aesthetics

Bicycling has always had its own little cultures, with its own array of cycling aesthetics.

Using old bike parts, there are various forms of bicycle-made furniture and home furnishings:

Then there is, of course, the world of old-bike-part jewelry:

Cycling also includes the vintage, art nouveau-esque posters and ads:


Long-distance bicycle touring provides some beautiful images of bikes in all sorts of locations and conditions: (for more touring photos, click here)

And finally, cycling-related images include and unite people, both past and present, from around the world:


Throughout these various images, cultures, and styles, the one consistently unifying aspect is the bicycle, beautiful in its simplicity and seemingly universal in its appeal.

It's Time...

It's time to break out the mountain bike, dust off the saddle, fill up those tires, grease the chain, and tighten the brakes. With warm spring weather here, and the snow leaving the foothills, it's definitely time to start thinking about mountain biking!

The front range is an incredible place to live if you're a mountain biker, and there are trails of all styles and difficulties scattered up and down the entire range. In celebration of the fast approaching (if not already here) mountain bike season, here's a list of the top five trails in the immediate vicinity of Boulder (keep in mind, though, that with so many trails, this list is certainly limited, subjective, and open to change – the important thing is to explore, try new rides, and create, edit, update, and expand lists like this one!):

5. Picture Rock Trail – this trail essentially links the Heil Valley Ranch trail system to downtown Lyons, and further on, to Hall Ranch. The trail itself is fast, with up and down hills rolling through prairie landscapes. Watch out for sharp and sudden turns, but be prepared to pedal hard and go fast!

4. Betasso Preserve Loop – this is a popular Boulder ride since it can easily be accessed by pedaling up the Boulder Creek Path and cranking up the Link Trail (which heads nearly straight up from Canyon Road), leading bikers straight to the Betasso trailhead. This loop is relatively short, technically moderate, and while it may not be the most thrilling or technically challenging trail around, it can definitely be ridden fast. To make it more difficult, pedal the loop multiple times in one trip. The important thing to remember with Betasso is to check for the correct direction of travel – the city posts signs at the beginning of the trail indicating the correct direction to use the trail, so follow whatever these signs say! (map here)

3. Heil Valley Ranch – the trailhead is located just off Lefthand Canyon Drive. Heil Valley offers a nice network of trails that all interconnect with one another, presenting the opportunity for riders to create their own routes. Relatively close to Boulder, this trail network weaves through lightly forested land, and is moderately challenging, including some consistently bumpy patches but lacking any real technical challenges. (map here)

2. Walker Ranch – another Boulder favorite, Walker Ranch is located off Flagstaff Mountain Road (pretty high up the road, so if you plan to pedal there, leave early and get ready to crank!). This trail offers some solid technical sections, some rock gardens, and long climbs and descents. It's a little bit of everything, and all in all, this is a solid, fun, and grueling trail (although perhaps still slightly overrated). (map here)

1. Hall Ranch – this ride is one of the best – if not the best – in the immediate Boulder vicinity. Start at the trailhead just off Highway 7 (southwest of Lyons). From here, riders work their up the tough mile-long rock garden before leveling out, enjoying a short, fast, and technical descent, and finally climbing up to the loop at the top of the trail. After completing the loop, riders are definitely rewarded with one of the best descents around: bomb back down the long ride from the loop and enjoy the technical, challenging, and amazingly fun ride down the rock garden and back to the trailhead. (map here)

While this list only mentions a few of the many trails surrounding us, hopefully it provides some good initial ideas for some rides. For any mountain bikers who can make it farther north, Fort Collins has some great rides in Horsetooth State Park, Lory State Park, and scattered throughout the Poudre Canyon. For anyone heading the opposite direction, there are many trails in and around the Golden-Morrison area.

Necessity or Culture?

The debate over bicyclist behaviors/responsibilities/philosophies while out on the road continues (see Unofficial Guide's latest post on this topic). While there are clearly pros, cons, and good points made by both sides of this debate, I wonder how much of this debate is driven, not so much by actual cycling experience and needs, but by local cultural pressures.

In my own experience, I have only ever been scolded for not following all car traffic laws in smaller communities like Boulder. Here, the general atmosphere regarding cycling is definitely one in which cyclists are entitled to rights only through strict obedience to all traffic laws. This general attitude leads to a hyper-awareness and sensitivity to how well a cyclist does or does not obey these regulations, thus creating a scenario in which car drivers and even other cyclists feel that scolding a cyclist for running a red light or rolling through a stop sign is appropriate.

What is interesting is that this attitude and general atmosphere seems to really exist only in smaller communities, while in larger cities, people just travel without really stressing the ways other people are traveling. Pedaling in Denver is an entirely different story than pedaling in Boulder – as long as you don't crash into anybody or anything, people seem content to let cyclists ride, and no one scolds a biker for running through a red light. This trend holds even more true when we look at larger cities. Recently, I was in Chicago, and every traveler, whether pedestrian, taxi cab, automobilist, or cyclist, just did whatever was the quickest and most efficient, and as long as nobody did anything stupid or dangerous, there were no problems. Obviously, conflicts still arise and accidents still occur, especially when one group of travelers (in particular, car drivers) are inattentive, but as long as all parties are smart about what they're doing, nobody seemed to care enough about the principle of bike laws enough to scold and argue with a cyclist over an impractical and inefficient law, such as waiting at an empty red light for it to turn green.

In comparing these two cycling settings, what must be called into question is why there are such differing attitudes, and actions; why in some places, cyclists are scolded for not following all traffic rules even if they are still being safe and practical, and other places they are not. While proponents of the approach that requires all cyclists to follow all car traffic laws would maintain that it is necessary for safe, efficient, and cooperative traveling and road usage, the experiences of cyclists in large cities seem to prove this to be inaccurate. If it is possible for cyclists to travel in a safe and practical way while not necessarily being compelled to follow each and every road regulation (especially when they require impractical or inefficient actions on the part of cyclists), then perhaps they should be allowed to do so, and in the end, perhaps the trend of pressuring or scolding cyclists is one driven more by specific cultural attitudes rather than actual cycling needs or safety.

I win, you live.

I lose, die, and you still live.

Forget street laws, and all you whiney drivers who can't tolerate having to brake every once in a while.

I've found that I'm still alive to this day, while all around me are ghost bikes and friends missing teeth. I believe that I am alive because I follow a different street law, and I'm sticking with it.

First, I must repeat a classic argument against following "to-the-letter" traffic law: when an automobile is in an accident, more often than not we're talking about bent metal. When a bicyclist is in an accident, we're talking about "bent" bones.



My traffic law follows the same philosophy as ski resorts, where hundreds of people are randomly careening downhill without traffic safety devices and very limited disturbance. The rule is defiantly simple: "people ahead of you have the right of way. It is your responsibility to avoid them.".

Notes to self:
1. Get in front of a car, don't try to wobble along between parked cars and the moving traffic. I'll get doored or right-hooked.
2. Get in front at intersections, and when possible, clear the intersection so that I've got free roam on the road ahead. Ahhhh, the peace.
3. Be conspicuous; bright colors, flashing lights, track stands. Rather be a spectacle than a speckle.
4. Get in a verbal fight. Shout at cars. Maybe don't go through with the vivid slow-motion imagination of my super-self jumping off my bike at full speed while swinging my lock to a devastating thud on their windshield, dragging that lazy honker through their window and... just keep riding. I'm better than them.
5. Bike right! Bike right!
6. Wave to other cyclists, but not too quickly; remember that we're all out there with our lives on the line. Not the best setting for pleasantries.

Flats Part II

Below, find three more characters that I have come across in my time at the bike station.

The Seasoned Veteran

This individual walks toward me with a strut that was practiced the night before in front of his bedroom mirror, and eventually, with evident concentration seen in the face, reaches the Bike Station. This where the seasoned vet non-nonchalantly questions the station's ownership of the triple splined, double hex bottom bracket tool. Having gained insight to their status as the seasoned vet through the lack of the tool's existence, I will say no, I do not own that devise. I continue the conversation by humoring his ever increasing bicycle ego. Finally, when I think they might implode from self-confidence, they acknowledge their flat and say that this is no big deal, "I have been changing flats for 25 years". I don't question that this individual cannot be older than twenty, but rather give them the necessary tools and a substantial girth between myself and them to avoid future limb flailing. Two hours later, I return to where I left them and come upon an unrecognizable being. Their face is contorted into a mixture of grime/sweat, and depending on the case, may have half a patch kit stuck to their face. Furthermore, the once repairable tube is now analogous to a cut up paper snowflake. This is the time when their guard is low and they might actually concede that they need help in fixing their flat. I then proceed with utmost caution toward the veteran, usually making a few rattles of a patch kit as to not surprise them in their weakened state. Finally, I am able to help them fix their flat and with an excuse muttered along the lines of "it's really just a hot day and I couldn't concentrate" they make their inwardly depressed way off into the distance.


Applying for the Big Firm
This individual is commonly mistaking for just passing through. They talk intensely on their cell phone as if it was a breathing devise and then stand at the corner of the Station before I hear their well practiced professional goodbyes. Upon hanging up with a clear snap of the phone, they bypass the three people patiently waiting and announce that they are dropping off their bike for "service" and will return in exactly two hours to pick it up. With dread, I react to this foreboding figure with a calm explanation of a mutual client employee service offered at the bicycle station. Realizing that they have a very important lunch meeting with a possible future client, also known as a friend, they either start to use their breathing device again, or, simply walk away. For those that wait, the incessant jabbering on the cell phone is finally completed to tell me that they need a full service tune up. Trying not to make this person get back on their cell phone, I quickly check the bike for problems. When I notice that the bicycle was bought one week prior to the present, I will either tell them nothing is wrong, or, if they are staring intently I will turn a screw back and forth and tell them its good as new. Clearly satisfied, they will then contact their future client in order to schedule their lunch plans and ride away.

I've been Registered Since 1847
The path to the Bike Station is like many times before. They have going to and from the area for the last twenty years and know more about bikes then I will ever comprehend. Their registration number, simply a four, acts as a sentient being that has more than double the life experience of myself. When I first came across one of these individuals I did not know what to say. Luckily, they began the conversation by talking about their experience in the Civil War and how this very bike brought them home afterward. Following this, they expertly draw the necessary tools from the lock box and begin the biannual cleaning and servicing that has saved them thousands of dollars. I drop every action and stare with awe as their bike exits the stand looking as if it just left the bike shop for the first time. Then with a cadence that looks like they were born on a bicycle, they pedal off, not to be seen for another six months. I continue to stand where they first found me and it takes physical contact in order to realize what I had just witnessed was bicycling in its most perfect state.