tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-86576238218468749292008-07-04T23:33:27.569-05:00HCEnoreply@blogger.comBlogger963125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8657623821846874929.post-61133894508643080292008-07-02T16:52:00.003-05:002008-07-02T16:54:31.281-05:00

Hi there! Happy holiday to you! I'll be sniffing out the world-class singletrack up in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan for the next few days. (Say "Yah!" to da Yu Pee, eh!) Copper Harbor, to be exact. Hopefully I survive to tell the story and share some photos. Have a safe and happy holiday, all you loyal PFN readers!

Pinchiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13903230276310230126noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8657623821846874929.post-11173875828582203282008-07-02T16:04:00.000-05:002008-07-02T17:20:27.276-05:00

Also, I almost forgot: Please listen to this past week's podcast of This American Life. (It's frustrating that I can do nothing more than send you that way.) But listen. Do! After the saga about two homeless dudes and their efforts to break into the slam poetry scene (not bad), there's a touching and sweet story from Dave Dickerson about getting his first bike, and royally fucking it up. I

Pinchiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13903230276310230126noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8657623821846874929.post-12211816541324931712008-07-02T14:41:00.012-05:002008-07-02T16:25:14.253-05:00

Even the editors of Scientific American, God bless 'em, are getting into the spirit of things this week. Unfortunately this particular article isn't up to the SciAm's usual standards of insight. (Seriously, I'm not a hater, I'm a huge fan. "60-second Science"? I'm there! Steve "Totally Bogus" Mirsky? Awesome!) I mean really. Trying to claim that technology plays a significant competitive

Pinchiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13903230276310230126noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8657623821846874929.post-65606421257728173622008-07-02T08:22:00.004-05:002008-07-02T12:11:17.597-05:00

Here's some new footage from last week's Prazske Schody in Prague, a dicey urban mountain bike crit you just don't see the likes of here in the US. I predict we'll see a few of these develop as outlaw races in great freeriding towns like San Francisco, Duluth, and Seattle. I want to say the original organizers of cyclocross had this sort of urban race in mind, long before the bikes could

Pinchiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13903230276310230126noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8657623821846874929.post-51049397143396209892008-07-02T07:23:00.005-05:002008-07-02T07:50:43.874-05:00

One might think that Los Angeles or Houston are the worst places on the planet to ride a bike. But apparently Atlanta and many northern counties in Georgia can make that claim. An article today in the Gainesvilled Times says that even though gas prices have gone all... well... that bike sales are actually flat. (Motorcycle and scooter sales are up, though.) While the article spoke

Pinchiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13903230276310230126noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8657623821846874929.post-54820507576055900842008-07-01T10:33:00.004-05:002008-07-01T10:50:29.403-05:00

So I was casting some aspersions on Dallas yesterday, and today I hear that a Dallas cyclist is being investigated for a "road rage incident." The situation is one we all find ourselves in almost every day: A negligent cager on a cell phone fails to give adequate buffer to a group of cyclists riding legally on the roadway. In this case, Dallas cyclist caught up to the driver and rifled his water

Pinchiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13903230276310230126noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8657623821846874929.post-90908734807233592802008-07-01T08:02:00.004-05:002008-07-01T08:16:53.289-05:00

Early Sunday morning, a 14-year-old girl was mauled by a Grizzly bear. She was in a Canadian 24-hour Mountain Bike race. More astonishing than the attack was that the girl was able to make a cell phone call that probably saved her life. Though she only got the word "bear" out before the line was cut, emergency workers called the phone back, and another racer heard the ringtone and found her.

Pinchiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13903230276310230126noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8657623821846874929.post-43693865446290829972008-06-30T11:05:00.006-05:002008-06-30T11:23:26.623-05:00

Speaking of football -- er, soccer-- folks watching yesterday's EuroCup final might have noticed that Spain's Fernando Torres normally plays for Liverpool, and he beat goaltender Jens Lehmann, the German goalkeep for Arsenal. Both Liverpool and Arsenal, along with Manchester United, have the distinction of being the flagship cycles built by footballbikes.com. (Count on it: American dyncrappy

Pinchiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13903230276310230126noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8657623821846874929.post-59771326329467344372008-06-30T09:41:00.008-05:002008-06-30T10:28:46.584-05:00

So, I don't watch much TV, and I'm told it's because I might be too young. The one exception to my non-TV watching is fast approaching, and that of course is reruns of House the Tour De France. In fact, I went through the trouble of getting digital cable about ten years ago, when OLN was available thataway, and when the network had live coverage of all three grand tours, along with most of the

Pinchiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13903230276310230126noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8657623821846874929.post-1536055380474115822008-06-27T16:33:00.006-05:002008-06-27T16:40:38.700-05:00

This little Finnish dude can sure ride one wheel beautifully. It's enough to make you wonder: Ever thought of taking up the unicycle, little dude? Also this: You are perpetuating a terrible stereotype by using such crappy metal for your soundtrack, little dude. Just saying. An unsolicited tip: Try the Hellacopters, or the Hellbillies. Heck, Maria Kalaniemi would work, if you want something a

Pinchiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13903230276310230126noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8657623821846874929.post-53625451204880551532008-06-27T11:13:00.006-05:002008-07-01T10:51:32.485-05:00

Here's another sweet video in the developing cute-girl-riding-a-basket-bike genre. This one features the Latina singer Andrea Echeverri, and she has a pair of killer arm warmers that are worthy of Mario Cipollini. Memo to Michael Ball: the next time you switch up the Rock Racing kit, two words-- Sleeveless turtlenecks.

Pinchiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13903230276310230126noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8657623821846874929.post-17089160931101889852008-06-27T10:56:00.006-05:002008-06-27T11:09:58.520-05:00

Pleased to announce: The top three ambiguous tandem videos of all time, as determined by unanimous decision of the Pinch Flat News editorial board.

Pinchiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13903230276310230126noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8657623821846874929.post-81062224249161839452008-06-27T10:32:00.006-05:002008-06-27T10:43:35.521-05:00

Out in Alameda, the city council is trying to pass an amendment that would make it illegal to ride bikes or skateboards in city parks, school yards, parking lots and public structures like parking ramps. The original reasoning for changing the ordinance was to address an ongoing problem with skateboarders using the steep interior ramps of the new six-story parking garage as a recreation area.

Pinchiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13903230276310230126noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8657623821846874929.post-13426806794789995472008-06-26T14:39:00.009-05:002008-06-26T14:55:40.481-05:00

Seen in the afternoon papers... Which begs the question: Works for what? To keep cardboard out of the recycling streamTo sell more refrigerators and dishwashers To keep kids busy on harmless art projectsTo give British journalists something to write about on a slow dayTo sustain the delusion that the bicycle needs to be redesigned with dumber and dumber materials and designsTo distract us

Pinchiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13903230276310230126noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8657623821846874929.post-18281387467752524252008-06-26T14:16:00.008-05:002008-06-26T14:35:20.186-05:00

Dorel, the Canadian company that bought Cannondale last year and already owns Pacific Cycle, is really shoring up its position as the Dynacrap of the North. Today, the company announced the purchase of PTI Sports, yet another purveyor of crap bikes at big box department stores. In a news story that just crossed my desk, I read the following: Established in 1991, PTI Sports products are sold in

Pinchiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13903230276310230126noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8657623821846874929.post-18059687663842867232008-06-26T12:47:00.001-05:002008-06-26T14:12:36.774-05:00

Live, of course!

Snakebitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16879428992616238833noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8657623821846874929.post-26546529656586221442008-06-26T10:02:00.010-05:002008-06-26T15:28:33.637-05:00

From the profane to the sacred. Here's a sweet video sent our way this morning that's a nice counterbalance to broken face boy. Readers may remember that whole DKNY debacle earlier this year during fashion week in NYC. (DKNY painted a bunch of clunker bikes orange and locked them up all over the city like some completely misguided commercial appropriation of the Ghost Bike deal.) While we're

Pinchiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13903230276310230126noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8657623821846874929.post-72364314562923423142008-06-26T09:47:00.005-05:002008-06-26T09:58:05.513-05:00

Here's a golden oldie that we talk about all the time, which somehow resurfaced this morning in my inbox. Brutal, to be sure -- but it's truly astonishing that this kid stays conscious, much less lucent enough to pronounce the immortal words that are celebrated and repeated, like the Nicene Creed of my bike club: Huck! Holy hucking shit!

Pinchiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13903230276310230126noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8657623821846874929.post-18623321836094997772008-06-25T12:51:00.005-05:002008-06-25T13:03:43.424-05:00

Up in Toronto, authorities have wrapped up their week-long "bike blitz," a dragnet operation that resulted in 7,000 tickets being issued to car drivers and cyclists. It was an attempt to shore up the rules and slap a few wrists -- from nailing outlaw cyclists that run red lights and menace the sidewalks, to cars drivers who blithely park in bike lanes. I'm glad that justice was, in this case,

Pinchiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13903230276310230126noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8657623821846874929.post-14814805756363608672008-06-25T08:22:00.005-05:002008-06-25T08:35:02.209-05:00

Later this week over in St. Cloud, Minnesota, cyclists are attempting to put together the "world's largest bicycle parade," and to have it certified by everyone's favorite English brewer in Ireland, Guinness. The ride is dedicated to the purpose of raising awareness about childhood obesity. But get this: The standing world record for the biggest bike parade is just 2,150 bicycles, a record

Pinchiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13903230276310230126noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8657623821846874929.post-81438022169271582382008-06-24T09:21:00.007-05:002008-06-24T09:53:56.214-05:00

During the NVGP, I had many opportunities to speak with Kristin Armstrong -- the odds-on favorite for gold in the Olympics time trial, and with a fair shot at medaling in the road race too. She was pretty tapped after the Grand Prix for two reasons: First, she stomped the field in just about every stage of the race; and second, she did it without a team. It was a remarkable display of pure

Pinchiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13903230276310230126noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8657623821846874929.post-31866679622143941822008-06-23T08:17:00.010-05:002008-06-23T08:59:32.182-05:00

Or rather, who is Lance riding this week. That's the question the New York Times wants you to care about. But there are much more interesting questions to ask, in my humble view. Will Lance's supposed dalliances with the fairer sex negatively impact his charitable work around cancer research and survivorship? Will he ever find the perfect clone of his almost perfect first wife? God knows he's

Pinchiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13903230276310230126noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8657623821846874929.post-45869021933148173642008-06-20T13:34:00.003-05:002008-06-20T13:37:52.374-05:00

Poor Frank Schleck took a nasty tumble in the Tour of Switzerland this week. Thankfully, the Spanish broadcast team did not lose its poo the way the Dutch broadcast team did.

Pinchiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13903230276310230126noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8657623821846874929.post-14344562318877657472008-06-20T09:25:00.007-05:002008-06-20T09:50:26.329-05:00

Sound In Motion has created a new bluetooth device that can turn your cellphone into a cyclometer. Here's the idea: A wheel sensor that is allegedly 360 times more accurate than typical sensors (and 2000 times more accurate than GPS) attaches to your bike and networks with your bluetooth-enabled celly or blackberry, thus turning that dead weight in your pocket into a useful device measuring

Pinchiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13903230276310230126noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8657623821846874929.post-14200550532347514762008-06-19T10:41:00.006-05:002008-06-20T09:38:54.239-05:00

We mentioned a few months ago that Didi Senft -- the German dude who dresses up like the Devil for every major European tour -- had built a gigantic bicycle shaped like an electric guitar. Here's moving pictures of Didi rolling. (Sweet Adidas Minretts, too, Didi!) I can't think Didi will have much trouble with his application to be recognized as the "world's largest mobile guitar." I just

Pinchiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13903230276310230126noreply@blogger.com