2013: The year of the Phred

One of my riding friends, whose name shall remain anonymous, has seen some of my goals for next year and declared them Phreadly (sic). Since some of these goals involve Cat 6 Strava racing, he's absolutely right.  So with that, I declare 2013 the year of the Phred.  In recent history, cycling has seen the glorification of the bike messenger, which led to rise and fall of hipsters pathetically emulating messenger style by purchasing fixies and riding around on them in their skinny jeans and parking them in front of coffee shops.   Then there is the tweed ride crowd.  Those who dress up in late 19th century or early 20th century knickers and caps. And of course, the ever present 'serious roadie' and their preening, primping, and look down they give to us Phreds.  Well, they're all out in 2013.  In is the dork.  The guy with discount jerseys, the wrong socks, the glasses on the inside of the helmet straps.  The guy with the chain ring smudge on his unshaven calf.

Let's hear it for the Phreds!

An evening with the BTA

Had a nice evening last Monday hanging out with the BTA (Bicycle Transportation Alliance) folks at the Velocult bike shop in Portland. Velocult is a neat little place.  I'm pretty sure everyone has had this idea of combining a coffee shop with another business, or a bar and another business.  In college, I always thought it would be a great idea to combine a bar/coffee shop with a laundromat.  It would kill I'm sure.  Of course, the coffee shop in a book store is well worn territory.  Well, bike shops are not immune to this idea.  At Velocult, vintage bikes from the owner's collection line the walls.  There is a Murphy bed like stage that folds down for live music.  There's a bar with a good selection of local brews.  The bike mechanic does double duty as bar tender. The centerpiece is a large oak table in the middle of the store for hanging out.

We were there to brainstorm ideas about how to increase interest in bicycle commuting outside of the BTA's premier month long bike commute challenge in September.   There was a great group of folks representing all ages and types of bike commuter, except perhaps a hipster representative.  It may simply be that hipsters have quietly been reabsorbed into society.  But...everyone else was there.  For instance, I had a great conversation with an older lady who, at first glance seemed like the typical commuting geek you might see overdressed in excessive rain gear riding a commuting specific bike.  We ended up having a great conversation about tire width, the evolution of steal bike frames, and more.  I also shared my idea for clay-mation videos depicting common bike commuting scenarios.  Anybody know a creative type who could help me put those together?