WINTER FOOTWEAR • BIKE! BIKE! 2008 • BLINKIE LIGHT THEORY

BicycleBicycle Culture
Culture onon thethe Skids
Skids

Issue #10 • Nov 2008THE
MILLIONMILE
MAN

A RIDEON THE
WILD
SIDE

10

PEDESTRIANSWE LOVE TO HATEEd Glazar Photo Gallery p48 • How To Use A Chain Breaker • Download this issue free online URBAN VELO.ORG

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Issue #10
November 2008I

t’s our 10th issue, and we’ve got a lot of people to thank. Our readers—city cyclists from around the world—give us a reason to make this magazine in the first place. Of course we sincerely thank our advertisers,
because without them, we couldn’t afford to bring you this magazine. Ourcontributors are the best. And to our friends and families, your support
has meant the world to us. Thank you.

Brad Quartuccio

Jeff Guerrero

Editorbrad@urbanvelo.org

Publisher
jeff@urbanvelo.org

Photo by Lauren Haughey

Co-conspirators: Evan Williams, Nick Syperek, Lauren Haughey, Shawn Hatfield, Kevin Dillard, Manuel Jimenez,
Ryan Guzy, Erok Boerer, Christine Bourgeois, Ken Kaminski, Ed Glazar, Roger Lootine, Stephen Cummings, David
Hoffman, Rich Katz, Lyly Pham and Andy Singer

All contents © 2008 Urban Velo, no unauthorized reproduction (online or otherwise) without written consent.

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6

Editor’s Statement

8

Publisher’s Statement

10

I Love Riding in the City

Brad Quartuccio

Jeff Guerrero

Readers from around the world share their tales of city cycling.

32

I Live Another Day

40

Fix Shit Up!

Manuel Jimenez
The author lives out his Quicksilver fantasy... And survives to tell the tale.

Erok Boerer
We report on the 2008 Bike Bike conference from San Francisco.

46

Bikes on Film
Ken Kaminski
In “2 Seconds,” a French-Canadian bike racer gets her groove back.

48

Gallery
Ed Glazar

54

Residue
Roger Lootine

56

The Million Mile Man
Stephen Cummings
Danny Chew has devoted his life to cycling one million miles.

64

Facilitated GrowthDavid Hoffman
We examine bicycle infrastructure, from planning to implementation.

70

10 Types of Pedestrians We Love to Hate
Rich Katz
A light-hearted look at a serious problem for city cyclists—pedestrians!

76

Rear Blinkie Light Theory
Brad Quartuccio

78

How to use a Chain Tool
Brad Quartuccio

80

Winter Footwear Solutions
Brad Quartuccio

82

No Exit
Andy Singer

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On the cover: Toronto Critical Mass. Photo by Nick Syperek - flickr.com/photos/tobike
Contents photo: Danny Chew’s trophy collection. Read more URBAN
on page 56. VELO.ORG
Photo by Brad Quartuccio
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Editor ’s Statement
By Brad QuartuccioIn describing Danny Chew’s drive in The Million Mile
Man, Steevo nailed it. “[Cycling] lets an individual
pursue an individual goal.” The goals differ wildly
between us; to some it is a distant mileage goal thattakes a lifetime of pursuit. Others find the hill on theway to work challenge enough. Each day countless
thousands of cyclists pedal forth with individual goals in
mind, either centered on the ride itself or the destination in the distance.
Through the work of cycling advocates, achieving

these goals is becoming that much easier. In the realmof cycling for transportation, change is sweeping acrossthe land faster than ever before. Cities and towns arebeing transformed into a more bikeable landscape inways some advocates could have only dreamed of a few
short years ago. By the same token, the explosion ofcommunity and cooperative bike shops across the country is nothing short of amazing. New cyclists are being
created daily, and this bodes well for the future of us all.
Pursue your cycling goal.

We want your words. Send your editorial contributions to brad@urbanvelo.org

6

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Publisher’s Statement
By Jeff Guerrero
Do you remember when the first snowfall fell, when summer
barely had a snowball’s chance in Hell?
Husker Du – “Celebrated Summer”
It hardly seems real, or fair for that matter. Anothersummer has come and gone, and fall will have passed before
our next issue comes out. With the rainy days and coldnights come feelings of apprehension, because the days
ahead promise an ever-increasing threat of harsh weather
and difficult riding conditions.
I tend to welcome the fall, but I enter the wintermonths with a pang of regret. No matter how many miles
I log over the summer, I always wish I had ridden morewhile the weather was nice. That I had taken one moreroad trip. Ridden in one more alleycat. Played one moregame of polo.
That’s not to say my riding season is over, though.
The cold-weather months are long and hard, but the body
adapts. The waning weeks of October feel like February at
first, but I’m back to wearing short sleeves on sunny daysin mid-November.
And then it’s time for Saturday morning cross-bikerides through the park. Cruising under a canopy of red andyellow foliage, slicing through piles of crisp, golden leaves.
It’s time for brisk morning commutes where the sunlightsparkles as your breath clouds the air before you.
Eventually winter is upon us and it’s time to enjoy the
sublime privilege of cutting fresh tracks in the snow. Or
following the first tracks of the day and trying to guess
who got up earlier than you did. Climbs that you dread in
the summer become welcome opportunities to generate
body heat, and modest downhills conjure streams of icy
teardrops.
Winter bike commuters deserve recognition, but seldom ask for so much as a pat on the back. It’s satisfaction
enough to know you’re among the hardy few who braved
the cold on two wheels. And like memories of summer
make winter riding seem arduous, memories of winterrides make summer seem that much more special.

Our illustrious editor enjoys a cool one at the 2008 NACCC Polo Tournamentin Chicago this summer. Photo by Jeff Guerrero

Was this your celebrated summer? Was that yourcelebrated summer?

Urban Velo issue #10, November 2008. Dead tree print run: 2500 copies. Issue #9 online readership: 40,000+

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I L ve Ridingin the City
To participate, answer
the following:
NAME:
LOCATION:
OCCUPATION:
Where do you live and what’s it likeriding in your city?
What was your favorite city to ridein, and why?
Why do you love riding in the city?
Or just say whatever you want
about riding in the city…
Poetry anyone?

Email your responses(along with a highresolution photo) to
jeff@urbanvelo.org

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I L ve Riding in the City

NAME: Kenji Jinno
LOCATION: Tokyo, Japan
OCCUPATION: Bicycle messenger, writer
Where do you live and what’s it like riding in your city?
私は東京の西部の吉祥寺（Kichijoji town）に住んでいます。都心部まで自転車で40から50分かかりますが、活気があって素敵なお店も多い素敵な街です。井の頭公園（InokashiraPark)という公園は休日をゆったりと過ごすには最適です。メッセンジャーとして働いているので、東京の都心部をいつも走っていますが、郊外の雰囲気も好きです。私はトライアルという競技もしているので、休みの日や夜には街のあちこちで仲間たちといろいろなアクションライドを楽しんでいます。
What was your favorite city to ride in, and why?
今年訪れたトロントは最高でした。走りやすい自転車レーンが多くあり、市民が自転車に乗ることをとても楽しんでいるよ
うに見えました。クリティカルマスに参加した時には、老若男女いろんな人が一緒に走っていて、それを見ている人たちも手を振ったりして応援しているように感じられました。人力のエコロジ
カルな乗り物としての自転車に対する市民の理解が東京に比べて高いと感じました。トロント島も自転車で走るととても気持
ちのいい場所でした。2008 年の CMWC にも参加したのですが、そのイベントも素晴らしいものでした。そして、トロントの自転車乗りはみんなとてもいいやつでした。
Why do you love riding in the city?
まず第一に楽しいこと。そして、街中では自動車よりも早くて小回りがきき、エコロジカルだということ。田舎道や山道を走るのも好きですが、人間の作った社会のダイナミズムを感じながら走ることができるので、街を自転車で走るとワクワクしま
す。そして、自転車を通じて知り合う友達はみんなとてもいい人たちです。
Or just say whatever you want about riding in the city…
2009 年の CMWC は東京で開催！みんな来てね！
Check out www.realmessenger.jp

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I L ve Riding in the City

NAME: Jenny Oh
LOCATION: Oakland, CA
OCCUPATION: Associate Producer on KQED’s QUEST—ascience, nature and environment television program
Where do you live and what’s it like riding in your city?
I’ve lived all over the U.S. in 7 cities—Chicago, Deerfield and Burr Ridge, IL; Blacksburg, VA; Chattanooga, TN;
New York City;—and inhabited 25 different residences.
I’ve pedaled through all of them with 18 bikes (13 of themstolen in the bike theft capital of the world, the Big Apple).
I headed west to the Bay Area in April ‘06 and I’m here tostay, earthquakes be damned.
Riding in San Francisco is the absolute best. Uponcoming from NYC, where commuting by bike can be atiresome traffic battle, the streets here in comparison
seemed completely mellow. There are the infamous hills
and headwinds, but you learn to love them and the fitnessthat goes along with all that effort. And the best reward
after climbing upwards is getting a glimpse of the gorgeouslandscapes. You’re always surrounded by the ocean andmountains here, and I never get tired of the view.
Why do you love riding in the city?
The cycling community here is so supportive anddiverse. You can race in an alleycat or in a crit, play bikepolo or race at the local velodrome—or do it all. There’s

so much overlap. All of the cyclists here seem to love riding and competing in all disciplines, and it’s really quite
inspiring. I only recently bought a fixed gear in June ‘06,
but it was my gateway drug to track racing on the Montano
Velo Track team beginning in ‘07. I’ll be getting a cross bikein the near future and participating in my first clinic. I’ve
also helped to organize the Supermarket Street Sweep forthree years, which is a charity bike race that benefits the
San Francisco Food Bank. Each year the event gets moresponsors and we’ve raised thousands of pounds of foodfor the needy, which couldn’t be successful without theincredible enthusiasm of the Bay Area bike community.
Most importantly, I love riding here because I have thebest biking friends a girl could have. Some of them havebuilt bikes for me, helped me train and encouraged me torace, shown me great routes, and pushed me to ride morethan I ever thought I could. My New Year’s resolution is toride my bike everyday this year, and I’m on Day 293! I’ve
had more fun on a bike here than anywhere and I know mybiking adventures will only get better.
Photo by Shawn Hatfield, www.montantovelo.com

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I L ve Riding in the City
the street bustle of MacArthur Park on the journey toa downtown bar. The LA River, a huge concrete funnel
that moves run-off water from one side of the city to the
Pacific Ocean, is paved for foot and bike traffic. Throughout the year, you are gifted with straight shot to the ocean,the end of which moves you through preserved wetlands.
It is intense watching pelicans and other sea birds resting,bathing, and playing as you ride by. True, you deal with adecent amount of pollution, lots of giant cars, often commanded by middle-aged moguls trying to grope their blue
tooth, last strands of hair, and newly discovered star at thesame time, or harried designer parents juggling Hummerlike baby strollers and iPod phones in the crosswalk. But,a weakened ability to share and care for space is not abehavior particular to LA.

NAME: Tess. Lotta
LOCATION: Los Angeles, CA
OCCUPATION: Writer, musician, teacher, artist
Where do you live and what’s it like riding in your city?
LA natives will know my hood as Little Ethiopia—alittle wedge of LA concrete and palm trees surrounded by
Beverly Hills, West Hollywood, Culver City, Crenshaw/
Mid City, and Baldwin Hills.
LA on a bike is as insolent as it is illuminating: the town
teaches you to respect and to rebel at the same time. It
is no news that the city mascot is the automobile, andpeople unfamiliar with Los Angeles tend to diss it on thispremise without really getting to know it. LA natives andtransplants who take the time to know the city understand its pulse. This is why LA is at its very best froma bicycle. In one ride, you can experience the hum andneon of Hollywood Blvd as you hit The Fonda for a rockshow, a quiet tree-lined stroll through Hancock Park, andWhat was your favorite city to ride in, and why?
LA is my hometown, so I cut my teeth on bikes here. I
lived in Seattle for several years—and it is beautiful—but
the biking was hard for me there because of the constantrain and the massive climbs—anywhere you fucking went
climb, climb, rain, rain. Some riders love this: my husband
Dave, who was a messenger in Seattle, loved the hills andcommuted year-round through the rain like fucking crazy.
I’m a sunshine city girl—I like riding in lights and sounds
while chasing a huge bright tropical moon hanging overSunset Blvd. And the DIY bike culture here is accessible,
including organizations that do kick-ass community outreach (heart the Bicycle Kitchen et al).
Why do you love riding in the city?
I toured through a lot of US cities playing in bands, and
LA offers a good example of why I love riding in the city. It
is such a culturally diverse place, and that is its major asset
in terms of quality of life. In a car, you can distance yourself
from the block to block changes of a city, a privileged andoften elitist position that can breed uniformed judgments
and biases. But, on a bike, you might move from a neighborhood lined with families walking to Shabbat services
or kosher markets to one lit up by packed Korean restaurants and night clubs. I think the moment you ride by offers
the chance for positivity—there is no metal barrier: when
we ride to a bustling small business core to stop for thebest mole, lentil sambusa, or sag aloo in LA, we have theopportunity for a face-to-face with people and community.
A city ride offers opportunities like this.
Check out www.mediacakemagazine.com

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TM

Introducing “Cobra” Merino Wool Jacket
Available December 08

urban riding gear
www.chromebags.com

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I L ve Riding in the City

NAME: Carla Laser
LOCATION: San Francisco, CA
OCCUPATION: Creative Delights
Where do you live and what’s it like riding in your city?
I live in SF and it is very fun to ride a bike all overthe place. The ocean to the bay and in between is action
packed. Transit snarls, wind and funny things all over theplace. SF is a small town and you can expect certain thingsin the many different parts of town and a whole bunchof surprises. Toss in a bunch of excellent waves amongst
fellow riders—it is great. A couple of yells at assholes andyou’ve cleansed your soul.
What was your favorite city to ride in, and why?
My favorite city to ride in is too hard to pick. I like toride a bike everywhere I go. Most of my playpals like toride with me so I usually have a lot of fun seeing the sites
cruising.

Why do you love riding in the city?
I love riding in the city because it is electric. The action
is intense as well as the tactical reality of safety. I support
all modes of transport and ride to share the road. I am
not an angel though and I often am very vocal if there isimpending danger or an obvious lack of neighborly street
sharing. I enjoy being open and free on my bicycle ride.
Poetry anyone?
Here is a lovely poem that I wrote for you:
When I glide
I ride to fly
My heart my bike
Joy pedal sky
Check out www.sanfranciscobicycleballet.org

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I L ve Riding in the City
NAME: Kenny Kaos
LOCATION: Philadelphia, PA
OCCUPATION: Ex-bike messenger, city employee
Where do you live and what’s it like riding in your city?
I live in Philadelphia, PA. Born and raised here. Riding
here is so much fun because the streets are tight enoughto be slightly challenging but wide enough to manuver
around, and bike culture is pretty big here.

What was your favorite city to ride in, and why?
Philadelphia obviously, no contest!
Why do you love riding in the city?
SHARKFIN!
Photo by Kevin Dillard, www.demoncats.com

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I L ve Riding in the City

NAME: Julian “Jungleman” Valencia Suescun
LOCATION: Columbus, OH
OCCUPATION: Pedicab driver
Where do you live and what’s it like riding in your city?
Riding’s been popular, but is gaining incredible momentum in our city. The city’s been putting up more bike parking around the city and bars to accommodate not only all
the daytime commuters and bikers but the night crowd
too. We also have a Monday night ride where all cyclists
get together from all over and do a 25-mile bike ride
throughout the city. The rides are probably one of the bestperks of cycling in Columbus, everyone’s considerate andfriendly, many times we’ll get way over 100 cyclists, andeveryone’s only intention is to go out and ride.

22 URBANVELO.ORG

What was your favorite city to ride in, and why?
I’m originally from Medellin Colombia where professional cycling is huge. My dream ride would be to race thebrutal Tour de Colombia through the Andes. Columbus is
nice because it’s relatively flat so even a novice can go on
longer rides, but nothing beats the view off the Andes!
Why do you love riding in the city?
When I’m not working on the pedicab l’ll take out oneof my Treks downtown late at night when it’s absolutely
empty, you get the well-lit wide streets all to yourself as
fast and aggressive as you want to go. Other areas likeour short north area are fun at night to maneuver throughthe hustle and bustle, and people at the bars are biker
friendly.
Check out www.myspace.com/ectpedicab

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Happy Hour.

Every hour.
raleighusa.com/rushhour

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I L ve Riding in the City

NAME: Don Walker
LOCATION: Speedway, IN
OCCUPATION: NAHBS dude, bike shop owner, bicycle
framebuilder, father
Where do you live and what’s it like riding in your city?
Indy is a bike friendly place, regardless what people
think. The government has been building bike trails allover the place and converting many old rail lines to bikeand walking trails. Downtown isn’t really that bad, if you
don’t mind the constant lane closures and steam from theunderground pipes.
What was your favorite city to ride in, and why?
I grew up in Sacramento and loved riding there. The
scenery was always good and within a few miles, you could
be in some hilly areas.

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Why do you love riding in the city?
I like the speed. I am constantly amazed at how fastthings move around me, whether it be cars or the scenery (buildings and people) and having to jump to make itthrough a light before it turns red.
Poetry anyone?
Heres a lame ass haiku for the occasion.... not happy
with the final line tho...
Cab! Pothole! Lookout!
I fear not these things, riding
Bike handles the best
Check out www.donwalkercycles.com

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It’s morning again
in America.
Prouder,
Stronger, Better.

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Chub.

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I L ve Riding in the City
Why do you love riding in the city?
It’s relaxing to ride the trails and see cyclists and others enjoying the great outdoors. On the other hand there’s
the rush of riding down 5th Avenue in Oakland traffic, trying to switch lanes without getting run over by a bus or
the sense of accomplishment after climbing Stanton Ave
up from Butler St.
Or just say whatever you want about riding in the city...
People always ask me for directions when I’m cycling—someone asked me where a parking garage was once. I was
like, “Do I look like I’d know where a parking garage is?”NAME: Joyce Wasser
LOCATION: Pittsburgh, PA
OCCUPATION: Student, dishwasher, pet sitter—shall I
go on?
Where do you live and what’s it like riding in your city?
I live in Pittsburgh, PA, which is becoming more bikefriendly everyday. Yeah, there’s always some unenlightened
person telling me to get on the sidewalk—never mind thatthe sidewalk may be posted with no biking signs. Potholes, moon craters—well that’s life in Pennsylvania. In
Pittsburgh just about every ride involves a climb of somedegree or another.
What was your favorite city to ride in, and why?
I’ve mostly only ridden in Pittsburgh as far as just riding
around, so I guess that makes it my favorite.

Do you love riding in the city?
Can you answer a few simple
questions and find someone totake your photo?
We want you to represent yourhometown. Email your responses
to jeff@urbanvelo.org

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I L ve Riding in the City

NAME: Andrew “Excess” Franciosa
LOCATION: Upstate, NY
OCCUPATION: Student at UAlbany studying physics,
Apple Store
Where do you live and what’s it like riding in your city?
Albany, NY. Riding in this city is fun. A lot of people
ride bikes so it’s generally received well. There’s not too
many actual “cyclists” around, but there is a pretty closeknit community here. There’s critical mass, alley cats, hipsters, and general bike related events, so it’s not as bad as
it could be. We’ve got a bike co-op (www.troybikerescue.
org) which is teaching me how to wrench and be able to do
all my own bike work, which keeps me happy.
What was your favorite city to ride in, and why?
NYC. It’s huge compared to Albany. I also love thethrill of the traffic and the pedestrians. Yes they’re annoy-

ing here as well as in NYC, but it keeps you on your toes.
Also there’s way more to do in NY.
Why do you love riding in the city?
It’s cheaper and way faster. It keeps me from being
stagnant and lazy. I never really enjoyed doing anythingphysically demanding before I got my first bike. It doesn’t
get old, ever. It’s also one of the few things I’d say I’m goodat and it’s a great hobby.
Or just say whatever you want about riding in the city…
Don’t get hit, be safe. Riding tomorrow is more important than looking cool today. Also if you’re upstate andwant to meet up with bike people don’t be a stranger! Hitme up. PS. I have a mancrush on Jeff.
Check out www.bikealbany.com

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I L ve Riding in the City
riding and commuting. It also seems
like cars, trucks, and pedestrians arestarting to realize that bicycles belongon the streets, too. I get honked oryelled at way less than I used to! So,riding in Pittsburgh has lately been
more fun, and safer, due to the number of people on the road, as wellas initiatives taken by various bikegroups and the city.
What was your favorite city to ridein, and why?
I love riding in Pittsburgh because
the city has whipped me into shape.
Pittsburgh is pretty hilly; full of long,steady climbs. When I first started
riding a bike, there was one small hillon my commute home from workthat I had to walk up. It frustrated meso much, and I had never been very
athletic or strong so I thought for awhile that it was physically impossible
for me to ride up hills. Since then, I’ve
ridden enough that I’ve built up thestrength and endurance to get up hills
in this city that I would have neverimagined, four years ago, I could getto the top of—on a single speed. I’mtruly proud of myself, and healthiertoo.

NAME: Rachel Ding
LOCATION: Pittsburgh, PA and Burlington, VT
OCCUPATION: In between jobs!
Where do you live and what’s it like riding in your city?
I live in Pittsburgh. This past summer, I saw more people than I ever haveon bicycles. The bike recycle that I help out at was swamped all season withpeople looking to volunteer with us and earn their first bike intended for city

Why do you love riding in the city?
This past spring, every time I rode
my bike past the entrance to this big
bridge near my house I could smell
honeysuckle. You can’t smell that in
a car. I love being exposed to sounds,
smells, the air—all those things thattickle your senses and make commuting so much more fun.
Or just say whatever you want aboutriding in the city…
If you see me, smile, wave, whistle, holler—whatever! I’m a total
dork when it comes to greeting othercyclists on the streets.

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I LiveAnother Day
Vicioustwist Takes a Ride on the Wild Side

By Manuel Jimenez

32 URBANVELO.ORG

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I

quit my job. I needed a break.
The first few days of my selfunemployment were great—I hit
the frigid soup of the NorCal surf at
Ocean Beach, the notoriously dangerous water on San Francisco’s west side.
On a good day Ocean Beach has worldclass waves. I’d surf with my homemade, 6’1” California thruster. Unfortunately, my liquid vacation ended
each day when the west winds would
come, chasing the fog, and junking up
the surf. My few days as a surf bum
bummed me out. I looked around forsomething to do. I decided to turnmy self-unemployment into a “working vacation.”
Ten years earlier I’d commute
from the Sunset, San Francisco’s
misnamed, terminally overcast
beach community. I would takethe ‘N’ Judah train to work,
getting off at the Montgomery
Street station. There is a granite
wall that curves from Sansome
to Market, where couriers gathered. “The Wall” as it is known
by the bicycle messenger community. I envied the mess of
eclectic couriers as I stumbled
to my climate controlled cage.
Bored as a newly self-unemployed surf bum, I decided
to become a bicycle messenger. Why? Bicycle messengers
are cool, and the infantry of thefinancial district, the surly soldiers on the front lines. Scarredwith tattoos and piercings, allgarish and grudge, they swagger
and speak in exaggerations.
I searched the internet, looking at a lot of small courier outfits
with crazy names like Spincycle,
Black Dog and Dragracer Messenger Collective. How hard could it
be to land a job? Damn hard. The
community is cliquish and suspicious. The small outfits are staffedwith people who know each other.
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33

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With no luck, I headed to the Western Wall. I founda messenger there. He was a Latino, thrasher dude. I
asked him if anyone was hiring. He told me to hook up
with one of the big outfits, like Western Messenger.
Western Messenger is housed in an old warehouse
located on Columbia Street, between Harrison andFolsom, near ground zero of SoMa’s dot-gone revolution. The entrance is vandalized by visitor pass stickers from security desks of buildings around the city.
There’s a bike rack, and four junk chairs in front. The
building is not just nondescript, it’s plain ugly.
I entered and spoke with Pattie, a severe woman
standing behind security glass. She gave me an application and asked me some questions. “There’s nothingright now,” she told me. “When the weather’s nice,people deliver their own packages. If something comesup, I’ll let you know.” That was the end of my bicycle
messenger ambition.
Ten days into my self-unemployment, the phonerings. It’s Pattie from Western Messenger. She tells methat there’s an opening. I abruptly take the offer over thephone.

day. If you, reading this, work at a desk job or otherwise
take for granted being able to use the restroom or takea break when the need arises, imagine being so pressed
for time that it makes such niceties difficult. Granted, atsome point, you’ll get a lunch break. But the timing andduration are uncertain, and if you need to piss at eleven in
the morning, lunch at 1:17pm is a long time away.

Get Off My Freeway

When I say messengers are in flight, I’m being facetious, but just. There are rules of the road. Cars stop at
red lights. People cross the street with the light. Traffic
moves according to the direction required. These rules
don’t apply to messengers. Messengers run red lights, godiagonally through intersections, cut off cars, ride fast
on the sidewalk, and ride the wrong way down one-way
streets with oncoming traffic. Messengers move witha liquid fluidity that transgresses the dangerous placein which they work and scares the drivers and pedestrians with whom they travel. Why do they do this?
The job demands it and the infrastructure encourages it.
When you start at Western Messenger, you’rehanded a couple of pages from the Caltrans web
page describing bicycle safety practices. The inforHow hard could it be to pick up and deliver packages? Itmation tells you things like, “Stop at stop signs
ain’t easy. First things first. Once you become a messenger,
and red lights” and “Ride in the same direction
you stop being a person. You are not Manuel, John, or whatas the flow of traffic.” But, there is no way toever. You are assigned a number (mine having been 922) andkeep pace and follow the traffic laws. The situaare identified as such.
tion is exacerbated by the fact that San Francisco’s
The process goes something like this. You sit aroundstreets in and around the financial district are
downtown at one of three spots intersecting Market wherelaid out to facilitate commuters, driving their fat
messengers from the various outfits congregate (The Westass SUV’s from faraway suburbs, to aggressively
ern Wall; Battery and Bush; Montgomery and Post). You
travel at dangerous speeds in and out of the city.
watch the people drift to work. As you sit talking with theThis means a lot of one-way streets that act ascharacters of the messenger tribe, it comes; the first tag.
dangerous inner-city freeways. The liberal use of
The dispatcher tells you the name of the pickup client, theone-way streets means that cyclists have to travel
client’s address, and the delivery company. You transfer thetwice the distance to get to a road going the rightinformation into the manifest, and you’re off. As you headdirection. This may not mean much for a car, but if
off to the first pickup, you start receiving additional tags.
you spend your day cycling those streets under timeTwo, three or even four other destinations are coming in.
constraints, it means a hell of a lot.
You can’t review the information because you’re in flight.
Because the roads are set up to facilitate autoAs you move through the city, you pass other messenmobile traffic to move fast on surface streets, drivgers who surf the asphalt waves. Messengers acknowlers resent bicyclists as slow moving obstacles. I can’tedge each other with a subdued nod, and move on—nocount the number of times some indignant, self-righpretense.
teous, irrationally frustrated driver has tried to force
When you have collected your parcels, and haveme out of the way by positioning his urban tank dangerno additional instructions, you call in. You are told toously close. Even the most diminutive women in a SUV
either clean up or retrieve additional pickups. This
becomes an aggressive and dangerous driver on the city
process continues almost non-stop for the rest of the

A Day In The Life

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problem?” Now, my math ain’t good, but even I, a lowly
attorney turned messenger, know that the elapsed timefrom 9:38am to 10:03am is only twenty-five minutes.
The dispatcher’s transgression of the facts is lessoffensive than the basic disrespect he demonstrates forthe work of the guy in the field. Think about it. Once you
get that first beep, you have to record the instructions,
cycle to the location, park and lock the bicycle, get past
the security guard (sign in, leave an ID, get a pass, whatever), take the elevator to the appropriate floor, transact
with the receptionist (who may tell you to take a detourto the mail room three floors down), get the envelope,
make a notation of the pickup time, place it in your bag,go back down the elevator, deal with security, unlock
your bicycle and make your way to the next destination,and start all over again. Each of these little events takes
time.
Not only are you under tremendous time pressure, but you can’t take the initiative to relieve thepressure. For example, my first day on the job I had
a round trip pickup at 101 California Street to go to
650 California. I am then instructed to deliver said
package to 650 California. I also happen to have adeposit to a bank at 590 California that I picked upearlier but have not been instructed to deliver. On
the way from 101 California to 650 California (youOnce the tags stop coming, and you’ve loaded up withcan see where I’m going here), I take the initiativeenvelopes and parcels, you call in. “922 with six to go,” means
to make the deposit at 590 California.
that you’re carrying six pickups. The dispatcher on the other
This innocuous detour might be seen as an
end speaks to you with the civility of a drill instructor. You are
efficient use of ones’ time. Yet, when I called ineither told to deliver some of the pickups (often in a speci“clean” instead of “922. One to go,” the dispatcher
fied order), told to “clean up” or given a new address for awent ballistic. “What happened with the deposit?”
pick up. The instructions come fast and the dispatcher makes
When I told her that I already made the deposit,
no effort to make clear the instructions. If you miss some
you’d have thought that I pocketed the money tovital detail and ask for clarification, the repeated instruction
buy crack. The following tirade bordered on abucomes in a hostile, “Listen up moron,” tone.
sive. If this is the way your own side treats you, canAs a messenger, there is no room for mistakes, and no
you imagine how you are treated by the rest of thethinking allowed. As an example, sitting at the Western Wallpeople you deal with? This brings me to my next
one day, my first tag was at 9:38am, directing me to a busisubject; disrespect.
ness on the fourth floor of 230 California Street. I was subBeing treated with disrespect is an every day,sequently tagged with two more pickups in short order. At
several times per day, experience for messengers. I
9:45am I had picked up the first envelope. I then made myassume this is because most of the messengers areway to the seventh floor of 475 Sansome, where I pickedyoung men without much life experience, resources,
up a second parcel at 9:51am. I then made my way to
a network of support, or are from the fringe elements
the sixth floor of 930 Montgomery, where I picked up aof the social fabric. Disrespect is shown by a wide range
third package at 10:02am. I received a beep at 10:03am.
of persons on the front lines of the business establishI called into dispatch, “922. Three to go.” The voice
ment, from security personnel, to receptionists to mailon the other end started yelling, “What’s going on? I
room clerks.
gave you those tags over half an hour ago. What’s the
One common situation is exemplified by a pickup I

streets. This explains why messengers are so surly andaggressive on the road.
Think I’m exaggerating? In Chicago, on April 26,
1999 in a fit of road rage, a man named Carnell Fitzpatrick driving an SUV, intentionally chased down acourier named Thomas McBride. Swerving behind thebicyclist over several blocks, he accelerated his Chevy
Tahoe and ran over him.
This mixture of circumstance has created theperfect situation for messenger employers and thecorporations that utilize them. Say for instance thata messenger is maimed or wasted breaking some traffic law. Everybody, except the messenger, is off thehook. The driver that creamed you has an “affirmative
defense.” Yeah, he killed you, but the accident is actually the messenger’s fault. The messenger’s employer isshielded by the fact that they gave you Caltrans bicycle
safety instructions and never explicitly told you to break
the traffic laws. The corporation that demands the speed
and efficiency of messengers is shielded by “proximate
cause” defenses, in that the accident was not a foreseeable
consequence of utilizing the service. The beneficiaries ofthe messenger’s circumstance turn a blind eye toward these
inherent problems because they bear no associated costs.

Men Behaving Badly

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jabs. JP, an eight year messenger veteran, stops me, blunt
made at a major California bank, let’s call it… Wells
in hand. “You were hopping the tracks on Market,” heFargo. I was directed to 525 Market Street and enteredstates, “Keep clear of the tracks. You’ll catch a rail.”the lobby toward the security desk. A pudgy little man
For those unfamiliar with San Francisco, Market
briskly moved towards me. “Go to the back of theStreet is a disaster. It has two lanes in both directions.
building through the freight elevator,” states the secuMarket is a major thoroughfare, but its lanes are narrow.
rity guard, in a tone I wouldn’t put up with from mymother. He pointed me back out the front door. “I haveaTraffic on market is heavy with automobiles, commercial
trucks, street cars and buses squeezed together. The tightpickup on the 12th floor,” I respond. “You have to
fit is exacerbated by bus drop off islands between lanes
go to the freight elevator,” he repeats threateningly. I
at various points. The center two lanes of Market havewalk around the building, sign in with the unenthusiasstreet car tracks running down them. At various points
tic security guard, and wait for the one, slow moving
there are metal grates that look like shredders, allowing
freight elevator.
for the circulation of air for the subway that runs under
Although the violation of building etiquette is innothe street. Not just one subway mind you, but two subcent on my part, the violation of human respect on
ways systems run under Market; Muni and Bart. Streets
the part of all those security guards, receptionists, mailnorth of Market form a “V” as they intersect Market atroom clerks and all their low level ilk that messengers
a 45 degree angle. The streets to the south are perpenhave to deal with every day is not innocent, but malidicular. At any given intersection you have upwards ofcious. This malice is tacitly approved by the very tenants
four streets coming together at different angles. The
and employers in these buildings that create the circumintersections are dangerous and unpredictable, as isstances to make such behavior acceptable and routine.
Market Street itself.
When I walk into a building to deliver an envelope,To vindicate JP’s admonition, the next day I am
I’m obviously not carrying freight. It’s not like I’m holding
sprinting down Market when a pedestrian jumps
a couple of two-by-fours. Freight elevators are for freight,out from the curb. I swerve hard to the left, andsince freight tends to damage delicately decorated elevastraighten before riding into oncoming traffic. As I
tors or interferes with ingress or egress by the tenants andpull straight, my front tire catches a rail and myvisitors. Envelopes are not freight. Secretaries, receptionbody takes a vicious twist as I spill. I tumble into
ists, executives, lawyers, visitors and even mailroom clerks
the opposing traffic lanes. By the time I hit thecarry envelopes and similar parcels through the lobby every
ground, traffic going the other way has thankfullyday. The requirement that I use the freight elevator is based
cleared. I live another day.
purely on my appearance as a working person. When security
guards require messengers to use the freight elevator, what
they are doing is relegating low wage workers to the “serI went on messing for the better part of thevant’s entrance.”
winter, twisting though the tangled streets of San
Francisco in the rain and cold. But that tumble
knocked the shine off the bicycle courier image I’d
Who were my fellow messengers and what were they
fabricated over a decade of fantasy. I had become
like? They have more street smarts than you or I will evera messenger just to wear the job like a fashion
have. Messengers often fit into one of several archetypes.
accessory. As time went by, the transgressions ofMany look like competitive cyclists who belong in a velomotorists’ became too cliché to induce my roaddrome. They have high performance road bicycles and allrage anymore. The subtle indignities I endured
the gear to do the Tour-de-France. There are the Thrasher
from the corporate crowd became less relevant as
dudes, who look like skater kids who grew up a bit. Then
I became more detached. The novelty of reckless,there are the stoners, the same type of dudes you went
sketchy, urban cycling faded with the grind. In theto high school with; the long hair grunge crowd twisted
process I had come to respect the job as a profeswith chemicals. Some don’t fit into any category.
sion. At the same time I saw the writing on the wall.
Couriers look out for each other. They’ll tell you
Messengering is a job, unlike any other. But, in the end,
when you’re doing something stupid, and acknowledge
it is still work. And I couldn’t afford this working vacaa job well done. At the end of the day various messention anymore.
gers gather in front of the building and trade verbal

Conclusion

Messenger Down

38 URBANVELO.ORG

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Bike Bike

2008
erer.com
o
B
g
ok
mugmu
By Er uzy - jenn7r yan.s gmug.com
uG
ar reb.sm
by R y a nois - cb
Photosegruotine B& Chr isN

ow in its fifth year,
the annual Bike
Bike Conference ofCommunity and Collective Bike Shops was heldin San Francisco, with
an after party in Santa
Cruz. Co-hosted by San
Francisco’s Bike Kitchen
and Santa Cruz’s Bike
Church, this year’s organizers planned a full weekof activities to entertain
the 250 people representing 80+ shops fromacross the continent. Bike
Bike and the Bike Collective Network provide achance for organizers to
get together and sharesuccesses and failures,
since for the most part,everyone is making thisup along the way.

URBAN
VELO.ORG
VELO.ORG
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Photo by Ryan Guzy

www.planetbike.com

better bicycle products for a better world.

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Box Dog Bikes, San Francisco, CA. Photo by Christ

ine Bourgeois

Non-profit bicycle organizations
Bike shops that are accessible to people without money
Shops that have an educational focus, teachingothers how to fix bikes
Organizations that ship bikes to underprivileged
communities
Shops that provide free or low-cost services
to the community
Organizations that reuse and recycle bicycles
and parts
To find your local Community Bike Shop or to learn how to start your own, seewww.bikecollectives.org

The weekend was broken up
between workshops and discussions that covered everythingfrom the nuts and bolts of running a shop to the larger issues
such as combating the permeatingmachismo and sub-cultural vibe of
the bike scene. Collectively thegoal is to improve a bigger wheel
as opposed to re-inventing smallerones.
As this movement grows andmatures, so do the individual
shops. Year after year, organizers
get to see each other’s projects
get bigger, better, more organizedand effective. Some shops that at
the first Bike Bike in New Orleans
were housed in someone’s garage
with a meager set of tools have
now grown into offering storefronts, full services, paid staff andyouth programs. Combined with ashared love of bikes, the commitment to social change has madecollectives and coops try to figureout new ways of working together
by running these non-profits andbusinesses in ways that promotemutual aid. This is also the heartof the most pressing contradiction. Where projects started outof a passion for bikes and wrenching, more and more time is spentorganizing shops and dealing withpaperwork and meetings. Also,
whereas community and collective bike shops are trying to offer
an alternative to consumerism andcapitalism, they could not exist
without the wasteful consumption
and excess of each.
In a way, success is the biggest problem. As each shop getsbigger, more complex, and works
with more and more people, they
are forced to make some hugedecisions, concessions and compromises. Expanding hours andservices also means that volun-

42 URBANVELO.ORG

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history

Photo by Ryan Guzy

Some folks in New Orleans saw
there was a burgeoning community
bike shop movement and had the idea
to host a conference where organizers could meet and share ideas.
Nobody could come up with a goodname for the conference, so someone threatened to call it “Bike Bike”
unless a better name was presented.
No one did.
2004 Plan B in New Orleans
2005 BICAS in Tucson
2006 Milwaukee Bicycle Collective in
Milwaukee
2007 Free Ride in Pittsburgh
2008 Bike Kitchen and Bike Church in
San Francisco and Santa Cruz

Winter 2009 Southeast Regional,
Sopo Bicycle Coop in Atlanta
Summer 2009 National, Grease Pit
in Minneapolis

www.bikebike.org

Photo by Christine Bourgeois

teers begin feeling stretched thin, and burnt out. At Pittsburgh’s
Free Ride, for the first time in seven years, active recruitment ofvolunteers in order to fill open shop hours has become a necessity largely due to success and increased need from the community.
To combat burn out, many shops have begun figuring out schemes
to pay staff, but that also requires things that five years ago were
unheard of or out of the question; namely incorporating with the
IRS, formalizing budgets, acquiring insurance, and hiring accountants. Scrappy shops that at one time stored savings in underwear
drawers, are finding that getting bank accounts and conforming tosome aspects of the non-profit structure, allows them to continue
their work on a larger scale.
In addition to the serious side of Bike Bike, the fun side offersa chance to see (now) old friends, explore new cities, and glean
inspiration through each other’s projects. It’s also a time for orgnaizers to geek out and remember the love of bikes that is at theheart of each project. This year, Bike Bike coincided with Critical
Mass’ Sweet 16th Birthday, a Cyclecide Party in a scrapyard, and abeautiful group ride down the California Coast to Santa Cruz where
attendees partied, conspired, explored, and watched movies underbridges with the homeless. Bring on Minneapolis in 2009, and theprogress between now and then.

Check out freeridepgh.org

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Bikes on Film
By Ken Kaminski

2 Seconds (1998)
Here is a movie that one can truly say is about
cycling. The bicycle in this case is not the MacGuffin
for a coming-of-age story or a discovery-of-one’s-selfstory, or any of the other numerous retreads for which
the film industry wheels out its figurative old tenspeed. Rather, writer/director Manon Briand focuses,with genuine insight and no glamour, on the uniqueobsession thatcyclistshavewith their pastime.
However,
cycling,much like how
it treats thefilm’s two main
protagonists
as revealed bytheir comparison of pains andnumbnesses,
also serves thefilm by its privileged role in thestory: with one
hand it gives,
and with theother it takes
away. Because
thelargerissues of life areso trivial and so
peripheralinthis movie, as
they often are
in reality, thestory lacks the emotional punches of all those movies
that are really about something else.
That story, in brief, is about professional downhill
racer Laurie (Charlotte Laurier), who loses her placeon the team when she is overcome but a mysterious
competitive ennui, which yet does not prevent her
from riding as a courier in Montreal. In the course of
the routine mechanical failures associated with thisline of work, Laurie meets and eventually wins over

Lorenzo, the owner of a boutique bike shop. Dino
Tavarone’s performance as the cantankerous Italianex-racer almost single-handedly rescues the movie
from an insufficiency of dramatic tension. His reminiscence on the good old days of continental road racing,complete with flashbacks to a fairly authentic 60s era
peloton, reawakens Laurie’s racing spirit, and adds
some poetry to
the representation of cyclists’mania
Characters
live and engage
each other normally and realistically, and if it’s
short on excitement, at least
it’s not padded.
Like I said, thismovie’srealstrength is asa movie about
being a cyclist,
and a thin plotis the priceyou pay for the
sheer magnitude of screen
time given toriding bicycles.
And while it
may seem a
story
about
two professionals, one mentoring the other in the pushing and abuseof one’s body, might sound like more than the average city rider can relate to, as an average cyclist, I
found myself identifying with the feelings describedby Lorenzo, even though my experiences don’t risemuch above the tame challenges of commuting. It’san uncommonly authentic film, and it speaks to any
cyclist. You can’t expect less from a movie in which themain narrative is resolved with an alley cat.

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broakland bicycles 510.677.624 4

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ed glazar

presented bywww.panaracer.com

gallery

Goldsprints NYC

Nicola digs in and looks back.
Brooklyn, NY 2007.

48 URBANVELO.ORG

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ed glazar

gallery

Los Marcos
Madness

Justin from Calgary,takes possesion of theball. New York, NY
2008

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presented bywww.panaracer.com

Brandie Bailey’s Ghost BikeI didn’t know Brandie Bailey, but the late summer sun thatrushes down Houston sometimes makes me feel as though
I did. Houston and Essex. New York, NY 2008.
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ed glazar

gallery
Bicycle Fetish

The
Classic
Ridersannounce their arrivalwith colors, air-horn
blasts, and the glint of
vintage steel. Brooklyn,
NY 2008.

North American
Cycle CourierChampionships

Alfred Bobe, one of New
York City’s fastest messengers, tears up a pitted
90-degree turn during
the main race. Portland,
OR 2005.

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presented bywww.panaracer.com

Neighborhood Shop, Neighborhood Dog

A few weeks after being adopted from a litterat a local credit union, Ursa spends the daysnoozing on the counter at Continuum Cycles.
New York, NY 2008.

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THE MILLIONMILE MAN
By Stephen Cummings
Photography by Brad Quartuccio

Danny Chew is the type of person that people
need to be warned about before they meet him.
His eccentricities are sometimes overpowering,and can dwarf the rest of his personality. When off thebike, he is usually wearing sweatpants and a free t-shirt
from some race, somewhere. He wears giant glasses
similar to those of Mr. Magoo or DMC. Danny usually
has a few days worth of a beard growing, and he is also
a close talker.
On the bike though, he has quite an impressive
cycling resume. He did his first double century at theage of 12, and has kept meticulous logs of his mileagesince as he tries to achieve one million lifetime miles.
He raced the first USPRO championships in 1985, andparticipated in legs of the defunct Tour de Trump.
When he started slowing down, he changed his style
to endurance races, concentrating on the Race AcrossAmerica (RAAM) and solo 12 or 24 hour road races. He
has completed RAAM eight times, winning twice. In
1996 he broke the transcontinental record for bicycles
at a remarkable 8 Days, 7 Hours and 14 Minutes coast
to coast, a bit longer than most people are comfortable
driving the distance. It takes a special person to be able
to do these types of events. In preparation for RAAM,
Danny’s “Chewness” paid off. He did neck exercises formonths, because fatigue has made it literally impossible for some RAAM racers to even hold up their own
head. He deprived himself of sleep, and trained his bodyto know how to function on 3 or 4 hours sandwiched
between 20 hours of saddle time. Danny once rode 180
miles, from Pittsburgh to Cleveland, without any foodor water just to say that he did.

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People’s first question is usually, “What does he dofor a living?” The answer, quite simply, is nothing. He lives
in the house in which he grew up alongside his siblings. It
is only himself and his mother living there now, and she
is fully supportive of his lifestyle. He makes a few dollars
here and there, and saves to the penny. Danny’s ability to
not spend money can be downright mind blowing. In every
aspect of his life, he is proud of how cheap he can be. He
will leave for a 200-mile ride with nothing but a dollar or
two worth of fig bars and apples pies from the discountgrocery store. He knows every gas station with free waterand each park that has a fountain within a hundred mileradius of his house. He runs bike chains until they have atleast 15,000 miles on them, and can usually find used ones
that are fine for him, along with cassettes that people withhigher standards would consider spent. There is a storyof Danny piecing together a chain from the links of new
chains that people discard. Tires are ridden until they are
truly, absolutely worn out with the tube poking throughthe casing. Danny’s mantra is “Keep the overhead low, andthe mileage high.”
Danny has ridden at least 15,000 miles per year since1980. A few of his higher mileage years were closer to
30,000. With such a long cycling career, he has seen many
ups and downs. He has beaten a Tour de France winner ina road race, and he has hit a deer in the dark at 30 miles

per hour. He has experienced friends and competitors
being killed by cars while riding.
Danny knows that his body is somewhat giving out on
him as he gets older, and he makes no secret of it while hetalks about his rides.
“I was riding the Deer Lakes course last week and wasthinking about my first race. It was the 4/5 race and I got
dropped. I came back the next year and soloed away fromthe 1/2/3 race and won... God damn it! Now I am slow
again!”
After being dropped by the younger, faster guys on a
climb he has bridged back up and proclaimed, “I used toeat guys like you for breakfast.”
And he is right. Some of Danny’s results were incredible. A 54 minute 40k time trial with zero aero equipment
and 3 turnarounds, a first place at the Mt. Evans juniorhill climb, which earned him an invitation to the Olympic
training center, and a top ten at the famous USPRO cycling
championship are all amazing results, along with the aforementioned two RAAM wins.
It must be hard trying to stay in a sport that almost
requires you to stay young. Many of the people Danny
raced alongside during the 1980’s have put their bicycles
away and not touched them since. They quit while they
were on top of the sport. Danny’s good friend at the time,
Matt Eaton, is still the only American to have ever won the

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Tour of Ireland. The retirees are comparable to Marilyn
Monroe dying while beautiful. Picture her in your mind.
Now imagine her as a wrinkled 80 year-old woman, andyour Grandfather saying, “She was beautiful in her prime.”
Danny was fast in his prime, and to those who don’t know
him now, he is just the crazy guy who is constantly riding
his bike around the neighborhood.
However, it is good that there are new generations ofcyclists coming through Danny’s world. Danny makes it his
job to show new riders cycling, and life, as he sees them.
Whether it be racing, or just riding, Danny has his perception of the way cycling should be, and he will take every bitof an 8 hour bike ride to share it with you. Each and every
bike ride should be an adventure, and there should be no
holding back.
“You have ridden a bicycle around Pittsburgh for how
many years and you have never thought to go down thatroad?” he will proclaim as you come upon pavement in the
middle of nowhere. “Shameful! You are now shamed intoriding down a new road!”And as soon as you turn onto the road, he will proclaim “NEW ROAD!” with gumption.
In his mind, Danny has a database of roads and places.
It is more than an atlas, it is more than a GPS. He knows

everything that is within a 150-mile radius of Pittsburgh,and contains information that Garmin could not conjure
up if they had to.
“There is a spring on the right hand side about amile up where we can fill our bottles,” or “On very, very
detailed maps, this town is called Gastonville.” It turns
out that Gastonville is a church and a graveyard. He will
memorize the roads that others have and haven’t been
on, and will guide rides as such, tallying up the mileage of“NEW ROADS!” along the way and giving a total of “NEWROADS!” at the end of the ride
It is unbelievable to Danny that someone could ride
the same roads twice before riding every single road once.
As soon as every single road is ridden once, the rider thenneeds to expand his “radius” of roads.
“You have a 30 mile radius (60 mile round trip rides),that you have muddied like a dog on a leash! Your 30 mile
leash is holding you back from beautiful new roads andnew rides!”He keeps a mental index of where people live, where
people grew up, how many different ways he can cross themountain ridge from his house in a single day, which roads
he has ridden, with whom he has ridden them with andhow many times. When the mental index fails, he has his

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journals. They list every road that he rides every single day
and with whom. If it is the first time on a road, or with a
new person, they get a special pen color in the journal. The
second time, it is another color, and the third and thereafter, it is the final color. He has over 30 years worth ofthese journals outlining every single ride that he has everdone in that time.
Danny acts as if cycling is a locked door, to which hehas the key. He takes pride in showing it off, pride in new
people learning what he has known for years. The moment
he sees joy or excitement on a cyclist’s face as a reaction
to a beautiful remote road or the feeling of accomplishment after a long ride, he reminds them that they could
do it daily as he does. Danny loves taking people on theirfirst century, or first double century, or first ride over the
local mountain ridge. Since his days of competition havedwindled, much of his satisfaction now comes from sharing
his knowledge and watching as others learn to enjoy it. He
also has his road trips.
Danny’s trips consist of packing what most people
would take on a regular ride, and leaving for weeks on end.
He plans out his stops to stay with old friends, or friends offriends, or total strangers he has somehow found. He spaces
the stops 200 - 250 miles apart, and cycles between them
daily. Eventually he will reach his destination and base himself at a friend’s house for a week or so. During that week
he will ride as much as possible, which for Danny is 700 1200 miles per week. After he has exhausted his welcome,he turns around and heads home. Somehow he manages a
3-week vacation on less than 100 dollars, and probably has
more fun than most people spending thousands.

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Not having a full-time job and just riding a bicycle would
seem like an easy life to most, but it doesn’t seem so easy
being Danny Chew. The goal of his life, to ride 1,000,000
miles, constantly looms overhead. Daily, weekly, yearly
mileage all adds up to the single, distant goal. Sometime
in his 80’s Danny should hit the 1,000,000 mark. That is,
if he isn’t forced to take time off due to injury, poverty ordeath. Danny has watched friends die while riding. During
the 2004 “Calvin’s 12 hour Challenge” a friend of Danny’s
was struck from behind as he was making a left hand turn.
Danny was upset for his friend, for the race promoter, foreverybody who was hoping to finish the 12 hour race, andfor himself, as he had planned to win the event.
Danny has put off all traditional things in life in pursuit of this single goal. He jokes that he is married to his
bicycle. Despite his advanced degrees in mathematics, he
has no aspirations of pursuing a career. Cycling is life for
Danny. His bicycle has brought him so much, and taken him
so far, but could also be the cause of the biggest letdown of
his entire life—not hitting the 1,000,000 mile mark. Evenif he does make it, he will not get there first. There wasa man from Britain in the 1950’s, and a guy in New Jersey
who is already at 1.3 million or so. Danny is not doing it
to be the first, or the most, or the best. Danny is pursuing it as so many others pursue cycling, because it lets an
individual pursue an individual goal. The million miles is
Danny’s goal. Others will be content riding for years tocomplete a century. For some, simply riding a few times
a week and enjoying each ride will bring the same feeling of accomplishment. Even if he doesn’t get to the goal,
the time was not wasted, as he has influenced and taught
so many people how to enjoy cycling in a new way, on a
“NEW ROAD!”
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facilitated
Innovative Bicycle Facilities Provide Better and Safer Routes for Bicyclists

Words & photos by David Hoffman

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It has taken a while, but bicycling for transportationis ready to take hold here in the United States. With
increasing numbers of riders taking to the streets, it
has quickly become apparent to transportation engineersthat current roadway designs and facilities could be significantly improved in terms of visibility, safety, and comfort. New and innovative designs are beginning to show
up on the roads—and with a new generation of transportation engineers being trained to think about building
and maintaining a truly multi-modal system, the future islooking much brighter for those of us who us roll on two
wheels instead of four.

The Rise and Fall of Bicycle
Infrastructure
Ironically, it was the bicycle that helped to improve
the roads in the first place. Prior to widespread adoptionof the bicycle in the late Nineteenth Century, roads were
mostly dirt, or within some of the larger cities, pavedwith cobblestones. Dirt quickly turned to mud, becoming
a quagmire for the solid wheel, skinny tire bikes of the day.
Cobblestone streets can be rough even today for people
on modern bicycles. There is a reason that those old highwheeler or “penny-farthing” bicycles were called “boneshakers” prior to the invention of the pneumatic tire by
John Dunlop in 1887!
In 1880, the League of American Wheelmen wasformed in an effort to both fight for cyclist rights and to
improve the roads. The League has been credited withhelping to have roads paved in this country long before
automobiles were the primary vehicles on our roads.
Today, the League of American Wheelmen is known as
the League of American Bicyclists (www.bikeleague.org),
and is believed to be the oldest transportation organization in the world.
At the turn of the Twentieth Century building automotive-centric infrastructure began to accelerate after
it became clear that facilities designed to accommodate
and direct all the different types of traffic on the roads—
automobiles, horse-drawn carriages, trolleys, bicyclists,and pedestrians—were needed. The first traffic island was
installed in 1907, dividing lines on roads began appearing in
1911, the first traffic light was functional in 1914, and the“No Left Turn” sign created in 1916. Perhaps the pinnacle
of designing for automotive infrastructure came in 1956
with the creation of the Eisenhower Interstate System,
beginning with fabled Route 66 in Missouri. In most cases
today’s transportation system is largely built for cars, withbicyclists and pedestrians a mere afterthought.
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Like a Phoenix from the Ashes

Innovative Facilities

There are several factors that have helped to restart
the growth of bicycle infrastructure, beginning with the gas
crisis and environmental movement of the 1970’s. Some of
the first bike lanes in the country (installed in Mill Valley,CA, no too far from where I write this article) and a few ofthe oldest grass-roots bicycle advocacy organizations canboth be traced back to the 1970’s. However, cheap fuelfor the last twenty-five years and an economy that waslargely healthy enough to support large, inefficient cars
and the growth of suburban lifestyles has helped to keep
the growth of transportation bicycling at a crawl until very
recently.
Transportation engineers were schooled for years on
how to move as many cars as possible. Delays in traffic
are classified in terms of “Level of Service” or “LOS,” anddecisions on how roads were designed was often based on
obtaining the best LOS—nearly always to the detrimentof bicyclists and pedestrians. Now, there is a new LOS, the“Bicycle Level of Service” or “BLOS,” which measures how
safe, efficient, and comfortable roads are for bicyclists.
Traditional bike lanes are in great proliferation, butbike lanes only work on roads that are wide or slow
enough to support them. The question of how to design
or retrofit roads so that that they are safe, efficient, andcomfortable for bicyclists is now being asked, and creativeroad engineers are beginning to come up with some interesting solutions.

Sharrows – For most of the country, the first new
facilities that you may see in the near future are called“shared lane markings,” or “sharrows”—a contraction ofshared and arrow, and designated by a bicycle under two
inverted vees or chevrons. Sharrows are beginning to pop
up in many major metropolitan areas, as they’re just about
to be adopted in to the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control
Devices (MUTCD). A sharrow is intended to be used ona road where there is not enough road width to install aseparate bike lane, and where the average traffic speed isslow enough that bicyclists and motorists can safely share
the road. Sharrows achieve two things: 1) they help tomove bicyclists out of the “door zone” into the traffic lane
to help prevent “dooring” incidents, and 2) they serve as aform of traffic calming, slowing the average speed on theroad by several miles per hour.
Colorized Pavement – In this case, a bicycle lane ispainted or coated a solid color—green, blue, or red—tohelp delineate the area as a special place for bicyclists. Colorized bikes lanes provide a high visibility area to drivers,
and have been used extensively for many years in Europe.
One variation of a colorized bike lane is to use them inareas where there is a high risk of conflict between bicyclists and cars, such as an intersection. Seattle, WA has
some of the colorized bike lanes through intersections.
Another extreme variation, and the only one that I haveseen up to this point, is a treatment of colorized pavement

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in conjunction with sharrows. Salt Lake City, UT is thefirst city to try this innovative treatment.
Raised Bike Lanes – Portland, OR has been
experimenting with using a slightly raised bike lane in conjunction with colorized pavement. This provides a highvisibility area for the bicyclist and helps to keep motorists out of the lane, as there is a slight height variation of
the pavement. This experimental treatment has not been
without problems however, as there have been some incidents of cyclists being injured after failing to negotiate theinitial entrance on to the facility. The jury is still out on
this one…
Cycle Tracks – While Dutch-style cycle tracks arealmost unheard of in this country, they have been extensively used in Europe. A cycle track is a unidirectional
facility (like a bike lane) that separates cyclists from traffic via parking or a barrier. This is different than multiuse paths here in the US, as multi-use paths are two-way
and accommodate pedestrians as well. A variation of thecycle track was just installed in Indianapolis, IN. And they
are being hotly debated amongst traffic engineers here
in the US due to differences in American and European
road design and the problems with adapting them to US
streets.
Bicycle Boulevards – Bicycle boulevards arestreets that have been primarily redesigned to accommodate local traffic only. These streets typically haverestricted turns for motorists (example: no left turn) andhave portions of the street blocked off to cars. Bicycle
and pedestrians are allowed through the blocked areas(typically wide enough for a bike lane). Motor vehicles
usually have just one way to access the street. Bicycle
boulevards can be havens for bicyclists and pedestrians as
an alternate route that may parallel a larger, faster route,discouraging cut-through automobile traffic. The city ofBerkeley, CA is famous for their bike boulevards, as isPortland, OR. Sacramento, CA has a small network ofbike boulevards through their mid-town neighborhood.
The practice is becoming more popular as a way to calm
local street traffic and provide a pleasant ride through thecommunity.
Bike Boxes – One way to prevent a “right hook”
by a motorist turning right on to a cyclist at a stop light is
to place the bicyclist ahead of the turning traffic. Knownby the names “advanced stop line” or “bike box,” the idea
is hold cars back by placing a stop bar at an intersection
where motorists are turning right and placing bicyclists
ahead of the car. Currently, this treatment is experimental
in Portland, OR. Reports are that it has been very effective in reducing the number of collisions between cars andbicyclists at intersections where the driver wants to turnright and the cyclist wants to continue straight ahead.
Woonerfs – This is a Dutch concept very similar toa bicycle boulevard. Woonerfs can be found in mixed residential and commercial areas. Cars, bikes, and pedestrians all move freely through the area. Designed to discourage all but the most local automotive traffic this concept
is becoming the vogue among hip urban planners. Several
years ago Boulder, CO converted a main thoroughfare toa Woonerf-like pedestrian street where cars and bikes
were welcome, but there is almost no automotive traffic.
Bicycle Detectors – Have you ever noticed thatat some stop lights the pavement has been cut in a square
pattern and then filled in again? Loops of wire have been
installed in the pavement to detect cars—essentially giant
metal detectors. When a car is detected, it will trigger the stop light for perpendicular traffic. Loop detectors are especially popular along side roads next to amain road, where there is low local traffic volumes, butlots of through traffic. This way, traffic is stopped only
when there are others waiting to get on to the roadway.
Improvements in these detectors have resulted in ones
specifically designed to pick up a bicycle or motorcycle.
You can often tell if there is one of the newer loop detectors designed to pick up bicycles if there is a small bicycle
marked on the pavement at the intersection, or diagonal cuts in the square of pavement that has been cut andfilled.
But what about all of you who ride a carbon-fiber
bike? Some detectors aren’t sensitive enough to pick up
these bikes made with relatively little metal. New video
detection units are becoming popular, and will trigger thelight if a bicyclist or motorist enters the video field ofvision. One advantage over the older loop detectors isthat the video sensitivity can be controlled remotely bysoftware, whereas the loop detectors must be manually
tuned on site.

Complete Streets, Anyone?
We seem to keep coming back to this topic. As Urban
Velo noted in Issue #1 and Issue #7, Complete Streets arestreets that have been designed to be safe, efficient, andcomfortable for all users. Complete Streets as a national
movement (see www.completestreets.org) has seen
explosive growth in popularity. As more and more cities and states adopt and enact Complete Streets policies(California just passed a state-level policy in September),
there will be more opportunities for these new and creative facilities to become woven in to the fabric of ourtransportation system.

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10

Types of

Pedestrians

We Loveto HateBy Rich ‘Ratty’ Katz
Illustrations by Lyly Phamyasune.deviantart.com

If

you ride the streets, there are more dangers
than just potholes and cars. A single bonehead pedestrian stepping into the street withoutlooking can ruin your day, taco your wheel and takeyou out big time. It’s not because you did anything
wrong, it’s because they’re idiots who never learned
what every kid is taught by their parents, “LookBoth Ways Before Crossing The Street.”

1

The Blind Pedestrian I’m not referringto the vision impaired, but to those that
don’t look where they’re going before
stepping out into the street. You could
be the only moving vehicle on the road,on a completely empty street, and they’ll still step
directly into your path without ever thinking thatmaybe, just maybe, there’s a vehicle coming theirway. Bowling ball hits pin, pin goes down.

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New for 2008 – Phil Wood Stainless Steel Outboard Bottom Bracket Cups
These cups are engineered
to be both rugged andfunctional with Phil Spec’dbearings for longevity andperformance. With thetraditional Phil Wood
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British, French, Italian andother threadings. The
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3

The Cellphone Moron
These modern hightech idiots step into
the street with theircell glued to their ear,staring downward, unable to multi-task.
They’re completely ignoring everythingaround them, only intent on chatting on
their celly and oblivious that they juststepped into your path. The only pleasurable thing for a rider in this situation iswatching not just them being splattered
like so much roadkill, but their phone
invariably exploding into multiple fragments upon impact. Tech death!

4

The Back Stepper
These are the pedestrians who react badly
upon noticing at the lastminute that they juststepped into your path. The problem isthat you’ve noticed and planned avoidance by changing your path to veer behind
them, but so much for the plans of miceand men as they get spooked seeing you,and with delayed reaction, back step right
into your path that you intended to avoid
them with. The Two-Step Slam Dance.

2

The Assumer This is the type of pedestrianthat assumes that just because the cars havecome to a stop it’s clear to cross the street,
not considering that there might be a bikeflying between the cars. Bam! Those arealways major takeouts as they get hammered, ricocheting off
of multiple cars, before they finally meet the pavement in anugly way. Can you say pinball?

5

Ghetto Trash “Tough”
Guys These are thecomplete morons ofevery color and creedthat in their ignorantpitiful lives, in their childish way of making themselves seem tough, purposely
walk right into your path, or in theleast as close as possible, that somehow
makes them feel “tough” that they won’t
allow anyone to invade “their space.” Of
course, if they actually had any brains
and paid attention in high school scienceclass, they’d know the physics that if they
got hit by a moving object of their same
size, they would lose, in a big way. But
then, we’re not talking smart here, we’retalking about the dumbest of the dumb.
Time to take out the garbage!

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6

The Friday Night Drunk Frat Boy
While these morons aren’t muchdifferent than the Ghetto Trashguys, the difference is that they
purposely try to scare you off ofyour bike as you ride by, screaming or yelling very
loudly as you pass, thrusting themselves close to you
to try and make you lose your balance, thinking how“funny” that would be in their drunken brainlessness.
Though they did pass their high school physics classas they somehow made it to college, they seem todefine how bad our educational system is, as they too
are clueless as to the effects of being hit by a moving
object at speed. Alpha Kappa Roadkill!

7

The Worthless Parent These arepeople who should never ever have
had kids, as they are useless as
guardians to their children. These
are the kinds of people that will holdthe child’s hand to supposedly protect them, but willcompletely ignore the dangers of the road, dragging
their kids into the streets without any concern for
their safety, without looking where they’re going, literally gambling with their child’s lives. An adult pedestrian will usually survive a hit from a 150-200 lb. rider
traveling at 15-20mph, albeit bruised, battered, andbleeding. But if a child gets hit, the results could befatal. Use birth control damn it!

8

The Stupid Mother and theBaby Carriage This is where
seemingly intelligent people sometimes do incredibly dumb things.
This is where a mother will pushtheir baby stroller between parked cars right into thestreet without comprehending that the stroller will
stick out into the flow of traffic. Though not very common, when it happens, all involved will never forget.
This occurred to me once while I was riding my BMX
bike, and if it wasn’t for my quick reflexes and bunnyhop skills, I probably would’ve killed the kid upon
impact. The stroller came out of nowhere, thrust into
my path, where I had no where to go but up, jumping
the stroller, and barely missing the kid’s head. I was so
shook up by the experience I flipped out, berating themother so badly that it brought her to tears. Hopefully the woman learned her lesson, but I’ll never forget that kids wide eyes looking up at me about to slam
into him like a freight train. Childhood trauma!

9

The Crosswalk Lemmings If there’s one
idiot, there are probably more following.
This is all too common at intersections
where one pedestrian decides to cross thestreet, even though it’s not clear, and theother pedestrians standing at the corner behind them blindly
follow, assuming that if the person in the front is crossing it
must be safe. Wrong! So now you don’t just have one target,
you have a wall of lemmings to slam into. Roadkill herd!

10

The Magnetic Man It sounds likesome sort of Superhero, but heroic
isn’t exactly the correct description.
These are the types of people thatwhen both yourself and they are
traveling towards each other, make seemingly absurd choicesof avoidance. You clearly veer to one side to give them room,
and instead of them veering to the opposite side, they for some
odd reason veer towards your direction, as if they’re a magnet
and you’re steel. One wonders at the psychology of making
such a wrong decision when it’s so obvious what the correct
choice would’ve been. They only have two possible choices;
one is life, the other death. It doesn’t get easier than that. Butalas, beware of The Magnetic Man. Opposites attract.

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@ RAWLAND DRAKKAR @650B or 700C or 29er FIXED
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Rear Blinkie Light Theory
By Brad QuartuccioR

ear blinkie lights are typically not required bylaw for riding after dark, but are a damned
good idea for even the shortest trips. Reflectors just don’t cut it. Getting rear-ended is no fun,and a couple of dollars worth of strategically placed
lights can greatly affect your overall visibility. Generally speaking, more is better both in terms ofbrightness and absolute number of lights. Multiple
points of light are important for drivers to be able toaccurately gauge distance in the same way that twoeyes are important for depth perception. Sometimes
a single blinkie can appear to be much farther away
than reality until it is too late, and this is one instanceof “too late” that none of us wish to experience.
Helmet – Placing a light up high on your helmet
is great for visibility as it gives people in taller
trucks and commercial vehicles something moreon their level to notice you. There is a reason
why all new cars and light trucks in the UnitedStates are required to have a third taillight placed
higher than the conventional pair.
Messenger Bag or Backpack – Most urban
cyclists have some sort of bag for their daily travels, and it’s a handy place to attach a rear blinkie.
The better ones even have a mounting strap specific to this purpose. Assuming the bag is useddaily, the light is always with you no matter whatbike you may find yourself on unexpectedly.
With large loads, some messenger bags end up
with the blinkie pointed at the sky, nearly invisible. Another reason why multiple light sources
are necessary.
Bike – Having a seatpost-mounted blinkie
is a key part of the equation and just makes
good sense. If you frequently lock up outside,
ditching the stock mounting for a simple ziptie can help prevent thefts of opportunity andmischief.

76 URBANVELO.ORG

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22/10/08 07:31:30

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How to use a Chain Tool
By Brad QuartuccioChain links are held together by press-fit pins and require a specific tool to add or remove links. Combined with a set of
metric allen keys and open-end wrenches from the hardware store, most basic repairs are within reach with a chain toolin hand. Here is how to use a chain tool in order shorten a chain and put it back together without a master link.

1

2

Place the chain in the chain tool, on the lower
cradle if your particular tool has two as shown.
Carefully line up the pin of the tool with the chain
rivet and push the pin most of the way through the outside
chain link. Do not push the rivet the full way out. I repeat,
do not push the rivet the full way out.

The chain should remain in one piece, with therivet pushed most of the way through the link.
Lightly flex the chain towards the exposed rivet
and slide the chain apart. You may need to go back andpush the rivet out more in 1/4 turn increments until you get
a feel for your particular tool.

3

4

Place the ends of the shortened chain back
together in the reverse motion of Step 2. Press
the rivet back through the link using the lower
cradle until it is even with both outside links. Check if
the reattached link is stiff as compared to the rest of thechain.

If the link is stiff and your chain tool has two cradles, place the chain on the upper cradle and givethe tool a 1/8 to 1/4 turn to loosen the offending
link. If your chain tool has only one cradle, use your hands
to slightly bend the stiff link in the wrong direction until it
is comparable to the others.

Many modern bicycle chains come packaged with a masterlink for reassembly and subsequent easy chain removal, or
ThreadedThreadlessin thecase of Shimano chains requirea specialized reattachment pin. Follow the instructions of your chain manufacturer,
but either way you’ll need a chain tool to shorten a new chain to length.

78 URBANVELO.ORG

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Winter Footwear Solutions

By Brad QuartuccioC

old and wet weather is one of the most fearsome combinations to bicycle through, especially when it comes down to keeping your feet warm and dry. As the temperature dips below freezing there is a very real risk of frostbite, especially if your
toes get wet. Here are four tried and true methods of keeping the warmth in and the water out.

Plastic Bags – Combined with thick socks and your regular shoes, plastic bags work for plenty of people to keep
the water out. Unfortunately they also keep the sweat in,potentially leaving you with cold, wet feet from the inside.
They work well considering the price.

Winter Cycling Shoes – For the dedicated cold weather
rider not looking to sacrifice performance, there is nothing better than purpose built winter cycling shoes that
accept a clipless cleat. Many are waterproof to a given
point allowing full submersion in puddles without springing
a leak. The price of entry is high—$200 or more.

Shoe Covers – Traditional road cyclewear consists ofvarious levels of thickness and coverage of both lycra andneoprene covers that slip over your clipless cycling shoes.
Some are meant more for keeping a cold wind out thanwater, others have more water resistance and zip up yourankle.

Boots – The most practical solution for many is a pair of
winter boots and platform-style pedals. As long as you’re
not in a particular hurry and the extra weight doesn’t
bother you, this method will keep your feet cozy througheven the worst weather. Once the temperature drops low
enough, this may be the only option.

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82 URBANVELO.ORG

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