Wednesday, April 22, 2015

The Indignity of Being a Fred: Closure

Well here's something you already knew:

People don't know how to use quick-release skewers:

The company said that the issue is not a manufacturing defect on the QR but due to improper use or adjustment. Riders who leave the QR in the open position can potentially have the lever caught in the front disc brake while riding.

Therefore, Trek is recalling like a million bikes in North America alone.  To put this in perspective, when motor vehicle operators kill themselves or others through user error we call that an "accident"--and when they kill themselves or others due to a manufacturing defect the company simply changes its name from "G.M." to "New G.M." and avoids responsibility:

A federal bankruptcy judge on Wednesday blocked most lawsuits against General Motors over a defective ignition switch that is tied to at least 84 deaths, sparing the automaker billions in claims and handing it a momentous victory as it tries to move past its gravest safety crisis.

Judge Robert E. Gerber of the United State Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan ruled that the liability shield included in the 2009 agreement that lifted G.M. from bankruptcy should be allowed to remain in place, even though the company has acknowledged that many employees knew about the defective switch at the time but failed to alert owners of the cars that they might have a potential claim against the company.

Meanwhile, some politician somewhere will manage to squeeze a mandatory bicycle helme(n)t law out of this quick release thing, I guarantee it.

Also, here's an update on Bike Expo New York:

I'll be at the Walz booth on Friday, May 1st and Saturday May 2nd, from 12-2pm, where I will hear your concerns, heal your minor ailments with a laying on of hands, and autograph any memorabilia you place before me provided it is reasonably sanitary.  There will be free hats for the first arrivals, as well as some special discounts, because people love discounts.  Also, on Saturday morning, we'll meet up for a ride and there will be some free hats there too.  As for what that ride will entail, maybe some of us can meet uptown early and go over the bridge or something, and then others of us can meet a little later somewhere convenient in Manhattan and then ride to the Expo together, making hand signals, obeying traffic signals, and generally being model cyclists every inch of the way.

I'll cement all these plans with Tubasti in the next couple of days, and I'm open to feedback as far as a Saturday ride goes, which you can leave downstairs there in the comments.

Speaking of riding over the bridge, the one I am referring to is the George Washington Bridge, which spans the Hudson River and connects New York City with, unfortunately, New Jersey.  Together the George Washington Bridge and the Golden Gate Bridge form America's Bookends of Fred-dom, as they are the by far most heavily Fred-ridden water crossings in these United States:

(Freds Across America)

As a New York City Fred I've made innumerable trips across the GWB over the years, flogging myself on all the customary climbs and feeding at all the usual cafés.  However, in recent years I've largely avoided it for two reason:

1) Since moving north it's much easier for me to stay on my side of the river;
2) The GWB and environs are teeming--nay, festering--with Freds and Tridorks.

It's true.  Either the sheer volume of Lycra-clad weenies has increased exponentially in recent years, or else I've just gotten less patient in my old age--or, most likely, both.  Regardless, I just can't take it anymore.  For example, the GWB and points north is one of the few regions in America where you will encounter up to 20 Tridorks at a time riding "together" (they can't get too close to each other or else they crash) outside of a "race" setting, and it's even more horrifying than it sounds--especially if you get stuck behind them at the hairpin turn on the bridge bike path where each one has to unclip and tippy-toe his or her way through one inept bike-handler at a time.  It's easily as bad as being stuck in Christie-induced car traffic.

It is, however, safe-ish to venture over the bridge on weekdays, when employment culls the Fredly herds to manageable size.  Yesterday the weather was beautiful, and it occurred to me that I hadn't been over the bridge for many months, and so I resolved to take in some of the tried-and-true Fred routes--only to find that the goddamn south path was closed:

Every Fred and Frederica in New York City knows how profoundly irritating this is, because it means you have to use the north path, which entails climbing and descending a shitload of slippery metal stairs:

Fortunately I'm using mountain bike pedals on my new bike, but I've clomped up and down these stairs in road shoes more times than I care to count.

If you're using your bike properly you'll encounter at least one (1) metaphor for your life on each ride, and here was mine.  Looking south from the span you take in New York City's mighty skyline:

And looking north you survey the relatively bucolic Hudson Valley:

This succinctly describes my current situation: my life is inexorably intertwined with the city, yet I increasingly feel the pull of the "country," and in the meantime I'm caught in between in sort of a no-man's land and schlepping a goddamn bicycle up and down flights of stairs.

Anyway, here's another cyclist who is able to slip away for a ride in the afternoon:

In New York City there are generally two (2) types of people who can do this:

1) Older well-to-do types on spiffy bicycles;
2) Lazy freeloaders who contribute very little to society (your racers, your coaches, your bike bloggers) and avoid office settings at all costs so they can spend inordinate amounts of time riding bicycles.

I'm going to go ahead and assume he's a part of the first group, while I'm obviously a card-carrying member of the second.

Hey, look, more steps!

These stairs are really fun when you're wearing road shoes.  Fortunately I wasn't, but you can also see right through the grate to the roadway below, and I suffer from mild vertigo so it sucked anyway:

(Despite all my rage I am still just a Fred in a cage.)

Though I did pause to contemplate the beauty of Fort Lee through the chain-link fence:

(Whenever I visit Fort Lee I always hear Danny Rose saying, "Lou, the directions were good, it was a Gulf station...")

Finally, after making my way through the rat cage, I was finished with the stairs.

Just kidding!

Goddamn fucking stairs.

Once I'd finally reached the mainland I commemorated my new bicycle's first visit to New Jersey with a photograph:

And then we headed straight to Palisades Interstate Park, known to area cyclists as "River Road" and famous for its tempting cache of padlocked traffic cones:

If you live in New York City, River Road is by far your best "bang for the buck" in terms of short-ish road rides, since it's right over the bridge and it's basically just a picturesque and lightly-trafficked park road that climbs up and down the Palisades.

Unfortunately, it was closed:

However, I wasn't too concerned.  River Road is often "closed," but I usually just slip in anyway.  Plus, the sign said it was closed though February 2015, and it was now April, so I figured if anybody stopped me I could claim I thought it was open by now:

This would be fairly disingenuous of me though, since everybody in New York and New Jersey knows that in Port Authority parlance February 2015 means February 2035.

Still, there were signs that Freds had been here before me, such as this plaintive sign:

As well as this cluster of Fred prints:

And a telltale spent energy packet which confirmed that Freds had grazed here recently:

(Seriously, why the fuck can't Freds hold onto their food wrappers?!?)

Like a tracker, I sniffed the packet, licked the remaining contents to determine its age, and looked piercingly off into the distance as a breeze blew through the vents in my helme(n)t.

I concluded it was safe to proceed.

Here's why River Road is something of an oasis for New York City-area cyclists:

So you can imagine my surprise when just a short while I found they were actually doing work:

In all my years of riding River Road while it was closed I'd never encountered work.  Rockslides?  Sure.  Sheets of ice?  Absolutely.  Felled trees?  You betcha.

But honest-to-goodness work?

This was unprecedented.

I contemplated turning around, then I contemplated asking if they minded if I rode through, and then I disregarded both those ideas and just rolled on by without warning.

Either they didn't see me, or they didn't give a shit.

Finally, after two (2) closures, I had attained the open road:

As it happens, the above spot is pretty much directly across the river from my home, which is right about there:

Stop by anytime.

And here's a gratuitous photo of my new bike in front of a waterfall:

The bike felt even better than it did last Saturday, though that's probably because I've finally got a few road miles in my legs.  Whatever the reason, I remain delighted with it and haven't felt the need or inclination to tweak a thing, and in fact the only change I've made is installing a chain stay protector since I noticed there wasn't one--though keep in mind when I say "installing a chain stay protector" I mean "sticking some electrical tape on there."

At some point I'll probably try the bike with some Panaracer Pasela PTs, since they're currently my favorite tires and (on paper anyway) should be lighter and more "supple" than what's on there now (Panaracer RibMos if you're wondering), but as it is the bike is wanting for nothing and I'd mostly be doing it out of Fredly curiosity.

By the way, the scenic overlook with the waterfall also affords you a sweeping view of downtown Yonkers:

If you squint you can see the smokestack for the old Otis elevator factory, though you'll almost certainly have fallen asleep before then.

Here's another gratuitous shot of the bike looking optimistically ahead:

And indeed I did proceed ahead, all the way to Piermont, the quaint Rockland County town where residents are tortured by the sound of cyclists having conversations.

As I mentioned, I do think about moving out of the city, but I know that if I did I too would find insane things to get annoyed about, so I'm probably much better off where I don't notice the little things because I'm too distracted by the big things.

In Piermont I rolled up to the local watering hole and fixed the bike to the ol' hitchin' post:

And by the time I returned it had been surrounded by crabon:

I feel compelled to point out that those crabon wheels probably cost the same as the Milwaukee, yet the Milwaukee is about a thousand times classier.

And I'm not even going to comment on the melted cheese saddle.

On the way back I detoured onto the only bit of gravel New York City Freds ever ride on (apart from their annual pilgrimage to Battenkill of course):

This is because any more than that would require the purchase of a special gravel-specific bicycle.

In all, the riding around here is very pleasant, though as you return to the GWB automotive floodplain the entire area is subsumed by motor vehicles.  This is why when you get close to the bridge you leave the main road and take a calmer side street, but to my chagrin that side street was closed for roadwork:

I was disinclined to return to Route 9W, which at this point in its run is highly inhospitable to cyclists, so I figured I'd just slip past the construction by using the sidewalk.  Of course in the city I don't ride on the sidewalk, but the dynamic changes considerably when you're in some auto-centric suburban hellhole, there are absolutely no pedestrians around, and indeed nobody has walked on the sidewalk since 1987.

The police, however, were having none of it, and an officer who looked to be just a few months out of the frat house stopped me.

"You're just going to ride by?  Don't you see me pointing at you?"

In fact I hadn't seen him pointing at me due to the glare on his windshield.  My first impulse was to try to defend myself, but it occurred to me that this officer of the law was probably something like 20 years younger than me, and suddenly it seemed ridiculous to bother.  So instead, I dismounted, leaned jauntily on my Brooks Cambium, and looked him right in the eye.

"Did you think you were just going to ride through here?," he continued.

"To be honest that's exactly what I was planning to do," I replied.

It wasn't quite the Jedi mind trick as he he insisted I take the detour anyway, but he faltered enough in the wake of my indifference that I rode away pleased and he returned to his car irritated.

Speaking of cars, here's an amusing sign:

It's meant for the legions of people who park their cars here in order to ride, but I like to think that New Jersey is pioneering the use of bike-specific parking meters.

Finally, I was almost home--save for like eleventy million stairs:

And it wasn't until around Seaman and Cumming that I realized I could have avoided both the confrontation with the police officer and the shitty part of 9W by simply walking the bike past the roadwork.

This is why bicycles are like drugs: you'll do almost anything to stay on them.


Anonymous said...

I am so podiesque!

Serial Retrogrouch said...


herzogone said...


Pathetic Old Cyclist said...

One! KOM in Stravatalk.

ken e. said...


Anonymous said...

Too easy! Campagnolo!

Pathetic Old Cyclist said...

Crap, now I did t even get turd!

GG Allin's Carmelita said...

top tin

Anonymous said...

But did you ever reach Woo-hoo-hoo-hoo speeds?

Unknown said...

Top ten?

Anonymous said...

Nice ride!


Vernal Magina said...

Damn, I must've clicked to the site right when the post was first posted, reading at my leisure with my second coffee when I saw the No Comments down below at the bottom. Could probably podiumed. Damn, darn

to which I'll add, isn't "a sweeping view of downtown Yonkers" enough of a reason not to do such a ride?! (Let alone, like, having to be in New Jersey in the first place.)

Grump said...

Snobby, Tubasti isn't much better than Elmer's School Glue.
Stick with either Conti or Mastik One glue. (depending on your brand of tire)

streepo said...


BikeSnobNYC said...


Dear god, not a tubular glue debate--shoot me now!!!

Helments, helments!!!

--Wildcat Rock Machine

Bryan said...

Bravo. I really like the aesthetics of your new bike. It is classy. Especially when on the same rack as a Cervelo and next to a limp dick Selle SMP.

Not that you care, but I have been using RibMos on my commuter (for 4 whole rides so far!) and have been very pleased with them (at getting both for less than the cost of one Schwalbe Marathon). Haven't ridden on the Paselas yet - though I would not write them off for a future purchase

TSD said...

What could be more Fredly than a WHITE rain jacket? Lugging around a special cleaning cloth for your high-definition optics and little covers for your cleats, perhaps? May as well throw in some cycle-specific premoistened towelettes in case you have to touch a dirty chain... while wearing that white jacket.

recumbent conspiracy theorist said...


crosspalms said...

Chicago's celebrating Earth Day with howling winds and 40 degrees. A few minutes after I fed a feral cat on my back porch this morning, I looked out and saw ice pellets bouncing on the walk. Not quite as bucolic as Snob's Jersey ride, but also not as many stairs.

Anonymous said...

"(Seriously, why the fuck can't Freds hold onto their food wrappers?!?)"

it's too much extra weight on an epic ride. duh.

bad boy of the north said...

nice road trip,jedi knight.anyway,just got a chance to read this past Sunday's "pearls before swine" cartoon strip by Stephan pastis.
very funny.happy earth day,all.

bad boy of the north said... the first 25.

babble on said...

Bikes are like drugs cause they make you feel high, too.

Hee Haw the Barista said...

These aren't the rrhoids you are looking for.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the ride, Wildcat.
We have another Polar Vortex here in the middle states.

PotbellyJoe said...

Wow a North Jersey Cop that is young and not a complete D-bag? He must be one of the new call-ups to fill the ranks of the guys they had to fire for misconduct.

On Saturday I was riding the home-stretch of a longer ride and coming into my town on a county road that has 10' wide lanes and crumbling shoulders. I was riding 2' to the left of the side of the road to avoid the crumbling.

It was 40 mph and I was holding 19-22. Other cars were getting around me fine, but one lays on it's horn and starts flashing it's headlights (at 10:30 AM). I turn my head an see a deranged woman behind the wheel yelling at me to get out of her way. I pointed that she could go around me with a very specific finger.

I was only 3-4 miles from my home at this point.

The street I live on has a large park on it and the Little League was holding opening day that morning, with the road closed.

Sure enough here is that lady screaming in the face of a fireman to move the barricade so that she can drive through.

I rode past both of them between the barricades, parked my bike against a tree walked to the nearby police officer and told him, "That woman screaming at the fireman to let her run over children threatened to run me over 3 miles ago."

"That's not in our town."

"Well she's here now. Berating a fireman. At least make her take a few deep breaths before you let her drive away."


P.S. Spokey, She was in a beige 2003 Honda Civic. From the Auten Rd. area of Hillsborough.

Anonymous said...

”…anyway,just got a chance to read this past Sunday's "pearls before swine" cartoon strip by Stephan pastis. very funny.happy earth day,all.

Referenced carton is here and is very funny.

dop said...

At least the stairwells had a 'courtesy groove' to roll your bike, instead of a cyclocross carry.

Anonymous said...

Let’s try that cartoon link again.

Anonymous said...

yes the south path has been closed for the past 2-3 weeks during weekdays on the Chris Christie memorial bridge. Irritating, but I suppose they are doing some "necessary" maintenance or maybe a cyclist pissed Christie off recently. Heading out to San Fran tomorrow to do the west coast fred ride.

bad boy of the north said...

thanks anonymous 1:26.i haven't figured how to set up a link here.maybe one day.

Anonymous said...

I agree it is annoyingly crowded with cyclists over the bridge these days, I generally will just ride there a couple mornings a week but rarely go on the weekends unless in the winter, when it is empty. I did head over this past Sunday and it was pretty crowded, but not nearly as bad as Saturday where it looked like a fucking shit show. For me the crowds take some of the fun out of it but I refuse to drive my car out of the city to find some non-crowded non-life-threatening riding so the GWB is all I have.

Anonymous said...

Is that you trying to swim the Gowanus for Earth Day?
I think you can walk that river.

Anonymous said...

So, those "official" signs that they have posted are either new, or I have major tunnel vision when I'm flying down the river road at 15mph average speed. Woot Woot. There is a point - I noticed that there was one on Alpine Road. That was my emergency exit so I didn't have to lug my phat arse any further. The sign said that cyclists had to walk it up, or were just not welcome. Is this a new thang? Should I have disregarded it and road up anyway, hugging the wall the whole time? Has anybody gotten a ticket for using the Alpine Road exit?

BikeSnobNYC said...


Unless your bike weighs like 40 pounds it's much easier to carry than to use the awkward "courtesy groove."

--Wildcat Etc.

Anonymous said...

Agreed, those grooves are death traps; DEATH traps. I'll just carry my bike down thank you very much. Only bit of cyclocross I do.

Anonymous said...

The "older well to do type" fred you saw on the GWB and his "spiffy bicycle" followed you to Rockland. Compare the Giant bike in question in the picture climbing the GWB and parked in Rockland - no question they're one and the same. Not interesting at all, just figured I'd point out.

grog said...

Happy Earth Day. About eleventy-million times.

babble on said...

TSD - the white rain jackets are the obviously Fredliest choice, cause they are semi-opaque, which means you can see the team/club jersey colours worn underneath. Aaaaaand they tend to biodegrade within a season or two, too which only adds to their smugness factor.

no dumb questions, only a dumb person said...

What mountain bike pedals are you using?

Honestly I only have one bike, a single speed that I use to commute, so I don't know the ins and outs of all the various kinds of bikes, and specifically of the various kinds pedals and things. Is the point that you don't need cleats with them? I mean, they look like something you'd have to clip into somehow from the pics, but you seem to enjoy not doing so.

Anyway, just curious.

Anonymous said...

I think mountain bike cleats have a flat bottom, most of the time, so that you can walk on them. They do have cleats, just not protruding. Right?

no dumb questions, only a dumb person said...

Ooooh, that makes sense. Thanks!

Sinking to a new Low said...

"And here's a gratuitous photo of my new bike in front of a waterfall:"

Snob's status sinks to below ground level. Exactly why I read this blog. Gold Star! Keep up the gratuitous work.

Anonymous said...

Because Manhattan sucks for cycling, particularly on the greenway on weekends due to the crowds, I would suggest the following ride, which is epic and involves two states, a bridge, an island and a boat ride.

Start on NJ side of GWB
South on Hudson Terrace to River Road
Take River Road down to around Guttenberg (maybe ~5-6 miles from GWB)and you can pick up a bike/walking lane there along the Hudson which goes all the way down to Jersey City (except a minor detour in Hoboken through or around the Path station).
Continue through Liberty Park in Jersey City
Make your way to and through beautiful Bayonne where you get on the Bayonne bridge to Staten Island. when you get off the bridge get on Richmond terrace heading east towards SI ferry. A quick Ferry ride back to Manhattan puts you less than a miles ride to Battery Park puts you about a mile from the Bike expo. I've done versions of this before and it is fun, some fast riding and some slow riding and a moderate distance, around 20 miles probably. If you have time stop at Liedy's Shore Inn on Richmond Terrace the oldest bar in SI.

Black Coffee said...

BABBLE, last night someone told me there's an uncountable number of coffee shops in Vancouver. She's Canadian, so I have to find out if she's just boasting or not. True? False?

leroy said...

My dog assures me that your observation about old, well-to-do, cyclists on spiffy bikes couldn't possibly apply to me.

He said something about "only one out three" that I didn't quite get.

3G said...

Phew! SO glad you weren't injured riding on that gravel.

Dan said...

#crimingwhilstwhite love you snob. Keep on stickin' it to the man. Safely.

Pathetic Old Cyclist said...

Those quick release levers are more of a problem then they're worth. I just tighten up the nut and let the lawyer nubs keep the wheel in place.

Anonymous said...

In related news, automobiles are dangerous when the driver fails to make sure the lugnuts are tight.

Anonymous said...

I mean, seriously. If you're that worried about your QR flopping around and crossing the streams with your dick breaks you could just move the protrudening member to the other end of the receiving article.

CommieCanuck said...

Well, for Trek, any publicity is good publicity. As the death toll due to the GM ignition failures hits 87, all that reporting has actually driven UP sales of the Chevy Cruze.
"hey honeeeyy, ya know that death car on the TeeVee? Pretty cheap right now, maybe we should look at one..."


Freddy Murcks said...

Snob - I knew that you liked to kvetch, but I didn't realize what a delicate flower you are. Allergic hives and mild vertigo. Do you also suffer from dropsy?

dop said...

I like the courtesy groove up the stairs on the Upper East Side esplanade when I'm riding my commuter bike (admittedly 25 lb bike plus rear rack baggage with change of shoes & clothes.) OTOH, if I ride a few blocks uptown, I bypass the stairs.

Anonymous said...

"(Seriously, why the fuck can't Freds hold onto their food wrappers?!?)" Because they believe what they are doing is so urgently important that they can't take the fraction of a second to discard the wrapper properly, but need to flamboyantly discard the wrappers as say a soldier tosses a hand grenade pin, or a medic discards a bandage wrapper. Get the picture. When you are a Fred, time is crucial!

MC's Hammer said...

Oi loike the Smashing Pumpkin ref. Here's another:

"Whoah, nice Topeak Roadmorph cuz!"

Spokey said...


I was thinking brooks blvd but that would be the same town so now i'm thinking duke is park.

yeah auten road can be bad. I've had women scream at me on that road a couple times. for some reason, they particularly like the triangle intersection. Of course that's justified. There are only two straight through lanes, one turning left lane, and one turning right lane.

Today was pretty good up till about an hour ago. Fortunately I got home before the rain. Unfortunately not before the wind. I considered turning around and going away from home figuring the wind gods would give me a head wind and I could just coast backwards to home.

Anonymous said...

vsk said ...

Anonymous of 2:00pm -

I didn't know the Bayonne Br had a ped / bike path. Or do you just say "fuckit" and take a lane hence the "some fast riding"?


Oh no! Not the north side stairs.
I won't be able to carry my fully loaded rand a nuuah up the steps to get to the girlfriend's house.
I'll just turn the key and go...


McFly said...

Quick Release Neck sounds far more serious than Shermer's neck.

BikeSnobNYC said...


You have no idea.

--Wildcat Etc.

Anonymous said...


Pro tip #1: Check out the bottom of before heading out and you can go straight to the appropriate path. They've been switching back and forth between North and South paths quite frequently lately.

Pro tip #2: When the North path is open, you can skip the first two staircases by riding the car ramp. You'll have to watch for traffic merging from the right, but it's usually not too bad. On the NJ side, it may be possible to skip the first stair case as that ramp appears to have been closed (to cars) for some time. Note that you will need above average upper body strength for a cyclist in order to hoist your bike over the railing.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous 1:42 PM: Holy shit! You are right! Identical right down to the bike computer and the saddle bag with rear light attached! Perhaps the melted cheese saddle helps with bladder issues in older men.

BikeSnobNYC said...


Yes, I've been riding over the GW so infrequently lately I didn't think to check.

I have done the skip-the-staircase thing but wasn't feeling particularly lucky yesterday. Anyway, I have to save my fancy traffic-dodging moves for the Broadway Bridge.

--Wildcat Rock Machine

Joe K. said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
PotbellyJoe said...

@Spokey, my incident was on Roycefield, but I saw her vehicle when I had come up Auten at the CVS. It has a very specific dent in the rear quarter panel.

Freddy Murcks said...

I know it probably not cool to diss other bike bloggers and I know that Snob and Fattie are at least on friendly terms; nonetheless, I think I have concluded that Elden "The Fat Cyclist" Nelson is the biggest whore in biketown.

babble on said...

Black Coffee - Yes. She is not kidding. Sometimes the Starbucks will be kitty corner from one another. It's silly. Useless for me, cause in a most unfredly twist of fate, I can't drink the stuff.

JLRB said...


babble on said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
JLRB said...

I would love to join the pre-Expo expedition, but life events

babble on said...

Sheesh. Freddy - bike blogger whoring is a GOOD thing!

bad boy of the north said...

beware of coyotes!

Freddy Murcks said...

Babble - I draw the line at shamelessly whoring for Special Ed so that they will give you free shit.

Freddy Murcks said...

By the way Babble, I don't mean that you are whoring for Special Ed. Fattie is shamelessly whoring for Special Ed. I have problems with subject, verb agreement.

Spokey said...

greenwaycommuter at 3:46 PM
Anonymous 1:42 PM:

i don't buy it. they're pretty close but the one on the bridge has some round thing to the right of the stem that kinda looks like a bell. the one next of snobbie is lacking that.

personally i think it's scarier that there are two of them.

Spokey said...



that's intersection where i get abused. auten has 4 lanes (incl turn lanes) each way. i could understand yelling on the other road (triangle ) as it only has 3 lanes in each direction. no driver can reasonably expect to get by with only 3 lanes.

i avoided that one today. went through duke farms instead and down 206 which was unusually noisy for some reason. but at least i don't often climb steps to cross the river

Spokey said...





Bennett Smurf said...



Is this what makes a baby ghost cry all night?

Use bucolic in a sentence ...

Baby Casper cried all night long. He gots the bucolic.

Cipo International LLC said...

AN IMAX Production in 3D ...

Cipo. The Man. The Meat Mass. The Mightiest of Swordspersons.

Anonymous said...

Spokey: Right of the stem looks like a bike light to me, and it's there in both pics.

Wiener von Braun said...

Great Craftsmanship on display today. AWESOME DUE!

P. Bateman said...

tough to photograph a black bike i guess

leroy said...

Freddy -- I don't agree.

Elden devotes a lot of time and energy to doing good.

He has an amazing ability to get people to go along for the ride.

He also has the gift of making what he does look easy. It isn't. (And I'm not referring to riding.)

More power to him.

Anonymous said...

LOL "despite all my rage..."

1983 David Byrne said...


Dreams walking in broad daylight

Unknown said...

Vsk - the Bayonne bridge does indeed have a ped/bike path.

Spokey said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Spokey said...

let's try again


i'm sure that snobbie is giggling in his grave as a couple idiots (or at least one here) argue over two of his pics, but i don't think so.

i think you're talking about the thing i've circled in green. i'm talking about the thing in red in pic 1 that i don't see in pic 2.

but then again, i'm virtually blind in one eye so perhaps i'm mistaken here. perhaps other miscreants here who have nothing better to do should weigh in.

Freddy Murcks said...

Leroy - I am not saying that he isn't a decent guy (I don't know him personally, but he does seem nice enough) and I am not saying that he doesn't use his powers mostly for good. However, I have gotten the sense from observing his tweets from Sea Otter and his constant shilling for Special Ed that he is also in it for the free shit (and the star fucking).

BikeSnobNYC said...


It's the same bike, I saw the guy on the bridge and at the cafe.

--Wildcat Etc.

Francisco said...

I just went from Paselas to ribmos on my double cross dc. Paselas are comfy, gum sidewall makes a cushy ride and, easier to remove for flat repair. Those ribmos are faster I find, speed is easier to maintai.

leroy said...

Freddy -- I really don't get that sense at all.

The current Specialized boosting is related to the fact that Elden got Specialized to let a contest winner pick any frame Specialized makes. Whatever you think about Michael Sinyard, it's not outrageous (in fact, it's a pretty good idea)to promo the fundraiser by profiling the Specialized bikes available.

As for the star relations....

I don't mean to brag, but this weekend, a very famous musician saw me in my stretchy bike clothes, smiled, and said hello. My dog claims she was also pointing and laughing, but I say it just shows I still have it.

I just can't remember what it is exactly.

And she may have been reading the Fat Cyclist logo on my jersey.

Anonymous said...

Neither Snobby's beer bike nor the Freds' crabon bikes appear to be locked up. I thought that part of the world was a hotbed of bike theft?

Anonymous said...

is it any wonder I've got too much time on my hands

BikeSnobNYC said...

Anonymous 6:15pm,


--Wildcat Etc.

Anonymous said...

Crossing the gwb is such a hassel, plus if you add some of the old aqucaduct trail less tridorks will come. So why don't we start the ride at your house. We all can finally meet your kids.

JLRB said...

By the way - on the littering Fred's issue - my guess is they toss their gel packs because they see the prodopers do it, plus stupidity

Dooth said...

Wildcat, your photography looks better than ever.
How about a BSNYC water bottle for your new bike?

Stammer Gel said...

WCRM, you he he'd.
It wasn't quite the Jedi mind trick as he he insisted

Dop century said...

I love a photo-dense smells like victory

BamaPhred said...

Travelogue, love it!
At least it was a used food wrapper, not a used condom.

JLRB said...

So in the three bike photo in Piedmont, what is the deal with the saddle on the bike next to the Beer bike? The nose is crooked so it looks like one of those aluminum foil swans waiters used to make with leftovers, before styrofoam took over everywhere (including helments, of course)

Arizona Hillbilly said...

Bicycles ARE like drugs. The first one was free...

PotbellyJoe said...


We'll have to get a ride together one of these days.

I went out tonight and everything jived. I had a moment of zen on after the climb from the river in Branchburg on Old York headed East, took to the drops and powered all of the way to Basilone's statue. I don't think I fell below 19 the entire way.

It was the closest I ever felt to being a robot, but according to this checkbox, I am not one.

Anonymous said...

Thought you might find this interesting as a positive step in the car "accident" debate ... In Perth, Western Australia, where this happened in January "A cyclist struck by a car and dragged along Beaufort Street says he feared he would be seriously injured" They are now planning to make "careless driving" a crime, specifically mentioning cyclists as those who are often the victims "When you're driving and you're not paying attention, that's when people run into cyclists, that's when they go up a kerb and they might hit a pedestrian.
-- Police Minister Liza Harvey"

The Robot Engineer said...

"... should be lighter and more "supple" than what's on there now (Panaracer RibMos"
To even imply that RiBiMos have any sort of suppleness is laughable. Although foldable, the tread is so over-thick for wear that they have no compliance there.

The Candid Cyclist said...

"Stop riding your bike immediately" Or move the QR lever to the other side and ride it trouble free until the end of time without the slightest chance it will get caught in the rotor.

Frigging drama queens.

Dirty Bert said...

i also remember when the 5 boro tour wasn't so expensive to ride in it. No lottery, but a lot of walking, which was the biggest turn off for me. The first year, i rode, some guy took a massive heart attack and died. Another year, some kid, took a header into a concrete divider (no helmet) and I have witness some gnarly crashes.

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Anonymous said...

Someone probably mentioned this but the bike on the bridge is the same as in the rack later on.

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