Hooray Gas Prices!!! - Good article in the Wall Street Journal

The Cycling Commute Gets Chic
To Encourage Biking, CitiesAdd Paths, Racks and Lockers;To Shower or Not to Shower?
By KEVIN HELLIKERMay 11, 2006; Page D1
Commuting to work by bike has renewed appeal right now. On top of health benefits -- like offering a chance to exercise without taking extra time -- it saves on the growing cost of fuel and even carries a certain cachet at the office.
A growing number of cities are making it easier to ride your bike to work -- erasing hurdles big and small, from securing bikes safely downtown, to taking bikes on public transit, to finding a discreet place to shower.
Eager to reduce traffic jams and pollution, cities including Chicago; Louisville, Ky.; and Portland, Ore. are adding biking-policy departments at city hall, constructing bike lanes or building bike stations where riders can park and shower. A 2004 survey of American cities found that more than 80% planned to build new bikeways. A new contest over which American cities are friendliest to cyclists has attracted 160 municipal contestants, each bragging about its bike lanes and lock-up racks.
A NEW COMMUTE
• See must-have accessories for biking to the office. (Adobe Acrobat required.) • Q&A: America's Growing Bicycle Habit • Go Figure: Telecommuting to Cope With Gas Costs
Nationally, a bill introduced in the Senate last month would give employers a tax incentive to offer employees $40 to $100 a month to cycle to work, and a similar bill is pending in the House.
Buses and trains are allowing bikes to come on board in cities including Albuquerque; Washington, D.C.; and Boulder, Colo. In Chicago, Allison Krueger, a 26-year-old botanist, now can ride three miles to Union Station, catch a train to the suburbs, then cycle three more miles to her office. "The best part of cycling is the sheer joy of riding past people stuck in traffic," she says. Plus, she adds, "Biking is definitely fashionable in Chicago."
There are other signs that the cities' efforts are working. New York City opened a 17-mile bike trail on the West Side of Manhattan, along with bike paths on the bridges connecting the island to Brooklyn, in 2003 -- and has seen a 50% increase in cyclists since 2000, to 120,000 cyclists a day, according to advocacy group Transportation Alternatives. A three-year-old bike station in Chicago is poised to sell out 500 memberships for the third year in a row.
Since Louisville installed bike racks on its buses four years ago, cyclist boardings have nearly doubled to 91,000 in 2005 from 48,000 in 2002. And the percentage of commuters using bikes rises a point for every mile of bike lane added per square mile of American cities, said a 2003 study on bike lanes in the journal Transportation Research Record. The name of the study: "If You Build Them, Commuters Will Use Them."
One of the newest urban innovations: bike stations, which an increasing number of downtowns from various California cities to Washington, D.C., have added or are considering adding. Bike stations offer a safe place to park, along with lockers, showers and repair shops. The Chicago bike station, built and owned by the city, is run by a private company, which charges members $99 a year for showers, towel service and a personal locker. Denver, Seattle and Berkeley, Long Beach and Palo Alto, Calif., all have similar bike stations.
The rising price of gas is adding to the appeal of cycling. Shipments of bicycles in the last year have been extraordinarily strong -- one of the two best years in the past two decades, says Tim Blumenthal, director of an industry coalition called Bikes Belong. "There's a lot of buzz right now about high gas prices," he says.
"The 5,000 miles I'll cycle this year are 5,000 miles I'm not putting on my car's odometer and fueling with high-priced gas," says Eric Carter, an attorney in Portland whose two-wheeled commute has helped him knock off 30 pounds.
The rising price of gas is adding to cycling's appeal.
In a trend reminiscent of previous public-health fashions, affluent professionals seem to be leading the charge of commuters on bikes, just as they were among the first groups to embrace organic food, to stop smoking and to return to feeding babies healthier breast milk rather than formula. "So far, it's a white-collar movement," says Dave Growacz, a Chicago biking official and author of the book "The Urban Bikers' Tricks & Tips."
Cycling has some serious disadvantages. A cyclist may arrive at work dripping sweat and with helmet-mashed hair -- and that's in good weather. J.P. Morgan Chase Vice President Luz Byrne no longer cycles on rainy days. "I got tired of washing the mud out of my hair in a sink," she says.
Managing the logistics of work-out clothes and office apparel is difficult. Jerry Roscoe, a cycling attorney in Washington, D.C., arrives each morning in biking clothes, grabs a shirt and suit from his office, goes to a nearby gym to shower, then returns to the office ready to work. "It's complicated," he says.
Of course, many bikers don't shower upon arriving at the office. Mr. Growacz's book offers tips on how to wear a helmet without messing up your hair.
The biggest downside of cycling is wrecks, particularly with cars. Per kilometer traveled, a cyclist in America is 12 times likelier than a car occupant to be killed, according to a 2003 American Journal of Public Health article.
Yet the number of cyclists killed in America fell nearly 10% to 724 during the decade that ended in 2004, according to federal statistics. And studies show that as the number of cyclists increase, collisions with automobiles decline because motorists become more alert to bikers' presence. As cycling in London increased 100% from 2000 to 2005, the accident rate for cyclists fell 40%, according to Transport for London.
The danger of cycling is far outweighed by the benefits, says Rutgers University's John Pucher, a professor of urban planning specializing in cycling issues. Cycling builds muscle, deepens lung capacity, lowers heart rate and burns calories. "The health benefits of cycling outweigh the health risks by two to one, if not something like five to one," says Dr. Pucher, whose voice mail describes him as "car-free John."
Write to Kevin Helliker at kevin.helliker@wsj.com

Colbert Roasts President Bush - 2006 White House Correspondents Dinner

This is hilarious...Check out Steven Colbert's roast of the Pres at the 2006 White House Correspondents Dinner...Funny as hell!!!

One of these people dont belong.

Check out the photo. See the short fat guy. He might have won if it wasn't for a crash.

I need a garage.

Well I think I need a garage.......... I can't fit all of my furniture in the house with all the bikes hanging around and the sofa looks a little trashy out on the front lawn!!!

Wheels!!!

Check out these wheels...Previous President of Sachs Bicycle Components...On Sale for Shimano SRP from $499 to $399 or Campy from $519 to $399

Good price & good quality... http://www.neuvationcycling.com/

Chad, these could lighten up that new ride!!!

Hincapie Crash Video

Pretty good video of the crash from 2 angles. Looks like he is riding w/ no hands, but if you look close, you will see that he has no handlebars...

Go to the right column above the daily news updates. look for the section that says New! 2006 Spring Classics videos

6202 Cycling is Born

Finally! We are up & running as a non-profit! People are signing up & we are starting to make progress with the web site. Now if we only had a claendar that was decent!

Sheryl Crow has Cancer

Now doesn't this throw a twist into the mix??? First she dumps him (probably because he has no ability for compassion) and now she exposes her cancer issues...He says he is devastated, which is obviously his handlers words, not his...because he has no ability to have emotional ties to anything.

Anyway, interesting how these things happen...

Pretty Cool Site

He blew the Downhill Competition...But I like his political incorrectness & his lack of regard for mainstream media...The site is pretty good even though I hate Nike personally!!!I like the outhouse the best!

"CHIMERA" This!!!

Guilty says CAS...Usually I believe that all those to be found guilty, usually are...In this case however, I believe he is innocent...Can not say why, but he has a point when he says those who develop tests & fund test development, should not be the ones carrying out the tests...that responsibility should be independent so as to avoind conflicts of interest...Plus I think the big "Dick" Pound is an idiot and his name suits him!!!

Although he was a "Lance" man before he struck out on his own...So he could be like 'Big Tex' and be in the middle of this up to his 'nads!!!

Leadville Linkage

Check out the photo of the belt buckle. I am going to have a belt made that has my name on the back. That way I can show off my dinner plae buckle.

GJ

Armstrong & Crow Split

According to Reuters, the split is on!!! Guadeloupe J better watch out for the misses makin' a play on Big Tex, now that he is single!!!

Maybe this is just a motivational ploy to amp him up to ride the Tour again...Or at least it will keep the greedy bastard in the news for a while longer & Velonews busy w/ the "Lance Mail" for a while. Just retire & fade away for Christ's sake!!!!

Italian Court Told to Prove Jesus Existed

Jesus! (Pun Intended) What are these to geriatrics fighting over anyway? The only Italians that care are all dying off at a clip of 1000+ daily. The younger generation would rather hang out in their cars on the Lunga Mare getting hummers while passers-by act like they are ignoring them!

If Jesus was real or if he was not real...That is the question...But the answer will not change the minds of the blind being led by the corrupt blind...

Pat Robertson will be Smiting this guy in public here real soon!!!

Lv2byk needs one.

Lv2byk has been beaten by GAUDELOUPE J up a HILL! Well this is not news. He suffers from what I call 'elastic fitness' he returns to poor shape just after 1 day off the bike. His form is liken to Bigfoot, you hear reports of it but never actually see it! Yah so what he can spank me I make no false claims of super fitness, a power chair can drop me. What Lv2byk needs is just a little help that's all. Catch him on a good day and he'll put the hurt on Gaudeloupe J, unless he cramps, went to bed late, hasn't ridden in 2 hours, is tired, just returned from defitness training below elevation or has to poop. I on the other hand will have NO excuses come April. Even though I will be going to Maine for 2 weeks, packing and moving, driving cross country, unpacking and driving to Colorado. Tired I'm sure and with hardly any riding time I will have NO excuses. I'll be ready to bat my riding mates away like pesky flies on rotten meat. I have figured out away to put my Tri-care benefits to good use and will under go a harsh rapid doping program to boost my fitness to the level of the pro peleton. I will not be dropped by Gaudeloupe J and suffer the fate of Lv2byk.

Guadeloupe J. puts the Hammer Down!

Guadeloupe J. came to the CR on Wednesday pimpin' the 6.13 and smoked me on the climbs! It was an embarrassing display of the after affects of continuous apathy & couch surfing. We hit a few climbs and off the back I went! ...AND AWAY HE WENT!

It wasn't just one hill, but all the hills! It was so bad that I had to download the Eye of the Tiger, by Survivor, just to get motivated enough to come to work today!...

I may have to quit my job & take up full time cycling if it gets any worse! But alas, I have broken out the old gray "Rocky" sweats from the Moth Balled boxes and rented Rocky IV (w/ the Russian) so I can sweat to the Oldies tonight!

DAMN YOU GAUDELOUPE J.

Snow biking - action with a lot of fun in Garmisch, Germany

I went to Garmisch once & stayed at the Military Resort there. The place is the bomb! Colorado snobs have nothing on this place regarding the beauty there! All the peaks that CO has & all the lush green that it does not have. Plus some of the best Mtn Biking in Europe as well.

Snow biking sounds fun! Wonder of anyone does this shiite in the states?

Check it out, My Bitches!

CHRONIC "cles" of Narnia

TJ...Too Good not to share!

Excellent!

Why I would live in San Francisco

(Homer Simpson) "Hmmmmmmmmmmmm, Hills."

TJ

This is pretty fucked up. Good Joke though.

Ouch. This is what it feels like to win the lottery.

E-cycling makes everyday products out of toxic electronic trash too poisonous to dump.

E-Cycling Breaths New Life Into Outdated

Christina Ficara - All Headline News Staff Reporter
Marietta, GA (AHN) -

An Atlanta warehouse is serving as the source for the latest in technological advancements: e-cycling. E-cycling makes everyday products out of toxic electronic trash too poisonous to dump.
Molam International is Georgia's largest electronics recycling depot, "e-cycling" some 1 million pounds of electronics each month.
Outdated monitors will become televisions, metal products are later forged into heavy garbage can wheels, and processed plastics and precious metal are shipped across the globe, where they return as planks of plastic and other products.
The Associated Press reports e-cycling may expand, as the shelf life of newer generation gadgets gets shorter.
The government estimates that 133,000 electronic devices are tossed aside each day, amounting to 3 million tons of "e-junk" per year.