Womens' Cycling in Saudi Arabia

Yesterday I came across an article that really resonated with me.

"Saudi Arabian women are readying themselves for a national day of protest on October 26 against laws that prohibit them from riding bikes."

I can't possibly imagine what it must be like being denied something as simple as riding a bicycle.  I suppose in the grand scheme of things and all of the oppression that women suffer in Saudi Arabia that it's a small thing, but to not be ever to experience that joy...that's just sad.  And then the trailer posted for a related film made me even sadder.


Wadjda Official Trailer from Razor Film on Vimeo.

Seeing that little girl just wanting to ride with her friend really hit me hard, and though women are legally allowed to ride bicycles, the restrictions are utterly ridiculous.  Also, that law was only passed quite recently - I imagine that during filming (this is the first film filmed in Saudi Arabia, by the way) that the law was not yet in effect.   

Many women have already started to try to change things by protesting - such as driving, at the risk of being arrested.  My hope is that the protests on Saturday will be peaceful and result in change rather than arrests, but it remains to be seen.  And, to clarify - this isn't just a protest for riding bicycles, but also for the right to drive and generally transport oneself.  

Good luck to all of the women in Saudi Arabia on October 26th and in all future endeavors - ride on, ladies!  

Sunday Linkage

After testing out the new bottom bracket today, I have a new appreciation for bottom brackets in general.  It feels a million times better than the old one - much stiffer and more responsive.  

To share some of the cool bike related things I found this week...  

Trek is doing a fundraiser for the World Bicycle Relief where they'll match any amount that you donate. To make things even better, Fat Cyclist is having a contest where you get entered when you donate, and can win some awesome bike gear.  

If you're into trying out new gear for riding, check out Bike Loot.  For about ten bucks each month, you get a box full of goodies containing everything from "gels, bars, hydration, and maintenance."  Seems like a cool way to get exposed to a lot of products.

Bike Tinker is a great blog about, well, tinkering with bikes.  There are a lot of cool fixes and some really clever ideas to be found here.  

Combining two of my favorite things, Cupcake Ride is a blog dedicated to bicycles and cupcakes.  Lots of great photos about bicycle adventuring in Toronto, and of course organized rides that visit lots of cupcakeries.  

New Kit Day is making cycling kits right here in the Bay Area, and I dig the designs they have.  Also, much of the promotional material was shot at Hellyer!

And finally, Hipster Sled might be one of my new favorite terms.

That's all I got!

Takhion Bar Plugs: To The Rescue!

Continuing on with The Wonderful Adventures of 3D Printing Bike Parts, there have been some update since the last post.

The headset caps are pretty much good to go, and I'm currently in the process of getting the mold ready for PVC injection.  So that's neat.

The bar plugs, however, are a different story.  Thankfully, I had help from some awesome people who saved me from doing everything completely wrong by providing me with schematics and an orphan bar cap for reference.

Looks like I have some work to do. 

It's pretty obvious I need to revisit this design and rework it.  I was going off of a spare plug I had lying around, which just doesn't cut it.  

Well, oops.

Revisions will be done this weekend and submitted for a second prototype batch.  In the meantime, if you're waiting on a headset cap, hang tight - they're coming soon!

Poor orphaned bar cap.

I'm still blown away by the kindness of the internet cycling community.  I never would have thought I'd receive so much support and help with this.  You guys rock.  

In completely unrelated news, I was featured in an article regarding my commute in one of the world's major tech hubs.  Check it out if you're interested!

A Belated Happy Fathers' Day, and Other Things

As this was my dad's weekend to get to do whatever he wanted, I spent it back home mostly drinking beer and making various food items.  There was also a Fathers' Day Bike Ride involved, which reminded me that 95 degrees is less than optimal for doing anything involving brain cells.

In local news, San Mateo County is closing part of one of the bike trails for construction for about ten weeks (which started June 3rd).  It seems like this is going to be the section that is being worked on, though supposedly construction is only 8AM to 5PM...whether or not that means it will be open for commuting aside from that, I don't know.  There are other routes, thankfully, but it still sucks for anyone directly affected.  

Brooks today announced that the new Cambium saddle is on sale in limited quantities, and the few reviews from the testers so far are pretty positive.  To be honest, I'm not sure I like the color or look of the Cambium, but I'm still curious to try one out and see if what everyone is saying is true.

Regarding the Takhion Headset Caps, I'm speaking to another company right now that has the capability to print a more rubbery material that might work better.  Still in the prototyping stages, but I'm hoping to have something available soon to anyone that's interested!

Helios Bars have been getting attention lately, and while I like the concept I can't say I like the execution.  There are too many measurement factors with stems and bars, and the turn signal nubbins sticking off towards the rider are just a recipe for stabbing if you happen to have a bad crash.  If they offered these in a plethora of measurements and changed the design a bit, I might consider them (because hey, GPS), and maybe they will now that they've passed their funding goal.

I have to give Chainlove a shout out for having some of the best customer service I've ever dealt with.  In my idiocy I thought I had a damaged spoke on the front wheel, and it turned out to be the rear.  They had new wheels out to me before I even woke up the next morning, and were awesome about the whole exchange.  To date, I have both wheels in good shape and they recieved my return with no problems.

And finally, a belated Happy Fathers' Day to any dads out there (who hopefully got to get out and take a nice ride this weekend)!  I wonder if there are any official Fathers' or Mothers' Day rides out there...I could see Fathers on Fixed Gears being a thing.  Or Moms on Mamacharis!

The only photo I managed to grab on my heat fueled ride.

More Anger Regarding the Spring Street Bike Lanes

I guess this is still a big issue.

Filmmakers are against the Spring Street bike lanes because they can no longer use Spring Street as "Anytown, USA" - sorry, but why can't Anytown have bike lanes again?  Is it taboo to show infrastructure as promoting human safety?  Also, the cost and difficulty of editing out these troublesome green lanes is not nearly as bad as it's being made out to be.  And hey, since studios are outsourcing all the VFX work anyway, I think they should have to pay the extra that it costs to film in LA and have all compositing done offshore.  Or maybe they're just upset that they lost all of their parking, something that the residents of Spring Street seem to have no problem with.  By all accounts I've heard, people prefer the cyclists to film trucks. 

Also - motorists are "baffled" that they can't drive in the bike lanes?  Are you f***ing kidding me?  When has it ever been legal to drive or park in any bike lane?  Not that it's enforced here anyway, so I don't see what the real problem is, but I am so sorry that you're baffled about the bike lanes. 

If these lanes get removed, you can bet there will be a fair amount of Angelenos up in arms about it.  It would be a sorry excuse to sacrifice safety in lieu of shooting some film.

On the bright side though, BikingInLA featured an awesome Trade-Your-Car-For-A-Bike program that the Santa Monica Mountains Cyclery is doing.  I'm tempted...

On Bollards

I was out on a ride this weekend with my eventual goal being to acquire groceries, but mainly just because it was a lovely weekend here and I wanted to get out, enjoy the weather, and just ride.  And that part was nice, the just riding bit.  Then I got to the part where I remembered that I needed to support my food addiction, and I knew there was a Trader Joes nearby.  Supposedly, there was also an "exit" off The Strand towards TJs.  Awesome, fantastic, etc.  What I didn't know was that said exit had something like a fifteen percent grade.  I'll get to that later.  Fifteen percent grade exit dropped me off on a street that led straight to a nice little plaza with flowers and lots of places to sit and a Jamba Juice and an ice cream shop and and a coffee shop the aforementioned Trader Joes...

But not one.  Single.  Bike rack.  

None.  Nada.  

Okay, first of all: you've got this wonderful bike path that goes along the ocean that is packed every weekend with people riding.  And that's awesome, I love to see that.  Then, you've got this close little plaza with places to stop and get a snack, or ice cream, or whatever floats your boat.  Cool.  But not only does it suddenly become daunting for the average weekend rider to get off the path to get here due to that crazy fifteen percent grade - something that, I dunno, most beach cruisers can't handle - but if the entire family does manage to hike their bikes up that ridiculously steep hill, they have nowhere to safely put their bikes when they want to stop and get the kids ice cream. 

I sat outside watching the bikes whilst my cycling cohort went in and got groceries.  I had really wanted some frozen yogurt, but my only real option was one of these:

The saddest part was the few bikes in the plaza were "locked" to these.

So I remained next to my bike, sitting in this lovely area (that was sadly quite empty for such a beautiful Saturday evening), and getting pissed that I had no way to go get ice cream.  Though I did watch as people stopped by this area with bikes, looked around in confusion, then defeat, then either slowly road away or decided "screw it, I'll lock it to a bollard."  And then they did. I also saw a man walk out of Trader Joes, take a look at one of these "locked" bikes, look around, notice me, then sulk off.  Wow. 

Really, it wasn't like there was no room for bike parking.  First of all, there were at least 24 of those stupid bollards that the city could swap out for these: 

Image via Kay Park Recreation

Bam, problem solved. 

Also, did I mention that this plaza was empty?  Even though the beach with all of these people was right next to this place?  

Here's my solution.  Swap out the bollards for bike-lockable bollards, at least.  Better yet, swap some, and put in some legitimate bike racks.  Then, put a sign on The Strand next to that crazy steep exit advertising to people that their beloved decaf mocha tea latte whatever drink is only mere steps away!  Once people know they have access to it and have a nice place to put their bikes, more people will come.  Portland has proved the benefits of this.  And hey, once people start noticing it, perhaps the issue of super steep exit can be addressed so that less experienced riders don't have to hike their bikes.  There is plenty of room for a much more gradual exit which would not only make getting off the Strand easier, but also re-entering a lot safer. 

Perhaps in the great scheme of things for Redondo Beach, this isn't that big of an issue.  But I still plan to write to the city about it.  Look at Hermosa Beach - tons of bike parking and the Strand basically goes through the downtown area, and that place is booming.  Perhaps you can learn from this, Redondo?

2012 Distance Count: 344.4 Miles | 554.3 Kilometers

Nothing!

I've got nothing for you regarding NAHBS, so I suggest that today, for anyone out there who is reading this blog, you take a look at my sidebar of inspiration and check out some of the bloggers that did cover NAHBS.  Because, damn.

I can give you this neat article though!

Photo from the aforementioned neat article

Anyway, I'm done.  Seriously, go check out some NAHBS coverage.  So far it's pretty awesome!

2012 Distance Count: 344.4 Miles | 554.3 Kilometers