Grant Petersen once described bikes as "movable art that can just about save the world." Maybe that sounds a bit fanciful, but maybe it really isn't....

Today I rode a nice sixty or sixty-five miles in total, rolling out to Pasadena to meet Chuck Schmidt's Rose Bowl Vintage Ride; at the halfway point, my friends John and Brian arrived, and afterwards we rode home together, stopping at The Coffee Table in Silverlake for a bit of refreshment. I hadn't expected to stop anywhere (except Beantown in ultra-safe Sierra Madre), so I hadn't brought a lock; when we got to the coffeehouse I just leaned the Bambina against the wall where teh free newspapers and bulletin board lived. I thought she made a pretty picture there , so snapped the below:



That led me eventually to think, Can bikes, plain or fancy, really be art?

Interesting because through most of Chuck's ride I had been talking about classical music with Charles, one of the regulars and a programmer at a classical radio station...so can a bike compare to a sonata, let's say?

I say, Yes!

If art is a work, crafted by the hand or mind of a human being, that can expand you beyond yourself by your experience of it, then let me dare say that a bicycle is as much a work of art as a poem, a song, or a painting--or a sculpture or a great building. That it is practical (in this case as personal transport) does not make it any less so.

The Bambina was very good to me today. Plain though she may be, she is certainly a work of art by any functional definition.

Richard Risemberg on 05.04.08 @ 08:21 PM PST [link]

Our knicker socks are back in stock as of today, and we have added the Olive color to the Large/XL size--by popular demand. Price has gone up slightly (though not much; the U.S. has, unfortunately, nearly ceased to mill yarn locally, and the dollar dropped since our last order).

These are the only game in town if you want genuine knicker socks without a loud pattern on them. As before, they come well over the knee on most people, are thick enough to wear into snow weather, yet not so thick you can't wear them on most summer days (the wonders of wool), and they look dressy, yet are tough. You can wear them over tights for really cold weather, and still look sharp while everyone else rolls around resembling a sasquatch.

Need some now? See our knicker socks page. Get 'em while they last!

Richard Risemberg on 05.01.08 @ 06:04 PM PST [link]

Stopped by Hel-Mel today--that's Heliotrope & Melrose, AKA the "Bicycle District," AKA the home of Orange 20 Bikes, Pure Luck vegan cyclist's pub, Scoops (the world's best ice cream), and the place that got it all rolling, the Bicycle Kitchen!

I was there for lunch & ice cream, but when I saw TJ hauling this Dutch cargo bike out the door of Orange 20, I had to go bother him about it, even though they weren't officially open yet. From Batavus, it sports a chaincase, three-speed internally-geared hub, built-in generator lighting, fenders, and a big old porteur-style rack in front to complement the heavy-duty rear rack--all for around a thousand bucks, which is a pretty good deal these days:



Definitely something we need to see more of in Los Angeles! If you're local, check it out at Orange 20, or go to their website at Orange20bikes.com for more pictures.

Richard Risemberg on 04.29.08 @ 03:51 PM PST [link]

If you're a Facebook sort of guy or gal, there's a new group there dedicated to car-free and car-lite living...to quote:

This is a group for all those that consciously make decisions in their life, whether large or small, to reduce their use of the private automobile.

This is for all those who are sick of being trapped in sprawling suburbs with underfunded and inadequate public transportation systems.

This is for those who are tired with cars and all their associated costs including registration, insurance, gas(petrol), services, parking, tickets and the actual car, just so they can function in society.

This is for those who are sick of sitting in traffic, period!

This is for those who would like a more healthy, sustainable, and environmentally-friendly lifestyle.

This is for those who like to reverse the social, economic and environmental damage caused by a car dominated culture.

If you're reading this post, you're pretty likely to be interested in this group, so click on over to Car-Free by Choice! on Facebook and join in!

Richard Risemberg on 04.28.08 @ 08:02 PM PST [link]

Certainly a tribute to global warming that we are having nearly 100° weather in April, but so we did this weekend (and it continues, slightly abated, today). The people poured out of their houses and towards the beach, of course--and it was good to see that so many of them did so on their bikes.

I wandered off early Sunday, riding past the airport and eventually ending up on the Pacific Coast Highway a little past where I'd been intending to end up, but no matter: every mile was fine on the Bottecchia fixie, so I doubled back and stopped at the foot of the Hermosa Beach pier for a sandwich. And as you'll see in the photos below, I found not only food but bikes, lots and lots of bikes, everywhere I went:











A nice forty-five or fifty mile day, pedaling every inch, and folks on bikes everywhere, even away from the beach.

Richard Risemberg on 04.28.08 @ 03:14 PM PST [link]

As I was riding back from running a small chore for Gina, on 8th Street near La Brea, heavily urbanized area adjacent to an ultra-ritzy neighborhood: a well-dressed, matronly lady, serenely pedaling an Electra Amsterdam into Hancock Park, with a bag of groceries in a folding basket on either side of the rear rack. Beatific smile on her face, and a friendly greeting in response to my nod 'n' smile....

Maybe folks really are starting to get it.....

Richard Risemberg on 04.27.08 @ 02:30 PM PST [link]

When I go to the Farmer's Market on 3rd & Fairfax here in LA (this is a seven-day-a-week market), I usually park in the much less interesting adjacent mall, simply because, in the mall's parking structure, there are numerous and much better bike racks--you can't actually use a U-lock in the racks the Farmer's Market provides.

So I bought my (mostly local) vegetables and headed back to the bike to go to my next appointment, when I saw a venerable gentleman locking this chrome bike up next to my Green Gopher.

Well, I had to chat him up a bit, for the bike was an ancient Lygié, beautifully lugged, with what looked like the original chainguard and fenders, and a single toptube-mounted shifter.

The fellow had had it for thirty years, and both he and it had endured on the streets of LA!

Just made me happy to see, so I figured to stick it on the blog here. (And I promise, I'll start carrying my real camera around; this has been happening all too often to leave to the Crappy Cell Phone Cam.)

Richard Risemberg on 04.23.08 @ 02:02 PM PST [link]

No, not what you think, though I was having a local microbrew ale at Pure Luck, the vegan bicyclist's pub on the same corner as Orange 20 Bikes and the Bicycle Kitchen. What I mean was bikes carrying big loads, such as this Xtracycle rig that pulled up whilst I was chowing down on my fried spring rolls:



Yes, it was carrying a guitar, a chair, and a backpack, and possibly more...but that, though impressive, did not amuse me as much as the fellow who rode up to the Kitchen on his bike...carrying another entire bike strapped to his messenger bag, and looking quite comfortable for all that! (He had removed the wheels and strapped them closer to the center of the load, but still!)

Nothing we didn't know could be done, you and I, but it's good to see it becoming closer to routine.

While the dustbin-of-history types are taking food out of the mouths of Third World babies to fuel their cars, at least someone somewhere in this self-centered, self-defeating nation is using their imagination, not only to "save the planet," but to live a passionate life connected with the earth.

Richard Risemberg on 04.19.08 @ 02:42 PM PST [link]