Happy Bike-To-Work Day!

Yesss!  Bikes are cool.  Even parrots think so.

This would be weird to see.

The city’s Bike to Work Day celebration happened today.  I imagine it was great.  Apparently I was burning the candle at both ends a little too long last night, and slept through my alarm.  But! I haven’t been to work yet, so I can still participate in my own little way, when the time for the commute arrives.  I will pay a two-wheeled homage to this day of days.  I will also pay an online photographic homage with pictures of nations, biking, work, and daytime.

Brazil!

China!

Ghana!

India!

People are biking everywhere, and that is totally awesome.

Oh!  Also, one of my favorite artists, Shepard Fairey, has done the graphics for the latest custom Madone for Lance Armstrong.  SO COOL!  I was in high school when he began disseminating his prints and stickers.  I don’t remember how I got my first Andre the Giant has a Posse sticker – I think it was through a friend of a friend of a friend or a friend of a friend of my mom’s – but they’re still plastered all over our kitchen at home.  My mom was really into it.  Our limited awareness of Andre the Giant was his role in The Princess Bride. That film, Spaceballs, and The Cutting Edge were probably most responsible for who I am today.  (Note: I only occassionally blog and work in a bike store.  Most of the time I’m the protege of a pirate sailing the high seas, harnessing the Schwartz, or becoming a champion pairs figure skater after my amateur hockey career took a turn for the worse with a lasting eye injury.)

The Dread Pirate Roberts is here for your soul!

The Madone looks awesome.  But I’ll look forward to when other street artists like Victor Ash and Banksy start making cool, pretty bike art.  Hooray!

The Allegheny Trail trip takes off tomorrow.  I’ll be demo-ing some cool products, adventuring, flyfishing, and letting you in on all the juicy tidbits as the journey gets going.  Oh!  Also, I’ve been practising what little I know of herbalism.  If I figure out any great herbal and/or homeopathic way to keep mosquitos away, cure fatigued muscles, combat sun exposure, or make gold out of lead, I’ll let you know.

While I’m gone, you should all be biking a lot.  There are some cool things happening.

(1) The National Ride of Silence is on May 20th.  You can find some pretty frightening statistics out there about bicycling injuries, deaths, and accidents in the U.S. and around the world.  As a cyclist, you are often treated as a second-class vehicle while on the roads.  While it could be an opportunity to examine power dynamics and privilege critically, most often it just gets everyone angry.  As Yoda says, “Fear is the path to the Dark Side.  Fear leads to anger.  Anger leads to hate.  Hate leads to suffering.”  So, in this era of road rage, stress, anxiety, and the other forces of the Sith, it behooves us all to honor those who have been injured or killed while bicycling, and take a moment to check ourselves when we drive or interact with drivers.  We can do better!  Organize a local Ride of Silence, join the folks at Bike Ypsi, or just light a candle in your window for an evening.

(2) Also related to Bike Ypsi is the Heavy Metal Tour after Ypsi Pride.  It sounds like it’ll be kind of like Cranksgiving, but with a trash-picking-up agenda rather than a food-distribution agenda.  Equally cool, because cleaning up your community is great.  And that is what Ypsi Pride is about.  Pedal-powered street sweeping sounds totally rad.  So check out this alley cat ride and tell me all about it!

If it's a success, the next alleycat will be in patent leather negligee atop a pterodactyl.

That’s what I’ve got thus far.  My next report will be from Pittsburgh, PA.  Until then, stay safe and enjoy the weather!  Boochabla!

Sam!

Empowering Womyn, One Tube at a Time!

Two Wheel Tango, uniquely positioned in the bike community with a healthy amount of women staffers, is ALL ABOUT encouraging women to get involved with cycling (at all levels) and is actively promoting self-sufficiency-on-the-road with totally free women’s-only tube changing clinics!

Fellow female cyclists: I'm ready for you!

I am happy to say that through the last year, dozens of women have mastered tire/tube changing at our sweet clinic. I too have learned a lot about the teaching process (a dry-erase board is key!) and have broken the clinic into “information chunks” so that you have a chance to practice each step while it’s fresh in the brain.

The atmosphere? Relaxed, question-friendly, and sometimes funny. (Especially if I blow up a tube on accident! Hey, nobody’s perfect.) And if you don’t get it the first time, you’re welcome to come back again for a re-cap. It doesn’t matter if you have a 15 year old road bike or a brand-new comfort bike, or if you got your bike here or elsewhere.

What we cover:

• How to remove your rear wheel (that chain can be a bugger!)
• How to remove and install a tube like a pro
• Troubleshooting (how did I get a flat in the first place?)
• Getting it all back together
• How to prevent flat tires (as best you can)

Check out this page at our website if you want to sign up!  It’s great, and we’d love to see all your smiling faces this summer!

-Jess

Be Still, My Heart!

YESSS! FORTY-FOUR VIEWS YESTERDAY!

Okay, so we should shoot for fifty now.

Anyway, that is very exciting! You all rock. This quirky weird blog now belongs at Two Wheel Tango.

That was then. Now I feel like James Franco! Or maybe Jared Leto in "My So-Called Life." Depends on the day.

Also, the Two Wheel Tango spring newsletter has been released! I think that’s how we racked up so many visits. But, for those of you who haven’t gotten to it yet, check it out. All sorts of cool news-y bits, product features, gee-gaws, and things to titillate the mind.

Okay. So, I don’t have the link to the newsletter yet. Patience…

What other big news?

BIKE FEST TOMORROW! It’ll be great, because Bike Ypsi is great. And it’s free. So come out, do some riding, some festing, and…

WAIT!  It is now too late.  I got distracted by that whole “working” thing and couldn’t finish this post early enough yesterday.  DRAT!

But for those who did it, thoughts?  I think it went swimmingly!  We all arranged ourselves at Congress Park on the West side of Ypsilanti for the start, with t-shirts and cue sheets and all kinds of bikes and riders.  The Bike Ypsi volunteers were facilitating the whole thing, from the tabling of local organizations and bike stores to the food and drink and picture-taking at the end.  So big props to them!  W00t w00t!

Anyway, there were a couple different ride lengths to choose from.  Sarah — our favorite returning rider (two coffee shop rides in a row – WTG, SARAH!) — suggested that we do the longer, 33-mile jaunt up to Plymouth and back.  She sprinted off ahead while I chatted  up a future Bike & Build rider and got all nostalgic.  Along the way there was a pit stop for some apple cider at some random Farmer’s Market.  OH MAN IT WAS SO DELICIOUS.  Then there were piccies taken and BBQ eaten and bike polo demos and all sorts of rambunctious behavior.  In short, AWESOME.  LOVE BIKE YPSI.

**Pictures to come soon!**

That was going to be the bulk of the post.  Pictures.  And things about the last coffee shop ride, which was wicked great.  And more pictures.

OH!  I also need to blog about my oath, which I’ve broken more than I’d like to say.  Maybe it’ll be a June oath.  Anyway, I want to spend a whole month riding a hybrid.  Riding Poto, doing a crit, hauling lumber, sewing seeds, and maybe even blending drinks!  While we’re at it, let’s paint and exercise with host John Kilduff.

Embrace failure!

And I want to blog about it.  And photo-document the epic journey.  The hope was to ride the Allegheny Trail from Pittsburgh to Washington, D.C. on a Globe.  I don’t know if that dream will be realized this spring.  But that’s okay!  Whatever happens happens.

Speaking of rails, check out this crazy thing:

Jerry showed me that yesterday.  On a scale of 1-AWESOME, that is super great.  Anyone want to build one?

Let's do it! Who can weld?

Okay, I’ll get pictures up soon.  It’ll be great.

Oh, also, COME TO CINCO DE MAYO!  Cry as the non-vegans of the world eat their tacos and laugh at me.  But, seriously, there will be a lot of cool stuff going on.  Come by closer to midnight to see the wear and tear of a thirteen-hour shift on our faces!  Hahaha.  We’ll see you then!

Sam!

Two Wheel Farms Update

We have recently begun work on Two Wheel Farms on the grounds of our Jackson store.

Our supply of compost for the season.

This is incredibly exciting for me personally, as well as for many of the staff.  I have been gardening for years on a small scale and leapt at the chance to farm a larger swath of land.  My mother grew up on a farm in Bowling Green, Ohio.  Even off the farm, she was able to maintain herself over an acre of kitchen garden that went into our dinners every spring, summer and fall.  She passed the skills and knowledge from her family on to me, and now I am hoping to pass them on again to my children.

We are very excited with all the prospective crops that have already been sown.  We have started one bed already with an assortment of lettuces, as well as radishes and peas.  I’ve been tending tomato starts in my home since March, and they will be ready for transplanting as soon as the rest of the beds are prepared.  (I’m thrilled with the number of tomato plants we will be able to tend on the slopes of the Jackson store.  Tomatoes happen to be one of my favorite crops, and there is nothing like a hand-picked fresh tomato.)  One of the staff has begun his herb starts, as well as zucchini, cucumber, summer squash, melons, and potatoes.  Soon enough we will begin planting my first-ever corn crop.

Look for this locally and independently grown produce at the events and functions that we hold later this summer.  We will be happy to regale you with stories about our gardening endeavors.

Keep on biking,

Dennis

SyCip Bikes are SO GREAT.

This blog is apparently cool, niche-y stuff central.  Not Nietzsche.  We’ll save that for another day.

So Leslie wrote about her bike coming with Di2 components.  Giggity gig!  That is so awesome!  Maybe you’ve heard of it.  Those Dura Ace shifters are about as elusive as the Yeti, Santa Claus, and the scarf that I took off one time at the Circus Bar and was gone when I returned.  Except I wouldn’t take off the Di2 shifters in a bar, hang them up, and just hang out with them.  …In a bar.  That would be really weird.  But, in all seriousness, the Yeti even made it into a Tintin book.  If I own that Tintin, and the Yeti is as elusive as the new Dura Ace shebang, isn’t there some equation that proves I have some pending packages on the way from Shimano?  The transitive property of shwag?

I should get some cool Shimano stuff for knowing this.

Maybe we can talk Nietzsche and see if we can rework worldly morality to include a clause about Neat Things.  Maybe as a reward for the completion of the journey to self-mastery?  I bet the good deeds and the overcoming of the self of all of the TWT staff could get us into Shimano’s good graces.

"The doer alone learneth!"

Question: If you have Di2 stuff, and you’re only going across town, but your S-Works Tarmac is the only bike you’ve got and you really need to hurry, would you take off the battery pack like you do a light set?  It would be kind of a “get bent” to whoever inevitably stole your bike.  But at that point you probably can’t complain.

*NOTE: THERE IS NO ADVOCACY FOR BIKE THEFT HERE.  EVEN A REALLY COOL ONE WITH ELECTRONIC DURA ACE THAT WOULD BLOW YOUR MIND.  EVEN LESLIE’S.  WRONGWRONGWRONG.

Speaking of theft, if you don’t have a lock, I would STRONGLY recommend looking into it.  Theft is none too common, especially ITTET.  In fact, this month saw the publication of a list of the most vulnerable bike parking spots in Taipei.  And a perusal of the local craigslist bicycles classifieds reveals a wealth of theft reports.  So, let’s keep the bikes with their rightful owners and keep it all locked up!

What was I talking about?

Yes, SyCip!

What is SyCip?

Well, I’ll tell you.

First, it’s pronounced SEE-sip.  With that out of the way, we can get into some details.  Two brothers – Jeremy and Jerome – began building and selling custom, handmade bicycles under the SyCip business name in 1993.  Since then, they’ve become one of the leading names in the handmade bike world, up with Sacha White and Richard Sachs.  Most recently, they’ve gotten a lot of coverage for their wicked commuter bikes, which are really works of art.

The beer tap shifters are not standard.

So, in a nutshell, these are awesome, award-winning, handmade-in-the-USA masterpieces.

And, now, Two Wheel Tango can set you up with one!  WHOO!

All it takes is a fit with one of our trained fitters and a quick form filled out by yours truly.  Twelve weeks later, you’ll get your bike with all its bells and whistles!

Even YOU can be aero on a cruiser bike. But not all cruiser bikes have Campy on them.

Pretty cool, eh?  We’ll post pictures of some of the staff SyCips when the weather’s a little nicer.

So that’s the big news.  Also, on a little side note, Comet Coffee has had bikes in front of it every time I’ve visited.  I like to think that’s because of me.  HAHA!  Probably not.  But keep it coming, folks!

Hi, everyone! Heather's mom, in particular.

Also, our new staffer Heather’s mom reads this.  Hi, Heather’s mom!

Ride safe and stay dry this weekend.

Sam

My new bike is on the way!

I have never been terribly picky about my bikes. In the past, I have ridden the cast offs…damaged frames, hand-me-down parts or just whatever was lying around the shop. When my bike arrives next week, I will momentarily have the coolest bike. My new bike is coming with Shimano Di2, the new electronic component group. It’s gonna be fancy! It will be coming on a 54cm Specialized S-Works Roubaix. If one of the staff aren’t riding it, you are welcome to come take a spin.

Coffee Shop Ride Results!

Okay, so it’s been a while again.

Sorry!

But, to be fair, it’s been really busy.  REALLY busy.  Because it’s spring!  And everyone loves spring.  Everyone.  Even though that means that it’s forest fire season in New Mexico.

Bambi might not be so excited.

Speaking of forest fires, it is now Prescribed Burn Season in Michigan.  Well, it’s a little early.  The big burn season is coming up soon.  Just like the Spring Classics season of cycling.  Actually, they probably start around the same time.  Maybe Tom Boonen wins Paris-Roubaix because a team of naturalists wearing heat-proof suits are scorched-earth-ing the Carrefour de l’Arbre behind him.

Anyway, that’s great.  Fires!  Yay.

Also, what’s great is coffee.  I thought of some trivia about coffee.  Did you know:

• …that “coffee” was the first entry ever for Stuff White People Like?
• …that it takes approximately 140L of water to grow the beans for one steaming cuppa?
• …that the Starbucks siren logo was originally topless?
• …that Kona coffee is the only U.S. grown and processed coffee available?
• …that all this information came from Wikipedia and is therefore incontrovertible?

Also, next time you find yourself dancing strangely, you can blame it on the coffee buzz, like Kaldi and his goats.

Wicked coffee-bean-fueled electro-rave with a herd of goats? Yes, please.

Enough with the coffee trivia – on to the vegan meat-substitute of this blog post:  We had our first coffee shop ride on Saturday.  It was great!  (More of you should come next time… Espresso on Dennis!)  We met up at the Packard store parking lot at 9:00am, cameras and helmets and panniers at the ready, for a slow and steady jaunt into downtown toward Comet Coffee.  We staffers were joined by two bright, new faces, Sarah and Keaton.  It was a sunny morning that warmed right up into a brilliantly toasty afternoon.  And the coffee hit the spot.

Seriously: CHECK OUT COMET COFFEE.  I think it’ll be the regular stop, if only for the heart-shaped foam in Jess’ macchiato.

...And they're off!

Up along Huron Parkway.

ZZZOOOM ACTION SHOT!

True enjoyment.

Lovelovelovelove.

That's where the magic happens.

Brewing some fresh java for some other patrons.

It’s a wonderful thing.

May 2, 2009 @ 9:00 a.m.  Be there or be woefully undercaffeinated.  And have NO dance party with your goats.

There will be more posts.  Promise.  With the Two Wheel Tango Cinco de Mayo Sale coming up, there’s bound to be cool stuff to talk about.  And other reasons for you to come in and see our bright, smiling faces.  And for us to see your bright, smiling faces.  Both.  Maybe the brightness of our smiling faces combined could create sun-like fusion better than the large hadron collider.  At least maybe with less of a risk of earthly annihilation.

If the end of the world looks like Tron, I'll be fine with it. As long as Jeff Bridges is there somewhere.

Speaking of colliders, you ought join me in my appeal for Pizza Bob’s on State Street to name a collider after the LHC.  Seriously.  I bet it would be delicious.

BYE!

Sam.

Bicycle Benefits and the Bike Ypsi Fest

I NEED YOUR HELP!

For a number of things.  I bet some of you are optometrists.  I need an eye exam.  And I bet some of you are gardeners.  I need to figure out a good compost-topsoil ratio for my pepper plants.  I also need a tennis partner.

With our pixelated powers combined, we could go all the way, Proverbial Partner and I!

This is nothing to do with those things, though.  (But, really, that eye exam is a must.)

Last year, I visited Madison, WI a couple times.  The first time was for Trek World, a big dealer expo for people that work with Trek.  It was great!  They gave out free tattoos at the end.  Really.  Kind of weird, but cool.  Anywho, I met this guy named Ian.  He wasn’t officially invited to the expo, but he was in the process of biking all over the U.S. from city to city helping people find reasons to love their bikes and their riding.  So we talked about our respective trans-Atlantic rides (mine through Bike and Build) and bid farewell.

I later visited Madison to check out graduate school.  I stayed at a co-op called Lothlorien House.  And I ran into Ian again.  AND I FOUND OUT ABOUT HIS AWESOME PROJECT AND I LOVE IT.

He started a project called Bicycle Benefits.  (The website is down.  Are you still around, Bicycle Benefits?  If so, answer my plea…)  His idea was to encourage bicyclists, bike stores, and local businesses and places of gathering to get together and help each other out.  Check out more about his success in Buffalo, NY from this source!

This could be visible on YOUR front door!

I will take it upon myself to get in touch with Ian and get this program started in Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti, and Metro Detroit in general.  I have huge huge HUGE hope for local businesses everywhere, and people’s health everywhere, and I think both could benefit (yuk yuk) from this collective effort.

Now, a solicitation for help: If there’s anyone else out there who wants to get in on this, send me an e-mail (samt@twowheeltango.com)!  Whether you’re from another bike store, a local bar, an art gallery, the public library, or an active community member, you can get involved!  I would love it SO much.  I’ll even bake cookies for you.  Vegan cookies.  Gluten-free if need be.

You won't even taste the garbanzo bean flour.

Okay, I’m done with my plea.

But, coming up on May 3 is the Bike Ypsi Spring Ride & Festival 2009!  It’ll be great!  Because Ypsi is great!  And so is Bike Ypsi!  And so are riding and festivals and the year 2009!  So, yeah, everyone should go.  10:00 a.m. ride and 12:00 p.m. festival.  Helmets recommended.  Enthusiasm required!

Did I already mention that?  I may have.  I can’t be sure.  I just want everyone to do it.  That and the Gears for Beers Ride for the ALS Association!  It’ll also be great.  What could be better than fundraising, bikes, and tasty brew all at once?  Probably not getting Siegfried and Roy’s autographs while standing by a statue of Siegfried and Roy and a tiger.

Thrity-foot busts of my homeboys? Yes, please!

I expect a flood of e-mails of support.  Don’t let me down, y’all.

Sam!

MTB Ride Idea, Warning, and Review!

Look outside!  Is it grey?  Is it cold?  Is it April?

Yep!

Michigan will forever tease us with hints of good, sunny, warm weather before thunderstorms and snow flurries and frosts kill off whatever young starts we had naively attempted to plant in late-March and whatever ambitions we had to shake off the cobwebs on the road or trails.

Still there.

But many here are still excited about April.  The showers (and frosts and flurries) bring May flowers, as told in days of yore.  They also typically bring changing hours for the bike shops nationwide, to accomodate the increasing traffic of customers new and old.  However, we regret that this year Two Wheel Tango WILL NOT be changing our hours for the Spring.

Repeat: NO NEW HOURS FOR SPRING!  Which really just means that we won’t be opening at 10 a.m. during the week, like we have been in Springs and Summers past.  But 11 a.m. is early enough for all of you, right?  If you’re peeved about it, call and let us know!  We’re here for you, after all.

Okay, so that’s some news.  Meanwhile, at the official Two Wheel Tango webpage, we have posted another ride option for all you mountain bikers out there.  It’s one of Jerry’s favorites, called the ‘Super Poto’, named lovingly for:

• how super hard it is, and
• the trail that it encompasses, Poto or Potawatomi.

Jerry also has provided us with a review of a new MTB product, the Chunky grips by Extreme Steering, Inc.

Chunky AND pink. Like salmon. Maybe.

They’re totally cool.  These grips not only feel great to the touch (both gloved and naked [not fully, just your palm parts]), but mold convincingly to your hand as you tighten down on the silicone.  In a way, they’re like memory foam.  But, more accurately, they shape better than the rubber used in other grips, such that they accomodate however your grip may change as you move around.  Or, if you suddenly gain seven bones in your palm, they will adjust to your new hand shape!  Totally cool!  Mutations welcome!

Here are the words straight from Jerry:

• “Road tested on two laps of Poto.
• Initial feel very different from traditional MTB grips–soft and malleable progressing to firmness with tighter grip.
• Quickly molds to configuration of grip resulting in enhanced comfort [and] control due to hand position retention in rough terrain without requiring ‘death grip’.
• Effective in reducing strike-thru [sic] shock to wrists and elbows in heavy going–definitely a contributor to reduced joint fatigue on longer trail rides.
• ‘They just feel darn good’–small things can play a big part in FTR (Fun to Ride) Factor.”

The FTR Factor is in Jerry’s head.  But soon it will be a quantifiable rating system.  Like it?  It will appeal to your inner engineer.  The grips get somewhere between six TWT roses, four and a half stars, and the two of Ebert and Roepers’ thumbs up.

These grips are somewhere in the nebulous middle.

Now that you are completely perplexed by this graphic, I will offer up a warning, sponsored by the Michigan Mountain Biking Assc.  Don’t be the pooper that makes the trails all nasty by riding too early.  We had a couple great, dry, perfect days.  And I know a lot of us rode a couple times, taking utmost care to avoid the muddy spots.  But, now that it’s going to be raining non-stop until May, let’s all be friends and not destroy the paths more than necessary.

Cool.  No more prosletyzing.  On a happy note, how did the following situation occur?

The irony is palpable.

Betcha it wasn’t candid.

Ride safely!

Sam.

Apologies!

Hello!

There are sorries and apologies in order.  With the Spring season ramping up, this little corner of cyberspace has fallen into neglect.

NO MORE!

The new leaf has been turned over, and we bloggers at Two Wheel Tango are back in action!

A new leaf, turned over.

“What’s the latest news?” you may ask.  I’ll talk about three things for now.

(1) Well, back in February, the Michigan Daily published this piece on bicycle taxis in Ann Arbor.  Nancy Shore, our favorite Ann Arbor civil servant and head of the getDowntown program, shared with the paper her enthusiasm and her qualms about such a service, given the weather, populations, and infrastructural lackings of our small town.  Interesting idea, though!

Methinks it's a possibility.

Anyone out there remember when Facebook and Chase Credit Cards brought those bicycle taxis to the University of Michigan Central Campus a few years back?  Out of nowhere, these free (of charge, not of propagandizing) pedal-powered taxis popped up outside the Michigan Union.  All it cost was the time to get from Point A to Point B and a schpeel about how much you could be saving with Facebook/Chase plastic.  Would the Facebook show your status as your latest purchase?  Who knows.  Scary.

(2) Big ups to Ann Arbor Cyclery, Jimmy Raggett, the Fixed Gear Gallery / He** Yes Clothing folks, the Blind Pig, and all their sponsors for the series of sprints that went on in February!  SO COOL!  Several of us got the chance to test our mettle against the area’s best and most hipster-liciously aware riders.  Three fixies sans front wheels were set up on contraptions devised by Dennis Bean-Larson and the gang, run through a Linux-based program that calculated distance covered.  The race was to a virtual 500 m finish line. The popcorn was free.

A very special shout-out to Rich S. and Brad B., two Tango regulars whose faces we were happy to see.

(3) The Commuter Challenge – put on by the city of Ann Arbor and the getDowntown team – is rapidly approaching!  Don’t know about it?  Don’t know how to register your workplace?  Want to know about the extremity of the coolness that comes with registration?  Clickity-click here.  Also, the springtime brings all sorts of cool activities to town through the getDowntown crew.  Whether you use Twitter, RSS blog feeds, e-mail, or ancient Greek fryktories fire signal communication, they’ll keep you posted on all the latest events if you want to know!

Does Ann Arbor use signal fires? Probably not. But maybe.

Soooo…  That’s the biggest of the big news.  …For now.  …That I can think of off the top of my head.  Stay tuned for more wonderful insights into the twisted minds of the blogging retail staff here at Two Wheel Tango!

Ride safely and ride often!

– Sam