Archive for February, 2010
The big snow
The big snow missed us this time. We got a handful of inches. But first we got wet stuff, which promptly froze under the snow. My ride to work was on a five-mile sheet of ice. I went extra slow and I rode the heavy bike, the bakfiets. I wanted to see how it would […]
Filed under: bakfiets, My Bike, Winter | Leave a Comment
Tags: bakfiets, bicycle, bike, car, ice, shovel, snow, Winter
A red Schwinn with a banana seat
A red Schwinn with a banana seat, maybe a Stingray. That was my first bike, the bike on which I had training wheels. I don’t remember it having high handlebars though. My brother’s bike was a blue Stingray, for sure. Great seat on that one. Schwinn called it a “bucket saddle.” I wonder what an […]
Filed under: My Bike | Leave a Comment
Tags: bicycle, bike, Five Boro Bike Tour, New York, night, Schwinn, Stingray, Suburban, Trek, Varsity
First ride
We had a snow day from work. Only the snow didn’t come until late in the day, so we set the kids off on their first ride to pick up blizzard supplies from Nana, like dutiful New Englanders. R was smiling long after he came inside and G fell asleep on the way home. It […]
Filed under: bakfiets, Kids, My Bike, Useful Things | Leave a Comment
Tags: bakfiets, bicycle, bike, Kids
Our second car…
… is a bike! It’s a Dutch bike and it’s called a bakfiets, which translates literally to box-bike. (Quick Dutch lesson: fiets = bike. That’s the singular. In Dutch, the suffix -en denotes the plural, the same way in English we say ox and oxen. So: many bikes are fietsen; many boxbikes are bakfietsen. Bike […]
Filed under: bakfiets, Dutch, My Bike, Useful Things | 3 Comments
Tags: bakfiets, bicycle, bike, Dutch, groceries
Shopping
Done. Package delivered to the post office.
Filed under: shopping, Winter | Leave a Comment
Tags: bicycle, bike, shopping
Snow power
Modern bottle generators are quiet, reliable, efficient, and cause relatively low drag. They can slip in the rain, but I’ve never had any issues with mine when it’s wet. My tires have a grooved band for the generator wheel to grab, so everything stays pretty much where it should be. This morning, however, I discovered […]
Filed under: commute, Winter | Leave a Comment
Tags: bicycle, bike, generator, lights, snow, winter commuting
Find the blinky
Do yourself a favor and get real lights. Just get them. Spend $50 on lights for your $25 bike. You will thank me on the days you don’t get run over. You can blow through a stop sign at the bottom of a 10% hill on a fixie with no brakes as long as you […]
Filed under: Try not to do this | 1 Comment
Tags: bicycle, bike, blinky, LED, lights
Doppelgänger
I was in Amsterdam this past fall when I happened on my bike’s Dutch doppelgänger on one of the 9 Streets. It’s an earlier model than mine; I’m guessing 1950’s because of the chaincase. It’s been well maintained and has gotten a lot of use, if the additions are any indication. Over time someone has taken […]
Filed under: Dutch, My Bike | Leave a Comment
Tags: 3-speed, Amsterdam, bicycle, bike, Brooks, doppelgänger, Dutch, Netherlands, Raleigh, repair
Bikes Can Work 