Trinity Trail Users Unite!

URGENT! If you use the Trinity Trail system, and you enjoy that beautiful grove of trees just west of Rogers Road, read this article now!

Contact Chesapeake Energy and tell them you want them to save these trees! Since they stand to make millions from this gas drilling, I believe they can afford to move the trees temporarily to a safe location while the wells are being drilled, and then return them to this grove when the drilling is completed. This is something that can be done; the University of Texas at Austin recently temporarily moved some 100-year-old oak trees for a construction project.

They have a corporate responsibility department as well, where they claim to want to make positive contributions to the communities in which they do business. Contact them here to ask them to be good corporate citizens and SAVE OUR TREES!

A new bike is born

Tim watches his new bike come to life:



Tim with the finished product:



Tim thanks his his favorite bike mechanic:



A closer look at the bike:

Kinda hot, isn't it?

More working cyclists

I've been amazed at the number of pedicab riders there are in this city. It was recently estimated that there are around 400 pedicabs operating in midtown Manhattan:


I've been wondering how good a living riders can make with so much competition. I did see lots of empty cabs looking for a fare:


I even saw a few girl-powered pedicabs, which I thought was very cool. Ladies, what better way to tone those legs for swimsuit season?:


Some of the cabs sell advertising as well. I thought this full-canopy recumbent cab was one of the sharper-looking pedicabs in town. These are operated by BicyTaxi:

ghostbiker

Trackstar

I visited Trackstar, NYC's most famous track bike boutique yesterday. Unfortunately they had no bidons to add to our collection. Here are some photos of the shop:

Live from Fort Worth... I mean, New York

So, I looked into the windows at the NBC studio in Rockefeller Plaza, and what's on the cue cards for the evening news but a promo for a Fort Worth story!

Battery Park

We had dinner with my old pal Jim after he got off work yesterday. This was the view from our table:


The busiest cyclists in the city are the food delivery guys:

Observations about New Jersey

1. It pretty much looks like Arlington.

2. The Atlantic Ocean is cold

3. Apparently "Newark" is not pronounced "New-irk" like I'd previously believed. The locals say "Nork"

4. It's got lots more cyclists than I expected to see, but they all ride Huffies.

Pandilla de ciclistas

Hey!!
U guys member dis noche?
I stumbled on this photo and thought
I need to through out a mad thanks
to everyone.

Thanks for being a part of
Panther City Bicycles.

ps... this is also out to show that I still
remember how to Blog about Bikes.

Jason

Hello from Brooklyn

Here's some guy named Matt we shared dinner with at a tiny two-table restaurant called Islands. I had the curried goat; it was incredible:


Sometimes I wish our Trinity Trails in Fort Worth were wide enough to have separate lanes like these for bikes and pedestrians:

Poli'hale Beach Kaua'i

Kick'n it wit my Hotstuff on da Poli'hale Beach.
The largest, most remote, and most inaccessible Beach
on the Island of Kaua'i. Poli'hale is as far West on
the side of the Island as one can go before running
into the cliffs of the Napal'i coast
(seen in photo behind us).
Hwy 50 ends and a rough dirt road begins with miles of
rugged mud filled slop.
It's a good thing I had a jeep... Yeah.
When we arrived, We were confronted with a huge expanse
of white sand beach and crazy surf as far as the eye could see.
The towering cliffs of the even more inaccessible Napali coast
begin here and stretch all the way around to the North Shore.
This side of the Island is by far Where it's at if you enjoy the
remote and the undeveloped.

Hang'n with the Locs Yeah

On our recent Kaua'i trip.
Cherri and I on the way to Po'ipu beach on the South shore
stopped into the small village of Koloa to grap some snacks.
There we meet some of the Locals who told us of this great
place to get some locally distilled Raseberry Moonshine
(it's there in my hand see)
Ahhh....
Jason

Donation needed

Jason and I have an idea for the next great bicycle commuting innovation. In order to start our prototyping process, we need a couple of old mountain bike wheels.

They don't have to be in perfect condition, but they do need to be rideable for testing purposes. In all likelihood, they will be destroyed by the end of the testing process, so they need to be wheels you're willing to part with permanently.

If our idea works, though, we'll set you up with our new innovation for free...

Greener lawn, bluer sky

A few years ago I learned that running a lawnmower engine for 45 minutes released as much greenhouse gas as driving a well-maintained car from Fort Worth to Houston and back.

Considering myself environmentally conscious yet having owned lots of gas powered lawn equipment, that hit me pretty hard. I almost immediately bought a reel mower and loved it.

Now, I have gone 100% emmisions free when it comes to lawn care. I mow with a reel mower, trim with a rechargeable electric string trimmer (with batteries recharged by Green Mountain renewable energy), and use a good, old-fashioned push broom to clean up.

My lawn is loving it. I leave it long and cut it often, and it's never been greener. Of course, all the rain we've had this spring hasn't hurt a bit.







Oh, and to answer the inevitable smart-a** question before it gets asked:

YES. I will come over and do your yard, too. For a reasonable price.

If you love Fort Worth...

then you'll want one of these T-Shirts. Lots more sizes, both men's and women's "baby doll" cut, arriving next week! Your favorite bike shop's logo is on the back.

The pink bike got a shiny new part today...

but you'd never know it. It's got a new SKF bottom bracket. It only took 4 years of rain-or-shine riding to wear out the original BB.

SKF is a high-end German bearing manufacturer. They've long made the bearings for Camapgnolo's buttery-smooth square taper bottom brackets. Recently, they've decided to produce their own line of ISIS- and Octalink-compatible bottom brackets, and I was impressed by the quality of this one. It's not the lightest unit by far, but I have a feeling like my Mom's '78 240D it's built to last. Go Germans!

Monday Night Ride

Bring your road bike and ride with me to Benbrook Lake tomorrow night. 25-30 miles, at a comfortable pace (15 mph or so). Rain or shine (but no lightning).

Slow Sunday

After a very busy week, it sure is quiet around here today... is it too humid to ride or something?

Here's one of my favorite views of the Tarrant County Courthouse ever:



Who says there's no urban cycling scene in Fort Worth!?

We got one of these this week:

The Mahattan Cruisers "Vendetta":



It's generated a lot of interest. It's easy to see why... it looks awesome, it's comfy and fun to ride, and it's a bargain @ $269.

Dave's new bike

We just got a sweet new single speed bike for our buddy Dave... check out his new On-One Inbred 29er:



I love the color (on-one calls it "sand"). In fact, if I were brand manager of a really cool bike company with lots of history, and I was creating a truly original bike for urban riding, this is the exact shade of beige I would choose (Tim, I'm talking to you).

The bike has lots of on-one brand parts (seatpost, saddle, rims, fork, stem, mary bars, etc). It also has a nice set of Avid Juicy hydraulic disc brakes. A shot of the fork and front brake caliper:



I'm not sure how I feel about the character on the seat:



One touch I really liked, though, was the ladybug bell. Unfortunately, Dave's bell was damaged in shipping, so it doesn't ring. I installed it anyway, because a bike can always use one more piece of flair: