Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Roller Sprints

The boys over at Keirin Cycles have their roller sprint setup fixed and ready to go. Two riders mount up and race against the clock. The computer records whose faster. A great way to test your sprint against an opponent. If your up Miami Beach way check them out.

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

New Fixed Gear Book

Well it's taken a while to get the kinks out of the system, but it seems to be working now. I wrote an E-Book on Fixed Gears. I tried to cover everything that related to fixed gears. There's a lot of new riders out there looking for general information: How to get a Bike, set it up, How to Ride, Alley Cats, Bike Polo etc...
it's all in there. I've included pictures and plenty of resources and links.
If you want to get into fixed gear riding here's a good place to start.

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Macaframa

Yes The Macafarma movie Screening at Keirin has been canceled till further notice. The guys at Keirin appologize it was beyond their control, but they said riders are still welcome to come by and hang out.

Friday, May 8, 2009

Macaframa

The guys at Keirin Cycles are going to have a private screening for the Fixed Gear movie Macaframa on Thursday May 14th 8pm. Then after they're going to race to Shiso Sushi. Try and make it. There location is on South Beach at 235A 9th street or call them at (305)531-6684. Try and support these guys in that they are the only dedicated Fixed Gear Shop in Miami!

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Is There Hope Out There?

I'll tell you I do think the Critical Mass and Bike Days is helping change the public's view on cycling. I definitely am seeing more friendly drivers then in months past. Don't get me wrong we still have the occasional Asshole, but there seems to be less of them. Let's hope the trend continues!
A few things I try to always do 1) is always wave thank you when someone yields or doesn't cut me off. It's hard to be mad at someone that smiles and waves, plus it makes them feel good like they did their good deed for the day.
2) I try not to flip people off, although not always possible! Flipping someone off or yelling at them just pisses them off more. Now next time they see a cyclist they're more liable to be more aggresive and take out some poor cyclist who had nothing to do with the first altercation. Most of these drivers don't cut you off on purpose, they're just Stupid and don't think before they do things. Once you realize this it's a little easier to be more forgiving! Remember your always more vulnerable on a bike! You may catch up to a driver and beat his ass or mess up his car, but remember he's going to be right back in that car tomorrow and he may come up on you again and remember you!
3) If you can... entertain them at the lights, Track stand. Lots of motorist have never seen that, so they enjoy watching you. Plus it gets them more bike aware. I've had more people wave or yell out positive encouragements when I've done track stands. Try it!
Remember whatever positive actions you take on a bike helps all of us, likewise any negative actions you take can effect all of us!

Can't we all just get along

Damn nothing like friendly traffic. Nothing feels better then when a kind motorist lets you go by. This morning at the traffic light I'm doing a track stand waiting for the light to change. I think I was the morning entertainment. The light changes and I want to go left which usually means waiting for the other side to go by before I can go. This morning however the first car honks and graciously signals for me to go first. First thought... is it a trap? I decide to go waiting to be run down like a dog, but nothing happens! Driver smiles I smile and wave and continue on. Am I still in Miami or did I wake up somewhere else? Maybe there is hope yet!

Monday, May 4, 2009

Why Miami Traffic Sucks

Well if you hadn't heard Florida won the prestigious Title of most bicycle fatalities. Something to be really proud of! The main problem, too many immigrant drivers with poor driving habits and no traffic enforcement. Unfortunately it is way to easy for these drivers to get a license in Florida and especially Miami. There is also corruption within the drivers license testing offices. Money is passed and if you know the right person you can magically pass the test. So now we have all these drivers with little or no proper driving experience all over our roads and on top of that we give them cell phones. Think that may be a problem? Of course!
Now to fix this problem you need an aggresive police force handing out tickets. People get enough tickets they start to understand right from wrong. Unfortunately the local cops only enforce speeding and parking tickets. Wonder why? Because it takes very little work to stockpile impressive numbers that make you look like your busting your ass thus freeing you up for the rest of the day. Now if we enforced running lights, stop signs, illegal turns, stupid cell phone driving and failure to yield right of way we might get somewhere! Plus look how much money it would raise for the State!
Make the laws tough! Throw a beer bottle out of your car $500 and two days public service cleaning glass off the streets. I guarantee you get caught once and you'd never do it again!