Urban Biker

Four weeks into training, and the work is finally starting to pay off. I’m beginning to feel like a bike rider again.

The first couple of TNT Saturday rides were miserable by the end. My ass hurt and my hands were numb. I just wanted to get off the bike and never get on again.

But Saturday’s 43-mile loop around Woodside and Menlo Park was great. It was mostly flat except one nasty little incline on Page Mill Road (which I suffered up, even though it’s not very long), and the hill up Old La Honda Road at the end, which wasn’t so bad. I’m starting to learn about pacing and proper nutrition.

Instead of hammering as hard as possible from the start until I blew up, I’m taking things at a much more manageable pace. This is the benefit of riding in a group. The group sets a sane, manageable pace.

And instead of eating and drinking nothing but plain water, I’m feeding myself on the ride. I used to go 30 miles flat out and wonder why I was shagged. I’m drinking some horrible endurance drink. It tastes like sewage, but makes a huge difference.

At the end of this ride I felt really energized. It was only 43 miles — but it’s great to start to feel a bit stronger again. There’s still a long way to go though.

The Tour of the California Alps — better known as The Death Ride — is 129 miles and 15,000+ feet of lung-busting climbing.

As they say, “That Which Does Not Kill Us.”

For the first time since I was a kid, I am raising funds for a good cause: The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) as a participant in their Team In Training program.

This July, we’re going to ride our bikes 130 miles through the High Sierras and over five giant mountain passes (15,000 feet of climbing). It’s called The Death Ride. Why? Because it’s a killer.

The Death Ride is a grueling sufferfest — a day of never-ending pain. But training for it is a great way to get in shape.

The pain of the the ride is nothing compared to the pain suffered by victims of blood cancer. That's why I'm trying to raise money for the Leukemia Society.

Can I ask you to help this year?

Please use this link to my Fundraising Page to donate online quickly and securely plus learn more about my progress. You will receive a confirmation of your donation by email and I will be notified as soon as you make your donation.

Inventor of the telephone, the light bulb, the stock ticker. Obsessive milk-drinker. Fixie nut. Here’s Thomas Edison doing some tricks on his fixed-gear bike, circa 1899. Watch it and wish you were this bad ass.

This short video of track bikers in San Francisco is beautifully put together, with great shots set to lovely music,. It makes biking in San Francisco look extremely romantic and attractive. Watching it, you think to yourself, “I wish I biked there.” And then you remember, I do — and it sucks! There’s potholes and SUVs and idiots everywhere, and I almost get nailed every fucking day!

My broheem lives and works in Japan’s Okayama prefecture, a calm little corner of the country next to the sea. On April 5, somebody dropped their key at the bike parking area. This is how they got it back.

This video was shot at my alma mater, the University of Vermont. A.k.a. “Groovy Youvee.” I don’t know what’s more Vermont about this guy — the obvious white boy clueless haircut-and-shades combo or the tricked out boom box MTB combo blasting the roots reggae. This guy pulls some serious wheelies all around the UVM campus. At one point, he flies by the very spot next to Redstone hall where I puked in the bushes and then got arrested by the dorm cops after getting drunk for the very first time at age 17. Good times!

The Italians have you covered. I have to say, those arm warmers are freaking fantastic. Might want to consider something a little more substantial in the pants department, though. [pic via GIOS]

I can only imagine riding this sick-looking machine on my morning commute. Makes me want to find a job where the wifey and I can work together so we’ll have a good excuse… From Bohemian Bicycles in Tuscon, Arizona. Full gallery here.

Pic by Joan Veldkamp/L.A. Times

Great story from the L.A. Times about the Tokyo police nabbing a bicycle thief, then tracking down the bike’s owner and returning it personally.

“But the guy who stole my bike from outside a Tokyo train station one recent Saturday night wasn’t looking for anything flashy. He was drunk — it was payday and he had over-celebrated. He had slept well past his stop and was kicked off the last train of the night at the last station on the line. It was a crime of necessity: Steal the wheels or walk.

My bicycle was available because I never lock it. Not even when I’m leaving it outside a busy train station overnight.

This is Japan. Nobody steals your stuff here. Safest place in the developed world. You can look it up in the guidebooks.”

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