Welcome to Leandro from Peru!

Hi! Just wanted to say thanks to Leandro and the other subscriber, Wreck in VA, for following my blog.

And for others dropping in, I love to hear about what bicycling-related stuff you're doing, whether it be commuting, running a bike shop, racing, etc.

Feel free to leave a comment or become a follower to this blog. I generally take time to read comments and/or visit links regularly.

~ Nate

so what happens when you have no commute???

While I thought I was safe in layoffs at work this past month - a subject I have not blogged about anywhere, I just got an indication today that the union and/or an individual's legal action might mean I am not in the clear.

What stinks about this is the layoffs are being done purely on seniority (I think) rather than job performance. I have a flawless job record and was employee of the year in 2008.

I'm not griping. I just see it as an opportunity - if something does happen - and I try to be hopeful.

Hey - maybe I'd have the chance to write more and do more bicycle-related stuff. Go on a tour. Visit and write about local bicycle shops and events. Travel abroad.

Who knows?

electric bikes at a car show

I went to a car show in Seattle this weekend - we took the bus there to avoid traffic and paying a lot to park.

I was amazed to see an electric bicycle company with a few on display including the A2B from Ultra Motor.





There was also another electric bicycle on display, a mountain bike (looked like a Montague, aka "Swiss Bike") that was just shy of $5K. (!!!!) Note: upon a quick internet search, I guess someone does make a Montague electric bike now.



Looks like both bikes have some sort of hub motor to drive the bicycles. I have not yet looked into it further. Also, I didn't study up on how weather-repellent the bikes are.

The staff at the booth were pretty busy and they didn't appear to be set-up for demos. It would have been interesting to see. I just wonder who their demographic is. I would think cyclists might not take them seriously - nor would the people who came to the show to look at cars, trucks, and SUVs. I think quite a few (non-cyclists) would laugh at the notion of paying close to $5K for a bicycle and others (the cyclists) would know exactly which other $5,000 bicycle (or just frame and fork) they'd spend their money on - which would likely weigh 1/5th of the A2B's 72 pounds.

Something tacky about the electric bicycle booth was the inclusion of two (of the same model) of a Segway knock-off, similar to this. These three-wheeled electric-powered "podiums with bike saddles" were quite a bit cheaper than a Segway or one of the electric bikes on display, however, I think they had more in common with an electric mobility chair (like the Rascal) than they did with the Segway or an electric bicycle. Maybe this was in the spirit of showing "green mobility options" - the e-bikes were at the end of a line of other pure electric vehicles.

thanks for the votes

We won the "Viewers' Choice" award with 45% of the total votes cast! (Total votes cast 1541).

Thanks for voting - if you missed it, you can still see the film by clicking on the video box on the right of this page.

Our film - featuring cyclists - please vote for us!!!

My co-producer, Rob, and I (he's also a cyclist) entered a film contest in our city (Renton) and we got the "Best Use of Renton" award, which is pretty cool. Not like a cash prize cool, but cool nevertheless.

Now, we're up for the "Viewers' Choice" award and the videos are posted online and visitors from the web can vote for their choice (up to 1 time per day - voting closes November 11th).

Why might you want to vote for us? We have a scene with a local cycling team and also visit a LBS where the guy offered to do a track stand for us.

See the box on the right hand of this page to navigate to where you'd need to go view and vote!

Note: the film contes is called "Film Frenzy" and it's the second time the city has sponsored a contest like this where filmmakers have 48 hours to write, shoot, and edit a film that can be up to 4 minutes long. To complicate matters, they throw in a few "curve balls" the films must include. This year, it was: include the clock tower in the film, a piece of public art, and the phrase "I used my Curve Card", a local marketing slogan.

More about the film contest.

WOW! I'm on Bike Hacks!

In the past, I've mentioned my almost daily ritual of visiting the Bike Hacks blog. I enjoy reading posts about inexpensive (CHEAP) or free ways to make little tweaks to your bike to make it ride better, carry more stuff, or just look plain ugly so no one is tempted to steal your bike!

This week, I was contacted by Matt, one of the bloggers of the BH site in response to some comments I made about adding reflective material to your bicycle. He posted my pics along with links to my blog! That's pretty cool in my book.

Additionally, when I posted this to my Facebook page, a friend of mine named Dave I used to do stand-up comedy with back in the day (circa 1992-1994) also was featured on the Bike Hacks blog when he was working on an all-weather "rain bike". Dave also has a blog too.

Another funny thing to note is Dave and I back in the 1990s also hung out with a guy named Wally Glenn who is better known now as a performance artist known as "Pyro Boy". Dave went on to do a few TV shows with Wally and I sort of lost touch with them at some point. FB closed the loop.

1st commute wipe-out

I'm still a bit PO'd about this. Basically, in a nutshell, I wiped out this morning on the Transfer while en route to work. I'm OK physically (we'll see tomorrow AM if I have any muscle soreness - I expect there will be), and the bike is OK (just minor scrapes on the pedal end and end of handlebar). So I guess that's the good news.

There is a major construction zone along my preferred route to work - the others being either more-heavily traveled or considerably steeper and a lengthier route door-to-door. Going to work is mostly flat or downhill, coming home of course, is flattish and uphill.

The construction zone is for a project to build an interstate highway interchange - so this isn't a small project by any means. To protect pedestrians and bicyclists, or at least keep them away from construction crews, the construction crews have made a separated, shared path* along one side of the road, segregated from traffic by jersey barricades and a chain link fence.

As I was traveling in this protected area this morning at about 15 mph or less, I saw ahead what appeared to be plywood laid down in the path. It wasn't. It was 1" tall steel plate that was wet and covered with a bit of sand and dirt. Between choices of hopping the plate (likely 6 to 8 feet wide, not a great option) or trying to stop (also not a good option - not enough distance to stop) I chose the latter. The front wheel struck the plate and dumped the bike over to the left. I hopped off the bike (PO'd that the bike was dumped - I was more concerned about getting it scraped up) and landed on my feet, running a few steps but staying on my feet.

A construction worker asked if I was OK. I said I was PO'd and explained I could not see the plate. He said he had cones (three of them - pushed to one side) but he didn't want them to obstruct the path (????). I got back on my bike and rode away, as I was a block or two from my employer's.

Ironic that my focus lately has been on making me more visible to others and my attention has been directed towards watching out for other moving objects (like cars) and that my wipe-out has nothing to do with that. I think my next investment will be for an ultra bright light - I cannot rely upon others to provide adequate illumination or to keep paths clear - even those designated for pedestrians and bicyclists.

*Since using this shared facility, I am becoming less and less thrilled with them. Since it is only on one side of the road, I hate riding against traffic on the opposite side of the road than I am accustomed to. Barrier there or not, it just feels weird. The reason I have not continued to stay in traffic is on the opposite side of the road they have barricades there and no shoulder, so if you get a flat or what-have-you, you're pretty much stuck in an "automotive gauntlet" for nearly three-quarters of a mile. I'll try to post pictures of this - or maybe try to make a video.