Another day, another ravaged Citi Bike…
Actually, it kinda looks like it jumped.
So who’s the biggest threat to our cities’ utopian livable streets future? Is it people who steal Citi Bikes? Is it politicians who block congestion pricing? Is it pickup drivers who steal tow trucks?
Hardly. No, the real enemy is…
…fire trucks?
The biggest challenge the livable streets movement faces in winning people over is that when their critics accuse them of trying to ban everything they laugh it off as a conspiracy theory, but then they turn around and say stuff like fire departments shouldn’t respond to emergencies with large trucks. This is why when your city proposes something innocuous like a new bike lane everyone freaks out and insists the government is trying to herd them all into 15-minute cities and force them to eat bugs. And the real irony is that the fire department needs large trucks in order to put out all the fires caused by the e-bikes that are supposed to get everybody out of their cars (yeah, right):
And yes, I’m being somewhat glib here and intentionally glossing over the nuances, but I’m afraid I can’t bring myself to worry about the size of fire trucks, sorry. The truth is that when it comes to the unnecessary I’m far more concerned about people riding Bromptons with clipless pedals:
Yes, nearly two decades after Peak Fixie it seems like clipless sneakers are having another moment, and the latest entry into the marketplace comes from former pro David Millar:
Uh, I’ll deny it. Firstly, no, I don’t remember the single white sweatband. Secondly, wearing a single white sweatband does not make you a style icon. Sure, Michael Jackson famously wore a single white glove, but there was more to it than that, and he also wore a cool red jacket and high water pants. As for David Millar, far more memorable than his sartorial sense was his bike-throwing ability:
There was a time when clipless sneakers would have appealed to me, but over the years I’ve slowly come to realize that the very best thing about riding in sneakers is not being clipped in–and if I am clipped in I’m on a road bike, and if I’m on a road ride I’m also wearing stupid-looking clothes and I have absolutely no intention of walking. Still, I guess people want these things, because in addition to the Millar shoes there are these:
I tried to watch it, but I flew into a violent rage the first time he called them “AH-didas.”
RUN DMC are the last word on how to pronounce Adidas, sorry.
Moving on, I know you have lots of questions about my new Roaduno, such as:
- “Will you ever stop talking about it?”
- “Surely there are more important things going on in the world, like the upcoming presidential election, right?
- “And who are you voting for, anyway?”
Well, here are the answers to those questions, in the order in which they were posed:
- No
- Definitely not
- My new Roaduno
I continue to lavish attention on it too, and yesterday I installed this spiffy rack:
I’ve had it for awhile, and was using it on the Homer, but I think it will be perfect for the Roaduno:
Its entire purpose will be as a place to put clothing layers as I shed them, or maybe strap a lock:
When using this rack in the front you’re also supposed to run a strap from the rack to the handlebars to keep it from jamming up your front wheel in the event of a failure, but I doubt the weight of my flannel shirt is going to cause it to buckle so for now I’m living dangerously:
Now the real question is when I’ll unlock that inner ring by installing a front derailleur:
Part of me wants to continue enjoying it as a proper singlespeed, and yet part of me suspects that perhaps a “singlespeed” with an emergency gear for the hills may be the perfect middle-aged dirtbag bike and can’t wait to try it. We’ll see how long I hold out, though the one thing I do know is that I won’t be foot-shifting it:
Interestingly Rivendell advise against fixed gears yet approve of foot-shifting:
I guess it’s all about knowing your limits. Somehow I’d manage to lose a toe.