighbors. The power of everyday conversation is amazing. Share, plan, and implement solutions together
• inspire your children to take this to the next level

We’re doing our best to bring about change one bike ride and one conversation at a time. How about you?

– Anne

The pictures I took of all those cool powerlines about 4 months ago, before my life became all about the nursing program. (I’m still in it, in fact I should be reading right now–test on Monday–nutrition, of course, everything else except vitamins, so it shouldn’t be too difficult—and I am coming out to the last two weeks here. Clinical is over for now. Skills are done. Just: Test. Lab Final. Course Final. Off track…) Anyhoo, power lines, bike rides, long long bike rides…check it here to read all about it

But these are them. Enjoy. I can still feel the tingle looking at them now. Good times.

Riding up to them. Looks pretty impressive. I was kind of in awe. There's something about all that power in one place that can kill you.

Ground to sky is ok but not nearly as cool as looking all the way up.

Doesn't that just make you want to find power lines and climb up them? No, well since the weather just turned massively ugly here...cold, blustery, overcast, with flakes of snow (NOOOO!!!!), this makes me want summer back.

The picture I love the most! I like the color and the angle...it was hard to tell if it came out because the day was really bright and I couldn't see to take the pic or to look at it after. Check out the plane flying across. And the moon. If I remember correctly the day was about to turn stormy. Captured forever.

Head’s up: Anne and I were out for ride with a neighbor on Wednesday and noticed an upcoming Burke-Gilman trail reroute.

Apparently a small portion the trail needs to be closed December 14 – January 3 to allow early prep work for the future University Link light rail station.

An easy detour is available on Mason Rd, the lightly-traveled access road which runs parallel and just above the trail grade.

More from Sound Transit:

Between December 14, 2009 and January 3, 2010, Sound Transit’s contractor will install the infrastructure for an electrical ductbank that will provide power to the UW Station construction site and ultimately additional high voltage service to the University of Washington light rail station.

-ST November Newsletter

Props to Sound Transit for wisely timing the closure to take place during a traditionally low-use period—dead winter during the UW Christmas break—as well as for advertising it in advance (a nice contrast to the no-notice, no-accessible detour SDOT closure here and especially in Fremont last spring in the middle of Bike to Work Month).

I’m sure this will be just the first of many disruptions between now and the projected 2016 opening, but hopefully this is a signal of how ST plans to respect other alternative transportation users as they implement next phase of this eagerly (in our family, anyway) awaited mega project.

-Tim

There are new additions to the Atomic Zombie family this month – choppers, recumbents, crazy bike and tall bike.

Check out these and other awesome Atomic Zombie Krew members’ creations at www.atomiczombie.com . Keep sending in pictures of your completed human powered and electric bike projects.

Please send send pictures of *your own* projects:

- one or two high resolution, sharp, clear .JPG pictures of your completed and painted projects
- ensure that each picture is no more than 2MB in size, please
- one picture will be for the thumbnail (about 150 dpi)
- one picture will be for the full size picture (684 dpi)
- the name(s) of your completed and painted projects
- your name
- your location (state/province and country)

Recently our company BlastAsia Inc. moved into a more professional office space located at the 35th Floor, Orient Square Bldg, Emerald Ave, Ortigas. In view of the change of environment that improved work life for employees (well, it works for me :p), I decided to share to you guys alittle about BAI culture.

BlastAsia has its own unique culture that could be summarized as a “work-hard-play-hard” type. Blasters have their own unique way of dealing with the daily stress that we get from our work.  This attitude is evident even  in the most basic part of the office: the desk. This is practically where most of us spend the majority of the day working (or not :p) so most of us have their own way of decorating our desks. I went around for a little while to see what things people have on their work spaces.

So here are some of the things that I managed to photograph in the BlastSuites area (unfortunately I had little time to go around):

Scale Model Kits – Gundams, Transformers, Cars, Bikes, etc. One even has a custom painted Perfect Grade Gundam that costs more than 10k php! Too bad I forgot to take a photo.

Eli's Bike

Ken's OverFlag

Ken's Gundam 00

Figures / Action Figures – Detroit Metal City, Final Fantasy, Iron Man. One even has a whole table full of World of Warcraft action Figures.

My Johannes Krauser II Action Figure (riding my Husky :p)

Mickey's Zack and Cloud Action Figures

Mickey's FF8 Action Figures

Ramil's Iron Man

Stuffed Toys – Stuff toys all around, there’s even a giant bear holding little bear. =))

TJ's Mickey and Minnie Mouse

A lot more stuff could  be found on other teams desks but I decided to cover just my team. Bwahaha.

Well that’s it for now. I’ll be sharing more about BAI culture in my future posts.

Good night and God bless!