Posts

Showing posts from 2009

Happy New Year from Columbus Rides!

Thank you for reading my blog this past year. I hope you continue to follow my blog in 2010. I hope you all had a great year like I did in 2009. I had more ups than downs and made a lot of new friends, lost some friends (it is what it is), and continued expanding existing friendships. I realized toward the end of the year that I don't have much to complain about (finally!). 2010 will bring new and exciting challenges plus twists and turns that may open up a new chapter in my life. As for cycling I reached my goal of 3500 miles this year, finishing with 3510. My goal for 2010 is 4000 miles. We will be continuing with some of our theme rides next year, like Night of a Thousand Tacos , and of course, Bike the C-Bus will be back for 2010. Our goal is to get 500 cyclists out on the route. Hope to see you out on the bike. As my friend Crow says, "keep the rubber side down." Ray

Jerseys that make a statement!

Image
About Us Share The Damn Road was created by professional cyclist Phil Gaimon. Phil was tired of being honked at, buzzed, and cussed out while he trained, and frustrated that the speed of motor vehicles made witty and insulting replies impossible. To solve that problem, he set out to create a line of jerseys that express what he's always wanted to say to passing cars. Get one yourself, and finally experience the joy of having the last word. The goal is to convey messages of safety and cyclist's rights, but there is an element of humor and frustration, which we feel cannot be denied in the cyclist/motorist relationship, so these jerseys are not for wimps. more...

Upper Arlington roll: Store Coming Soon!

Image
FINALLY! On the list of things to accomplish for 2010 is the opening of the new roll: store in Upper Arlington. Building still under construction, it will be the newest and largest store in our soon-to-be-THREE store chain here in C-Bus. Under wraps for some time, everyone can share in our joy over the coming location. Filling a much-needed gap for us on the West end of town, roll:U.A. is located on Lane Avenue, just catty-coner to the Whole Foods Market near Kenny Road. more...

New Years Hangover Ride

January 1st, 2010 (Friday) -Holiday Ride Series #4 New Years Hangover Ride 3pm - Class C+ and B.  27 mile route.  Meet at Columbus East Trek Store (5334 N Hamilton Rd, Columbus, OH 43230). Maps provided.  Weather permitting. Andy Skeen Skeena AT bright.net or 614-580-2749

HILLIARD/DUBLIN NEW YEAR'S DAY RIDE

January 1, 2010 11:00 a.m. All Riders Welcome. Get off your trainer (or your couch) and join us in logging the first miles of 2010.  Mileage, destination, and food stop depends upon weather. Meet at Hayden Run Rd. trailhead parking lot (adjacent to the Heritage Rail Trail).  Directions: 270 to Tuttle Crossing Blvd. exit. Go west on Tuttle Crossing until it dead-ends into Wilcox Rd.  Turn left. Take Wilcox until it dead-ends into Hayden Run Rd. Turn right.  Parking lot is on the right side of Hayden Run Rd., just past Cosgray Rd. Tom & Debbie Davis/614-296-9981

Lumen Testing from Light and Motion

Light and Motion hired a company to test their lights and competitors to show how accurate the lumen ratings are. From the Light and Motion site...  Their site has individual reports for download. 2009 LIGHT TESTING DATA We value the relationship that we have with our customers and understand that it is a relationship based on trust. Our customers trust that when they purchase a Light & Motion product that it will be solid, reliable and well-tested. These attributes are important to us as well, since many of our employees enthusiastically use what we sell. It makes sense then that we would put quite a bit of time and money into testing our own light systems—but we didn't stop there. We've also tested most of our competitor's lights. It's important for us to know that we can back up our lumen claims with hard data, but it's also important for us to know that we're comparing apples to apples with our competitors (note that many light systems from other br

Ride to Galena Ride Report

Image
I needed to get out on the bike after a week and a half hiatus. I was starting to feel the effects of eating too well and no exercise. So I rode north, met Brett along the way and headed to New Albany to meet up with Katie. We headed north until we hit Red Bank Road and took that all the way into Galena. Because of the holiday weekend all the restaurants, all of one, were closed. So we headed south and took Vans Valley Rd east. I knew we had a headwind heading south, but I underestimated how much it feels whipping across the empty corn fields. We struggled to maintain 12mph as Brett and I switched off leading out. We continued at a diagonal heading southeast until we hit Central College and then went west until Kitzmiller. Old 161 back to New Albany where Brett split off and headed down 62. I dropped off Katie and headed due south back home. 52 miles. Averaged 14mph.

Avid cyclists gearing up for New Year's Day trek in Medina County - Medina Sun

Image
By  Jennifer Karpus December 26, 2009, 1:26PM While most people are sleeping in on New Years Day, an energetic few are planning to participate in a bicycle ride around Medina County, no matter what the weather has in store for them. The ABCDEFGHIJ bicycle ride, or ABC ride for short, will mark its 34th year a week from Friday. The number of riders changes year to year, usually depending on the weather, but as many as 200 have come out in previous years. “I thought it would be a fun thing to do on a special day,” said Dick DeLombard, creator of the ride. “People are doing polar bear jumps . . . and we were riding in the winter.” more...

Pedal Brain - Ipod and iPhone powered cyclometer

Image
With Pedal Brain you just focus on riding and everything else is taken care of. Pedal Brain can be thought of as three integrated products. First, it's an iPod and iPhone ANT+ accessory. Second, it's a complete training log. Third, it's a coaching platform. Each of these products have been designed together and as such integrate perfectly well. There's no distinction between your workouts on the web and your workouts on the iPhone or iPod. Simply go for a ride and all your performance data is uploaded in realtime to the web where coaches, teammates and friends can see it (if you allow them to). There's no post workout data upload step with Pedal Brain. Similarly there's no need to copy your workouts onto paper and stuff in your jersey before heading out. It's already there on your iPhone or iPod. Power through data is our motto. We believe better data leads to better workouts which leads to better results. Pedal Brain makes acquiring, processing and a

Chris King 2010 Pretty and Strong Calendar

Image
Pretty and Strong  enters its 7th year as a special edition and we are pleased to continue our strong relationship with the Oregon and SW Washington affiliate of Komen for the Cure. For 2010 we are excited to present a calendar benefiting Komen for the Cure in partnership with the talented photographers of PDXCross.com. Our shared effort with this calendar is more than an intimate look at the joy and tenacity of the women we see racing cyclocross each weekend during the fall. It's a call to awareness for early detection because breast cancer still doesn't care how fit or fast you are on a bike. Please make an appointment to see your doctor and circle the date on one of these great calendars. Our sincere thanks to PDXCross, The Oregon and SW Washington Affiliate of Komen for the Cure, and to all the women who race & ring cowbells with us each weekend. Price $15 order it here...

Fat Tire Cycle, Buckhannon, WV

If you are ever around Buckhannon, WV stop into Fat Tire. They have a big selection of bikes and accessories. We were given a free bag of fresh roasted coffee when we stopped by. It is a new venture by the owner. website here...

Forkless Cruiser Bike Video

Rails to Trails accomplishments this year - from the mailbag

This year alone we have: Advocated for and secured  $800 million  at the federal level for trails, walking and biking Protected another  $800 million  for trails, walking and biking that was being threatened Helped open  hundreds of miles  of new rail-trail across the country Provided assistance to more than  100 communities  with trail-building projects Sent  22,974 emails  to elected officials urging them make trails, walking and biking a priority in our communities Made  618 phone calls  to Congress urging them to protect funding for trails more...

Exposure Lights has a model with 960 lumens

Image
MaXx-D The MaXx D packs the biggest punch for its size and weight available anywhere. No cables and connectors to come loose or get wet and all in a tiny package that weighs an incredible 320 grams with the mount included. The MaXx D is super bright with an even beam pattern to give you great peripheral vision and depth perception. If you need as much brightness as you can lay your hands on for technical offroading or just to make ensure motorists will always see you on your commute – this is your light. As used by Pro and Amateur racers across the Globe – used by the current Moab 24 hour champs. Compare the value of lumens to other products of lesser brightness and you will have change to spare – dare we suggest you compliment Maxx D with an accessory like the Joystick for a combined 1200 lumens at $550! Compare us against Lights and Motion Seca 900 $650, NiteRider Pro 1200 $650.00. These systems use external batteries and cables – need we say more! Specifications: Weigh

GOBA 22: It's not your grandmother's quilt trip!

Image
Logan - McConnelsville - Marietta - Athens - McArthur - Logan GOBA 22: It's not your grandmother's quilt trip! Oh, it's so much more ... revel in the rolling scenery of our Appalachian countryside. Dance to the rhythms of fiddles, washboards, and dulcimers. Let your dreams flow like the mighty rivers paralleling our bike routes. And of course, come to appreciate the quilt pattern as tradition but with a twist: it's now an exalted art form as well as a rustic landscape backdrop. The good folks of southeastern Ohio are sewing up a patchwork of experiences for you on GOBA-22. Bring your tent, your family, and your bike and get ready for the trip! more...

Wend Magazine

Image
wend   (wÄ›nd) v.   wend·ed, wend·ing, wends v.tr.  To proceed on or along; go:  wend one's way home. v.intr.  To go one's way; proceed. [Middle English wenden, from Old English wendan.] Wend: Who we are. Wend is a forum for real people, writing real stories about real adventures and real environmental issues. As an independent media group, active in both environmental activism and the outdoors, we realize that part of going off the beaten path means making sure the path doesn’t get beaten. We are a magazine that understands that to advocate for the majesty of nature, we’d be hypocritical to print on paper that comes from destroying it, and thus, every issue of Wend is printed on locally sourced, FSC certified paper. Our mission is to educate and inspire, as we see travel and experience as revelation that enriches our lives, and makes us better world citizens. We travel not to escape but to challenge ourselves and discover the humanity that every culture, big or small, p

Defeet has grab bags of socks for sale!

Sock Grab Bag - Buy the DeFeet Grab Bag and make off with great socks at BIG savings! Grab Bags are randomly selected socks from our collection of in-house custom irregulars and overruns. All you have to do is choose a size! All sales are final No exchanges or special requests Socks will either be Aireator, Cush, Levitator, or Levitator Lite. more...

Oldroads.com - Vintage bicycle pricing

OldRoads.com - Vintage Bicycle Price Guide You've picked up an old bicycle at a garage sale and are trying to determine what it is, how old it is, and what it might be worth. This  Vintage Bicycle Price Guide  is intended to help you use the information you  do  know about the bicycle and enable you to determine it's make, model, age and ballpark value. click here... , no here...

2009 Dirty Dozen Results, Article, & Stats/Matrices

http://www.dannychew.com/dd_09.html http://www.dannychew.com/dd.html 2009 DIRTY DOZEN RESULTS The 27th annual Dirty Dozen was held on Saturday, November 28th. Another (6th consecutive) good weather (sunny skies and a high temperature of 46 degrees F) DD allowed for a record turnout of 186 riders (as big as the Tour de France pack/field) including 98 (53%) rookies. There were a record 17 riders over 50 years old. 13 year old Andrew Reay became the youngest finisher. 10 women showed up for the 3 place, $300 prize list. For the first time, I offered a prize list (equal to the women) for the men. For the first time, I had riders sign release and liability waivers. 4 former winners rode: Defending champ Steve (Stevo) Cummings, 1991 winner Gunner Shogren, 1986 winner Bob Gottlieb, and myself. 29 year old Stevo won his 6th consecutive DD, but was challenged by youth - capable of ending his reign if they keep improving. 21 year old Bob Stumpf won the first hill. 19 year old Sam Morris

Schwinn Electric Bike

Image
Super Charge - You know it’s fast. When we found out about Toshiba’s Super Charge ion Battery (SCiB) technology, we knew we were on to something. With a battery that charges in less than 30 minutes, the Tailwind is ready to go when you are. No more waiting for your battery when all you want to do is roll down to the coffee shop for a cappuccino. The Tailwind features: Lightweight aluminum frame and front suspension fork ensure a comfortable ride. Shimano Nexus 8-speed rear hub is clean and maintenance-free, yet gives you the gears to tackle any terrain. Fully accessorized with full-fenders, dynamo light, and rear-wheel lock. Electric Bike Features 30-minute charge time  - Get a full charge in less than 30 minutes with the included home charger. The battery pack is cleanly integrated into the rear rack with a simple connection that requires no wires or plugs. The Plug N’ Drive battery can be easily removed, so you can charge it whenever and wherever you want. Industry-leading w

Kickstand Magazine - for Cruiser owners

Image
Posted by  Kickstand Magazine  on 6/02/09 • Categorized as  Uncategorized Styles The clothes, art and trends that make  cruisers  so cool Bikes We’re gear heads and we like to ride  bicycles Gear All the fun stuff to trick out your cruiser People The folks that make this culture so much fun Rides What happens when you get hundreds together to ride through the streets of your town or city Blog Just things that we’re thinking Rants Words from the editorial staff

Swing King Bike Video

Swobo Otis

Image
Otis   $739.00   ( SBB08001 )  Details • Comfortable and light aluminum frame • Three speeds for up, down and flat terrain • 3-speed internal hub is impervious to the elements • Rack and fenders attach to frame + fork eyelets • Comfortable platform pedals work with any shoes • Easy rear coaster brake frees up your right hand • Step-through frame design for smaller riders • Coaster and disc brakes work in any weather • Professional pre-assembly by Kirk • Approximately 26.5 pounds  Blatant Propaganda   •  Bicycling Magazine - July 2007   •  Dwell Magazine - November 2007   •  Ace Hotel We designed the Otis around the SRAM 3-speed coaster brake hub after we rode that hub for the first time. We were that fired up. There are few bikes more simple, obvious, practical and versatile than an urban/suburban/bourbon 3-speed with twist shifter. The frame and fork are based on the tough, oversize round and box section shapes of the Folsom, but with bosses for water bottles, r

Bob Brown Cycles - Miineapolis, MN

Image
From his site -  Who the heck is Bob Brown and why on earth should I buy a bike from you? Good question, I'm a Mechanical Engineer by degree and have over 10 years experience as a Design Engineer in heavy industry. I'm also a bike nut and in general a fabricator of all things. I'm also a certified machinist and experienced in nearly every form of metalwork and joining. In short I design and build things that others won't or simply can't.I've been building custom frames for about 10 years now and have quite a few under my belt. I've honed in my skills on building the best custom carved lugged steel frames around. That's what I do and I think you'll agree the result speak for themselves.

3' passing law - Get up to speed (Thanks Tricia)

BikingBis forum has the details of each of the 14 states which have the minimum 3' passing law The "3feetplease.com" website has a document which explains the benefits of the law This VeloNews article explains the Previs v. Dailey case in which a cyclist was expected to pull off the road while being passed

Top 10 Posts on Columbus Rides in 2009 (Traffic)

1.  Netjets gift  /2008/10/netjets-gift-establishes-cycling-event.html 2.  Fixed Gear Coaster Brake Bike  /2009/02/fixed-gear-coaster-brake-bike.html 3.  Specialized Langster Steel  /2009/05/2010-specialized-langster-steel.html 4.  PBR Bike Frame  /2008/10/pbr-bike-frame.html 5.  Bamboo Bicycle for Sale  /2008/02/bamboo-bicycle-for-sale.html 6.  Columbus Fall Challenge  /2007/09/columbus-fall-challenge.html 7.  Brooks Barbican Messenger Bag  /2008/10/brooks-barbican-messenger-bag.html 8.  Kimori Bicycles at NAHBS  /2009/02/kimori-bicycles-showing-at-nahbs-in.html 9.  Bikes for Sale  /2009/06/bike-price-list.html 10.  Sillgey Cyclery  /2009/03/sillgey-cyclery.html

Off topic: Spammers

My blog has become so popular that I am now getting hit with spam comments. Argh... I moderate comments so nobody sees them. Some of them don't make any sense which is weird.

From the mailbag: Seagull Bags is having a sale on Saturday 19th

From the mailbag: Seagull Bags is having a 20% off sale on Saturday 19th from 10-3. Everything in our shop will be on sale! their website is here...

crazyguyonabike - A place for bicycle tourists and their journals

Image
About crazyguyonabike Website Copyright © 2000 - 2009 By  Neil Gunton   Copyrights for journals and articles are retained by the individual authors.  Overview Hi! I am  Neil Gunton , the founder/programmer/webmaster/editor of crazyguyonabike.com. This is a free, independent website for hosting bicycle touring journals, forums and resources. The content is contributed by people from all over the world. You can browse the  journals  and  articles  or register  and then  create your own . Also check out the  forums  (message boards),  reviews  (users' reports on bicycle touring gear),  resources  (links, routes, hospitality, businesses and other useful info related to bicycle touring) and  classifieds  (companions, for sale, wanted etc). You can find interesting content via  serendipity , or see what other users think is cool (or controversial) via the  ratings . Crazyguyonabike's main strength is its simple focus on bicycle touring, combined with a scalable design which allows

Tuesday Night Ride to Starliner Diner Pics and Report

Started at Goodale and rode out 3rd then north to 5th. 5th to McKinley north to Scioto Darby into Hilliard. Our destination was Starliner Diner for dinner. Food was great. 4 people rode. Temps were in low 30's. It was pretty windy for the ride out and we had a tailwind on the way back. We rode 21 miles total.