A great quote

This is one to live by:

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.” Theodore Roosevelt

What a great way to live life! I found this while reading The Death Valley Tricycle Expedition Blog.

Terracycles Cargo Monster has arrived!

We received our first Cargo Monster today and hooked it up to a Catrike Trail. This thing is a blast! Kate took it home for the weekend to try it out on trips to Costco and shopping for Thanksgiving. We will have her thoughts on it next week. In the meantime, here is a video of Kate and Andres playing around in the parking lot.

Volunteers Needed for a Metro Bike Study!

I just received the following from Steve Crosley, Senior Transportation Planner at Fehr & Peers. If you are interested, please contact them directly.

Volunteers Needed for a Metro Bike Study!

Metro is looking for volunteers to help study the sustainability benefits of the Metro Orange Line and its integrated bikeway. We’re trying to determine how the bikeway and storage facilities have encouraged alternative travel modes, reduced car usage, and reduced greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

We need your help to survey bike riders, walkers, and even park-and-riders who are boarding the Metro Orange Line and to count bike and pedestrian trips on the Orange Line bikeway. This is positioned to be a pioneering new study and would help make the case to include bicycle facilities in every new transit infrastructure project Metro builds.

The survey dates: Wednesday, December 9th & Saturday, December 12th.

Eight (8) stations on Wednesday, December 9th, from approximately 6:00AM - 2:00PM.

Two (2) stations on Saturday, December 12th, from approximately 10:00AM - 4:00PM.

We’d like to staff each station with several volunteers, at 2-hour intervals. Can you help us by volunteering?

Please visit the website below to read more and submit contact information or sign up for a volunteer slot.

http://orangelinestudy.wordpress.com/

Questions? Please contact Steve Crosley at 310-458-9916 or s.crosley@fehrandpeers.com

Thanks for your interest!

2009 Pizza Century

Every year, Tim Woudenberg and Phil Plath gather the masses (okay, about 20 of us) together in Half Moon Bay for a 94 mile ride down to Santa Cruz and back, with a stop at Upper Crust Pizza on the north end of Santa Cruz.

It's a long drive to go ride 94 miles, but is great meeting up with friends that I get to see only a few times a year. Tim has ridden on a few of the Bent Up Cycles RAAM teams over the years, and I am looking forward to sponsoring his solo effort this year.

This year's ride was also the official "return to cycling" for David, who is just returning from 8 months of chemotherapy and radiation treatments. Welcome back David!

As usual, I forgot my camera, but Bill Bushnell took some great pictures and posted them here.

I only did half the ride. It was cold and drizzly, and chatting with Lee Mitchell about our upcoming RAAM seemed like more fun than being cold and wet!

Thanks to Tim and Phil for hosting the ride...it was great seeing you all again!

Catrike Named Manufacturer of the Year

On 11/05/09 Big Cat HPV, LLC manufacturer of Catrike, was awarded Manufacturer of the Year for under 125 Employees by the Manufacturers Association of Florida. Paulo Camasmie, company founder and Catrike designer, was there to receive the award and said, “This was a lengthy and strict process, and the competition was very high, so it is a great honor for us to receive this award. Only in this country a person without knowing anyone, but with a dream, the will and a fair amount of competence, can start a business, and 9 years later receive this incredible award. Thank to the MAF and their judges.” http://www.mafmfg.com/

The Terracycles Cargo Monster is here!

Terracycles is one of our favorite manufacturers. Pat, Robert and the gang are always working on something new and innovative! Their attention to detail is second-to-none and their customer service is well-known in the recumbent industry.

Pat and Robert have spent the past year designing an XtraCycle-style system for recumbent trikes and bikes. But to call this just an XtraCycle for recumbents would be doing it a great disservice! Each model is custom-build for the specific bike/trike that it is going to be installed on. You can also convert 20" bikes to a 26" rear wheel (works on most, but not all, models). Finally, all XtraCycle parts and accessories will work with the system.

We are expecting our first Cargo Monster next week and will post additional pictures and thoughts then. In the meantime, check out the pictures at the BikePortland.org Flickr site (many thanks to BikePortland.org for sharing these photos)

Safe Cycling in Los Angeles

Perhaps with the conviction of doctor Christopher Thomas Thompson on six felony counts and one misdemeanor charge when he slammed on his brakes in front of two cyclists in Mandeville Canyon last year, drivers in Los Angeles (and around the country/world) will start taking notice of cyclists as legitimate road users. The Los Angeles Times certainly did! Check out their mulit-faceted article on safe cycling in Los Angeles.