Cycling in DC - 1912

Title: Wilbur H. Woodward, 428 Third St., N.W., Washington, D.C., Western Union messenger 236, one of the youngsters on the border-line, (15 yrs. old) works until 8 P.M. only. Location: Washington (D.C.), District of Columbia.

From the Library of Congress Prints & Photographs online catalog.

Parking Garage - Trailer with Two Bikes

Parking garage - trailer with two bikes
Originally uploaded by Michael Neubert

OK, so this is the first time I have seen this - the guy used to have a trail-a-bike built for two kids, now he has two 16 wheel bikes he hauls in a bike trailer after the kids are dropped off at day care. (It's hard to see in this photo, but there are two bikes there - you can see the two green helmets, anyway.)

Surreal.

Traitor Ruben - Photo on Flickr

Traitor Ruben - new cycle
Originally uploaded by Michael Neubert

This, oddly, is my most viewed photo on Flickr even though it is low res from a cell phone camera. I bought this bike in August 2009 in Seattle to use as a commuter bike here in Arlington (Virginia). Slightly surprising assortment in the group on an steel frame. Ultegra brake levers/shifters, 105 in the back, FSA compact crank in the front, Avid road disk brakes, Nitto road handlebars.

And yes, the seat post, seat, handlebar tape, hubs and rims are all white (or were, when I bought it - the handlebar tape and seat have changed . . . ). The spokes are black and the frame is a dark grey. The lugged steel fork is chrome (no paint).

I replaced the pedals with cages with better pedals when I got home (Arlington).

The Traitor site has photos showing more details, but the version shown there doesn't have a front derailleur and has a single bar-end shifter. Also they have made some small changes since I bought mine.

I really should take some better photos to make available.

Cycle travel

Getting in Gear: Bike Trips From Colorado to Croatia in the New York Times. Detailed look at bike tourism example in US southwest but lists other examples.

Flickr Blog Entry - Bikes in Amsterdam

Flickr blog entry that points to interesting photos of "pedal power" in Amsterdam.

The Bicycle: It's Selection, Riding and Care (1892)

The Bicycle: It's Selection, Riding and Care is a book (or more like a booklet) published in 1892. The "safety bicycle" (with two wheels of equal size like today's bikes) only became common in the 1880s so for many this was new information, as evidenced by chapters with titles such as "How to Dress," "How to Ride," and before that, "How to Learn to Ride."

Below we see the "incorrect" position for riding a bike, according to this book. Perhaps the fellow is simply having too much of a devil-may-care time??



Here is the "correct" position ~

Major Taylor's story

The Fastest Bicycle Rider in the World is the autobiography of Major Taylor, who was a talented African-American cycle racer at the turn of the last century.

Wikipedia's article on Major Taylor notes that, "Taylor was the first African-American athlete to achieve the level of world champion and only the second black man to win a world championship—after Canadian boxer George Dixon."