Squeeky Clean

Friday was a good day outside, it was about 70 or so and a light breeze. After working in the backyard with my dad to pull up some older high bush cranberry bushes that had outlived their welcome, I decided it was a good time to break out the car-wash equipment and wash and scrub the bike. It had not had a good wash since I started riding it back in early March due to the lack of supplies I had with me in Plattsburgh. I also did not want to buy new supplies to wash it, nor hassle with figuring out how to hook up the hose to the house.

Anyway, it went very well! I was able to scrub it all down and especially the tires and rims, which had built up brake-dust on them. I guess that’s one of the many benefits of disk brakes, no break dust...

It took a couple scrubbing passes and light rinsing with the hose to get everything but unlike most bikes, I didn't have to grease anything, because everything is enclosed and resistant to the elements (or my washing) so little to no grease was lost which meant it was pretty much dirt and brake dust running down the driveway.

One of the myriad of benefits to a traditional European style bike, the fact that everything is enclosed from rain and dirt, not only prolongs the life of gears, chains and cables, it minimizes the need for repairs, prevents grease from getting on pants or shoes, allows riding all year long, and finally allows the bike to be cleaned and scrubbed down without dumping grease into the drain, worrying about getting water in places that might cause harm, or destroying any cloth that is being used to clean the bike.

Some people I feel may think it silly to carefully clean a bicycle, its suppose to be dirty anyway right? But I feel that if you have a good bike, something that does a wonderful job getting you around and carrying everything you need, that that bike should be taken care of and that includes regular washing and inspections to make sure everything is working properly.

I took some pictures and they will be up as soon as I dump them from my camera.

Enjoy the weekend everybody and try to get out on a bike! Its loads of fun!

Welcome to MassBike

Today I started my first internship with MassBike right in downtown Boston. I will post links and other useful information as they come up. I will also talk about, where able, the various projects I am working on.

I will also be doing blog and press updates for the MassBike website.

for now, I hope you have had a great bike to work week, and enjoy the rest of bike month!.

An Endless Summer

For those who pay attention (I think its just Jim left now really :P ) I do cover photography work, both mine and others, here. Its been awhile since I have done something in-depth but since loosing all my work from Washington DC I have been in a bit of a slump, not to mention midterms just passed and I am headed toward the end of the term faster than a zoobomber!

However I want to point interested parties over to the wonderful folks at EcoVelo. Now as a photographer, I envy Alen, who is the main contributor to the blog, man does he take some good shots! He has beautiful situations, with excellent colors and boosted contrasts; I know he does work in Photoshop to give his images that extra boost but none the less wow!

This time though, he has opened up the Endless Summer Contest to any member of the general public anywhere in the world to submit their best photos of an endless summer. I wish I had some for him really, but alas I don't think I do, anyway that does not prevent you from heading over and submitting something! I will make a note here once the contest ends and the voting rounds begin, and voting is very much worthy of your time.

He posts 4-5 entrants a day and will post ever-single entrant he gets, there is a 5-day backlog at the moment but nonetheless. There are also tons of cool prizes from lots of well-known companies!

Please take the time and navigate over there and enjoy the beauty that is EcoVelo and enjoy these summer photographs as that cold north wind starts to blow.

I have 3 food reviews in the pipeline and will be going up in the next 2 or so days, I also will do a bit on the DC bike sharing initiative, there will be pictures, just not mine unfortunately :(

Just Soap

Today is going to be a bit different. I don’t really like promoting one product or another or one company or another, if there is something I have used and I really liked for whatever reason then yep I will mention it, but no other reason then I found it good or cool. That is what today is about. I was down at the Brattleboro, VT food Co-Op amazing place, absolutely huge! If you get a chance and are in southern Vermont it is a must to stop in at. I needed some soap while I was there so was interested in what they had. I found this company, called “Just Soap” the pedal powered natural soap. I was like whoa! Pedal powered? Thankfully they had a nice little brochure there which talks about the process and how they do it and why and found out that its made in Ashfield, MA, basically right around the corner!

From their website

Here's how it works: The bicycle drives a belt that turns a blade in a large stainless steel vat, where we stir together the purest ingredients - saponified olive, coconut and palm oils, essential oils, and organic herbs and spices. Once the ingredients start to thicken, the magic of soap making has begun, and we pour the mixture into wooden frames to set. A few days later, we cut the bars with a wooden press, and cure them for over two months to ensure a long-lasting bar. Our unique bicycle blender allows us to make larger batches of handmade soap.

I have added this to a list of places to try and visit, and I just had to get some once I found out what it was. The soap was well, just soap! It worked very nicely and lasted for a little over a month of everyday use, for a really good price

It seems they don’t distribute out of New England, but maybe If you know your local soap maker, you could suggest this idea to them and give them this company’s contact, because this is pretty much the best idea for using a bike I have seen in a long time.

Google Maps

Bamboo... for a bike?

Ok so most of us know the amazingness of bamboo, if you don't well this should give you a bit of idea. It’s a German site, the link is translated with google translator. Anyway, this story was forwarded tome today by a good friend, it was a featured article on bamboo bikes in Zambia, Africa. Basically the story focuses on the creation of the Zambike and how, out of a perceived need for a rugged bike and quality jobs, a company was built and is flourishing while changing lives and communities. I guess that when I hear about bamboo used for a bike frame I still wonder how it actually works, it just does not seem strong enough, despite what i know about bamboo! This is not new though, Calfee design has been building high end bamboo bikes in California for many years now, i actually saw them featured on a Discovery Network show a year or so ago, now they are teaming up with Zambikes to sell them in th US. I feel that too often many cyclists forget that without fossil fuels their bikes would not be built, yes they don't burn anything but they still use a good deal of energy, many exclaim how they cycle and have cut their dependence on fossil fuels, yes they have cut back on their direct burning of it but working with bamboo is truly a great way to lesson the overall impact of personal transport by using a plant species that is extremely fast growing, can flourish in many climates, does not need fertilisers, and is easy to harvest. I don't see a way just yet to live without the use of fossil fuels in some way, but these bikes bring us one more step closer to that dream of true independence. Pretty sure I want one now.