jyossarian

Now the Seattle Weekly is shamelessly using Bike Culture to peddle their worthless rag. Herewith is the evidence:

- Fixed gear bike(s): check
- Top tube protector: check
- Skinny guy of indeterminate origin: check
- Rolled up jeans: check
- Messenger bag: check
- Form fitting t-shirt: check
- Funky checkered belt: check
- Total lack of helmets: check
- Ridiculous saddle to bar drop: check

The editors of this foul smelling collection of words must hear our voice as we tell them "No! Our culture will not be co-opted by your greedy, evil, philandering and fascist corporation!" Spread the word my friends!




BTW, I'm just ****ing around as evidenced by the following smiley -

srsly

i know that guy. if i recall he's a messenger here in seattle. i came in a couple places behind him in the last alleycat i ran. don't rightly remember details. that alleycat required a lot of beer. so he might not be a messenger at all, i dunno


edit:

i've read about half of the article and so far i completely agree. this would actually be a decent post for the commuting forum. sure, a lot of people in seattle ride bikes, and a lot of them commute. that means a lot of people riding around on streets that don't have bike lanes. there are TWO streets in all of downtown that have bike lanes, and one of those streets stops it's bikeland right at the north edge of it. the other one only goes south and is rather treacherous because of left turning cars. your only choice is to get in the street. this was pretty scary at first but you get used to it. i think at some point though when more people start commuting is that there are going to be a lot of bikes on streets that don't have bike lanes, and someone is going to go "oh, hey, maybe we should put a bike lane there." or not. we'll just take over the streets and swarm SUVs like ants. hundreds of bitey ants!

Surferbruce

i like his reload.

31seconds

The saddle isn't really that high, it just looks that way b/c of the perspective.

trial-sin

he is waiting at a red light...that's gotta count for something.

jyossarian

That's where I got the link to the article from. I just happened to notice the fg bike and rider in the pic when I read the article.

As for the handle bar drop, "moderate saddle to bar drop" didn't sound right. Call it creative license.

humancongereel

i think i rode with that guy during the west side invite. of course, without pics of his face, it's meaningless, but the bike looks vaguely similar...

if it is the same guy, he's a cool dude. we lost each other during the race and never met up again, but i wish we had. he was pretty rad. jermaine, i belive?

srsly

yup, that's jermaine

humancongereel

really?!?! i've wanted to get in touch with him since the west side. i feel like **** for losing him...one minute i was hammering up this hill and not thinking about anything else....next, i turn a corner and he's gone.

but he was super cool and i wanted to trade contact info with him. you should pm me, i'll give you some email and myspace and whatnot...

PIZZ

Selling out? who gives a ****! ... as long as it gets more people on bikes, fixed, geared, whatever. If you're getting on a fixed because its trendy then you are poser. Wear tutu and a cowboy hat... who cares just ride it and love it is all that matters.

srsly

not only are you preaching to an incredibly jaded with this topic choir (sh*t, i've only been riding fixed for 6 months and i'm sick of it), but you completely missed the point of the thread

marqueemoon

That article sucks almost as much as this thread.

mrRed

how's the article suck? It was pretty much spot on with a lot of parts. I don't neccessarily agree with being a scofflaw, but besides that, it was factual and used some good evidence in support of getting people out on bicycles.

marqueemoon

I enjoyed the tax info and the comments by Lagerway at the end, which are dead-on.

Other than that the author's perspective struck me as more hand-wringing which doesn't do jack to get more people on bikes. Seattle is hilly and getting more congested by the minute. It rains here every now and then too, or so I hear. There is no use coddling people.

srsly

+1 for sure
commuting by bike in this town isn't easy, but it's not really hard either. would i like to have more bike lanes? sure. that makes it safer for everyone and would probably be one more deciding factor for new commuters to get on a bike. am i going to stop riding and/or whine about it and try to discourage people from riding if we don't get more bike lanes? no, i get by just fine without them now. my girl has been riding a single speed for a grand total of 2 months and last week she wanted to start commuting so i went with her on her route. we pounded right up 4th ave dodging busses and cars and she barely batted an eye. i'm sure she was really worried, she's a little timid in traffic and since she's so new at it i can hardly blame her. would she have felt better with a bike lane? probably. but she's not stopping just because there aren't any. she actually kinda hates the one on 2nd ave because people are dickheads that constantly edge into the bike lane and make left turns across it without signaling. i scared the crap out of some guy that was edging into the lane to make a left without signaling. all i did was roll up on him all slow like, leaned towards the window and said, not exactly polite but not angry either, "Hey buddy, how about a turn signal?" and went on my way.
i wouldn't mind seeing some city money spent on improving life for bicycles, but whatever really. i'm going to keep riding either way.

marqueemoon

Exactly. What is dangerous is depending on other people for your safety. That's what bugs me about a lot of so-called bike activism. Anyone who feels safe in a bike lane is not paying attention. Bike lanes can be nice, but you still have to be alert and ride assertively.

Have you seen the Bike Dexter site? That's the way activism works in this city. If we just stripe the road differently people won't get doored. What a crock. Cyclists (especially inexperienced ones) will ride where they feel safe even if it's not a safe place to ride. Why waste money for paint that could be spent educating people?

pmseattle

I like your idea of taking over the streets and swarming the SUVs like ants. It's starting to look like that might really happen someday soon.