Helmet Artwork Design Competition

The Helmet Artwork Design Competition is Bicycle NSW’s initiative to increase awareness about helmet use among young riders across the state. Using bright colours and creative flair all students are invited to enter, with the overall winner having their design used on a limited edition helmet that will be sold Australia wide!

A total of 7,971 entries were received from across the state. Congratulations to all the winners' and finalists'...





Overall Winner & Central Coast Regional Winner - Ben Hibberd, Marks Point Public School


 

Sydney Regional Winner - Lisa Fukuda, Forestville Public School  

Newcastle Regional Winner - Emily Hampton, Tomaree Public School

 Western Plains Regional Winner - Ruby Krueger, Narromine Public School

 Mid West Regional Winner - Eva Peck, Assumption School, Bathurst 

Mid North Coast Regional Winner - Brooke Weston, Gladstone Public School 

Far North Coast Regional Winner - Matilda Lynch, Dorrigo High School 

Riverina Regional Winner - Nick Parker, Jerilderie Public School 

South East Regional Winner - Brooke Beehag, Tomerong Public School 

New England Regional Winner - Hezakiah Dennison, Bogabilla Public School 

Goulburn Regional Winner - Bowral Public School 

 People's Choice Award Winner - Grace Peisley, Jerilderie Public School 

  

From:

http://www.bicyclensw.org.au/content/helmet-artwork-design-competition-2011

First bike

Bicycling promotes strength, balance, and overall fitness.

Kids and  Bicycling

 

 

There's a special bond between kids and bikes that can never be broken. Riding a bike is a rite of passage, a passport to worlds beyond the front lawn. Bikes represent fun, freedom, and fresh air -- everything that's good about being a kid. Moreover, biking is a healthy pastime that kids will never outgrow. Here are some of the other benefits of cycling:

• Developing strength, balance, and overall fitness
• Burning up calories
• Strengthening the heart, lungs, and lower-body muscles and bones
• Developing and strengthening the muscles surrounding the knees without impact

But biking boasts other benefits as well. Children of all shapes, sizes, and abilities can ride a bike. Most important, bicycling is a healthy outdoor activity that the entire family can enjoy together.


Safety First!
Bicycle riding is fun, healthy, and a great way to be independent.
But it is important to remember that a bicycle is not a toy; it’s a vehicle! Be cool/be safe – follow some basic safety tips when you ride.
http://www.nhtsa.gov/people/injury/pedbimot/bike/kidsandbikesafetyweb/index.htm

SR56 bike path (Torrey Pines - Poway)

0mi Start
0.01mi Turn left at Torrey Pines Park Rd
0.03mi Turn right at N Torrey Pines Rd
1.64mi Turn right at N Torrey Pines Rd
2.35mi Continue onto S Camino Del Mar
2.45mi Turn right at Carmel Valley Rd
3.9mi Slight left to stay on Carmel Valley Rd
4.25mi Turn right at El Camino Real
4.43mi Turn right at 56 Bike Trail
4.46mi Turn right to stay on 56 Bike Trail
13.29mi Turn left at Rancho Penasquitos Blvd
13.29mi Turn right at Azuaga St
13.96mi Turn left
15.36mi Turn right at Ted Williams Pkwy
16.73mi Turn right at Pomerado Rd
18.23mi Turn left at McFeron Rd
18.52mi Turn left at Mountainside Dr
18.75mi Stop

http://www.mapmyride.com/s/routes/view/bike-ride-map/california/san-diego/25556314

not original map

http://www.bing.com/maps/

The Top 5 Workouts in San Diego

Lose the Spare Tire: The Top 5 Workouts in San Diego
Posted by Jennifer Graves on January 4th, 2011
The holidays are over, and you are carrying around a ten pound reminder of the fun you had all last month, so it's time to work it off! It's a new year, and one of the most common resolutions is to lose weight and get in shape. There are SO many ways to work out, and so many different approaches to getting a hard, sexy body, with everything from power yoga to marathon training, how does one choose? Here in San Diego, we have some great options for a fitness program, so let's take a look at the Top 5 workouts in San Diego, and get these soft bodies in beach shape by June!

1 The San Diego Beach Workout
http://sandiegobeachworkout.com/
 When you live near the best beaches on the West Coast, why on earth would you every workout inside? For those of us that need a little more structure then just jogging on the beach, The San Diego Beach Workout is exactly what we need! These fine folks have created an interval workout with personal training out in the open sea air in the sand, which is pretty much the best way to workout imaginable. Every Saturday morning bring your towel and your stretchy pants and hit the beach with a purpose and a person to guide you, because let's be honest, the best workout in San Diego involves the Pacific.
2 San Diego Surf Schools and Camps
http://www.sandiegosurfingschool.com/
Have you ever seen a professional surfer's body? Us too. A fantastic way to workout and get in the best shape possible, is to learn to surf. In San Diego, there are so many resources up and down our area's coast that can help you learn to surf, and use it as the most fun and thrilling way to get in shape imaginable! With everything from summer camps devoted to surfing, to private lessons, to group classes, San Diego Surf School provides a lot of options to getting to your surfing goal. While it's not your traditional workout, it's definitely the most exciting!

3 San Diego Bike Routeshttp://www.sdcbc.org/
http://www.efgh.com/bike/rides.htm
http://www.bikely.com/listpaths/country/254/region/126/city/7416
Why would anyone waste all of the natural beauty and incredible weather we have here in San Diego? One of the best ways to workout, and see our gorgeous city, is to hop on a bike and join an organized ride, or hit one of the many amazing bike routes solo and take your fitness into your hands and that of nature. With over 100 bike clubs, many scouted routes designed for skill and beauty, and a constant stream of organized biking events, not to mention the fact that many people here do not even own a car, this is the place to start a bike workout! ride along the beautiful Solana beach, or join a bike club that finds new routes all the time! It's not only going to benefit your physical health, we bet your mental health starts looking up too.

4 San Diego Hikers
http://www.sandiegohikers.com/
http://www.sandiegohikingclub.org/
Going along with this outdoor theme for working out, because we live in the best place to be outdoors, it's natural to think of hiking! San Diego Hikers takes hiking very seriously, combining fitness with challenges and nature to produce one serious workout. Listing all of the best hiking trails in San Diego, while the San Diego Hiking Club is a group of dedicated hikers that plan events and offer group hikes. Our landscape is perfect for a hike, and this is an activity that is a really enjoyable way to get fit and see the city!

5 Wired Fitness Outdoor Boot Camps
http://www.wiredfitness.com/v2/
Want to get seriously in shape, with some pain and maximum results? Then you're looking for San Diego's Wired Fitness Boot Camps. With everything from bridal boot camps before your wedding, to corporate fitness boot camps, this group is going to get you into shape! Pick a time frame to your goal and jump into one of their many boot camps, sweating and working your way to your physical best! Contact them if you're serious about getting into shape, because this is no joke! Working out in the beautiful outdoors, without the bells and whistles of a gym, there's a reason Wired Fitness was voted Best Outdoor Boot Camps by San Diego Living Show!


http://www.hauteliving.com/2011/01/lose-the-spare-tire-the-top-5-workouts-in-san-diego/

why bike?

Most important factors that motivate bicycle use:
Health / fitness
Pleasure / enjoyment
To protect the environment


Most important factors for choosing a particular route to destination:
Low traffic volumes
Maintained facility surface
Wide bike lane


Most important factors influencing decision to bicycle instead of drive:
Feeling safe from traffic
Moderate weather
Availability of bike parking at destination

Land Use - Overview

San Diego County will be home to nearly 4 million people in 2030. We will need 230,000 housing units and related services to meet the demand, increasing pressure on our natural areas, energy and water consumption, and adding to traffic congestion.

 

By the year 2030, San Diego County will need an additional 230,000 housing units to meet our housing needs
Source: SANDAG, 2010

 

San Diego County is home to more kinds of native animals and plants than any other county in the continental United States, and leads the nation in the number of indigenous species at risk.
Source: The Nature Conservancy, 2009

 

Past Land Use Decisions Still Affect The Region Today
Decades ago, San Diego, like many other metropolitan areas, was growing as if there was unlimited land and unrestricted energy and water supplies. Land use patterns have changed significantly within San Diego County as vast tracts of land were consumed for mostly single-family homes, impacting local habitats, reducing agricultural lands, and absorbing small towns into the metropolitan region we see today. Public transportation could not compete with the allure of the automobile, and homes and jobs grew further apart, driven by cheap gasoline and the appeal of quiet, clean, and spacious communities.

 

Consequently, our past land use decisions are felt every day: San Diegans spend 100% more time in traffic delays and almost 300% more in travel delay costs today than they did in 1988. Compounding the issue, San Diegans do not enjoy a public transportation system that easily takes us to our many destinations. Housing affordability is also affected by past land use decisions. San Diego ranks 44 out of 50 for affordable housing against other large metropolitan areas.

 

Simply adding more growth rings around the metro region will not solve, but will only exacerbate, the sprawl challenges facing San Diego unless we change the way we plan for the future.

 

Walking less than a mile per day reduces the odds of obesity by 5%, and another 5% for every 2/3 of a mile walked after the first.
Source: Frank, L., 2006

http://www.equinoxcenter.org/research-topics/land-use/overview.html

Burrito: A History

Burrito: A History

1 April 2010 - Zach Mann

This story is eighth in a series. Zach will be posting a new story on Mexican food in San Diego every Thursday until he leaves Southern California for the San Francisco Bay, where he will continue to write and edit for The Eaten Path.

It wasn’t long before the burrito craze of the seventies spread throughout California, and it was a big enough deal that in imagining what a nostalgic “Cafe 70′s” must look like, I picture a taqueria.
The trend hit San Francisco first, and to this day hungry hippies believe their mission-style burritos of the sixties were the originators of today’s burrito kingdom. I won’t deny their claim, and I don’t see a point in arguing which California city deserves the burrito crown, because in the end it depends on your definition. S.F., for instance, believes that a burrito is a completely portable meal. Good for them.
My definition is a bit different, and much simpler. As the wheat flour tortilla grew in popularity in the early twentieth century, it only became a matter of time before some hombre dropped meat in the middle and wrapped the tortilla all the way around. That’s just practical, and that’s a burrito, invented simultaneously wherever flour tortillas hit the scene.

That meaningfully includes the Barrio Logan area of San Diego, an inner-city ghetto formed at the turn of the twentieth century by refugees of the Mexican Revolution. Barrio Logan rests in the shadow of downtown S.D., tucked against the back of Petco Park like L.A.’s Echo Park is tucked against Chavez Ravine, and to call it a Mexican neighborhood would be an understatement. Even the pizza places only serve Mexican pizza and probably have carts outside selling aguas frescas, churros or deep-fried bananas. Down the street, Chicano Park has the largest collection of outdoor murals in the world, each in enough hypercolorful splendor to make Day of the Dead festivals look like a choir of nuns.
My guess is that the first burrito was folded in Northern Mexico somewhere, but if I were to conjecture at the location of the first burrito sold on this side of the line, I might point to that washed out cube pictured above. Sure, it looks like it offers 24-hour bail bonds, but it just might be the only Mexican food joint old enough to make the claim. At least, that’s one version of San Diego’s story, because that dilapidated box is El Porvenir Tortilla Factory, and it’s been feeding the barrio’s hungry since 1918.
To my and San Diego’s great misfortune, it appears that El Porvernir, which was open as recently as 2009, is closed, at least at the time of my writing this. I’m still holding out on the hope that it reopens before I return for a visit. Until then, I’ll turn to the second oldest tortilleria in the area, which fortunately waits just around the corner: This is Las Cuatro Milpas, representing Barrio Logan since 1933.

I wanted to dislike this place. In the area of Barrio Logan, Logan Heights and Memorial, where La Fachada and El Paisa make up only a small portion of the ancient cucina culture, it’s Las Cuatro Milpas that has the line going halfway down the block. It’s this one restaurant that gets all the credit for authentic San Diego Mexican food in the most authentic of San Diego Mexican neighborhoods. S.D. food bloggers and chowhound chatterboxes have ladened Las Cuatro Milpas with the “overrated” tag, and as I stood in line with sunburnt out-of-towners in khaki shorts and Navy recruits panicking at the sight of a “cash only” sign, I was ready to believe it.
I was sure it was the taqueria equivalent of the tourist trap, a place where reputation perpetuates itself regardless of the food, either by the novelty of seeing tortillas made right if front of you, or by mongering nostalgia with old clippings and kitschy decorations like Los Angeles’s Philippe’s. Then the interior dampened my worry. Las Cuatro Milpas’ starkly undecorated walls and picnic tables let the food do all the talking, and the prices here would surprise even the most trusting of tourists.
And the food… well, this chorizo con huevo can melt even the proudest of palates.

If you don’t believe that chorizo con huevo can ever be outstanding, then you haven’t seen an old ex-ranchero ordering the large bowl at Las Cuatro Milpas for his entire family to share, fresh flour tortillas in each hand and expectant grins on each face.
That’s why you go to Las Cuatro Milpas – the tortillas. Even though the chorizo is probably the best I’ve ever had, in the end it’s just another reason to consume Las Cuatro Milpas’s doughy wonders. I don’t care how hard the menu is to decipher: Don’t order the tacos. They are unexciting, deep-fried, reminiscient of and possibly less worthy than West L.A.’s overrated Tito’s Tacos. Order the chorizo, or even just the beans and rice, which are also spectacular, then cherish the side of flour tortillas that come with.
In truth, all tortillas as fresh-off-the-grill as Las Cuatro Milpas’s are wonders, and it’s sad to consider how many people in this world think that tortillas taste like the stuff sold in supermarkets. I love Las Cuatro Milpas’s tortillas even more than most, though, as they are pleasantly undercooked and therefore warm and soft all the way through. It’s like waking up at first light to eat the first freshly baked loaf of bread from that little bakery in that little provincial town in France, except you’re at a communal picnic table at lunchtime in innercity San Diego, with everything covered in chorizo con huevo. Or beans. Or carnitas.

Tortillerias turned taquerias were common occurrences in forties and fifties San Diego, where the meat – usually carnitas – was an afterthought, a necessary addition for full meals, and usually present to showcase the tortilla more than the other way around. This was the case for El Porvenir, and Las Cuatro Milpas is carrying El Porvenir’s torch, rallying burrito history into the present day, showing all of us who care what true barrio food was really like.
If you don’t think San Diego’s version qualifies as a burrito, then you can at least admit it’s a direct ancestor. I’ll accept that, and I’ll let L.A. and S.F. duke it out for burrito supremacy on their own terms. If you ask me, however, San Francisco won that battle a long time ago. The last two burritos I consumed in Los Angeles were distinctly Mission-inspired, complete with rice, veggies and the question, “Black or pinto beans?”
I’ve never once been asked that question in San Diego. Why would they, when they know the correct answer? Pinto, of course, but in their own bowl, with the tortillas on the side.

El Porvenir Tortilla Factory 1786 National Ave San Diego, CA 92113 (619) 233-4038

Las Cuatro Milpas 1875 Logan Ave San Diego, CA 92113 (619) 234-4460

Zach’s San Diego Countdown
Week 1 – Super Cocina
Week 2 – Los ‘Bertos
Week 3 – El Tio Alberto
Week 4 – Ranas Mexico City Cuisine
Week 5 – La Fachada
Week 6 – Aqui es Texcoco
Week 7 – La Playa Taco Shop
Week 8 – Las Cuatros Milpas
Week 9 – Tacos El Paisa
Week 10 – Tacos Yaqui
Week 11 – Tacos El Gordo
Week 12 – Mariscos El Pescador
Week 12 – Mariscos El Pescador
Week 13 – Rudy’s Taco Shop

above from:
http://theeatenpath.com/2010/04/01/las-cuatro-milpas-san-diego-ca/


other food sites:
http://www.dishtip.com/s/ca/san-diego/top-dishes/

http://www.yelp.com/search?find_desc=food&ns=1&find_loc=San+Diego%2C+CA

http://www.sandiegoreader.com/restaurants/search/?region=2

El Camino Real and 101

El Camino Real as an American auto trail, was perhaps the first signed automobile route in the nation.  As early as 1906, the famous mission bell guideposts and signs were placed on the highway. El Camino Real as a road name implies different things at different times. It was the original King's Highway during the Spanish colonial era, but as such was little more than a horse trail. Today, El Camino Real is an official signed California route that largely follows US Highway 101 and other major highways.

In the mid 1920s, El Camino Real and the Coast Route became part of a larger auto trail system called the Pacific Highways System. This large highway system not only included what became US 101, but also US 99 and other highways.

 

Map 1950

-------------------------------------------

Map 1925



Top beer cities

An eagerness to experiment and a passion for a pint (or three) put these cities on top.

by Christian DeBenedetti and Seth Fletcher

1. SAN DIEGO
San Diego isn’t just surfing and LaDainian Tomlinson anymore — it’s the new beer capital of the U.S. Stone (maker of our number one ale) exemplifies the local approach, with aggressively hopped but completely drinkable brews. The variety of beers across the city is the most eclectic in the country.
Where to Drink: Thirtieth Street in North and South Parks is easily the nation’s best beer boulevard. Start with any of former firefighter Pat McIlhenney’s range of tap-only ales at the laid-back Hamilton’s Tavern (which taps special casks every Friday), then head to the beer-focused Linkery restaurant, which has frequent beer-pairing dinners. For your after party, hit the Toronado. The beer lists at all three are deep, stacked with the freshest local beers and exotic imports.
Beer Culture: The sheer number of breweries (33) blows us away. (It has crept past Portland, which has 29.) Visit almost any of them and you’ll find the brewmaster on hand, happy to chat over a pint.
Best Brews: Alpine Ale, Lost Abbey Duck-Duck-Gooze
2. NYC
America’s alpha city is home to more young, finicky drinkers than any other city in the country. The result: the greatest beer-bar scene in the U.S. More than 20,000 bars and restaurants operate within the five boroughs, and even dives carry great imports such as Jever and Hoegaarden.
Where to Drink: Brooklyn. It’s perhaps the best place in America for a pub crawl. Start with Gaffel Kölsch at the cavernous “middle European” beer hall Radegast. Continue the binge a 10-minute walk away at Spuyten Duyvil for smartly chosen Belgian brews. Then either finish the night on the patio of Park Slope’s extreme-beer-focused the Gate or sipping magnificent, wallet-busting rarities (think $50-plus bottles) at nearby Beer Table.
Beer Culture: Nearly every week, the Blind Tiger in the West Village lets brewmasters from around the world hijack its taps to pour their own creations; it’s the only bar we know of where this happens.
Best Brews: Captain’s Reserve Imperial IPA, Brooklyn Intensified Coffee Stout
3. PORTLAND, OR
Portland brewers — once the anarchists of Craft Beer Nation — are now practically the establishment. But the Rose City’s festivals and a new vanguard of innovators haven’t let the city get all fusty yet.
Where to Drink: Deschutes, one of the world’s most inventive breweries, is now serving its genre-bending stouts at a new pub in the Pearl District. Look for its Hop Trip Ale, made with hops brewed the same day they were picked.
Beer Culture: Two festivals here rival any in the world: America’s first organic beer festival (naobf.org) and the OBF, a huge outdoor summer event along the waterfront (oregonbrewfest.com).
Best Brews: Hopworks Urban Crosstown Pale, Deschutes Hop Trip
4. PHILADELPHIA
The City of Brotherly Love boasts a huge crop of emerging microbreweries, an upsurge in beer-focused events, and a strong brewing tradition dating to before founding beer godfather Ben Franklin and the Revolutionary War. But what earns Philly its status as one of the country’s best beer cities is its abundance of truly world-class micro-pilsners.
Where to Drink: Monk’s Cafe, a dim downtown beer hall, is headquarters of the local suds intelligentsia, with a Belgian-focused list stocked with just about any beer you’ve ever tried, a speakeasy-style back room, and the only restaurant we know of where you can get trout baked in Saison Dupont, the Belgian ale we called the Best Beer in the World in 2005.
Beer Culture: Within an 80-mile radius of the city center, Stoudt’s, Victory, and Sly Fox breweries cook up creatively hopped pilsners and experimental pale ales that are pushing the limits of these traditionally mild styles.
Best Brews: Stoudt’s Pils, Victory Storm King Stout
5. CHICAGO
The neons may say Old Style, but now that Chicago has become the epicenter of the Midwest’s microbrewing revolution, most bars stack the chalkboard tap list with craft beers brewed an L ride away. As a result, the Windy City has become one of the country’s best places for small-batch beer you can’t get anywhere else.
Where to Drink: Map Room, famous for its vast, intelligent tap list of American micros (with plenty of Midwest breweries such as Bell’s and Three Floyds) and hard-to-find Euro beers like De Ranke XX Bitter, is the best bar in the Midwest.
Beer Culture: The city has more than 20 breweries and brewpubs, many of them award winning. At World Beer Cup champion Piece Brewery & Pizzeria in Wicker Park, the Dysfunctionale India pale ale perfectly matches the New Haven–style pizza. The 13,000-square-foot Revolution Brewing brewpub, opening in Logan Square this fall, will serve promisingly attitudinal ales such as a pale ale called Iron Fist.
Best Brews: Goose Island Matilda, Two Brothers Cane and Ebel Red Rye
-
http://www.mensjournal.com/top-five-beer-towns

Comics: Yehuda Moon and the Kickstand Cyclery

Cast of Characters

Yehuda Moon

http://www.yehudamoon.com/
Yehuda Moon is an idealist. A dreamer. An advocate. A utilitarian. Yehuda runs the Kickstand Cyclery with his partner, Joe King. He believes cycling is an ideal form of transportation and can often be found tilting at windmills – some imaginary, some very real. Yehuda doesn't like the automobile... but then, he'd likely wouldn't have liked the horse a hundred years ago either. Yehuda is all about momentum and hard work and staving off the ills that come with ease and convenience.

Joe King

Joe pursues the medal. To him, cycling is a pastime, a race to prove performance. Joe is all right with the fact that he drives to the Kickstand. He doesn't see the bike as a savior of mankind. In fact, the fewer cyclists on the road means more room for him. Joe used to race, and has always worked at the Kickstand. He wasn't too pleased when Fred (the first owner of the shop) took Yehuda under his wing, given that Moon didn't know a thing about wrenching.

Thistle Gin

Thistle is a mother who doesn't want her child growing up in the back seat of a car. Though she has high hopes for the bicycle being a transportation choice for more and more people, she's more balanced in her approach than Yehuda. An ace engineer, Thistle never went back to work at her old firm after discovering a bakfiets at the Kickstand. She works there wrenching while she raises Fizz (though events of late point to her having to return to her old job).

Fizz Gin

Fizz is Thistle's daughter. Fizz is growing up in the Kickstand Cyclery. She's about to move on to two wheelers. Watch out.

Sister Sprocket

Sprocket was an orphan adopted by the Shakers who build the bicycles for the shop. She grew up simply, and hasn't changed. She rides a brakeless fixed gear mixte. She paints the Kickstand's bicycles and designs the decals for the different models.

Fred Banks

Fred opened the Kickstand Cyclery back in the 1970s during a 'bicycle boom'. He hired Joe King and the two ran the shop until Yehuda Moon showed up intent on turning everyone into a cyclist. Fred took Yehuda under his wing despite the fact that Moon had no experience as a mechanic (much to Joe's chagrin). But then Fred was killed by a motorist and Yehuda and Joe worked together to keep the Kickstand open. Yehuda, using a personal war chest, bought the Kickstand; he and Joe continue to run it today. Fred haunts the Kickstand as a ghost, and though he found peace with his murder, has returned to town when the Kickstand was recently burned to the ground.

Brother Pilot

Brother Pilot leads the Shaker community that builds the Kickstand Cyclery's bicycle frames. Pilot took a vow of silence when Fred was killed by a hit and run driver; he won't speak until the driver is brought to justice.

Sweetroll

Sweetroll and Yehuda Moon used to run BMX bikes in the sewers below Cleveland. Now he's grown up. Yehuda hasn't.

The Kickstand Cyclery

The Kickstand Cyclery is where everything goes down. A converted train station between urban rails, the Kickstand serves as the hub for all things in the comic strip. It's where Fred's ghost bike was placed. It's where Thistle's 'build-a-bike' program was put into action. It's where Yehuda sleeps. At least until recently – the Kickstand was burned to the ground when a tree hit it and was ignited by downed electrical lines. While Yehuda and Joe sort out what's going to happen with a new shop, the Kickstand has gone mobile; the two run a mobile repair stand out of a pair of bakfietsen.

Other characters

Look for new character profiles soon – like Kevlar Bead (owner of Rival Cycles).

danger, never forget...

June 2, 2011 
One person was killed and three others injured Tuesday night when a motorist ran off Highway 56 in Rancho Penasquitos and into a busy bike path.
The accident occurred just west of Black Mountain Road about 6:30 p.m., according to the California Highway Patrol. A bicyclist died at the scene, and a second cyclist was injured and transported to a hospital.
The two occupants of the vehicle – which went through a chain-link fence before rolling over on the bike path – also were reportedly injured.

A cycling glossary

4130	See Chromoly
Air-hardening steel	A type of steel that does not require quenching in water or oil to gain maximum strength. A frame that was tempered by quenching would likely warp or distort, and a non-hardening steel would lose some strength in the heated area.
Bottle boss	A threaded hole, usually found in pairs, in the down tube or seat tube of a bicycle, that allows the bolting-on of a water bottle cage. Some expedition bikes feature bottle bosses on the fork legs as well. Also called bottle braze-ons.
Braze-on	A generic term encompassing all permanent frame attachments except the tubes and lugs themselves. Examples include permanent cable guides, bottle bosses, and pump pegs. On welded bikes, braze-ons may be attached by welding, even though nobody calls them weld-ons.
Bronze-brazing	When applied in a molten state to hot tubing, bronze bonds to the steel and makes a sort of metallic hot glue. Molten bronze is a thick, gooey liquid that fills gaps effectively and makes a strong joint. It can be used in conjunction with lugs, or in lugless, fillet-brazed construction. Its melting point is 1600-1850º F.
Butting	The process by which a frame tube is manufactured to have thicker walls at the ends than in the middle. Butting compensates for loss of strength in some metals in the brazing process. Double-butted tubing has thicker sections on both ends, single-butted on one end. Seat tubes are typically single-butted. Triple-butted tubing is thicker on one end than the other. The difference in thickness is usually quite small, around 0.4mm, and is not detectable from the outside. Tubing without butts is called straight gauge.
Center-pull brakes	An archaic form of rim brake that uses long arms that arch back over the top of the tire, and a straddle cable for actuation. Center-pull brakes may mount on a U-shaped plate that attaches to the frame through holes in the seatstay bridge and fork crown, or with brazed-on studs like a cantilever or V-brake. Center-pulls are finding a new popularity as randonneuring grows, because they provide good modulation, stopping power, and the ability to clear wide tires and fenders. Need illustration
Chain hanger	A short peg attached to the drive-side seatstay, facing the wheel, about 8 inches above the dropout. Hang the chain on it before removing the rear wheel, and it'll be that much easier to get the chain back on the cog when it's time to put the wheel back on.
Chain rest	Similar to a chain hanger, but even simpler; a chain rest is a phantom cog, attached to the drive-side dropout. If the rider had a rear flat, he would shift the chain onto the chain rest, using the derailleur, before coming to a stop. The chain remains on the rest, without drooping, while the wheel is removed, and on starting again, the rider pushes off with one foot and immediately shifts the chain onto the appropriate cog.
Chromoly (also “chrome-moly”)	A high-strength alloy of steel composed of iron with small amounts of carbon, chromium, and molybdenum. Also called 4130, or by brand names such as Columbus, True Temper, or Deddaciai
Constructeur	A bicycle builder who goes beyond merely designing the frame and joining the tubes together to create a bicycle as a seamless whole, integrating lighting, racks and fenders into the total design. Most constructeurs build luggage racks specific to the bicycle, as well as handlebar stems. Lighting wires will be concealed inside frame tubes, as will control cables. A few constructeurs, such as Rene Herse in the ‘50s and Tony Pereira in the modern age, make their own derailleurs. Constucteur bicycles tend to be lighter than the factory-made equivalent, due to the lack of clamps; also stronger, and more free of rattles.
Crown	The top part of the fork. A fork crown may be a casting or a forging, with sockets that the legs socket into, or built up out of short pieces of tubing into what is called a segmented crown or a box crown. A fork in which the blades curve at the top to meet the steerer tube is called a unicrown fork.
Demountable	As Europe rebuilt the demolition wrought by World War II, more people bought cars and abandoned cycling. In an effort to lure them back, constructeur Rene Herse introduced a bicycle that separated into two sections, to travel in the trunk of an automobile. The conversion was effected by cutting a conventional frame in half, about four inches in front of the seat tube, and brazing a slightly smaller diameter tube into the stub. A pair of quick-release seatpost bolts at each joint held it together. To simplify cable routing, a pair of downtube shifters were brazed to the seat lug, so shifting gears made the rider look as though he were scratching a very personal itch. The term can also mean any part that disassembles or is removable.
Dropout	The place where the wheel axle attaches to the frame. Some builders favor dropouts (sometimes called “drops” for short) made from stainless steel or other very hard metals for durability. Others favor more ductile metals like mild steel, on the theory that a small, highly stressed part should have a little “give” in it for durability. Strictly speaking, it’s called a dropout if its shape allows the rear wheel to be removed without having to manipulate the chain. Hence, true dropouts open to the front of the bike or straight down, and only on the rear wheel. If they open to the rear, or are located on the front of the bike, they're properly called fork ends. No one else knows this but me (and you, now), and probably only one of us cares.
Fillet-brazing	Sometimes called lugless construction. A concave bead of bronze covers the joint of the tubes which, when painted, gives the joint a smooth and seamless appearance. Fillet-brazing allows the builder to join the tubes at angles for which lugs are not manufactured. Fillet-brazing requires more filing and sanding than lugged construction. Most builders charge a premium for fillet-brazing. Also erroneously called bronze-welding.
Generator hub/dynamo	A wheel hub, usually on the front, that contains a device for generating electricity to power a headlight and taillight. Some constructeurs add a USB socket so that the rider can charge a cell phone or GPS unit while riding, although most dynamos cannot do so while the lights are illuminated. Dynamos of all types, whether located inside the wheel hub or driven by the sidewall or tread of a tire, cause some drag and slow the rider slightly. In very long distance events, sometimes riders who generate their own lighting electricity receive a small handicap over riders with battery-powered lights.
Lug	A sleeve that reinforces the joint between two tubes. Lugs superficially resemble the fittings used to join plumbing pipes. Lugs may be stamped from sheet metal, cast, forged, or shop-made, from either steel or stainless steel.
Manganese-molybdenum	A high-strength alloy of steel composed of iron, carbon, manganese, and molybdenum. The common brand is Reynolds 531, ubiquitous in the classic era and rarely seen today. Manganese-molybdenum steels lose significant strength when welded, unlike chromoly, but can be bronze- or silver-brazed.
Mixte	A type of bicycle frame that combines a low stepover, like a ladies' frame, with the more robust construction of a men's frame. Mixtes dispense with a conventional top tube and instead use a pair of small tubes, similar to seatstays, that run from the head tube directly to the rear dropout. Originally intended as a unisex design, mixtes in the U.S. are seen as women's bikes, although this is less true in Asia and Switzerland. Some mixtes use a conventional diameter top tube from the head tube to the seat tube, and a second set of seatstays. Building such a mixte is one of the more complicated framebuilding tasks, and is rarely seen on production bikes.
Points	The portion of the lug that covers the tube may be longer on top and bottom than on the sides, to give the frame greater weight-carrying strength, without adding unnecessary lateral stiffness. Lug points often have a decorative function, and may be carved into graceful curves without having an engineering purpose. Need pic
Porteur	A flat carrier rack located over the front wheel, with a wide sturdy platform. The classic porteur rack is able to carry 110lbs. of newspapers, stacked flat. Modern iterations are much less hardily built, but still capable of toting large pizzas or a 12-pack. The term may also refer to a bicycle equipped with such a rack.
Pump peg	A small metal bracket allowing a tire pump to be carried on the bicycle's frame. Pump pegs can appear on the seat tube (either in front of or behind), top tube, or occasionally on the seatstay. The peg may be elaborate or as simple as a ball bearing stuck to the head tube with a drop of bronze.
Randonneur	A bicycle designed for long-distance, self-supported, non-competitive rides. Randonneuring rides have a time limit and perhaps accolades for the day's fastest rider, but no losers and no prizes. Common “rando” distances include 200, 300, 400, 600 and 1000 kilometers. A rider who completes all common distances in a single year is called a super randonneur.
Stainless	Short for stainless steel; a high-strength alloy of steel composed of iron, with large proportions of nickel and chromium, noted for its hardness and resistance to corrosion. Stainless steels brands include KVA, Reynolds 953, and Columbus XCR.
S&S couplers	Machined stainless steel couplings that allow a normal-sized frame to separate into two pieces. With the frame separated and the wheels removed, the bike should fit into a 26” by 26” by 10” suitcase, and can travel on an airliner without incurring punitive charges. A pair of couplers adds half a pound and about $800 to a frame. They can be added to existing bicycles by a competent framebuilder, although, since brazing is involved, a repaint is required. Some builders use a single coupler on the chainstay to allow a drive belt to be installed. A few builders have made triplets that convert to tandems by means of S&S couplers, and also tandems that fit into standard suitcases. S&S is a brand of Sands Machine Company. Tom Ritchey makes separating frames with its own BreakAway system, and Rene Herse built a number of demountables. In all cases, the frame couplings are located in the down tube and top tube, immediately in front of the seat tube.
Seat mast	An extended seat tube that extends above the top tube, nearly to the height of the saddle. On frames with large stand-over clearance, the builder may choose to extend the seat tube into a mast to avoid the use of an excessively long seat post. A seat mast will be less likely to bend than a seat post, because the rigidity of a tube, all else being equal, increases by the fourth power of its diameter. A frame with a seat mast will offer comparatively little seat height adjustment. This is less important on a custom, handbuilt frame than it would be on a production bike.
Shoreline	The edge of the lug that extends over the tube. Lug shorelines may be cut into fanciful or decorative shapes, but should never make a straight, circumferential line.
Silver-brazing	Usually used in conjunction with lugs, silver brazing is a method of joining frame tubes with a metallic “hot glue.” Different silver brazing compounds have differing silver content, ranging from almost none to almost pure. Silver brazing utilizes lower temperatures, (around 1200-1300º F) than bronze-brazing, important when working with certain tempered steels, like Reynolds 753. While quite strong, silver doesn't fill gaps well, so most silver brazed frames use bronze-brazing at the dropouts and fork ends. Also erroneously called silver-soldering.
Straight-gauge	Tubing without butts, of a consistent wall thickness throughout its length.
Tang	Not the beverage of astronauts, a tang is a triangular reinforcement extending from a fork crown down the blade, to increase side-to-side rigidity. Most builders place tangs on the side of the fork blade facing the wheel. Some fork crowns include tangs from the factory; others allow the builder to add them as he sees fit.
TIG-welding	Short for Tungsten Inert Gas welding. A method of joining tubes by which an electric arc, carried by a tungsten electrode resembling a nail, melts the metal of the tubes and allows it to flow together. An inert gas such as argon floods the area around the arc, protecting the hot metal from the oxidizing effects of oxygen in the air. TIG-welded joints have the appearance of a stack of tiny coins or fish scales, although they may be ground smooth, or smoothed by running over them a second time with the electric arc, a technique called second-pass or double-passing.
Thinning	The points of lugs are filed so that their thickness tapers over their length. This prevents the lug from creating a point of high stress on the tube that might, over time, act as a can opener on the thin metal of the tube. Gracefully thinned lugs are seen as a sign of craftsmanship. Most factory frames exhibit little or no lug thinning. http://www.bicycletimesmag.com/glossary

10 Best Places to Surf Worldwide

By: Sidney Johns
Break Studios Contributing Writer

Since the first human caught a wave, surfers have sought the 10 best places to surf worldwide. Where ever there is sand, there are waves, but some beaches boast the best of the best.

1.Santa Caterina, Brazil Since it was discovered by the surfing community in the 1970's, Santa Caterina has been considered in the top ten best places to surf worldwide. Surfers of all skill levels give this beach their best shot.

2.Samoa This South Pacific island, located just east of Fiji, offers the "Hang Ten" attitude of the Polynesian culture. Having consistent and continual waves makes Samoa one of the best places to surf worldwide.

3.State of California, United States The long reaching stretch of coast lining the south west edge of North American offers surfers medium to large waves more than six months out of each year. Plenty of sunshine and moderate temperatures put California on the list of best places to surf worldwide.

4.Bali, Indonesia A fairly recent discovery in the surfing community, the island of Bali is continually hit by swells coming from the South Ocean. Offering waves up to twelve feet daily makes Bali one of the best places to surf worldwide.

5.Costa Rica Miles of beach line this Central American island with a South Pacific feel. Costa Rica qualifies as one of the best places to surf worldwide due to it's consistently large swells and waves from April to October.

6.Jefferys Bay, South Africa Home to the Bilabong surfing tournament each year, this beach lies just south of Port Elizabeth. Large swells in the months of June, July and August make Jefferys Bay one of the best places to surf worldwide.

7.El Salvador This small Central American country is home to ten foot swells during the rainy season of October. The low cost of travel and the high experience rate necessary to surf these beaches make El Salvador one of the best places to surf worldwide.

8.Mentawai Islands, Indonesia Swells coming in all directions makes this chain of more than 70 islands one of the best places to surf worldwide. The season goes all the way from March until October with the best waves crashing in between June and September.

9.Gold Coast, Australia More than 70 miles of beach and four specific break points make the Gold Coast one of the best places to surf worldwide. Nicknamed "surfer's paradise" by the locals, it is located just southeast of Queensland.

10.Maui, Hawaii Home to North Shore, Maui is legend for it's monster waves and tropical surfing conditions. The best waves here are caught in November and March.

http://www.mademan.com/mm/10-best-places-surf-worldwide.html

How Wetsuits Work

How Wetsuits Work

Wetsuits help to keep you warm by working in several different ways.

But firstly lets dispel a common myth by making it clear that it's not the water that enters a wetsuit that keeps you warm. Indeed a wetsuit would be warmer if no water entered it at all, but then it would be a drysuit; an entirely different piece of equipment.

FIT
A wetsuit should be a tight fitting garment which should be gently squeezing you all over. When you enter the water a very thin layer of water will squeeze between the wetsuit and your skin. If the wetsuit is baggy then a whole lot of water will flood in to fill the gaps between the wetsuit and your body. In both of the previous situations the cold water entering your body will have an instant cooling effect on your body.

Now lets take the first scenario; the tight fitting wetsuit: Here the thin layer of cold water that has squeezed into the suit is warmed up by your body heat. Because there's not a lot of water it doesn't take long to warm up and doesn't rob your body of a huge amount of heat. When you move about in the water, fresh water from outside is largely prevented from entering the suit as the suit is already 'full'. Having a good fit at the ankles, wrists and neck of the suit will help this resistance to fresh water entry, or 'flushing' as it is known.

In the second scenario, that of a baggy wetsuit, much more water will be inside the suit to begin with. Your body will take much longer to warm it up and the process will rob your body of much more heat. In fact your body may never be able to warm the water up significantly. When you are immersed in water and start to move around fresh water from outside easily flushes through the suit and displaces or dilutes the water that your body worked so hard to warm up. This constant flushing of cold water will make it impossible to maintain much body heat and will reduce the effectiveness of the wetsuit hugely.

So the first thing about wetsuits to understand is that a tight fitting wetsuit is critical to staying warm and a baggy wetsuit is unlikely to keep you warm. In fact it is fair to say that a well fitted thin wetsuit will probably be warmer than a baggy thick wetsuit.

INSULATION
So now we have a well fitted wetsuit and your body has warmed up the water that is in it. Both your body and the thin film of water around it are pressed hard up against a thin layer of neoprene. On the other side of the neoprene is icy cold water. Now whilst neoprene will insulate you from this cold water it is not 100% efficient insulator and some of your body heat (and the heat contained in the thin layer of water around you) will pass through the neoprene and attempt to warm the water outside. As this happens it cools down, and you in turn cool down. So there is constant heat loss through the material if the water outside is cold.

This is where thickness comes into play. Thicker neoprene will lose less heat through it that thin neoprene so in simple terms a 5mm wetsuit will be warmer than a 3mm wetsuit of the same fit as less heat is lost through the material as your warmth is better insulated from the outer cold.

RADIATION
If you have ever felt the warmth of the sun on an otherwise cold day you'll know what radiant heat is. It is heat in the form of infra red energy. The sun emits it, the bars on an electric fire emit it , even light bulbs emit it….. and so does our body. Space blankets handed out at race events etc claim to reflect this radiant body heat back towards your body and thus keep you warm.

Some wetsuits have a titanium lining, which is a silvery material with a degree of reflecting ability. We have seen allsorts of claims about what this material does. Some manufacturers claim that the titanium lining can reflect cold! A claim that would change the laws of physics as cold in itself does not exist; cold is merely the absence of heat and you cant reflect something that doesn't exist. Many wetsuit diagrams will show the body's heat being reflected back towards itself by this material and the graphics certainly look impressive. However in our tests, the benefits of having a titanium lining for the purposes of reflecting the body's heat back towards itself are negligible. Firstly the titanium is not an efficient reflector. Secondly it is normally placed behind the nylon lining of the wetsuit thus blocking its ability to reflect anything. Thirdly, when your body's radiant heat hits the back interior of the wetsuit, it heats it up as black is a poor reflector. Thus the heat emitting from your body is not all lost, some of it heats up the inner surface of the wetsuit when then touches your body. Thus without a reflector some of this heat is retained anyway. Finally, not a lot of the total amount of body heat loss in these conditions is through radiant heat and a very little of this is recoverable through titanium reflection.

So to sum up our opinion on titanium lining, it doesn't do any harm, but the benefits of it are totally over hyped by many manufacturers. We wouldn't advise someone to make it part of their buying criteria as we have not found any sizeable benefit from incorporating it in our suits.

WETSUIT CONSTRUCTION
We have talked about flushing and about trying to keep the water out at the ankles, wrists and neck. But water can also come in at other places. Seams and zips are next to come under the spotlight.

A small amount of water will seep through many types of stitching and through the seams where the material comes together. This is not a flood of water and for some types of suit this is acceptable. Summer 3mm wetsuits for example have flatlock stitching that allows such a slow seepage. However, for a summer wetsuit this is perfectly acceptable. The suit is more than efficient enough, even with a small amount of seepage, to keep the user warm in cool summer waters.

In winter conditions we need to try a bit harder to keep every last bit of heat inside the suit so we try to stop water seepage at the seams in several ways. Different manufacturers may use different methods and we will try to cover all of these even if we ourselves do not use them.

Blind stitching is a method of stitching where the needle and thread does not go all the way through to the other side and therefore there is no needle hole for water to go through. This is a very popular and effective method in reducing seepage. Firstly the panels of the wetsuit would be glued together to stop water getting through at the panel edges, then the panels are blind stitched from both sides. This method of construction is called "Glued and double blind stitched" and works very well.

Some manufacturers use tape on the inside of the seams instead of gluing (Or in addition to gluing). Taping the seams can also reduce the amount of water seeping in. Finally , a more recent development is the creation of 'liquid seams'. These are not as technical as they may sound. Effectively a liquid seam is a rubber liquid applied with a large 'glue gun' to the inside of the wetsuit seam. It is another very effective way to reduce the amount of water entering a suit.

Zips
Most wetsuits use standard design zips which are not totally watertight as an amount of water can pass between the teeth. It is normal to have a flap behind the zip which presses up against it when worn. This flat greatly reduces the amount of water that can enter the suit through the zip teeth as it is pressed tightly up against the teeth by the body of the wearer.

Some wetsuits have dryzips (like those found on drysuit) in place of the regular zip to eliminate any water ingress through the zip. The inclusion of a dryzip can almost double the cost of a wetsuit and is, in our opinion, an over the top addition to most suits that is unnecessary.

A more cost effective way to reduce water ingression through the zip is to include a zip baffle or 'batwing' this is an extra piece of material that sits behind the zip and traps any water that goes though the zip.

Surface Coatings
Most wetsuits are made from what is termed "Double lined neoprene". This means that the neoprene rubber is laminated to a fabric , normally stretch nylon, to give it added durability and to allow it to be stitched together.

This fabric is mainly advantageous to the functionality, construction and design of a wetsuit. However, when used in sports where the user is above the water, as opposed to in the water (Such as surfing) then the wearer can experience something call 'evaporative cooling'. This phenomenon is where the outer nylon skin of the wetsuit holds a thin layer of water on it which is heated up by the small amount of heat that has escaped through the neoprene material. If you are in a strong cold wind, this layer of water is then blown/evaporated away, taking your heat with it. Its probably best explained by blowing the back of your hand, noticing how cold it feels, then wet the back of your hand and blow again, it feels cooler! That is evaporative cooling. This effect can be slightly reduced by using smoothskin neoprene on the worst areas such as the chest panel. Smoothskin (or single lined neoprene)neoprene is essentially neoprene rubber with nylon laminated to one side of it with the other side bare and given a smooth finish. This smooth surface holds less surface water (Not no surface water) and thus is less prone to evaporative cooling. But this part of the suit is not as tough as the rest of the suit. Some manufacturers put this material on the chest panel area only, as this area is most at risk from heat loss.

The benefits of having smoothskin chest panels to alleviate evaporative cooling are, in our opinion, exaggerated. The effect is reduced, there is no doubt, but very few people actually benefit from it. Firstly, if your sport is mainly in the water then you don't have evaporative cooling (EG Diving, snorkelling, triathlon, swimming etc). Secondly, most above water sports are used with a buoyancy aid which covers your chest and core area thus protecting it from the wind and therefore stopping most evaporative cooling (sailing, windsurfing, kite surfing, kayaking, waterskiing, wakeboarding, canoeing all use buoyancy aids). This really only leaves surfers as people whose sport is above the water but don't use a buoyancy aid. Surfers however spend more of the time in the water than riding their board so again, the benefits are reduced.

So to sum up on the benefits of smoothskin chest panels, there are some, and they are a bit warmer when wet and exposed to the wind, but for most uses there is very little difference.

Finemesh neoprene is a variation on smoothskin where the bare rubber is finished differently and takes on a slightly more durable, textured finish. Like smoothskin neoprnene, finemesh holds less surface water than double lined neoprene.

Triathlon
Triathlon wetsuits are completely made from smoothskin neoprene. This is not for warmth and is not to avoid evaporative cooling. Triathlon wetsuits are made from smoothskin neoprene to reduce friction in the water. A smoothskin wetsuit will slip through the water slightly easier than a nylon surfaced wetsuit. Most people will not notice the difference at first but after a mile long swim your times will probably be slightly less in a smoothskin wetsuit.

Triathlon wetsuits are also designed to have high flexibility and often use grades of neoprene and nylon that are more flexible that standard grades. Triathletes also benefit from the inherent buoyancy of neoprene as this allows the body to float slightly higher in the water thus reducing the amount of your body that is actually dragging through the water itself.

http://www.ewetsuits.com/acatalog/How-Wetsuits-Work.html


Wetsuit Construction and material types


To help you understand all the technical ins and outs of wet suits we've put together some explanations of the different materials used in wetsuit construction and the various ways of making the different types of wetsuits that you may come across.


Overlock Stitching
Overlock stitching is the LEAST EXPENSIVE and least effective form of wetsuit stitching. The Two edges of neoprene are rolled together with stitching lightly around them. This forms a ridge inside the wet suit that is both uncomfortable and it also allows water to penetrate the seam.

This type of stitch can generally only be used on neoprene up to 3mm thick and is therefore only really suitable for summer conditions.

Lomo Watersport do not use overlock stitching on any of our wet suits.

Flatlock stitching
Achieved by lapping the neoprene together, this creates a FLAT, COMFORTABLE SEAM but it also allows water to penetrate slightly.
Only suitable for Wetsuits up to 3mm thick and summer conditions.
Flatlock is identified by a band of interlocked thread on both sides of the suit, sometimes in contrasting thread colour for visual effect.

Flatlock stitching is used on our Summer range of wetsuits.

Blind Stitching.
Produced by gluing and then butting together the two adjoining pieces of neoprene, followed by stitching that does not penetrate through to the other side of the neoprene. This is a watertight method of construction and is also the most comfortable option, most winter Wetsuits should be made this way.

Lomo Watersport use blind stitching on our winter wetsuits and often used double blind stitching and gluing of seams to further strengthen and seal our wetsuit seams.


Nylon 2 Neoprene
This is neoprene rubber with Nylon bonded to both the inside and outside of the material. This increases the durability of the Neoprene.

Smoothskin Neoprene
This has no coating on it and is used for internal ankle and cuff seals.

Finemesh Neoprene
This is used on the chest and back panels of our winter wet suits to reduce the effects of wind-chill. Wind-chill is normally caused by the evaporation of the small layer of water held on the outer skin of Nylon covered Neoprene.



3mm Neoprene
This thickness is suitable for Summer wet suits.

5mm Neoprene
This thickness is suitable for Winter wetsuits

http://www.ewetsuits.com/acatalog/wetsuits-wet-suits-construction.html

Which Species Of Cyclist Are You?

Which Species Of Cyclist Are You?

Listen up! This is a tongue-in-cheek overview of some of the more interesting and dedicated cyclists you may see and meet. No offense is intended. We're just trying to have some fun and brighten your day. We fit into a few of these categories, too! No cyclists were harmed researching this article. Credit approval required. Your tire mileage may vary.

Cycling is a splendid and wonderful activity; our absolutely favorite thing, in fact. If you've been a cyclist for very long, you're probably evolving into one of the many species of wheel men and women. You're not alone, it's happened to all of us, too.

When we're new to the sport, we're not quite sure where we fit in. Gradually, a transformation takes places and we become fanatics, we use cycling jargon that only our compadres understand, and we lust for bikes that make us faster, more comfortable or better riders. Lots of other velo aficionados share the characteristics we develop, too. You and those that you have so much in common with become a species. So, here's a field guide to a variety of the creatures that inhabit the two-wheeled forest. Be sure to let us know which one you think WE are when you come in!

Urbanicus Messengericus (UM)

 Found in heavily urbanized areas, this phylum of the cycling family has more tattoos than T-shirts. Fond of bragging about how long he or she held onto a furniture delivery truck, Urbanicus Messengericus is an extremely brave creature with absolutely no fear of vehicles higher up the impact chain, and with amazing reflexes and peripheral vision, which let him dart in and out of traffic like the marble in a pinball machine. The bike of choice of UM is a fixed-gear track bike, preferably with cow-horn bars. Yet, any bike will do as long as it is heavily covered in electrical tape which makes the bike less appealing to other predators and protects it from Messengericus's second-most-important piece of equipment: the heavy lock. Despite aerobic prowess, cigarettes and other smoky pleasures are not frowned upon. Messengericus thrives in many different climates and seems virtually immune to extreme heat, cold and traffic police. Best of all, he's living proof that cities are made for BIKES, not cars.

Montis Extremus Velocitus (MEV)

MEV's apartment walls are decorated with pictures of her launching mountain bikes, cliff diving, displaying off-road rash and passed out at parties. She has a photo of the computer on her freeride rig displaying a maximum speed of 63 mph. She makes buttering six-foot drops look SOOO easy. Her 24-hour race participation is simply an excuse to drink beer. She could turn pro on the national downhill circuit but the travel expenses would cut too deep into her tattoo money. She tends to flaunt scars like badges of courage. She can't fly without being hand-wanded at security checkpoints because all the screws and plates holding her bones together set off the standard metal detectors. And, despite being the last one to leave the party, she's always first up to ride!

 

Gearheadicus Stubbornous Erectus (GSE)

 This species is easily recognized by their Bell V-1 helmet, which now offers no protection at all because it's 25 years old. This rider typically has a gear chart taped to his stem, even though he's memorized the gear inches for every cog combination on his bike to the hundredth of an inch. And, he complains that bikes with triple chainrings no longer feature half-step gearing, while insisting that there's no reason for integrated gear/brake levers when his ancient bar-end shifters work just fine. He always carries a tape measure for confirming every fit dimension on his bike everywhere he goes. He's certainly a great cyclist to know, though. For every organized ride within a 400-mile radius he can tell you the road conditions, usual rest-stop locations, which motels to avoid, and point you to the best restaurant in town that serves cycling-friendly fare. Plus, his MacGyver-esque on-road improvisational fixes have saved more rides than a traffic jam of sag wagons. Females of the GSE species are rare, but they do exist.

Temptressicus Egoicus Obliteratus (TEO)

This creature is strictly female and exceedingly dangerous. Not only is TEO not intimidated by riding with the guys, she savors the opportunity to hammer anyone with a Y chromosome into the ground. Her favorite tricks for toying with her prey are especially dangerous to males of the Novus Racerus Infestus species. A favorite tactic is to pass one of these poor souls on a hill just fast enough that he thinks he'll be able to keep up (his pride won't let him let her go). Listening to his breathing behind her, she gradually picks up the pace until his gasps sound like a thoroughbred's at full gallop. After fifteen minutes of this torture, she shifts up two gears and rockets out of sight. She's a master of the backhanded compliment, too. "Well you LOOK really fit!" "That's a great new bike. I'm sure you'll grow into it." A percentage of males will never touch their bikes again after these "humiliations" from TEO.

 

Unsolicitus Advicius Annoyeratus (UAA)

 Unsolicitus Advicius Annoyeratus can be quite annoying. Almost always male, he tells you everything that you're doing wrong, at least in his eyes. According to this pesky fellow, you're never running the right tires, picking the right line, braking correctly or cornering properly. His sense of timing can be atrocious, too. While you're struggling up a super-steep technical climb is not the time to tell you that you should have started the climb in a different chainring. Of course, he's not going to let a little distance between friends stop him from issuing advice. Why should he, when he can shout instructions at the top of his lungs? Of course, he IS a good source of information about what's new in the cycling world, as he has every new gadget that comes out on his bike within the first week! Just be sure and view his take on it with a grain of salt. Make that a CUP of salt.

Temptressicus Chatticus Non-Stoppus (TCN)

This common species resembles TEO in some ways but the first thing you'll notice is her non-stop banter. It never has anything to do with bikes, though, unless it involves color coordination. Highly social even during rides, she often amazes the group with her ability to converse about any subject (other than cycling), form complex sentences, even while maneuvering through tight singletrack, and her exceptional ability to always pick the cleanest line (literally). She's always surprisingly dirt and mud free after every ride. She has quite a few strong points, too. Her outgoing nature brings new riders into the sport and helps build bridges between trail users. She's also exceptionally skilled at finding coffee shops and restrooms on road trips; both of which can be invaluable on long hauls!

 

Trailbuilderus Avidifferus Proficienatus (TAP)

 Trailbuilderus Avidifferus Proficienatus can be found at your local trails 24-7, and if you enjoy off roading, you should be happy he's there! His bike is packed with everything he needs to build, reroute and redesign trails. And, he's always ready to cut as much trail as authorities will allow. Plus, he knows amazing and ingenious ways to turn muddy, miserable and impassable routes into smokin' singletrack trails. Of course, he's strictly by the book when it comes to trail etiquette and he'll let you know if you're out of line. Many who encounter TAP come away with the knowledge that a lot more goes into building trails than they realized. Yet, his language can be a bit strange at times and frequently includes terms such as "sustainability," "contour," "fall line" and "grade reversal." Be sure and join him at the next trail day. You'll be glad you did!

Novus Racerus Infestus (NRI)

NRI insists on riding hard on just about every training ride. Females of the species are rare, but they do exist. He spends hours researching training methods, but can be swayed to do what his buddies say instead. He tends to inflict injury upon himself. For example: crashing while raising his arms in "victory" at the end of group rides, straining his hamstrings from frequent saddle repositioning looking for easy speed, or injuring his knees from pushing too big a gear. He knows all of his measurements, including ones you've never heard of — in millimeters. But, he's hard on the average group ride because he can't help but push the pace even when his pre-ride comments told how tired, out of shape and injured he was. While Novus Racerus can be a little intimidating, he's actually a good guy to know. He's perfectly willing to give you a free ride while he fights a headwind for miles and his intensity and focus can even inspire you to ride better. Just don't take him too seriously.

http://solonbicycle.com/articles/which-species-of-cyclist-are-you-pg139.htm