Eat The View

Planet Bike 1 Watt LED Blaze Dynamo Headlight

Planet Bike is coming out with a dynamo-powered 1 Watt LED headlight, Woohoo!

PB said the Blaze Dynamo headlight "should be available in the middle of November... We're really excited about it."

Me too. This picture shows the regular 1 Watt Blaze. I believe the Blaze Dynamo will have a more versatile mount, like most dynamo headlights. Light me up.

Human Power, Activate

Here's a really good idea--a really, really, REALY good idea:

 

http://www.potenco.com/

Your XTRACYCLE Has Arrived

What's that? You didn't order one?

That must have been an oversight on your part.

Fortunately, there are xtras (haha) in stock.

Have a RADISH!

All the new goodies are in too. Someone buy me a Kickback, please!

Big Sale at clevercycles

They only sell things worth having, so the discounts are just sauce.

 

It is really a lovely shop.

What's in your tool box?

Here's a nice collection of photos of pro mechanics' tool boxes, of the contents thereof.  Mmm...tools:

 

http://promechanics.com/resource-library/tools/toolboxes/

 

The Pinch Flat News

This is a fun one, sent in by a friend:

An Amusement & Diversion for The Genteel Cyclist.

The Semiotics of the Ride

This is a nice site with some great ideas:

http://semioticsoftheride.blogspot.com/

Practical?

and a mean trike, chrisking headset, titainium frame, originally uploaded by monkey.wrench.

No. But sweet.

Funny Campagnolo T-Shirt

Be forewarmed, it contains some off-color language.

This is a family joint, so no pic.

Here's the link:

http://tinyurl.com/5wz45l

Regarding Dignity

The moral consideration due plant, as presented below in the article from the WSJ, is not as silly as I initially thought. A bit of quiet time spent in the presence of any mature tree is typically enough to remind me that any living thing can have dignity, and even some non-living things too. I'll stop before I start to wax Star Wars theology (the movies, not the Regan-era defense debacle).

In the WSJ, October 10, 2008:

Switzerland's Green Power Revolution: Ethicists Ponder Plants' Rights By GAUTAM NAIK

ZURICH -- For years, Swiss scientists have blithely created genetically modified rice, corn and apples. But did they ever stop to consider just how humiliating such experiments may be to plants? That's a question they must now ask. Last spring, this small Alpine nation began mandating that geneticists conduct their research without trampling on a plant's dignity. "Unfortunately, we have to take it seriously," Beat Keller, a molecular biologist at the University of Zurich. "It's one more constraint on doing genetic research." Dr. Keller recently sought government permission to do a field trial of genetically modified wheat that has been bred to resist a fungus. He first had to debate the finer points of plant dignity with university ethicists. Then, in a written application to the government, he tried to explain why the planned trial wouldn't "disturb the vital functions or lifestyle" of the plants. He eventually got the green light.

The rule, based on a constitutional amendment, came into being after the Swiss Parliament asked a panel of philosophers, lawyers, geneticists and theologians to establish the meaning of flora's dignity.

"We couldn't start laughing and tell the government we're not going to do anything about it," says Markus Schefer, a member of the ethics panel and a professor of law at the University of Basel. "The constitution requires it."

In April, the team published a 22-page treatise on "the moral consideration of plants for their own sake." It stated that vegetation has an inherent value and that it is immoral to arbitrarily harm plants by, say, "decapitation of wildflowers at the roadside without rational reason."

[...]

Copyright 2008 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Your road rage don't impress your girlfriend

Your road rage don't impress your girlfriend,
Your road rage don't impress your wife,
Your road rage don't impress your children,
It'll only bring you strife.

I was ridin' down in Rock Creek Park,
With the misty morning dew,
I was riding in to work that day,
Like everybody gotta do.

Your road rage don't impress your girlfriend,
Your road rage don't impress your wife,
Your road rage don't impress your children,
It'll only bring you strife.

You were driving in to work that day,
Your mind was racing fast,
Filled with anger left and right,
Resentments of the distant past.

Your road rage don't impress your girlfriend,
Your road rage don't impress your wife,
Your road rage don't impress your children,
It'll only bring you strife.

You came round the turn, there he was on the right,
You were goin' way to freakin' fast,
You hit the brakes, "Get off the Road!"
You shout at his dynamo light.

Your road rage don't impress your girlfriend,
Your road rage don't impress your wife,
Your road rage don't impress your children,
It'll only bring you strife.

Rev up that engine up, you're a big strong man,
Cursin' n'swearin', layin' on your horn,
Yellin' "I'll squash you like a grape,
You'll wish you'd never been born."

Your road rage don't impress your girlfriend,
Your road rage don't impress your wife,
Your road rage don't impress your children,
It'll only bring you strife.

You think that it's the bikes that slow you down,
Where you goin', in such a rush?
Man you better look again,
That's a red light that's coming up.

Your road rage don't impress your girlfriend,
Your road rage don't impress your wife,
Your road rage don't impress your children,
It'll only bring you strife.

"Get a car you son of a bitch,
It's the A-mer-ic-an way.
I'll run you right off the road,
Pal this ain't you lucky day."

Your road rage don't impress your girlfriend,
Your road rage don't impress your wife,
Your road rage don't impress your children,
It'll only bring you strife.

There's a hundred and fifty million cars
Driving around this country of ours.
Obesity's at twenty-five percent,
And the seas are starting to rise.

Well, your road rage don't impress your girlfriend,
Your road rage don't impress your wife,
Your road rage don't impress your children,
It'll only bring you strife.

The engine roared, I thought it was the end,
I's going to meet the great rider in the sky,
That's when I saw the lights shine out,
Red and blue in the corner of my eye.

Your road rage don't impress your girlfriend,
Your road rage don't impress law,
Your road rage don't impress your children,
It'll get you two to four.

Well, your road rage don't impress your girlfriend,
Your road rage don't impress your wife,
Your road rage don't impress your children,
It'll only bring you strife.

(c) 2008, Practical Records