fixed gear knees

So heres the deal with my knees.  For my entire life I have had no problems with them.  I figured I was like robocop or something, indestructible if you will.  Polo has been really hard on them.  Really its two to three hours of grinding on my knees as hard as possible.  There was however one instance that triggered my knee troubles.  While playing polo, I collided with another gentleman's pedal bike and rammed both knees into his bike.  I'm not quite sure how I managed to hit both of my knees, but I do know I hit the right on harder.   So we continued to play on, (shake it off son) after a bit there was another collision where my front tire was taco'd.  And hey its not like I go around crashing, but it happens,  those boys in Manty go balls out.
       So,  my knees are injured and my bike is down.  What do I do?  I borrow a fellows  bike to finish the two games.  The only bike available for me had an extremely high gear and was way to short for me.  So my legs are pushing hard and not getting anywhere near the proper extension.    "Dig deep"  I hear from I team mate.  And I do.  I finish the night out with aching knees.    Mistake.   I should have stopped right away. 
      That was three or four weeks ago and my right knee in particular is f'ked.   I am deeply concerned that I have caused myself permanent damage.
   I did find this tidbit today,

"Across the board, it is universally accepted by medical experts that high-gear, low-cadence pedaling has a high likelihood of causing knee pain and permanent injury. The main preventative measure as well as primary remedy for that problem is low-gear, high-cadence riding, which is only possible with the ability to change to appropriate gears throughout a ride. Fixed-gear riders are unable to avail themselves of that remedy, and because of that, they experience more frequent and higher pressures on the knee than a rider on a bike with gears."

Here is my take,  I have been riding brake-less for three plus year and for what??  I through a front brake on and it is much nicer.  Forget that whole macho brake-thing.  I like my new brake.

Now all I need is a larger cog ;)

wall of bikes

120 bicycles are on the wall of this bike shop.  Co-owner Christian Petersen his Atlandsberg, Germany shop. The bicycle installation was designed to advertise the shop.  I spotted this first at Urban Velo

FGSwitzerland

FGCT

Add caption

Spotted at Pedallas

Tower of Bikes

Northern California artists Mark Grieve and Ilana Spector built a 65-foot-tall, 10,000-pound obelisk out of around 340 bicycles, and one tricycle. Called "Cyclisk". It was installed on a streetcorner in Santa Rosa, California. Grieve and Spector collected the hundreds of bicycles they needed for the project from community donations.

skid-patch and gear-inch chart

fyi and mine..

iaminlikewithmybike

bigup

colors

cinelli

via cylceangelo

Peugeot - Alchemy [Mediamikser.pl]

Mission Workshop Rondel SPD street shoe

The Mission Workshop Rondel SPD shoe is now in stock @iMD. Order yours here today.

These bad dogs are limited so if you want em, better hustle.

Dalek's "Chaos On The Edge of Reason" Opening

Dalek's "Chaos On The Edge of Reason" Opening

Early last month at the Hurley Space art gallery in Costa Mesa, California, was the unveiling of James Marshall’s, aka "Dalek", ambitious 37-foot continuous wall mural painting.  Boasting 75 different Pantone colors and one thousand, one hundred and seventy-six man-hours of work, Dalek’s mural was offered in a “by the foot” method, where patrons were able to select their portion of the painting they wanted to purchase and have it cut out and framed on site. Each person who purchased a piece of the painting was then photographed and interviewed on video about how and why they made their particular selection.   Check out the Hurley site, as well as Dalek’s blog, for more information and news. 

little wheel

I rarely play computer games, but I came across this one and it is quite fun.
Little Wheel

more polo

So I went back for more Polo in Manitowoc.  It was a blast.  I've known about bike polo for years and never gave it much thought, in fact I thought it was kind of nerdy.  It wasn't until recently that I became aware of the greatness of the sport.  It's a great way for people to get together and play games.  Often in our culture young people lack imaginative game play and just resort to..  I don't know what to people do these days..  ;)   I've found that the Manty league that I've been playing with (and I suspect this to be the case everywhere) is like a magnet attracting at least one or two more people each week.  We did away with the 'one pass before goal minimum" last night just to speed up the games.  There were enough players for four teams with a couple subs.  I had so much fun the previous week, I threw together a dedicated polo bike.  Its not perfect, I need a larger cog, and as of last night the front wheel is destroyed. 

Announcing Midwest's Newest Bike Polo Club

Manitowoc Wi has officially got it going on.  I had the pleasure of playing with them last night and one thing is for sure, they've got heart.  I have nothing bad to say, except that eventually the sun light dissipated.  They all played hard, and some of them have got some serious skill.  They started it sometime early this summer with a dedicated group of four.  Tonight there was about 12 players and about 10 spectators.  There is no hint of them slowing down and it will be excited to see and play more games with them. 

I made wheel protection for the occasion

Bike Swap Meet

CRANKED Bike Studio

I might be selling my fixed beauty. :)

Hope to see you there!

Fluffy Mc Cloud

It can't be about bikes all the time..

FLUFFY MC CLOUD from conorfinnegan on Vimeo.

Alright Sidis' are cool if you if your into that sort of thing.  I would be if I had excess amounts of cash laying around.   They have got a sale going on right now on all 2010 shoes.  Visit your participating SIDI retailer between August 13 and August 22, 2010  

Total Freedom

Part of my life is dedicating to collecting and sharing books.  Half of them only get half read, but I enjoy the hunt for words that are composed in such a way to give me pleasure and or teach me something of value.  I came across Total Freedom: The Essential Krishnamurti 

"[Krishnamurti's] language is naked, revelatory and inspiring. It pierces the clouds of philosophy which confound our thought and restores the springs of action... He initiated no new faith or dogma, questioned everything, cultivated doubt and perseverance, freed himself of illusion and enchantment of pride, vanity, and every subtle form of dominion over others... I know of no other living man whose thought is more inspiring." --Henry Miller

Basically, this guy throws down some food for thought.  Iv'e held in my hands many books from authors who attempted to explain the unknown.  Krishnamurti cuts threw it and speaks about what is.  
Cheers

Core Strength

via BicycleMagazine.com

Get your core going.  It's been on my mind a bit I've got to work to keep mine strong.
Having a strong core is everything.  It is the foundation for the muscle movements and how they all work together.  If you have a squishy middle, you are more likely to have a sore back, on or off the bike.  You can have the strongest legs in the world, but you need a solid middle to help them do there job.  My favorite exercise called the bicycle crunch.  Do a few minutes of these to feel the burn.  Two photos below taken from here.  A great site for ab muscle building.

or sit-ups or whatever, I just like this photo

Oldest Velodrome in the U.S.

-Did you know the oldest velodrome in the U.S. is in the Midwest?  In fact its in Kenosha Wisconsin.

 Kenosha Velodrome

They have an open session where anybody can ride.  Contact them for more details

pict. by hipsternascar

Raleigh Highlife cyclocross bike

longest pubcrawl

Rapha Continental | B2B | Boston, MA to Windsor, VT from RAPHA on Vimeo.

jersey stink

Now that we are on the subject of jerseys, I should warn, don't be the funky guy.  I mean I don't care, cause it might just be me.  Everything below taken from BicycleMagazine.com

The nasty truth is that this invisible affront to cycling etiquette is nearly universal—at least some of your riding gear has a stench that just doesn't go away, even after washing. "We call it 'permafunk,'" says Sandy Nicholls, marketing director for Giordana clothing and other brands. Here's what you can do to defeat permafunk—and what to wear so it doesn't happen in the first place.

MECHANICS OF STINK Technical clothing, especially when it's synthetically based, has very tightly woven fibers. The tight weave makes the garment relatively rugged and lightweight, and can contribute to the fabric's stretchiness as well as durability. But a tight weave has a potentially ugly downside: a million tiny spaces that promote bacterial growth. The good news is that it's not you who smells, it's your stuff. The better news is that killing the bacteria, or at least inhibiting its growth, even on synthetics, isn't that difficult.

STOP THE STENCH Some of the solutions are obvious. "Don't leave your just-worn clothing in a gym bag overnight and don't wear it for several rides in a row without washing it," says Castelli's brand manager, Steve Smith. Instead, do wash it right after riding, "and hang it on a line to dry, because these fabrics do better air drying than being broken down by the heat of a dryer," Smith says.

It may smell fine dry, but if the stench returns 15 minutes into a ride, you didn't defunk it enough. To take it to the next level, try using hydrogen peroxide along with your regular laundry detergent, or use a color-safe anti-stink detergent such as No Sweat ($37/2 liters, or 64 washes; nosweatlaundry.com), which contains hydrogen peroxide in a low concentration. As for other so-called eco ways to stifle bacteria, we found no evidence that adding citronella, peppermint, tea tree or other oils to the wash does anything but temporarily mask the smell. And whatever you do, avoid the use of fabric softeners, cautions Castelli's Smith: "The chemicals in fabric softeners really damage the breathability of high-performance fabrics."

jersey love

Jersey Love,, not the state.  I was on a brief search for a suitable jersey.  I did find one I liked,
found at the nice folks at Tree Fort Bikes, but then I found an add that would get me a free Cadillac Jersey from inside this months Bicycle Magazine.  Did you order your yet?  I ordered mine,, Oh, but that wasn't good enough.  Those nifty Aurora Jersey I posted about the other day,, I contacted Aurora and I was told there was two left.  One grey one and one white one.  How could I pass that up?  I couldn't could I? Impossible,  so I said Great, send one over.  And now I am eagerly awaiting my very own, ultra hip jersey.  I am pretty sure my street cred. will in fact go up.  By how much, I am not yet sure.
--There is One left,  the white one in the pict I posted earlier.  Get it! do it, and together our street cred will soar almost as high as Icurus.  Not as high, because then the wax on our wings would melt.  And that would be..bad. 

tavis-Coburn bike-art

nice

Tavis Coburn

velodrome as art

Sam Starr built and rode a velodrome inside his university library for his senior project.

I f'ing love this. Watch as much as you can to capture of bit of what he gained from the experience.

Circulus from machine project on Vimeo.

If anyone wants to get me a really cool present, I would say that this handlebar mount speaker by Mash is pretty cool.

Safer that headphones.  Take a look here

Inspirational Ball Handling

Bike Polo - EHBPC 2010 in Geneva from Cycle Oxford on Vimeo.

  Artist Matt W. Moore Hand-Painted found here -> -> -> MOMENTUM

I'll think of these next time I paint a frame.

Minneapolis Dethrones Portland As Bike-Friendliest City

www.wired.com

Minneapolis Dethrones Portland As Bike-Friendliest City

Aurora x Monow Jersey

Hot.      AURORA collective teamed up with MONOW, a one-man design studio based in Stuttgart/Germany. 
Check it
They are all out right now,  but the word is a new batch is brewing up.  

They've got these cool foot strappy things also

Bianchi – 2011 Pista Fixed Gear Bicycles

How could you not love Bianchi ?   Cool classic look Unlike the traditional track frame style, the new Pista Sei Giorni and Pista Dalmine is made out of aluminum rather than conventional steel. Comes with 48x16 gear ratio and is equipted with a flip flop hub yo.  Release details are still uncertain but keep your eyes open for more information to come.

Riverwest24

Via: Christopher Brooks

Before I get to far, I have to mention, the highlight of my summer for the past three yrs.  There is a cozy neighborhood in Milwaukee that birthed a community urban bike-race called the Riverwest 24.  It is a 24 hr. bike race though the neighborhood tallying laps and grabbing fun bonus checkpoints for doing various things such as, being an extra in a indi movie, getting a ridiculous hair cut, painting a picture, or getting a tattoo.  The first yr had just over a hundred people, the second yr more than doubled and this yr they capped it at 500.  It is more an expression of a community that loves to get together and bike than it is a competitive bike race,  although it certainly it that as well.   There are tons of pictures highlighting this event here is the first one that I grabbed that caught my eye.

Great Bike Travellers #1: Frank van Rijn, pt 1 of 2 // BROOKS ENGLAND

I like this guys style.  Write to bike to bike to write.

The Journey to Rid myself of Excess Stuff
Bike Snob and I seem to be on a bit of a parallel journey at the moment.  A new excitement for minimalism and the spirituality of it.  Our culture is a breeding ground for chaos and the collection of stuff.  I have recently become obsessed with getting rid of excess stuff.   On my journey to discover I found a network of people coincidences that let me know I had stumble on to something that was right for me.  I was led to http://www.farbeyondthestars.com/57-things/ from there I was led to the guy who wrote The The 4-Hour Workweek.  He has an equally minimum amount of stuff.  Coincidences were happening and mini-explosions were going off. The only book he owned was a book my brother-in-law gave me I Will Teach You To Be Rich so I figured I would pull that one off the shelf.  I started re-reading it and yeah, its the only money book I will probably ever read. 
That's it for now.  I am on an upward spiral and I really is about attracting what you want out of life even if you don't know what it is.  Keep in mind what you want and hold on to it, eventually it will come to the surface.
Cheers

I'm looking into making my own jerseys for my rw24 team. inspired by the chicago cutting crews cool look.   I'm liking these circle thingys for a possible jersey,  who knows..

Oh I almost forgot, go over and pick up the Sept. copy of Bicycling Mag. inside is an insert that gets you a FREE Cadillac Bike Jersey. You just have to go to a Cadi dealer and test drive a car. go forth

The first news that comes to mind is The Milwaukee Bike Polo Club just took First Place in the 2010 World HardCourt Bike Polo Championship in Berlin ! Good Job guys!

Photo Via Kevin Walsh

and http://benscycle.blogspot.com/