Adopt a bike lane

I carry a broom on my bike-commute route whenever the debris gets annoying.  I usually sweep glass and plastic parts from car wrecks, and silt and detritus from road construction.

In this photo, glass nuggets covered about 100ft/33m of the bike lane on Cornwallis Rd eastbound near NC 147 in the RTP, fresh carrion from a nasty wreck no doubt.  I was lucky that I saw the mess in my headlight during my dark morning commute.  (As I was sweeping, a lady actually stopped and asked if I was okay.  Most motorists are nice.)

Clean your route.  The tire you save may be your own.

November R on the Tar Heel 200

Seven randos rode the RUSA Tar Heel 200 on a gorgeous November day yesterday.  Some rode at a comfortable pace.  Some consumed huge quantities of food at every stop.  Everyone got an early 'R' for the month.

It's really nice to ride with a mechanic who watches you struggle for a minute replacing a flat tire, politely asks if she can help, then INSTANTLY snaps the tire over the rim.   Yes, really nice.

A few rider portraits: [photos]

Sanyo NH-T10 Bottom Bracket Generator

I bought a Sanyo bottom bracket generator from Peter White Cycles.  I was intrigued by the design benefits and curious how well it worked.

I made two small modifications.  Installation details are in [photos and captions].

Watch for another report if I decide to install the cable release (rather than running the generator all the time).  And watch to see if I make a tire-surface brush (to keep detritus from embedding itself in the generator wheel).  And watch for a report on installing the light (B&M Lumotec Lyt).  And how well I like the pattern...

State Farm Bike Bashing

Bicycles are impractical, according to the State Farm car insurance company.

I just heard a radio advertisement [*] which advised a customer to spend the money he saved by switching to State Farm on something more practical than a bicycle.  The customer was portrayed as a doofus who wanted to buy a bike, but was ridiculed.  I didn't find it funny.

State Farm has a history of bike-bashing.  GM recently made waves with their bike-bashing ad.

Is this a recurring trend in automotive advertising because it works?  Or is bike-commuting catching on and becoming a threat?

[*] lunchtime today, WRAL-FM radio, Raleigh NC, during UNC-NCSU college football game.