Interested in the newest thing in bike technology? A bike boat trailer, for example? Or one of those lie-down bikes
that you usually see only engineering geeks riding? Or a very light weight tandem? Here’s
a site with a whole assortment of interesting biking tech and even the, um,
couch bike.
A California Man, His Bike and Lots of Figs
Alastair Bland found himself with wanderlust this past summer and set out to
explore California on his bicycle. The kicker to the story he published in the
North Bay Bohemian was that he survived mainly off of what he
could find or forage. In his two months of travel which took him on a 2,500 mile trek through the Golden State, he
spent less than $150. His food of choice? Figs, figs and more figs. He strung them out to dry, flavored his homemade
wine with them and made a meal of it every night. He even managed to get a couple of free t-shirts from the California
Fig Growers Association.
Besides figs, Bland also ate whatever he could find which he considered in the public domain (i.e. lying on the side
of, or in, the road). Being mostly vegetarian, he stayed away from the road kill.
Biking Picture of the Week
From the Adventure Cycling Association and Konrad Erlendsson in Laugar, Iceland comes this
frigid shot at the startpoint of a 280km bike tour
along the river Jökulsá in north Iceland. Very cool.
The Adventure Biking Association
The Adventure Biking Association does a ton to provide cyclists with new trails around
the country. They have added many many miles to the 33,023-mile National Bicycle Route Network including the newest
project, the Underground Railroad Bicycle
Route which will trace a long-distance route along one of the several Underground Railroad corridors.
The idea is to allow bicyclists to explore the “landscapes and mindscapes of historical figures and events” of
the Civil War. A pretty damn fine idea if you ask me. The group is well-respected enough that REI just
handed them a $20,000 check to support their activities. If you’re searching for some trails nearby you, take a look at
the site’s country-wide list.
Pinkbike Pics
Some decent mountain biking pictures for fat tire
fans courtesy of
Pinkbike.com. A
lot of these are pretty sweet and the site is a good one to click through if you’re looking for some inspiration for
what to do after work…and, well, if you’ve got nothing better to do. In particular, check out the section called
“carnage” which has got lots of pictures of mangled faces and gnarly raspberries (no, not the kind from the fruit
section). Viewer discretion is advised. There’s also a section dedicated to short mountain biking
movies that will keep your brain busy for a few minutes.