The Ride to Fred's

I took the opportunity today to join a group for a ride through downtown and ending at Fred's Texas Cafe, a local landmark. I've got to say that until very recently, easy paced group rides in Fort Worth were practically unheard of, or at least they weren't advertised to the general public. Now it seems that there's a ride happening practically every week. That's progress! I believe much of the credit for this has to go to Bike Friendly Oak Cliff which has spawned a slew of Bike Friendly groups across the U.S. and even the world (New Zealand).

Here are some photos from today's ride:

I felt like riding something different today. With this being an easy paced ride I dusted off the Raleigh Folder. The problem with the Folder is that there is nowhere to carry a water bottle. I had to improvise.

The group gathered up at Trinity Park.

Emily powers up Radio Shack Hill (for lack of a better name).

Everybody grabbed some shade waiting for the group to reform. Did I mention that it was about 100 degrees today?

Our destination.

Locking up the bikes.

Twister's trying to decide what to eat.

***I've recently started moderating comments to my blog. I had been receiving lots weird comments in Chinese with links to questionable sites. As a result I noticed a couple of legitimate comments ended up in my spam filter and weren't discovered till this morning. I apologize for this and hope that you guys don't think I was being rude. I get pretty busy and can't always respond to comments but I want to be sure that your comments are visible.

Random Stuff 08-25-09

Well, after removing and degreasing the chain on the Takara, I noticed that the cranks catch noticeably in a couple of positions when I spin them. When I disassembled the rear hub, I saw that the ancient grease had partially solidified preventing the wheel from rolling smoothly. I'm guessing the grease in bottom bracket is in a similar condition. I've been warned against messing with it, but if I don't, it will be all I think about.

After a couple of trips to BicycleTutor.com I figured out that If I do the overhaul myself I will need a crank arm puller, bottom bracket wrench and a hooked lock ring wrench. It doesn't look like the job is that difficult, it's gathering the proper tools that is the biggest obstacle. Should I spend money for the tools, or do I have my LBS take care of the job for me? I 'm sure my LBS could use the business.

Random Stuff:

Hampsten Cycles: Back in July, House Industries announced that they had completed printing posters for Hampsten Cycles. As you can see below, the poster features the famous Gavia Pass photo. I've visited the Hampsten Cycles blog but hadn't seen anything about the poster till this afternoon. The poster is $30 plus $5 shipping. Go to their blog for ordering info.

Bike Friendly Oak Cliff: As part of B.F.O.C.'s Cyclesomatic bike festival, there will be a bike swap on Sunday, October 11th, which I'm assuming will be in conjunction with the Urban Street Bazaar taking place the same day. Here's a link to the Cyclesomatic schedule of events.

Photo borrowed from the B.F.O.C. blog.

Fuji Otaku: I love it when I stumble across an interesting new blog. You guys may have come across this one before, but I discovered Fuji Otaku while doing a google image search for Dia Compe non- aero brake hoods. There is lots of information on old steel Fuji bikes and photos of parts in the process of being cleaned and restored. I couldn't find info on the author but it looks like it''s been a couple of months since the last post. I hope this blog hasn't been abandoned. By the way my seventeen year old daughter pointed out that Otaku is used to describe somebody who is a die-hard fan.

The authors beautiful Gran Tourer

I remember seeing this type of wrap on occassion back in the 80's. I think it looks good when done right.

Train vs. Tornado: My weather nerd son found this video and showed it to me the other day. What's worse than the tornado is the tanker car collision at the end. Interesting video.

Let's Make it Happen!

Not too long ago I received an email from Paul (Doohickie) in response to comments on one of my posts, although now I don't remember which post it was. Paul was wondering what I thought about some of the area bloggers getting together to organize a ride, something similar to the Bike Friendly Oak Cliff rides or even a Tweed Ride, when the weather cools off of course. I think it's a great idea! We discussed the idea of starting from the parking areas near the Trinity Trails and riding up Magnolia Avenue and continuing on through downtown.

I personally like the idea of inviting everyone, fixed gear, cruisers, 3 speeds, families, and making it helmet optional and free. Anybody have any thoughts, ideas?

B.F.O.C. seems to have things figured out.

This looks like it's going to be worth a trip to Oak Cliff.

B.F.O.C.

I was working in Oak Cliff today and decided to stop off at Hunky's Hamburgers for lunch. They make a great swiss mushroom burger! There by the front door was an orange Bike Friendly Oak Cliff (B.F.O.C.) sticker. If you arrive by bike at one of the many businesses in Oak Cliff displaying a B.F.O.C. sticker you get a discount. Pretty neat! Stop by their blog to see a list of participating businesses.

B.F.O.C. is coming up on their first anniversary. They've managed to put together some very successful themed rides in that time. The Bonnie and Clyde Tour on March 29th had over two hundred cyclist show up. I wish we had something similar to B.F.O.C. here in Fort Worth. Here's a link to a news video about the tour. 

City Cyclist

City Cyclist is one of the newest bike shops in town. According to their website they opened in 2007. They were originally located a couple of doors over in the same shopping center but they quickly outgrew the space. They had their grand re-opening last weekend. This new location is a huge improvement and co-owners Debbie Bartlett and Mike Nichols are proud of it. They are geared toward servicing commuters, recreational cyclists and recumbant riders which means that anybody can walk in here with a discount store bike or ask questions without encountering "attitude". The shop has quickly become the favorite of a certain infamous supercommuter/ blogger known as Doohickie (here's his commuting blog).

My son's Trek needed a derailleur adjustment so I decided to have my older son run the bike over for some professional attention. I picked up the bike this afternoon which gave me the chance to have a nice conversation with the owners. Mike gave me a tour of their new space so I took the opportunity to snap a few photos. 

Biria Classic Dutch Bike

I didn't notice at the shop but it looks like this trike is equipped with a generator hub. Pretty neat!

Mike told me that they wanted an open shop area so that customers would feel comfortable approaching the mechanics while their bikes are being worked on.

This area is going to be a bike cleaning station that will be available to customers. You can bring your own cleaners or use some provided by the shop (for a small fee). There is a drain in the floor and a small washout sink. There will also be an airhose attached to the line on the wall that can be used to dry your bike.

Owners Debbie and Mike

I may have convinced Mike to sponsor some short, easy paced rides starting from the shop and various locations around town. The guys from Bike Friendly Oak Cliff have started regular themed rides, it would be nice to have something similar. 

City Cyclist is located at 6236 McCart Avenue in Fort Worth. Take the time to stop by and visit. 

Random Stuff 01-14-09

I didn't have a chance to ride today. As soon as I got home from work I put my 12 year old son's mountain bike up for sale on Craigslist.  Since my shoulder surgery I'm not taking any chances riding off-road. Unfortunately this means that my son doesn't get ride either. We decided to sell the mountain bike and get him an old steel touring bike so that we can do some overnight tours together. He's pretty excited about it and has been looking at the loaded rigs on Bike Forums. It will be nice to have some company on my rides. On to the Random Stuff.

Steven has posted some pictures and video of an indoor ramp he and his buddies have built up in Massachusets. It's a great way to beat the cold. Check out his blog Soul to Sport.  

Fellow Fort Worth Blogger Doohickie has posted some pictures from Sunday's swap meet. He's also got some pictures from a Christmas Eve ride he made to the Fort Worth Water Gardens. I didn't realize a scene from the 1975 science fiction movie Logan's Run was filmed there. 

Doohickie's  rescued bike-The Dumpster Queen. 

Logan's Run: I saw this with my parents at the local drive-in. I feel really old.

I found a link to Stronlight's Photostream on somebody elses blog, I just can't remember who. He's got lots of great photos. Be sure to read his profile.

This sounds like a lot of fun, Bike Friendly Oak Cliff will be leading a ride on Sunday February 1st 2009, following the footsteps of Oswald on the day of J.F.K.'s assasination. Stop by their blog for more information.

Still Busy

The U.P.S. guy just dropped off my new Albatross bars. All I can do is look at them for now. They're just going to sit there until I get a chance to install them, hopefully sometime next week. Things have been crazy around here. The photographer from Pegasus News showed up last night and took lots of photos of my shop. She even managed to get a few photos of me. If you've notice there isn't a picture of me anywhere in my blog. I like taking photos I just have never liked being in them. I'm also trying to get things ready for Jingle Bash. 

Last night while searching the bike section in the Dallas area Craigslist I came across an announcement for Bikefaire in Oak Cliff this Sunday. 

Oak Cliff a community in southwest Dallas. The announcement had a link to a brand new blog called "Bicycle Friendly Oak Cliff". According to the blog, Bikefaire is an effort to raise money for bike racks to be place around the O.C. area. I contacted the organizers and if everything goes right we'll be out there selling shirts.

Useless info: The original Batgirl (Yvonne Craig) used to live in Oak Cliff.