Some dirty bastard scofflaw made off with my wife’s Biria yesterday from the employee parking garage at Tampa General Hospital.

If you spot this unique bike in or around downtown Tampa, please call the Tampa Police Department’s District One office at 813-354-6600.

Death to bike thieves!!!

I’d been frustrated with my nagging knee pain, so much that I sold all my road bikes. Well, after 3 months and over 400 miles of riding a single speed cyclocross to work my knee feels good and I finally broke down and bought a new road bike.

The selection process was rather easy, I wanted a Bianchi. After a little research, I felt that the Bianchi Via Nirone met my needs. My biggest ‘requirement’ was that the bike’s color had to be ‘Bianchi Celeste’.

Now, finding the Bianchi was not so easy. The closest bike dealer only had 1 in stock and they would not negotiate on the price (which was way higher than I was willing to pay). Luck has it that I was invited to go to my cousin’s house for a house warming party 30 miles away from where I live. A quick dealer search on Bianchi’s site revealed that Coates Cyclery was an authorized Bianchi dealer and it was one mile away from my cousin’s house.

I decided to go and check out what they had in stock, and what do you know, the Via Nirone 7 was there, like it was waiting for me. Jack from Coates was very helpful and I basically told him what I wanted to pay for that bike and if he was able to do it, I would take it. Jack came back after talking to his manager, and the deal was made.

I’ll be riding this bike on the City of Angels fun ride this coming Sunday, look for a very happy Bike Geek riding a Celeste dream machine (mine, anyway).

I have a like for Evomo’s clothing line. I really dig their new designs and the people that run the company are simply the best to hang around with.

Check out a video of an interview with the brains of Evomo, Bryan Thombs

From time to time we get a product to test that turns a lot of heads when I ride them, the Footbike Track is definitely one of them.

Specs:

Although you can compete with this fine machine, I mostly used it for recreational and training purposes. Nothing gets your heartbeat really pumping than riding a Footbike.

Thumbs Up: The Footbike Track is fast and light and you can really hug some corners with it. The stopping power of the brakes was more than adequate and the adjustability of the stem enables all sorts of riders the use of the Footbike.

The use of standard bike components is a major plus since you can buy tires, rims, headsets, handlebars and grips from your favorite LBS, just in case the upgrade bug hits you.

Thumbs Down:The Track model is the high performance model of the Footbike line, the handling is very quick and sometimes it can be a handful on fast descents.

Also, the clearance is very low, I found myself scraping some of the imperfections of the sidewalk.

Recommendation:I’ve enjoyed the use of the Footbike Track when I wanted to do some cross training or when I rode around with my family at the park. If you are looking for something different that will test some of your handling skills and give you a different workout, the Footbike Track is it, but if you want something more nimble, check out the Footbike Street or the Footbike trail instead.

For more information or to purchase a Footbike, checkout www.footbikeusa.com

So, I figured I’d share the bicycling books I read with the rest of you — call it my “public outreach”, one of the basic principles a librarian must strive for! We’ve done mini- book reviews before…here’s a page that has a variety of bike-friendly books I reviewed in June of last year.

I recently finished Major: A Black Athlete, A White Era, And The Fight To Be The World’s Fastest Human Being by Todd Balf (New York: Crown Publishers, 2008).

This is an exhaustively-researched “untold story” of the world’s first black superathlete, Marshall “Major” Taylor. Major Taylor set a number of world records and set the bicycling world on fire in the early part of the 20th century. Loved abroad, he received a much colder reception in many parts of the U.S., where racism was the order of the day.

This book tells the story of Major’s upbringing, family life and racing career both in the United States and in Europe and Australia. The highs are presented — white men like Louis De Franklin “Birdie” Munger and William A. “Bill” Brady stepping across color lines to help Taylor achieve world dominance in bicycle track racing — as well as the lows; trickery, predjudice and outright violence from other prominent white racers and from the American public.

The book climaxes with the “East Meets West/Black vs. White” matchup between Taylor and his archrival Floyd McFarland, and the buildup to this monumental race is both poignant and awe-inspiring.

Todd Balf, the author, closes his book with a couple modern-era tales of the legacy of Major Taylor, from the first black Little 500 racing team to his meeting with Taylor’s 96 year old daughter. Overall, the book is inspiring, if a bit painful to read — America’s history of racism and bigotry is a pretty ugly thing to think about. If you care for the history of bicycle racing, I highly recommend the book — because Marshall Taylor was the predecessor for ALL of America’s great athletes, both black and white.

Here are the specs of the backpack:

Medium - 1500 Cubic inches / 17″Tall x 12″ Wide x 8″ deep
Waterproof 2-layer design: outer ballistic nylon layer wears like iron; replaceable waterproof liner keeps contents dry in a downpour (will not keep water out if submerged, in case underwater-riding is your hobby).
Wide padded straps distribute load more evenly than messenger bags
Sits lower on the back than standard backpacks to reduce blind spots while riding
Chest strap and removable waist strap for stability
Large reflective stripes and tab for safety light
Quick-access side pocket fits mini-U lock

I rode my 21 mile round trip commute today with the backpack, I really like it so far. The backpack was able to accommodate my change of clothes, my lunch, spare tube, tools and wallet with plenty of more space to spare.

Even though the backpack was somewhat heavy, I didn’t really feel the load on my back. The padded back and the padded straps are really comfortable. You can tell from the picture that the backpack sits lower allowing some air to flow and eliminating any blind spots.

Even though the back pack has those huge reflective stripes, the tab for a blinkie is a major plus. I’ll be riding with it to work on the cooler days, I still believe that nothing beats a great set of panniers on a hot day.

So without further adieu, I present to you…www.RateMyBicycle.com!

Now hold on — before you start thinking that this is just for commuters or mountain bikers…NO! All bicycle types are welcome to be posted. Here’s the the best part. YOU the READER can create an account on RateMyBicycle.com and post photos of your own bikes! Simply sign up, upload your photo to your Flickr or Photobucket account, use the URL they provide you and post away!

The site pretty simple to use (simple instructions are included on the homepage) and we’ve made it into a blog format so you can see the newest postings of bikes all the time. You can also click on the specific category you want to see and only those bikes will show up.

Once we get things moving on the site, we’ll be hosting monthly contests to see which bike gets the most votes. Yes, you can vote for yourself, but there’s only one IP address per vote so it may not let you do it more than once.

Go on…have fun!

I got the chance to E-Interview Klunkerz director Billy Savage. Click Here to read my Interview at MtnBikeRiders.Com