It appears the staff of Kryptonite, makers of heavy duty and innovative bike locks, have gotten together with NYC’s elder statesmen (and women) of the messenger community.
Kevin “Squid” Bolger, Heather Muller and Greg Ugalde have given their input, from people who rely on their bikes not being stolen and use them on a daily basis for work. Sounds like expert advice and the right consultants for the task.
Kryptonite is going to introduce a new line of locks…the Messenger series.
Can’t wait. Here is a sneak preview video featuring some of NYC’s most prestigious couriers.
This Sunday (7/20/14) is another exciting food adventure for foldup bicycle enthusiasts in NYC.
Here is a message from Brommie himself, Steven Huang: “If you are in NYC this Sunday 07/20 from 12pm to 5pm please consider
joining me for a folding bike food adventure! Since 7/21 is National
Ice Cream Day and 7/23 is National Hot Dog Day, we will have to have a
hot dog/veggie dog and a few scoops of ice cream?
Foldie Foodie is a leisurely paced folding bike food ride (around
13-19 miles) with stops in between for food, fun and interesting
conversations. A guide fee of $10/$20 whichever amount you would like
to contribute will be collected at the ride to support the designing &
organizing of foldie foodie. All folding bikes are welcome!
Non-folding bike friends and family who are “folding bike curious”
might be able to join the ride as guest if we have space, please email
me to confirm if we have space for our big wheels guest?
Kindly reply this email with your folding bike model & color to
reserve your spot for this Sunday 07/20 as soon as possible and I will
reply with ride details as the confirmation by Saturday once I get
your reservation email. I will confirm the exact meeting location in
the email and it will likely be in the Chelsea/Flatiron area.
Most food spots have some sort of vegetarian/vegan options available,
but bring your own if you have special dietary preferences or needs.
Come for the food, come for the ride, but don’t let your dietary
preference/restriction prevent you from joining the fun!
Look forward seeing you at the ride! Otherwise, please keep cool with
your brommie or unbrommie folding bike. Ride safe and always
fold/unfold your bike gracefully Have a great summer!”
The Radavist is a wild animal of his own. Formerly blogging at Prollyisnotprobably.com, he has a new name for the site (theradavist.com) but still the number one authority on bike culture which he brings to life daily thorough posts and photographs. He also has a new kit created by Endo Customs out of Los Angeles which is pretty damn rad.
Based on the wild animals you may encounter out in the Bush, like the black widow spider or Australia’s version the red back spider…or maybe just the illusive John “Prolly” Watson, barreling down some single track.
These jerseys and bibs are available for pre-order now.
Jersey: $125
Bib: $145
So if you’re looking for a unique look and wanna keep the “Rubber Side Up,” roll with the Radavist.
For more back story on these kits, ride over here.
Time’s Up rolls on through the warm weather with great events, garden clean-ups and bike mechanic workshops for all to learn repair skills to keep you and your bike riding smooth all summer long.
There will be a BIG bike mechanic appreciation party coming up in August to show lots of love for all of our volunteers working hard sharing their skills.
SAVE THE DATE:
Friday, August 22nd, 2014
ABC No Rio
156 Rivington Street
Lower East Side
Manhattan
Time’s Up! is a 20-year-old nonprofit, grassroots environmental organization working to make New York City- and the world- a healthier and more sustainable place to live. All of our events and campaigns are free and open to the public- educational and fun bike rides, bike repair workshops, movie nights and presentations, community garden workdays and outreach, bike and public space advocacy and more.
Come join us for the rides, events and workshops listed below. Details follow the headlines.
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1. DUMPSTER DIVING FOOD RIDE
Thursday, July 17th, 8:00pm
Tompkins Square Park-Center Circle
Manhattan.
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2. CONEY ISLAND CYCLONE RIDE
Friday, July 18th, 7:00pm
Three different meet up times and spots. (see below for details)
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3. PEDAL TO PADDLE PELHAM BAY PARK
Sunday, July 20th, 11:30pm
Pelham Bay Park
Last Stop on the #6 Train
At the bottom of the ramp, in the park.
Bronx.
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4. PEACE BIKE RIDE
Sunday, July 20th, 2pm (third Sunday of every Month)
Meet at the Gandhi Statue, SW corner of Union Square-Manhattan
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5. CRITICAL MASS MANHATTAN
Friday, July 25th, 7:00pm
Union Square North, Manhattan
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6. RIVERSIDE RIDE
Saturday, June 26th, 10:00pm
Columbus Circle, Manhattan.
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**ONGOING**
7. COMMUNITY GARDEN VOLUNTEER DAYS
See events listing for details
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8. VOLUNTEER BICYCE RECYCLING DAYS
Wednesdays & Sundays, 4:00pm-8pm
Brooklyn Space, 99 South 6th St.-Williamsburg
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9. WEEKLY BIKE REPAIR WORKSHOPS
In both NYC and Brooklyn locations!
See events listing for details.
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BOOKMARK OUR EVENTS CALENDAR!
The Brooklyn Greenway Initiative are the stewards of the water front pathway along Brooklyn’s coast line. They are involved with 23 NYC Department of Transportation projects, along 14 miles of space from Greenpoint to Bay Ridge.
A few key things they are working on:
–5 miles of the Greenway are now available for public use.
–4 additional segments are now in design and engineering.
–BGI is actively seeking funding to move more segments toward implementation.
To celebrate their hard work and raise funds there will be an Epic Bike Ride on Sunday July 27th.
Here is more about it:
Join Brooklyn Greenway Initiative and partners for a 40-mile bike ride along the Brooklyn-Queens waterfronts.
Starting at Newtown Barge Playground, Greenpoint and finishing at Rockaway Beach, the route showcases the potential of a fully completed Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway combined with a completed Jamaica Bay Greenway.
Following the ride, join the after-party at the beach with food from the Rockaway food vendors and a swim in the ocean. Participants can make their own way back independently via the A train or by bicycle.
Alternate starts are available at Owls Head Park (26-mile ride) and Floyd Bennett Field (14-mile ride).
By participating in The Epic Ride, you are supporting Brooklyn Greenway Initiative, the non-profit organization committed to the establishment, development and long-term stewardship of the Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway. When complete, this 14-mile landscaped route for pedestrians and cyclists will connect neighborhood parks and open spaces from Greenpoint to Bay Ridge.
The 101st Tour de France just completed it’s 8th Stage with a jam packed series of races in the upper regions of the French countryside known as the “Hell of the North.” Rain soaked roads, cobblestones and a few crashes have added to the drama as the sprinters battle it out and the fresh blood of the teams try for stage victories. There have been a few causalities along the way including top sprinter Mark Cavendish (Team OPQS) and last years winner British Rider Chris Froome (Team Sky) both abandoning due to injuries.
While that other world sporting event is coming to a close
Le Tour is just heating up with the general classification of riders set to take off and battle it out for the yellow jersey and eventually the overall tour win.
Le Tour has a tradition of starting the race outside of France with outside cities bidding to host the event. This year race organizes picked England for the first three stages, starting in Yorkshire and ending in London. The reasoning was the recent success of British riders and to be able to compete with the viewers of the World Cup, knowing the UK would draw huge numbers of fans…and they were right,
Here is a video from the Grand Depart (first stage 7/5/14) highlighting the start.
(Due to embedding restrictions-view it here.
Of course real Yorkshire folk say the best way to ride the tour is to trade in those fancy clipless pedals, for clogs:
Following along with a sporting event of this magnitude can be daunting and also a bit boring, I mean not everyone has time to watch hundreds miles of live race coverage or wants to.
For a couple of years now I found it really fascinating to follow along the race using the social media, twitter. It’s an amazing way of combining news articles and sports updates with personal accounts of riders, fans and just about anyone else following along. It’s this great mash-up of information that adds all kinds of dimensions to the scope of an event like this.
For those interested in playing along, the official twitter feed for the Tour is @letour. I use the hastag #TDF and constantly type that into my search.
You can also make your own lists of individual twitter accounts you want to follow and go directly to those list. I made my own Tour de France and added in as many of the teams and riders that I could find.
I’ve included a cheat sheet of all of the 22 teams and 198 riders along with general managers. There is also some basic information about each team along with some fun facts.
Enjoy:
July 5th-27th
22 teams
9 riders per team for 198 participants
The 101st Tour de France or for the bike snobbish set-Le Tour, is underway. This year, in another attempt to expand the influence of professional cycling to other places, Le Tour starts with three stages in the UK.
Stage one or-the Grand Depart-takes the 22 teams of 198 riders from Leeds (you know where the Who (the band) famously played live) to Harrogate, a spa town in North Yorkshire.
Then the second stage this 22 stage (2,271 miles in total) bicycle race goes between York and Sheffield.
Before heading to France, stage 3 goes from Cambridge to London.
Here is an article from the BBC about some of the highlights of the race in England and some sights tourists might miss out on:
From Leeds to London: What the Tour de France riders will probably miss.
By: Laurence Cawley
July 5th, 2014
Tourism bosses hope the Tour de France will showcase England’s beautiful scenery to the world. But ironically the riders will not see much of it. Instead they will see bitumen, road markings, perhaps some blurred spectators’ faces, a forest of whirling wheels and Lycra-clad bottoms. So what cultural treats will they be missing out on?
The Tour de France is two races in one. The first will see 198 riders set off on Saturday from Leeds on a 21-stage, 2,271mile (3,656km) pedal slog to Paris.
Here in NYC, the Gotham West Market will be having screenings and events in celebration of Le Tour–here is more:
From the beginning, Gotham West Market was designed to be the destination for cyclists, and with this in mind, a month of programming kicks off this Saturday to celebrate the Tour de France, the crème de la crème of cycling events. From July 5 through July 27, cycling enthusiasts are welcome to bike on over and celebrate at the Market with daily screenings, special offers and of course, some healthy competition. More info below.
Screenings: Gotham West Market will air the race daily on their two projection screens starting at 8am. Special viewing tables will be reserved for those coming by to catch the action. For those who miss the live broadcast, the race will be aired again at 3pm daily inside NYC Velo. Additionally, the first person in the market to watch the Tour de France will get a complimentary Blue Bottle Coffee and Choza taco (tokens located in the viewing areas).
Perks: For those visiting the Market dressed cycling gear, The Cannibal will offer a selection of 2 for 1 beers, Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams’ pop-up shop will upgrade cones and cups with an extra scoop of ice cream and El Colmado will offer a Contador and Valverde wine special in honor of the top-seeded Spanish riders.
NYC Velo: NYC Velo, the Market’s own bike shop and concierge will offer complimentary bicycle concierge starting at 7:45am daily and also offer 10% off storewide to shoppers who visits during the Tour de France.
Quizzes: Guests can test their cycling knowledge with Tour de France quizzes. Prizes include gift cards from Court Street Grocers Sandwich Shop gift cards, ice cream trios from Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams, $20 tokens to The Brooklyn Kitchen and Genuine Roadside’s complimentary meal trading cards.
The bicycle is a brilliant invention for its analog simplicity. Still that hasn’t stopped modern digital technology form “re-inventing the wheel.” There’s been a lots of advancements in accessories for bicycles such as rear cameras and the adaptation of smart phones and now Samsung takes a few of these developments and puts them into one bike. This global electronics company has created the Smart Bike, that can view rear traffic through a small camera and phone screen and create it’s own laser bike lanes to protect the rider.
This is part of a new Italian program sponsored by Samsung-Maestros Academy to bring new life into older crafts using technology.
Here is more from Fast CoExist Magazine:
MAKE YOUR OWN BIKE LANE WITH THIS BIKE’S SPECIAL LASER BEAMS
THE SAMSUNG SMART BIKE CAN SPY ON CARS BEHIND YOU, AND CREATE A BIKE LANE FOR PROTECTION.
By: Adele Peters
Here’s what you get when a smartphone manufacturer asks a master bike builder and a young apprentice to reimagine a better bicycle: A design that uses apps to cleverly make streets safer for cyclists.
The Samsung Smart Bike comes with a built-in phone holder on the handlebars; as you ride, you can look at a map or use the phone to stream footage from a camera at the back of the bike, so you can see if a car’s headed your way. As it gets dark, the phone automatically activates four laser beams–two in front, and two in back–to project a red “bike lane” on the street around you.
Friday night (6/27/14) was the Red Bull Mini Drome challenge in NYC. This event travels to cities all over the world and this was the second time around, held at the Brooklyn Masonic Temple in Crown Heights.
Urban riders and fixed gear freestylers go head to head on a tiny wooden veledrome. Although its small, racers can get up to speeds of 25 mph, riding laps on ultra tight, banked curves. Very little room for error so the race is as much mental as physical.
This year was also a bit different with riders forming teams of two.
Here is a recap from Red Bull: Hundreds of New Yorkers packed in the Brooklyn Masonic Temple tonight to see 100 of the top fixed gear cyclists rip on the world’s steepest and smallest velodrome for the return of Red Bull Mini Drome. For the second year in a row, 100 passionate fixed gear racers signed up to race in 10-lap heats around steep wooden banks, resembling a mini Olympic cycling track, in the center of one of Brooklyn’s oldest temples.
In an exciting team finish, local shop Brooklyn Machine Works teammates Darren Lee and Austin Horse edged out the Lockfoot shop duo to be crowned the competition’s 2014 team champions.
Have a great summer!” 
