Grassroots Bikes, Durham’s newest bike shop
Posted on July 13, 2008
Filed Under bikes, mountain biking | 1 Comment
Durham’s newest bike shop is a mountain bike boutique (i.e. a mountain bike specific bike shop). Located at 5520 Old Chapel Hill Rd., Grassroots Bikes is the retail and bike service effort run by Trips for Kids, Triangle. Profits go to support TFKT, which makes Grassroots Bikes Durham’s first “socially conscious bike shop.” Who knew there was such a thing?
Starting out small, the shop will keep new Surly, Vassago, Redline, and Soma mountain bikes in stock. “We stayed away from the big name brands in order to not directly compete with any of our friends at the local bike shops,” says Andrea Hundredmark, Durham Public Schools middle school teacher and organizer of Triangle Trips for Kids. You can check up on their inventory at grassrootsbikes.blogspot.com.
Hundredmark, aware of the local popularity of single speed mountain bikes, says that Grassroots Bikes will also support the single speed community through sales of new single speeds as well as carrying in stock single-speed parts.
cycling at night
Posted on July 7, 2008
Filed Under bikes | 4 Comments
 from Copenhagen Cycle Chic |
After publishing a column on the joys of riding at night, I received from several Herald Sun readers an email-tonguelashing. It seems the idea of cycling at night is anathema to some who prefer the well-lit openness of the day. Well, I stick by what I said then, that cycling at night is a rewarding experience in addition to a practical necessity for some.
Look, I can’t help it if you watch Fox News’ nightly orgy of fear and as a result think the world is out to get you. I find the night to be a beautiful time to be outdoors, and there are few things I would rather do outdoors at night than ride a bike. True, you need to be a little more observant than during the day. But then again, that’s part of what makes night riding enjoyable — your senses are heightened and perception is augmented.
If you’ve never done it, you might start by trying the Habitat Bull Moon Ride on Saturday, July 19th.
Below is a note from Roxanne at Habitat for Humanity of Durham…
Sat., July 19 join Wool E. Bull and Habitat for Humanity of Durham for the Bull Moon Ride! This group ride for cyclists of all abilities starts at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park at 8:30 p.m. Experience Durham sites including Duke Chapel, Brightleaf Square, and Durham’s city center as the sun sets. Return to the ballpark on the American Tobacco Trail as the moon rises!
RIDE DETAILS
- Ride benefits Habitat for Humanity of Durham and helps build homes, hope, and community in Durham!
- 17 mile route (posted www.durhamhabitat.org)
- 6 mile route option available
- 12 mph average rolling speed
- Police escorts
- Helmets required
- Tail and head lights required (for ideas about lights contact Roxanne)
- $20 pre-registration per adult
- $10 pre-registration per child (min. age to ride is 10)
INFORMATION & REGISTRATION
Register today! Early registration deadline is July 17. Walk-on registration is $25 per adult and $15 per child. To register and for additional information, visit www.durhamhabitat.org or contact Roxanne, 919-682-0516, ext. 113 or rhall@durhamhabitat.org.THANK YOU!
Roxanne Hall Little
Special Events Manager
Habitat for Humanity of Durham
215 N. Church St.
Durham, NC 27701
919-682-0516, ext. 113
rhall@durhamhabitat.org
www.durhamhabitat.orgHabitat for Humanity of Durham transforms lives and communities by making homeownership possible in partnership with people who care. Habitat has broken ground on 200 homes in Durham since 1985. Families are selected based on housing need, ability to repay the 0% interest loan in full, and willingness to partner with Habitat. Habitat’s 1700 U.S. affiliates believe decent housing is a matter of conscience and action. Habitat for Humanity International works in 100 countries worldwide and has built more than 225,000 homes since 1976.
And to get you warmed up for a night ride, take a look at local cyclist Adrian Hands’ recently-posted reflection on cycling at night.
Night rides are a great escape from summer’s heat and are always thrilling—especially all-night brevets, where reaching the dawn serves as reward for one’s nocturnal toils. – Read the rest –
Durham ComNet needs cyclists
Posted on July 7, 2008
Filed Under bikes, urban design | Leave a Comment
We should get some cyclists in on this…
Durham residents interested in serving as extra eyes for City government now have their chance thanks to new technology designed to help the community prioritize its immediate, street-level needs.
The City of Durham is debuting Computerized Neighborhood Environment Tracking – or ComNet – that enables neighborhoods to use easily operated handheld computers with digital cameras so that street level conditions, such as pot holes, illegal dumping, weedy lots, litter and vacant houses, can be quickly captured, recorded, and prioritized for action. ComNET adds a new layer of citizen-government communication, accountability, and citizen oversight.
Neighborhood groups interested in scheduling a ComNet survey in their community should contact Jay Reinstein, manager with the City of Durham’s Office of Strategic Initiatives, at (919) 560-4222, extension 226 or by e-mail at Jay.Reinstein@durhamnc.gov.
Cyclists often complain that our needs are different from drivers’ needs and that our needs are ignored in favor of the (perceived to be) larger or more affluent driving community.
Participation in a program like ComNet would be a good way for local cyclists to document and bring attention to the bike community’s needs. Since the City of Durham is initiating the program, they’re more likely to be receptive to what we have to say.
ComNet strikes me as similar to the Durham Pace Car program in that both invite the public, qua average citizens, to join with local government in taking responsibility for the community. Citizen-activist programs like ComNet have the potential to bring fresh attention to issues and neighborhoods chronically overlooked by empowering voiceless members of Durham’s community. The effectiveness of ComNet, which is essentially an exercise in distributed information gathering, will rest primarily on what the City does with the information it gathers.
The City won’t be able to do much if it doesn’t collect good info, and that’s where the cyclists come in. Cyclists are sensitive to changes in the environment (think pot holes and debris-strewn bike lanes), because we’re closer to the environment and just plain more likely to see what needs fixin’. It seems to me that cyclists are ideal candidates for an on-the-ground program like this.
Anyone want to step up and volunteer to participate in ComNet? If so, start by going through your neighborhood association.
inside the loop
Posted on July 6, 2008
Filed Under bike racks, bikes, critical mass, images | Leave a Comment
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Thurmond smiles
Posted on July 5, 2008
Filed Under bikes, critical mass, images | Leave a Comment
post Critical Mass obligatory Bull McCabes sitting
Fourth of July
Posted on July 4, 2008
Filed Under bikes, images | Leave a Comment
Some photos from the annual tribal festival of the Americanas.
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To paraphrase Ed, because it’s difficult to hang out with 300 million people, we break ourselves into tribes. A few of Durham’s tribes came together for today’s festival to celebrate their part in the coalition of tribes we call the United States.
Preparations for this year’s event included authentically ritualistic fasting and much vision seeking. Even a few sacrifices were made to appease the gods.
Much merry-making — via water hoses, cupcakes, lemonade, and banner waving — was had.
afterthought
Posted on July 3, 2008
Filed Under bikes, images, urban design | Leave a Comment
This sign — mostly the lack of care with which it is placed in the ground — sums up how I often feel about urban design and transportation planning. You?
uno auto menos
Posted on July 2, 2008
Filed Under bikes, critical mass | 4 Comments
Just a quick reminder that Durham’s Critical Mass is tomorrow, Thursday July 3rd. Come celebrate your right to be on the road with your bike! UPDATE: As always, Durham Critical Mass meets 5:35pm at Major, the bronze bull statue in the CCB plaza, downtown. It’s across Corcoran Street from Blue Coffee Café.
Seeing as it’s taking place the day before the 4th (the 3rd usually comes before the 4th), you might wear your favorite patriotic spandex, sparkly hat, or shoot fireworks from the back of your bike. Wait, that’s probably illegal, in which case you can scratch that I said it (though whether you do it is sill up to you). Sparklers! That’s what I meant. Yeah, bring the sparklers.
Upside-down flags, orange jump-suited Guantanamo detainee impersonators, and Native American sympathizers are also welcome.
Pro or anti- Independence Day — come one, come all.
Looks like we have some educating to do — just read the comments on this news story about a pair of local cyclists who were victims of a deliberate hit and run.
Most violence results from a failure to see what’s best in your fellow person. I ride because the world looks more interesting, more beautiful from the seat of a bicycle. And when the world is more interesting, more beautiful, it’s easier to see each other more charitably.
ANOTHER UPDATE: Yours truly was interviewed by NBC17 today for a story that ran on tonight’s newscast. If NBC17 makes the video available on their website, I’ll post yet another update.
YET ANOTHER UPDATE: The video is now up at NBC17.com’s website. I want to thank Lauren, Dominque, and the camera man who strapped the camera to the back of my Xtracycle for the POV shots. Follow the link.
tall bike, ca. 1933
Posted on July 1, 2008
Filed Under bikes, video | Leave a Comment
This is a very short clip of a clown on a tall bike on Repeal Day, celebrating adoption of the 21st amendment and thus the repeal of prohibition, December 5th, 1933. Although the clip is not an authentic newsreel (it is an ad for whiskey, produced in 2007), the footage appears to be vintage. I edited out all but the bike. If you want to see the rest of the ad, you can find it in the Prelinger Archives.
short story in Urban Velo
Posted on June 30, 2008
Filed Under bikes, elsewhere, published works, stories | 2 Comments
I have a story in the eighth issue of Urban Velo, which is released for download tomorrow. As soon as it’s tomorrow, you can click the image to download the latest edition of bicycle culture on the skids.
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