Oakley Jawbone.  Nice.

For the first time in 35 years I’ve worn a pair of glasses on the ride I didn’t have to take off.  Every single pair of glasses I’ve ever worn has bugged me.  The single most annoying thing about glasses is the top of the frame;  it’s the only thing I see when I’m bent over on the bike, and it’s always bugged the hell out of me.

The Oakley Jawbone fits snug against my face and tends to stay put.  Up hill, down hill, flat; it was all good.  My vision simply was not obstructed by the frames;  I could see. Imagine that!  The arms on new glasses have always felt as though they were crushing my skull just above the ears;  excruciatingly painful.   These fit comfortably with a light touch along the side of my head.  The vents kept the lenses from fogging; gawd I can’t stand wearing a pair of damn glasses that keep reminding me they’re on my face.

I wore these on yesterday’s morning ride that starts before the sun comes up and could see clearly and comfortably in the early morning darkness and again today in the full sun of the late afternoon; for the first time I was wearing a pair of glasses I almost forgot I had on.

Gracias Amigo!

Serving:32g	~4 figs	GU	PyGmy sCröTs (Dried Figs) vs. GU (Goo)
Calories	80	100
Total Fat	0.3g	0g
Sodium	3mg	55mg
Potassium	218mg	45mg
Total Carb	19.73g	25g
Sugars	16.8g	5g
Protein	1.06g	0g
Vitamin C	.4mg	~82mg
Vitamin E	.11mg	14mg
Calcium	52mg	2mg
Magnesium	22mg	NA

One GU (32 grams) is roughly equal to about 4 pygmy scröts (dried black mission figs – pictured above). Which food makes more sense to eat on a long ride?  Dried figs are naturally more complex; it takes your body longer to breakdown and absorb the minerals and sugars (i.e. more sustained).  The high availability of sugar will give you a quick boost and the complexity will sustain the energy longer.  GU can be a decent substitute if you need energy ASAP, however, if you eat all along the ride, early and frequently in small quantities,  you’re likely to feel much better for the entire ride. Read more »

My training journal tells me I rode over 1500 miles in 2010 doing short errands by bicycle.  According to the League of American Cyclists:

There are more people riding bikes than ever. Yet half of all U.S. trips are three miles or less, and more than 90 percent are made by car. The National Bike Summit has improved bicycle-friendliness and livability in many communities, but the need and opportunity to improve physical activity, safety and livability in the U.S., while reducing congestion, greenhouse gas emissions and our dependence on oil – remains greater today than a decade ago.

These issues seem difficult to solve but the answer is simple. The answer is the bicycle. Now is the time to ask Congress to make strategic transportation investments that foster healthy people and healthy communities. Join us March 8-10 in Washington, D.C. to act on a simple solution – the bicycle.

Visit the Bike Summit website at the League of American Cyclists.

BlahBlahFreddie believes bicycle advocacy should be concerned primarily about promoting safety Read more »

The work of photographer Timm Kölln is worth the effort of a click to visit.

Mr. Kölln has also produced a very cool book that would grace any cyclist’s coffee table: The Peloton.  Here’s an example from page 4 of  the The Peloton – Robbie McEwen.

As you can see, the photos are in the spirit of Irving Penn’s famed portraits of workers.

http://www.timmkoelln.com/the_peloton_book/

Today was the first leg of the Tortuga 500: San Jose to Monterey.

The boys (28 dressed head to toe in LaHabra Chronic Taco kits)  headed over the coastal range into Santa Cruz via Hwy 17.

Someone was apparently offended and took note of the kits, navigated to the website,  saw the post on LaHabra Cyclery about the start of the 500 and left the following message:

Dudes…what is up with taking your club ride over hiway 17 from San Jose to Santa Cruz during this mornings commute.  Not only is that freeway closed to bicycles and dangerous as hell, but you probably turned a couple of thousand local drivers into total “bike haters” this morning.  That was a real unfortunate piece of crappy public relations you created for our local bike community…thanks alot…not!

Oops.

Below is a letter written by a Long Beach resident, Mr. William Burkett, to the editors at the Long Beach Press Telegram in response to sports columnist Doug Krikorian’s remark about his frustration with cyclists riding down 2nd St. on the sharrows, slowing traffic, which appeared  in his column posted March 5th.  Mr. Burkett feels that the cycling community is bullying the local government.

Cycling bullies

Re “Cyclists have support in many different corners” (Sports  March 6):

Kudos to Doug Krikorian – it’s about time that folks start standing up to the bullies in the “big-cycling lobby.” There is a big difference between building or modifying infrastructure to accommodate current demand and in building or modifying infrastructure to create demand. It’s not the job of people in city government to decide what is and what isn’t a healthy lifestyle, and to spend our tax dollars to try to force us out of our cars.

Here’s a message to everyone in City Hall: Fill our potholes, pave our roads, maintain adequate police and firefighting personnel, balance your budget, and leave us all alone.

William Burkett

Long Beach (see letters to the editor in today’s paper March 10, 2011)

BlahBlahFreddie’s position on cycling advocacy:  “It’s all about the safety stupid.”

BlahBlahFreddie advocates education for both motorists and cyclists to bring about safer conditions for cycling on our city streets.  We believe sharrows and bike lanes help raise the awareness that bicycles use the city streets too.

The tribe is embarking on a 4 day ride from San Jose to Long Beach;  28 bikes locked and loaded. The event was originally scheduled to depart three weeks ago and postponed due to a storm .  At that time 40 people were committed to the ride but the delay and the disappointment of the postponement shrank the roster of veterans.

The support vehicle, loaded with everyone’s bikes, is heading up to rendezvous with the riders, arriving via Southwest Airlines, in San Jose this afternoon to start the 2011 Tortuga 500: 500 miles in 4 days.  Pain, Suffering and High Comedy will provide hilarious entertainment each and every mile . . .

The powerful , long standing, incumbent Los Angeles city councilman, Tom LaBonge, wins again.  If you read (red) the LA Weekly article (see post below) you’d have discovered that Mr. LaBonge embraced cycling advocacy too.  He’s a savy politico and’s got quite a following.  Lots o’People love Mr. LaBonge.

When’s he running for major?

Visit the election results site for details: http://cityclerk.lacity.org/election/Results.htm

FredDiEgo Custom Bicycle sHow! First stop Solana Beach, drink beer and take the freaking train south to the city;  fooget mr. bLue vEst pYgmy scRot; we just side-sTep’em;  while he’s pissing north, we’re heading south.  Easy sailing since no one’s on the train going south at that time.  After enough beers, who cares anyway.  If necessary, we ride the last 20 into town. Who’s counting.

April 8, 9 & 10th gives us lots o’Options.

Have a look at their 2010 gallery of pixs . .

When you get to the website, click the menu, at the top of the page, “Show Information > 2010 Pictures” to go to the gallery.

Today is the Los Angeles city elections.  Let’s see if the bike advocate, Stephen Box, upsets the powerful incumbent, Tom LaBonge.

Story has it, Box become an advocate for bicycling in Los Angeles after nearly being hit by a bus while riding his bike in the city.  It’s a popular story these days that Major Villaraigosa become outspoken about making the city safer for cycling after an accident with a taxi on Venice Blvd last year.

Read a worthwhile piece about cycling advocacy in Los Angeles and Stephen Box’s run for councilman in the LA Weekly: The Bike Roots

BlahBlahFreddie’s position on bike advocacy: It’s all about the safety stupid.

(If that’s his bike, it looks a little too big for him: time for a bike fit Mr. Box)