We cruised, we brewsed

We finally had a nice, hot summer night for a Cruisin' for a Brewsin. Cody is less than thrilled about the weather, but I couldn't be happier. Bonus: Cody's parents joined us for this ride, making it 100% more fun.

Anyway, we did Dugout>Lindbergs>Mudlounge and then had to get home to relieve the sitter before we could get back to Dugout. A predictably great time. Made some new friends. Had some delicious adult beverages. It was a truly beautiful evening with some absolutely lovely people, and I can't wait to go again next month.

Buy a Brand New Bicycle

I've been reading Chin on the Tank and a handful of other motorcycle blogs that focus on resto-mods for a few years now. I love seeing some of the wild design concepts those guys come up with. While I occasionally entertain the idea of making the leap into motorcycle restoration, it's not something I've had the money, time, or drive to pursue. My small fleet of bicycles keeps me plenty busy and - for the most part - pretty happy. So I think I'll stick to simple, human-powered machines for the foreseeable future.

Earlier this week, Ed published a great post called Buy a Brand New Motorcycle and I couldn't get over how much it paralleled my experience in giving people guidance on buying a bicycle. When shopping for a bike, it's easy to get on Craigslist and be enticed by the $50-100 price tags of used machines. But two of the things I've learned from working on old bikes over the years are: 1) shit breaks and 2) people don't take care of their shit. Shearing old brittle anchor bolts and snapping derailleur hangers are pretty much par for the course if you work on an old bike long enough. And you can pretty much bet on dealing with bent chainrings, hubs and bottom brackets filled with molasses-like sludge, and derailleurs that have never been cleaned or serviced.

I enjoy a challenge and I take great pleasure in tinkering on my bikes, so bringing a neglected bike back into working condition - and fixing everything that gets jacked up while doing so - is all part of the fun. But not everyone has the time and energy to do this. And yeah, you're only going to spend $100 up-front for that 1970's roadster, but then you've got to pay to have the thing tuned up. That'll get you out on the road, but if you want it in really good working order you've then got to drop another $100 for an overhaul, plus an additional $100-200 or so in parts (cables, housing, tubes, rubber, brake pads, etc.). Now your investment is up to around $400-500, which is about as much as you'd pay for a pretty sweet flat-bar road bike. On top of that, most shops will service your bike free of charge if you buy it new from them, which is a major cost savings for ongoing maintenance.

So yeah, old bikes are cool, but don't fool yourself into thinking you're saving any money or getting some kind of bitchin' deal.

Lock Your Bike

I'm a big fan of Bike Snob NYC. And his recent recent story in Bicycling Magazine, titled 'The Ties That Bind: A Cynic's Guide to Outwitting Bike Thieves' was true to form for the long-time bicycle blogger. I would consider this story required reading for recent converts to bicycle commuting. It covers all the bases of keeping your bike safe when leaving it unattended.

There were a few points that definitely hit home. His advice of using a battleship anchor of a bike lock is absolutely right. After all, Ginger and I switched over to heavy-duty U-locks after the lock holding her beloved Raleigh road bike was cut and the bike stolen. And as of last week, I've now had two friends fall victim to the pitfall of not locking their bikes because they were staying close at hand. Both of them had a direct line of sight on their machines when they were snatched from under their noses.

While I've been guilty of laziness, using cheap locks, and pretty much every other no-no in the list, I've been fortunate enough to not have someone get the five finger discount on my machine or any of its parts or accessories. Hope I can keep the streak going for a while longer...

Rainy Commutes

We're coming off a few weeks in which it's rained nearly every day. It's been great for our little garden here at home. Not so great for a bike commuter who has to slog through the rain to get to work - and get a young child to preschool - nearly each day. With that said, it really hasn't been that bad. While I've ridden through a few bouts of light rain, I haven't had to deal with any major downpours that left me looking like a drowned rat. But I did carry an umbrella strapped to my top tube on Thursday in case I needed to walk up to the square for lunch.

Bambino's For Bikes!

"Cyclists of Springfield Unite! (and eat pasta, and drink beer)" is the tagline for Bambino's For Bikes, a fundraiser for the Ozark Greenways. On the evening of June 18th, Bambino's on Delmar will be giving 20% of all proceeds to the Greenways. If you want to help make a difference in our community by drinking beer and munching on some toasted ravioli, be at Bambino's on Wednesday evening between 4:00 and 10:00.

Meet Col. Screeching Flyer

Can't seem to find a decent source for this, but it seems to have made its way to my Facebook page via NSMB.com. Pretty sweet, though. Colonel Screeching Flyer at your service!

Medium Bicycles

I had the opportunity to see Evan Williams speak at Big Omaha last month. He was an inspiring and dynamic speaker, but the very brief time he spent talking about his new project - Medium - had me very intrigued. I wasn't familiar with Medium before I saw Ev speak, which maybe goes to show that I'm not up-to-date with the latest writing platforms. After checking it out, the platform seemed pretty cool: one location for all writers to post. This leaves the authors free to write as much or as little as they wish, without the need to manage a website of their own.

On Medium, the stories are grouped by 'collection.' And I was able to find 10 different bicycle-themed collections, from fixed gear and single speed to vintage bicycles. While I haven't done much more than surf through some of the more recent stories in the various bike-themed collections, I'm looking forward to adding a few to my daily feed. Seems like a great way to keep a variety of sources coming through the pipe.

Don't Do It

I ran across an absolutely fantastic piece called 9 Reasons Why You Should Never Bike To Work. The post is just shy of 3 years old, but I'm totally glad I found - albeit completely by accident. Better late than never, I guess.

Looking through all nine reasons, I can clearly remember hearing people give every one of these as a justification for not commuting by bike...except for maybe #7. And the delightfully sarcastic takedowns of each reason is just too good. So read it, enjoy it, and pass it along to your colleagues who think you're crazy for riding your bike to work every day.