Cyclelicious

Thursday, August 11, 2005

Melon bike

This photo was was taken at a melon art festival in Zagreb, Croatia in early summer 2005. Bikes and melons - yummy and cyclelicious!

Kid's stolen bike replaced

After a local paper reported the theft of an eight year old's bike in the south Boston burb of Brockton, MA, a local man bought the kid a new bike. It's glurge, but it's still a sweet story.

Motorist cuts off cyclist, peeved cyclist contacts car, road-raged driver (who turns out to be a cop) chases cyclist down, jumps out and proceeds to beat the cyclist according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

Here are excerpts from the article.

Cyclist Cephas Gardner ... said it was around 1 p.m. when he was pedaling southbound on Polk Street. As he crossed McAllister Street, he said, a silver Honda Civic turned the corner and cut him off. Gardner, irritated, said he had used the flat of his hand to tap the car's trunk. Then, according to Gardner and a witness, the driver began swerving toward Gardner in the bike lane.

Gardner tried to get away from the vehicle, he said, but was pursued for another block and over several lanes of traffic. As they passed Grove Street, the driver allegedly pulled to the right curb, jumped out and ran toward Gardner to pull him off his bike.

Witness Christina West, 36, was driving behind the two of them and started dialing 911 on her cell phone, she said. "I thought he was going to kill him (Gardner)," she said.

She said the driver had started punching Gardner, although Gardner said he wasn't sure what happened. That's when, she said, the driver said he was a police officer. He turned out to be Officer Randy Ly.

It wouldn't be the only complaint against Ly. A lawsuit was filed related to Ly's arrest of businessman Ray Pellegrini, a former Olympic Club and city golf champion, near Lake Merced, on Oct. 18, 2000. In a lawsuit he filed, Pellegrini alleged that Ly and Munoz "grabbed him, kicked him, beat him and pushed him into his car, causing a large dent. They threw him to the ground and further assaulted him.'' In February 2003, the city paid $13,000 to settle the lawsuit.

Performance Bikes dumps Giant and Specialized

According to BRaIN, Performance will no longer sell Giant and Specialized products. Performance also announced they will overhaul their Supergo stores into large-scale Performance stores. Performance is the nation's largest bicycle retailer, and Performance is the largest single customer for both Giant and Specialized.

Performance cited difficulties in working with the demands of Giant and Specialized as the reason for terminating their retail relationship. Their recent addition of Pacific Cycles brands, on the other hand, has "been like a breath of fresh air" according to Performance Bike CEO Garry Snook.

Important note to bike manufacturers: Don't alienate your largest customers.

Wednesday, August 10, 2005

Exploratorium Science of Cycling

How do gears work on bikes? How much impact does wind resistance have on your riding? How efficient is cycling compared to other forms of transporation?

The Exploratorium examines these and the history of many aspects of cycling in their series on sports science resources. They discuss the wheel, gearing, frames, materials, braking, steering, aerodynamics, and human power with text, audio and video, and interactive features in "The Science of Cycling." Fritz says, "Check it out."

Triathletes to the rescue

Yesterday, I reported on the Maurice Bernier, a disabled cyclist who had his bike, touring gear, and his wallet stolen in Saskatoon, SK. This morning, I learn that a group of triathletes raised over $2000.00 to get him back riding his bike. They've replaced his saddlebags, camping gear and some of Maurice's cash, and they're working with a bike shop to try to get a bike at cost. Read about their efforts on the Slowtwitchers triathlete forum.