We decided to take a driveup to our favorite place yesterday, the Jemez Mountains. It was to be part of my birthday present. We stopped at several places we frequently stop at. It had rained the day before and everything seemed fresh and clean with the smell of pine, juniper, and wet dirt.
We stopped at the Forest Service Office where this huge cottonwood tree is, and bought our yearly permit to cut firewood.
We were interested in seeing the area where the fire had gone through in June on Thompson Ridge where we had heard it had jumped the paved road that goes between Jemez Springs and Los Alamos, New Mexico. We saw these gates and signs at most of the places where you can get off the road. One sign said Closed to Public Use with a sign beside of it that read Please Close the Gate. I know the yellow sign had been there before but it looked funny.
We could see where the fire had burned most of the trees on the hilltops but left a lot of the small grassy areas. This pretty little ranch was lucky, as it came almost to their door.
You can see the burnt trees on this ridge.
But we did see lots more wildflowers than we expected.
A few days ago I borrowed a 7-speed Bella Ciao from Citybiker, and since I had my laptop bag with me I had to find a way to transport it. We looked for a basket that did not require complex installation and found one into which my bag could be stuffed, albeit with some effort.
I was amused to notice that this basket is from the American manufacturer, Nantucket Bike Baskets, but rebranded by the German distributor Liix. Ah, globalisation.
As a transport solution this setup worked well enough for the short trip, to the extent that my bag did not fall out and the handling of the bike was only mildly affected. But the experience made me remember the problems I have with handlebar-mounted baskets: (1) they tend to slide sideways along the handlebars, even when the basket is empty, and (2) when going over a bump, they bounce against the headtube.
For me this presents a dilemma, whereby one must choose between installing complicated (and heavy, and ugly) hardware to prevent the movement, or leaving it as is and cycling with a basket that is constantly sliding and bouncing. The later is annoying, but the former is a hassle. For this reason I like having a basket mounted on a front rack best, but a front rack does not make sense for every bike. I also realise that some just prefer the simplicity of a handlebar-mounted basket that can easily be attached and removed. In Vienna I do not often see cyclists with baskets attached to the handlebars via straps, and I think that is because of the cobblestones: Riding through some parts of the city, the bouncing would be unbearable. But I do see this method of attachment in Boston sometimes (though mostly on bikes that look like they are used for very short trips) and in photos from other countries.
It occurred to me that if there were another set of holes in the back of the basket, toward the bottom, then a third strap could be fitted around the headtube and perhaps this would solve the problem. The design would be like a saddlebag in that regard, which has two straps on top to go around the saddle railings and another on the bottom to go around the seatpost. Has anyone ever tried this with a handlebar-mounted basket? I like the elegance and lack of commitment in attaching a basket via straps instead of clunky quick-release systems, decalleurs and the like. But for me, it needs to be practical - no sliding or bouncing.
We paid extra for these level of trail grooming?
Skiers tracks in the woods
Happier now the snow is falling.
When the Bicycle Quarterly Press asked me to review Copenhagen, City of Bicycles, I could not help but wonder what this book could offer that the world of bicycle blogs has not already familiarised us with. In 2007 a certain Mr. Colville Andersen flung open a virtual window into the pedaling soul of the small Scandinavian city with Copenhagenize and Copenhagen Cycle Chic, establishing its worldwide reputation as a cycling mecca. Since then, Copenhagen has become synonymous with cycling - with fashion-oriented bicycle bloggers paying homage to its style and progressive city planners eager to emulate its infrastructure. Given the wealth of imagery and information on the topic readily available online, what can a book aboutCopenhagen and bicycles tell us that we don't already know?
Of course, it's not always in the "what," but in the "how." In Copenhagen, City of Bicycles Cecilia Vanman presents a comprehensive, colourfully illustrated introduction to the city's cycling culture and history, painting a portrait of a magical, happy place that the reader will long to visit. The photography (by Robyn Maddock) makes liberal use of fading sunlight, infusing the images with a warm, dynamic and nostalgic feel. The layout is clean, contemporary and easy to follow - despite the side-by-side placement of Danish and English text. Divided into 9 chapters, it maintains a clear sense of structure and direction from beginning to end. The narrative flows easily, steering clear of dry technical talk and empty "fluff" in equal measure. The tone is friendly and never condescending.
While those uninformed about Copenhagen's cycling culture will undoubtedly benefit from this bookthe most, it is not without novel information even for readers who've been browsing bicycle blogs for years. I found the chapter about manufacturers and framebuilders informative, and many other random interesting tidbits throughout. I also enjoyed the pictures of some unique vintage and modified bicycles and wished there were more of those.
The one part of the book that did come across to me as redundant, was the chapter consisting of photos and brief bios of Copenhagen cyclists. This is a tactic that I feel is best left to the realm of blogs and flickr - it is more effective there than in print. But overall, I would say that City of Bicycles summarises and supplements, rather than competes with, the Copenhagen-oriented bicycle blogs. 
Copenhagen, City of Bicycles is published by Nyt Nordisk/ Arnold Busck, and distributed in North America by the Bicycle Quarterly Press. If you would like to receive my reviewer's copy for free, please leave a comment by Sunday 11:59pm US Pacific time (with a functional email address where I can readily reach you - this proved to be a problem again for the last give-away) - and I will choose the recipient at random. Enjoy the long weekend!
I was taking a walk around my neighborhood when I spotted a Dutch bicycle, looking disapprovingly at this poster. I am not sure whether the owner of the bike locked it up in front of the poster intentionally, but I couldn't get over the similarity of "colourways" and the bicycle's disapproving posture as it faced the image.
The poster is for an exhibition at the Kunsthaus Wien called Kontroversen - Justiz, Ethik und Fotografie ("Controversies - The Law, Ethics and Photography"). I hope to visit it over the weekend.
I wonder whether there is a way to get some official acknowledgement naming Boston the vintage bicycle capital of the USA. Because the sorts of bicycles we see here - and take for granted - during our daily travels, are not to be believed. Restored 50-year-old roadsters casually locked up outside office buildings, ancient step-throughs with exotic headbadges and enormous baskets, vintage folders of unknown manufacture used as canine transport - these are just some of the bicycles I see every day as I make my way through the city. Normally, I have no time to stop and photograph even a small fraction of it all, but today the Co-Habitant was with me and a couple of the bikes absolutely required documentation.
Just so you understand, this all-original 1950's Raleigh Sports with front and rear dynamo lights and original white Raleigh grips(!) is actually someone's commuter.
Secured with a U-lock to a bike rack outside a small local university, it looked so natural amidst the mixed crowd of other bikes, including a fully lugged Specialized and a couple of Peugeot mixtes.
The headlight and tail light seemed functional. These must provide sufficient lighting for the owner's commute, as there were no other lights attached to the bike. Anybody know how powerful they are?
But exciting as it was to see the beautiful vintage Raleigh, it paled in comparison to what we stumbled upon next.Yes, that is my Gazelle, Linda, parked next to... another vintage loop-frame Gazelle. 
What are the chances? Unlike Raleigh 3-speeds, Gazelle "Oma" bicycles of this vintage were never imported into the USA and were never sold here.
Both my bicycle, and the bicycle next to it, have stickers indicating that they were purchased in Germany (not in the same shop or even the same town). And the (yet another) vintage Gazelle I spotted nearby a year ago, had a Dutch shop sticker on it.The bicycles' owners must have at some point brought them on the plane when moving to Boston, probably for grad school or for post-doctoral positions.
Seeing the other Gazelleand remembering the third one I spotted earlier, made me wonder whether they still belong to the same owners who brought them over from Germany and Holland. Either way, those bikes must have been dearly loved, at least at the time. Transporting a 50lb bicycle on an airplane could not have been easy!
Overall, my Linda was in nicer condition than her neighbour, but one thing that evoked her envy was this mudflap on the other lady. Now she is asking me to get one for her, too. I think a leather one (possibly hand-made?) would go well with her saddle and grips, but I am curious whether these Gazelle proprietary flaps are still sold today. Also, they seem to be attached by a bracket that does not necessitate drilling the fender, but makes use of the existing holes for the stays, which seems like a fairly easy installation method.
I think that to spot several bicycles like this in an American city is highly improbable. Surely it is proof that Boston is the vintage bike capital? If you have a better story about your city, bring it on!