1,000 Words for Sunday

DIYBIKING.COM Presents This Week's News (at 1:87th Normal Size)

This was a big week for me: I wrote something that I'm getting paid for (only freelancers know how exciting that can be) welded something and made a pretty drastic change to my fixed gear bike (more on both later).

But this was a week for my miniatures, so, without delay, this summary:  

Good Karma Bikes Has A Move Date & Needs Volunteers

Getting the final move date took so long you’d have thought Ted Cruz was filibustering at San Jose City Hall, but it finally came together: after being forced to change their banners on their ‘visit our new location’ signs, Good Karma Bikes’ finally got their move date. Even I had no idea where the new address was, so I looked it up on my iPhone and began drawing the map on an Expo board. Minutes later, I had the graphic and must give a shout-out to everyone who tweeted, retweeted and otherwise shared the image. 

This move is only 0.3 miles but it’s a good long distance considering how much stuff needs to go. So please volunteer to help them pack (and you may even see me there helping with some boxes).

Stop Trying to Beat the Train 

I would have to guess that Silicon Valley has a higher number of geniuses per capita compared to other places around the country and yet some still can’t understand that you can’t beat the train at a crossing. Amtrak, Caltrain, VTA whatever: it's the house at the casino, peeps.

These accidents are caused both by stupidity and cars just crowding  the roads; there are too many motorists and too few incentives for people to bike to work instead.

When there were four incidents in one day I had to act as only a maturity impaired man with a box of 1:87 scale miniatures can. Happily, this got retweeted quite a bit. 

And not to sound like a character on the television show ‘Silicon Valley’ - but when a car gets hit by a train it can be very inconvenient for me. That may not sound politically correct but because my wife takes public transport to get home and has to coordinate her commute with Marty-McFly-hitting-the-lightning-bolt-at-the-clock-tower-accuracy, I have to be ready to pick her up at whatever VTA or Caltrain station works that day. When there are serious delays I know I’m not the only person affected by this because that is what happens with cars: it is an interconnected system with multiple points of failure and one crash of one vehicle can affect thousands of other travelers: just look at 680 this very morning.

Put another way: it doesn’t make a difference how good the latest Tesla is if it is blocked by Nissan Leaf…or some other car...or blocked by a new car accident. 

Area Woman Complains About Parking at BART 

I have written about ways to solve parking problems for years and within minutes of seeing a My KRON4 news story yesterday morning about this issue I created this graphic (I was in the shop at the time and my miniatures from the Good Karma graphic hadn't been put away yet). 

I just had the pleasure of writing my latest column for Blaze in the UK and for the next one I'm discussing how ridiculously wide a lot of streets in Silicon Valley are (a fact that wasn’t lost on me when I participated in the wonderful Viva Calle SJ event this past Sunday): 

The way a lot of places work goes like this: we build infrastructure for cars, we get cars. A week after the infrastructure is built, complaints arise and new car infrastructure is built. Complains arise again, and…the cycle continues.

But it can’t anymore. The KRON4 story correctly pointed out that adding car spaces isn’t easy and is absolutely not cheap. So how about we get rid of car spaces and add a ton of good bike parking and make it easy for those who can do it safely to ride to the BART station? 

Hopefully people who make decisions will see this question and seriously answer it - and that everyone in the Bay Area like Good Karma Bikes on Facebook and get ready to help them with their big move. Thanks for reading and thanks for riding.

Follow me on Twitter: @michaelknorris 

1,000 Words for Sunday

#WhyAFixie: Things to do With a Fixed Gear Bike, Part I

Let me be clear: I did not cut up the fixed gear bike I made and weld it into a tape dispenser. That statement may not be accurate next week, but moving on.

As you know I’ve given fixies and the fixed gear bike culture a gentle ribbing from afar over the years but then I thought: why mock something I don’t understand when I can just take a little time to use a fixie…and possibly find so many more valid reasons to make fun of fixed gear bikes - if not the culture that seems to go with them. 

When I started that first ride (after making sure the rear wheel was on tight) everything  was running quite nicely. I felt as though I was pedaling in just the right rhythm. I enjoyed the quiet since there was no rattle of the chain working through the rear derailleur. With the relative silence I could hear birds singing and wind rustling through the trees. As I picked up a little speed, I felt peaceful.

Then I tried to stop.

Now I don’t mean stop in the red traffic light sense - I tried to stop pedaling. But, being a fixie, my legs kept moving. Yes, you don’t hear that clickclickclickclickclick sound on a freewheel when you’re riding a fixed gear but that comes at a heavy cost. Namely: if you’re riding a fixie and decide you want to coast, you become the intimate partner who has forgotten the safe word facing the wrong end of a whip. 

The thing I made - even at low speeds - just wants to keep going. Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s voiceover in Premium Rush was right. Not built on a small frame, my fixie feels like a big dog constantly pulling the leash in the direction it wants to go.

And I can only shake my head at the thought of people riding these things without handbrakes - and quite a few do. I was going to made a video of me trying to stop without the brakes but couldn’t find any clothes I’d feel comfortable going viral in. 

I became convinced the beard trend is somehow connected to fixies so riders would have something to cushion their faces in a fall. 

I also began to put pieces together in my head of the times I was a pedestrian in New York City: sometimes, when I’d have a ‘walk’ signal, I’d take a step off the curb only to pause while a brakeless fixie zipped by close enough to make my nosehair rustle. 

Even when riding back and forth to Good Karma Bikes I could feel myself reacting differently at yellow traffic lights. Yes, stopping a fixie is a chore because of its design and starting it back up again isn’t a walk in the park, either - especially if you have a 52 tooth cog in the front and a 16 tooth gear in the back. 

We can come back to that later.

True to my word, I used the fixie for everything the last couple of weeks. Adding my homemade bike trailer I was able to make a Goodwill run and even come back with one of those foldable bookcases (more on what I will do with it later).

I’m still riding the fixie and will finish up this series on fixed gear bikes next week, so if you are a dedicated fixie user and know why please log onto twitter and tweet your reason to #WhyAFixie and I’ll share some of the most entertaining responses next week.

And don’t forget: if you live in the Bay Area and need a bike for Viva CalleSJ this coming Sunday, visit Good Karma Bikes; they are open today (Friday) from 2:00pm to 6:00pm, tomorrow from 10:00am to 5:00pm and on Sunday from 11:00 to 3:00pm. As always, thanks for reading and thanks for riding.

Follow me on Twitter at @michaelknorris  

DIYBIKING.COM is Now Writing for Blaze.cc!

Created for Good Karma Bikes using old reflectors arranged on my garage floor shot with an iPhone using the flash (if you try this and don't use the flash, it looks like a bunch of reflectors arranged on a garage floor).

Here’s something you’re going to like: I’m now writing for Blaze; the U.K. based makers of the innovative Blaze Laserlight. This changes absolutely nothing about DIYBIKING.COM except make my grin wider.

Here’s the link to my first column: ‘The First Six Places to Bike When You Move to a New City.’ Read it. Like it. Share it on social media. Follow the Blaze blog as they have a lot of talented writers working with them (and me). 

Also (and this is for my San Jose/Bay Area readers): I’m still volunteering for Good Karma Bikes in San Jose and doing a push this week to get more likes on Facebook. GKB uses Zuckerburg’s brainchild to ask for volunteers and make announcements - and there’s going to be a lot of both going on in the next few weeks, so please click her to 'like’ Good Karma Bikes on Facebook. Thanks for reading and thanks for riding. 

#VivaCalleSJ is in a Week - Get a Bike for it at Good Karma Bikes

Open Streets event in New York City, Summer 2013

Note: I'm still riding a fixie and am still alive - but that's not why I'm posting today. Don't forget: if you have a fixed gear bike and know why you ride it (that may be a tall order, I know) Tweet the answer on Twitter with the hashtag #WhyAFixie

Viva CalleSJ is a week from today - and if you don’t know what that is I am pleased to report that not all of the knowledge I brought with me when I moved to San Jose from Connecticut a few months back is completely useless.

Viva CalleSJ is an open streets event, which means city streets (six miles of them, in this case) are closed to cars for a period of time and people can walk, bike, do yoga, juggle and just…what’s that word…play. 

A couple of years ago my wife and I went to one in Manhattan and it was just. Period. Plain. Period. Fun. Period. Just getting out of Grand Central Terminal and not being greeted by a swarm of angry motorists was striking. Laughter instead of car horns. Relaxing instead of rushing. Just beautiful.

Walking down a New York street we've driven or taken a taxi on scores of times before made us think differently about a city and really, for the first time, experience it on our own terms. That’s just one part of what an open street event can do (if you think it has echoes of other ideas that involve reimagining public space like Parking Day you’re right).

New York City. San Jose will soon find out just how fun and exciting six miles of city streets can be when cars are kept away. 

So for those of you who - justifiably so - do not bike on city streets because you think they are dangerous please reconsider for Viva CalleSJ: Inherently, streets are not dangerous - motor vehicles are. 

And they aren’t invited. 

And if you don’t have a bike you should absolutely go get one at Good Karma Bikes which is located (for the next several weeks, anyway) at 345 Sunol St. in San Jose. It’s open today from 11:00 - 3:00pm.  If you already have a bike but need a part, GKB will help you there as well. Have fun today and especially have fun at Viva CalleSJ a week from today. Thanks for reading and thanks for riding. 

DIYBIKING.COM Asks: #WhyAFixie?

Note: This post covers how I went about building a fixed gear bike but it will be followed up on on a later date with more information about why people use fixies - if I can find a reason. So if you ride a fixed gear bike and are on Twitter follow me at @michaelknorris and tweet your personal reason you ride a fixed gear bike using the hashtag: #WhyAFixie - and I'll cover the most entertaining Tweets in another post. 

A couple of years ago I built a single speed bike under the headline Unleash the Hipster Within. But thanks to a cheap fixed gear wheelset I bought online (and an old steel frame I bought at the always-fantastic Good Karma Bikes in San Jose) I headed to the valley between the twin peaks of hipster culture and bike subculture.

Yes, I built a fixed gear bike - also known as a fixie. 

For those of you who haven't spent time in the really cool cities like New York or San Francisco: a fixed gear bike, as the name implies, is a bike with one gear that is fixed to the wheel, which means the pedals are always turning and the rider's legs are always moving (no clickclickclickclick sound/no coasting).  If you're well-practiced, you can pedal backwards, slow down and stop just by using your legs. If you aren't well practiced you can fall harder than the coyote in a roadrunner cartoon. 

But I'm getting ahead of myself. 

Fixies have been staples of hipster culture for so long I wondered if one could objectively look at the fixie trend and see if the Tinder-using, flannel-wearing, irony-wielding, gluten-free, locally-sourced hipsters are actually onto something with fixed gear bikes…or if they aren’t.

The only way to figure that out was to build a fixed gear bike myself (even though I have no experience riding one) and ride it for a couple of weeks (hence the 1,000 Words for Sunday pic).

Now a common reasoning for building a fixie is the simplicity of the machine. So far, so good. In less time it took to get through ‘Batman Begins’ - which was playing on the DVD player in the shop for background - I had my own fixie.

The Centurion frame I bought - other it being big enough for Stephen Merchant to need a spotter before mounting it - is a decent frame that had the proper dropouts that allow for a fixed gear wheel. I stripped off the derailleurs, shifters and the inner chainring before putting the back wheel on. The front fork, however, was made for a narrower axle so I had to carefully grind the opening in the fork a little larger.

I know that a big part of the fixie lore has to do with not having any brakes (like Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s bike in Premium Rush) and just using your legs - or the closest tree or parked taxicab - to stop the bike. But I left both brakes on, which is the fixie culture equivalent of wearing a winter coat over a Halloween costume. 

I was lucky to find a set of clipless mountain bike pedals I bought a year earlier a Connecticut tag sale in my workshop to use with my new fixie. I mounted it with apprehension…and will detail how the first ride went - and if I'm any closer to understanding the fascination with fixies - in another post.  In the meantime, fixie owners of the world: tweet your reasons for riding a fixie to the hashtag #WhyAFixie and I’ll cover some of the findings in Part II. Thanks for reading and thanks for riding. 

Follow me on Twitter: @michaelknorris