Bicycle Diaries

• Space cowboy?

  Number of comments: 0
  a little
  Thanksgiving blessing!!!
  
  
  I did my usual Thanksgiving dinner in Ohio on UffdaDave's farm. Sharing my love for all things Firefly, his son, Nate, turned me on to this wonderful snippet from Castle. It's the show Nathan Fillion landed in after playing Mel in [...]
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  Posted: November 30, 2009, 7:12am EST
  by Da' Square Wheelman,

• Full Moon Fiasco XII

  Number of comments: 0
  Silent Night...
  My Ass!!!
  
  
  Whether snow, sleet, rain, flood, or just cold as shit:
  
  Wednesday, 2 December 2009
  Gannon's Pub @8pm
  
  Though sometimes late, we never cancel a ride.
  [...]
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  Posted: November 29, 2009, 6:54am EST
  by Da' Square Wheelman,

• Disraeli Gears

  Number of comments: 0
  cycledelia
  
  This second album by British blues-rock group Cream was released in November 1967. It reached 5the place on the UK record charts. It was also incredibly popular in the States, becoming a massive seller in 1968 and reaching [...]
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  Posted: November 24, 2009, 6:38am EST
  by Da' Square Wheelman,

• Journey of discovery

  Number of comments: 1
  just 6 miles
  from home
  
  A few weeks back, Roger Cohen wrote about The Big Apple's local peculiarities in his NYTimes op-ed column. He pointed out something that I've also noticed about The Windy City. You only have to go a few blocks' [...]
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  Posted: November 23, 2009, 6:25am EST
  by Da' Square Wheelman,

• The ingenious velocipedeans

  Number of comments: 0
  Chicago Salute
  with guns
  
  
  30 October 1914: England's The Guardian reports on the latest developments in military technology. Mr. Cook Wilson, Moral Philosophy Professor at Oxford, highlights the advantages of cyclist troops. To me it sounds rather similar to the masser ritual here [...]
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  Posted: November 22, 2009, 7:38am EST
  by Da' Square Wheelman,

• It's about the lycra

  Number of comments: 1
  not the
  commute
  
  
  Magda Szubansk, a comedienne from Down Under, caught a whole lot of guff from bikers after her rant against lycra-louts last September. To be quite frank, I agree with her up to the point where she starts calling for cagers to run them off [...]
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  Posted: November 16, 2009, 6:56am EST
  by Da' Square Wheelman,

• Tweed hits the big time!

  Number of comments: 1
  and in a paper
  of note, no less...
  
  The NYTimes mentions Beer, Bicycles, and Brits, though I wouldn't call us the New Victorians.
  This flamboyance is part of a curious new movement called Tweed Rides, informal gatherings of spiffily dressed ladies and gents cycling' [...]
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  Posted: November 14, 2009, 6:38am EST
  by Da' Square Wheelman,

• Bike panache?

  Number of comments: 0
  'nuff sed...
  
  
  Originally posted by Tina Roth Eisenberg over at Swissmiss, her NYC-based design blog and studio.' [...]
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  Posted: November 12, 2009, 6:44am EST
  by Da' Square Wheelman,

• Two minutes of silence...

  Number of comments: 1
  for their sacrifice
  
  It's Veteran's Day here in Lincoln Square. It's 55 degrees and sunny with a few puffy clouds. Anyone doing a little shopping near the corner of Western and Leland won't miss the neighborhood's ongoing memorial to our soldiers killed in Iraq. The' [...]
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  Posted: November 11, 2009, 12:00pm EST
  by Da' Square Wheelman,

• Burning Guido Fawkes

  Number of comments: 0
  ...the tweedy way!
  
  The Guido Fawkes' Bonfire Tweed Ride was a rousing success last Saturday. Thirty tweedy lads and lassies made it all the way down to Bubbly Dynamics outside Bridgeport. Special thanks to Viscount Wallace for organizing the route and' [...]
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  Posted: November 10, 2009, 7:30am EST
  by Da' Square Wheelman,

• The fall

  Number of comments: 0
  20 years ago
  today
  
  
  the joke's (still) on you
  Uncle Joe!
  
  
  (Stalin is captured in this photograph by Lt. Gen. Nikolai Vlasik, the Soviet dictator's bodyguard. Vlasik's off-the-record photos of Stalin caused a sensation in the early 1960s' [...]
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  Posted: November 09, 2009, 6:52am EST
  by Da' Square Wheelman,

• Chicago seen

  Number of comments: 1
  really seen
  by Vivian Maier
  
  She looks rather dour, this French immigrant who came to the States sometime before WWII. After a brief stint in The Big Apple, she settled in Oak Park, working as a nanny for a solidly Windy City, suburban family. Her [...]
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  Posted: November 05, 2009, 6:46am EST
  by Da' Square Wheelman,

• Shrine of the Vélotariat

  Number of comments: 0
  blessing the bike
  
  
  On 2 November, The Oregonian reported that St. Stephen's Episcopal Church in downtown Portland has
  become the nation's first church with a permanent indoor shrine honoring the Madonna del Ghisallo, who is the patron [...]
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  Posted: November 04, 2009, 6:23am EST
  by Da' Square Wheelman,

• On the road

  Number of comments: 1
  with the original
  Working Bikes
  
  I was just listening to Bob Edward's Weekend on Chicago Public Radio Sunday morning. He did a piece on Charles Kuralt's famous TV essays, interviewing his cameraman, Izzy Bleckman. And he mentioned Jethro Mann who back in the [...]
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  Posted: November 03, 2009, 6:11am EST
  by Da' Square Wheelman,

• Everything you wanted to know about Cricket

  Number of comments: 0
  ...but were afraid
  to rap!
  
  
  Thanks to San Francisco Tweed, here's the latest track from a new album from the chap-hop sensation. On the mean streets and cricket pitches of Surrey, Mr. B, the Gentleman Rhymer, reveals the strength of his cricket knowledge.' [...]
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  Posted: October 31, 2009, 7:21am EDT
  by Da' Square Wheelman,

• 3 cheers for Dutch vélopunk

  Number of comments: 0
  five minutes
  in heaven
  
  
  With Stardust Memories
  by
  Artie Shaw [...]
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  Posted: October 30, 2009, 7:00am EDT
  by Da' Square Wheelman,

• 3 cheers for Dansk vélopunk

  Number of comments: 0
  The Voice of the Globe 1937
  rolls in Copenhagen
  
  
  From James A. Fitzpatrick's
  Traveltalks
  The American documentary film director specialized throughout his career in travel documentaries. Besides directing, he also wrote, produced, and narrated. As well as The Voice of the Globe, MGM distributed a series' [...]
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  Posted: October 29, 2009, 6:46am EDT
  by Da' Square Wheelman,

• And you thought computers suck...

  Number of comments: 0
  what
  about
  books?
  
  So one day that old mediator between Good & Evil, the Egyptian god Thoth, invents writing. Up till then, folks just filled up their noggins with pretty much everything. And Thoth proudly offering it as a gift to the Pharaoh of Egypt, [...]
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  Posted: October 28, 2009, 6:15am EDT
  by Da' Square Wheelman,

• Oprah's not famous in Europe

  Number of comments: 0
  so the Olympics
  won't be in Chicago
  
  
  As you know, lots have been going on with me over the past few months. I haven't had time to comment of recent events ... like the Windy City's lost bid for the 2016 Olympics. So here's a funny [...]
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  Posted: October 26, 2009, 9:18am EDT
  by Da' Square Wheelman,

• Remember, remember...

  Number of comments: 0
  the 7th of November
  
  
  Well, it's supposed to be on the 5th when the Brits captured poor Guido, AKA Guy, in the cellars of Parliament. But that's a school night so we're doing it on Saturday, when he finally admitted to The Gun' [...]
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  Posted: October 24, 2009, 5:03pm EDT
  by Da' Square Wheelman,

• Biker killed by truck

  Number of comments: 4
  Liza Whitacre
  1986 - 2009
  
  
  Jeremy Gorner reported yesterday on Chicago's Breaking News Center,
  A 23-year-old woman died this afternoon after she fell from her bicycle, landed underneath a truck and was run over by the vehicle outside' [...]
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  Posted: October 22, 2009, 12:03pm EDT
  by Da' Square Wheelman,

• I've been remiss...

  Number of comments: 2
  but now
  I'm back
  
  It's been a hell of a last 9 months or so. Laid off in February, underemployed until just last month. Among other things, the blog has suffered. First it was the general funk that accompanies what became is the worst unemployment [...]
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  Posted: October 18, 2009, 12:44pm EDT
  by Da' Square Wheelman,

• 9.11.09 & 11.11.1918

  Number of comments: 0
  the eleventh day
  and the eleventh hour
  
  
  Today is the 9th anniversary of 9.11. The very fact I don't have to explain these two numbers reflects the enormity of the attacks particularly in how they changed our lives as well as the' [...]
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  Posted: September 11, 2009, 8:18am EDT
  by Da' Square Wheelman,

• The proper anti-freeze...

  Number of comments: 1
  for Chicago
  Bikewinter!
  
  [...]
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  Posted: September 08, 2009, 7:44am EDT
  by Da' Square Wheelman,

• 5 year old girl killed...

  Number of comments: 0
  by cager
  last night
  
  
  From The Chicago Breaking News Center,
  A 5-year-old girl riding her bicycle was struck and killed Sunday evening by a vehicle exiting a West Rogers Park alley, police said.

  The girl, Ester Kenig, was riding her bicycle in [...]

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  Posted: September 07, 2009, 9:28am EDT
  by Da' Square Wheelman,

• Why be conservative?

  Number of comments: 1
  why
  not?
  
  
  I don’t have much faith in my fellow man. In fact, my own conservatism has much to do with the fact that I reject the entire notion of human improvement altogether. Grandiose liberal efforts do not work, not because they are simply led by the wrong [...]
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  Posted: September 04, 2009, 6:29am EDT
  by Da' Square Wheelman,

• Chicago bikewinter approaches

  Number of comments: 0
  and with it
  our 10th Anniversary
  
  To get things rolling, we're aiming to encourage ALL fair-weather bikers within our propaganda's grasp to stay in the saddle through the longest, coldest nights. We'll meet on Tuesday, 22 September, 7 p.m. at the newer Billy Goat -' [...]
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  Posted: September 03, 2009, 7:10am EDT
  by Da' Square Wheelman,

• The prodigal queen

  Number of comments: 7
  with a little help
  from my friends...
  
  
  ...I've found the silver lining in losing that which rolled. As the comments section has shown over the last two weeks, the outpouring of sympathy for my loss is both amazing and gratifying. Enough so' [...]
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  Posted: August 24, 2009, 7:03am EDT
  by Da' Square Wheelman,

• Les bicyclettes...

  Number of comments: 0
  de Belsize
  
  [...]
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  Posted: August 21, 2009, 7:49am EDT
  by Da' Square Wheelman,

• Rolling along

  Number of comments: 0
  our hobo legacy
  
  One thing you'll notice about the bike community in the City of Big Shoulders is diversity. There are hipster beaterbikes, yuppie spandex-wrapped weekend warriors, Latino ice cream vendors, WASPy commuters, freakbikers, teenage BMXers, and more. Although I haven't seen many South [...]
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  Posted: August 20, 2009, 6:49am EDT
  by Da' Square Wheelman,

• that which rolled

  Number of comments: 12
  RIP
  
  
  The last time I saw that which rolls was Tuesday morning, 11 August. I went out early Tuesday evening. My neighbor and I noticed three teenagers (1 woman and 2 men - not from our neighborhood) hanging around the alley by our [...]
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  Posted: August 14, 2009, 7:20am EDT
  by Da' Square Wheelman,

• Robot cars...

  Number of comments: 0
  versus
  freedom for technology
  
  The Intelligent Life, the quarterly mag of The Economist, has a fascinating article on the automation of cars. In When Drivers Are Passengers Paul Markillie describes the trend toward cars that drive themselves. While he believes that this could [...]
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  Posted: August 13, 2009, 9:03am EDT
  by Da' Square Wheelman,

• Bikers behaving badly?

  Number of comments: 1
  Boston responds...
  
  [...]
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  Posted: August 10, 2009, 6:56am EDT
  by Da' Square Wheelman,

• Know when to fold 'em!

  Number of comments: 0
  Dominic Hargreaves's
  The Contortionist...
  
  
  has been shortlisted for this year's £10,000 James Dyson Award for innovation. The 24-year-old, from Battersea, London, said he wanted to create a decent folding bike after the one he was using collapsed.
  I couldn't find a folding bicycle I liked. I [...]
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  Posted: August 07, 2009, 6:15am EDT
  by Da' Square Wheelman,

• Odes to a bicycle bell

  Number of comments: 0
  you only exist
  as sound
  
  Thanks to local Pittsburgh artists, Eric "Erok” Boerer and Teresa Foley, you can now have a bike bell ringtone. It's free and according to Erok, I’ve noticed that bike bells tend to bring smiles to people’s faces. No matter" [...]
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  Posted: August 06, 2009, 6:37am EDT
  by Da' Square Wheelman,

• Blood, sweat, and gears

  Number of comments: 0
  a modest
  proposal
  
  
  Jeremiah Catalano-Reilly popped the question to Michelle Simon smack dab in the middle of last Friday's Chicago Critical Mass! [...]
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  Posted: August 05, 2009, 6:53am EDT
  by Da' Square Wheelman,

• Cops on bikes

  Number of comments: 0
  Chicago's Finest
  training video
  
  
  Traffic Enforcement for Bicyclist Safety
  from the Chicago Bicycle Program
  on Vimeo [...]
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  Posted: August 03, 2009, 8:56am EDT
  by Da' Square Wheelman,

• Keeping your balance

  Number of comments: 0
  w/Albert Einstein
  
  [...]
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  Posted: August 02, 2009, 7:57am EDT
  by Da' Square Wheelman,

• Dulce et Decorum Est?

  Number of comments: 2
  no, no ...
  
  
  Over at the BBC, the Today programme asked Poet Laureate, Carol Ann Duffy, to write a poem commemorating yesterday's burial of Henry Allingham. He was the last of the British survivors of The Great War.
  
  [...]
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  Posted: July 31, 2009, 7:00am EDT
  by Da' Square Wheelman,

• The wheel's influence...

  Number of comments: 0
  on dinner
  
  This is casual bike wear? It is ... according to an 1896 column that appeared in the London Spectator. According to Megan Gambino, over at The Smithsonian, it seems that the empire's scribbling classes were rather vexed about the bike's subversive power [...]
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  Posted: July 30, 2009, 6:54am EDT
  by Da' Square Wheelman,

• Vélomania

  Number of comments: 0
  ...what Dalí & Hitler
  had in common
  
  Rebecca Seal, over at the UK's Observer, highlights some of the fascinating ways bikes have played a key role in the culture and politics of over a dozen countries. Among some of the more amazing things [...]
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  Posted: July 27, 2009, 9:33am EDT
  by Da' Square Wheelman,

• Pedal to Pierogis

  Number of comments: 0
  Whiting, IN turns over
  a new pierogi!
  
  
  We're rolling south of the border today! Pierogi Fest is the one-of-a-kind festival that draws people from all over the Great Lakes. Although it revolves around the simple stuffed dumpling, it’s really a huge three-day' [...]
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  Posted: July 25, 2009, 6:22am EDT
  by Da' Square Wheelman,

• Bike abuse

  Number of comments: 0
  and
  cattle mutilations?
  
  Barry Neild wonders aloud in Thursday's Guardian about a worrisome trend in street vandalism. Since returning from the States, he's seen more taco'd rims, slashed tires, and busted lights on London's parked rolling stock. Bike theft is bad enough; but why' [...]
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  Posted: July 24, 2009, 6:18am EDT
  by Da' Square Wheelman,

• Driven to distraction

  Number of comments: 0
  hands free hazard
  Part II
  
  Slate has more on the Feds' refusal to pursue research on the cellphone use of cagers. It goes one step further by exploring possible ways federal agencies have suggested to prevent driving and dialing. They range from' [...]
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  Posted: July 23, 2009, 6:48am EDT
  by Da' Square Wheelman,

• Rolling along

  Number of comments: 0
  solvitur
  volubilis
  
  I thought I'd start today's post by brushing up on my high school Latin. I don't think any Roman or Catholic ever said this. My inspiration is a more famous Latin phrase that I've always loved: Solvitur Ambulando.
  
  [...]
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  Posted: July 22, 2009, 7:07am EDT
  by Da' Square Wheelman,

• Hands free hazard

  Number of comments: 0
  feds keeps cager
  safety data secret
  
  Today's NYTimes reports that the Federal government's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration not only refused a request to research the link between cellphone use and road accidents but chose [...]
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  Posted: July 21, 2009, 6:22am EDT
  by Da' Square Wheelman,

• The Eagle has Landed!

  Number of comments: 0
  one small step for
  Walter Cronkite
  
  
  
  And what a difference
  40 years would've made...
  
  
  without him.' [...]
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  Posted: July 20, 2009, 7:12am EDT
  by Da' Square Wheelman,

• Walter Cronkite, biker

  Number of comments: 1
  1916-2009
  
  
  As a boy, he used his bike as a drugstore delivery boy and enjoyed
  [t]he usual boyhood/early teen activities...: the Boy Scouts and DeMolay (the junior Masonic order), roller hockey and bicycle polo (except on those hot summer days when our wheels sunk [...]
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  Posted: July 18, 2009, 9:06am EDT
  by Da' Square Wheelman,

• Ode to cigarettes redux

  Number of comments: 0
  if only he
  had a bike
  
  [...]
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  Posted: July 17, 2009, 6:01am EDT
  by Da' Square Wheelman,

• Fixie prix & elegant chix

  Number of comments: 0
  at least
  they roll!
  
  Something weird is going on with the Vélotariat. The well-trod debates over bike lanes, critical mass etiquette, and proper frame-sizing have given way to a growing rancor towards bike fashions. I'm not talking here about whether you' [...]
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  Posted: July 16, 2009, 10:12am EDT
  by Da' Square Wheelman,

• If I was a bicycle seat...

  Number of comments: 0
  life could be
  oh so sweet
  
  
  When I was a little boy
  My momma, she said to me
  Son, When you get big grow up
  What you wanna be
  I said to my momma
  Don't wanna be no doctorman
  A politician, a movie star
  All those things' [...]
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  Posted: July 15, 2009, 7:08am EDT
  by Da' Square Wheelman,

• Lords of the Ring

  Number of comments: 1
  sword swinging,
  bike pedaling warriors
  avenge the destruction
  of their friends bike
  
  [...]
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  Posted: July 14, 2009, 10:07am EDT
  by Da' Square Wheelman,

• Sierra Club gears up

  Number of comments: 0
  to hike, bike,
  and paddle
  
  
  The venerable enviro-org has launched a new website, Sierra Club Trails. It's up and running in a beta test now, and they're planning to launch it soon. As far as I know, the site is the first-ever comprehensive' [...]
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  Posted: July 11, 2009, 6:44am EDT
  by Da' Square Wheelman,

• Tonight's Northside Mass...

  Number of comments: 0
  Jason's last
  %-{(>
  
  
  Jason, biking stalwart and all around great guy, is leaving The City of Big Shoulders for the greener, if not more humid, pastures of The Big Easy. He's got a pretty good job [...]
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  Posted: July 10, 2009, 6:51am EDT
  by Da' Square Wheelman,

• Speed demons

  Number of comments: 1
  or how to
  kill a biker
  
  Speed Kills is about as obvious as it gets for anyone who commutes daily in big metro areas like our City of Big Shoulders. Last year, The Spokesman posted about Delaware's then new Neighborhood Speeding Campaign. Its [...]
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  Posted: July 09, 2009, 6:20am EDT
  by Da' Square Wheelman,

• North by ...

  Number of comments: 0
  by northwest
  
  Vic McDaniel and Ray Francisco, just out of high school, set out from Santa Rosa, CA on second-hand bikes, bound for the great Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition in Seattle. Travelling on dusty roads, roads of logs, of planks, even of corn stalks, and often [...]
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  Posted: July 08, 2009, 8:53am EDT
  by Da' Square Wheelman,

• Full Moon Fiasco VII

  Number of comments: 0
  the FBC
  presents...
  
  
  Tuesday, 7 July 2009 Leaving from The Gingerman
  3740 N. Clark St. @8PM
  
  [...]
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  Posted: July 07, 2009, 6:43am EDT
  by Da' Square Wheelman,

• Windy City Wool

  Number of comments: 0
  Winston's Tweed
  hits the Big Time!
  
  [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: July 04, 2009, 6:52am EDT
  by Da' Square Wheelman,

• Ode to cigarettes

  Number of comments: 0
  Orwell’s obsession
  with tobacco
  
  Cigarette smoke so permeates George Orwell's stories it almost leaves stains on one’s fingers when reading his books.
  So writes Josh Indar in Bumming Smokes in Paris and London. I was fascinated to read this last week in PopMatters' retrospective' [...]
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  Posted: July 03, 2009, 7:29am EDT
  by Da' Square Wheelman,

• Hill climbing

  Number of comments: 0
  with
  Mr. Punch Awheel!
  
  
  The Squire:
  But I tell you, sir,
  this road is private, and you shall not pass except over my prostrate body!The Biker:All right, guv'nor, I'll go back.
  I've done enough hill climbing already!' [...]
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  Posted: July 01, 2009, 7:14am EDT
  by Da' Square Wheelman,

• Hints for beginners

  Number of comments: 0
  from Punch
  
  Most folks, today, forget that back of the turn of the 20th Century cages and bikes were BOTH considered the epitome of modern transportation. As each became equally ubiquitous on the highways and byways of Merry Ole' England, the venerable Punch magazine' [...]
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  Posted: June 30, 2009, 6:25am EDT
  by Da' Square Wheelman,

• When I was a child...

  Number of comments: 2
  I biked as a child
  
  Last Saturday, Rob O'Flanagan, a columnist for Canada's GuelphMercury, wrote Why bike laws fail so abysmally. It poses the theory that they way we bike as kids is the way we bike as adults. Although I agree with his' [...]
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  Posted: June 29, 2009, 6:53am EDT
  by Da' Square Wheelman,

• If you can do the Bart

  Number of comments: 1
  you're bad like
  Michael Jackson
  
  
  RIP' [...]
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  Posted: June 27, 2009, 6:33am EDT
  by Da' Square Wheelman,

• Live a little...

  Number of comments: 0
  bike a lot
  
  [...]
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  Posted: June 26, 2009, 6:52am EDT
  by Da' Square Wheelman,

• Google streeview rocks

  Number of comments: 0
  ...and rolls!
  
  One of the amazing things we saw on our inaugural Winston's Tweed Ride was the Google Car. I wish I had noted the location. Then I could see if we made it on Google Streetview. Be that as it may, [...]
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  Posted: June 25, 2009, 6:52am EDT
  by Da' Square Wheelman,

• The strangling of Iran...

  Number of comments: 0
  empowered women
  in an historical perspective
  
  To anyone who thinks that the local and widespread demonstrations against the recent Iranian presidential elections are starting to fail, I have one word: WOMEN! Certainly, much has been made of Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, and a host [...]
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  Posted: June 24, 2009, 7:16am EDT
  by Da' Square Wheelman,

• Summer babes & elegant bachelors

  Number of comments: 0
  there's a ride
  for you!
  
  
  John Greenfield, of Vote With Your Feet fame, will be hosting a Tweed-inspired ride this Saturday. It'll be a stylish bicycle tour of Chicago's retro cocktail patios to a soundtrack of classic jazz played on our' [...]
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  Posted: June 23, 2009, 6:08am EDT
  by Da' Square Wheelman,

• What happend in Iran...

  Number of comments: 0
  Sunday Bloody Sunday
  
  
  2:52 in: Her name was Neda Agha Soltan. She was 27 years old and a philosophy student. She was shot last Saturday, for no apparent reason, as she and her friend, Panahi, were observing the demonstrations in Tehran. The shot will be [...]
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  Posted: June 22, 2009, 7:58am EDT
  by Da' Square Wheelman,

• Granny pedal power

  Number of comments: 0
  yes, she can!
  
  Reuters reports that neither age nor gender ... nor chasing down purse snatchers is a barrier to biking! Over in Buerstadt, Germany an 80-year old woman put the pedal to the meddle after her handbag was stolen from her bike [...]
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  Posted: June 21, 2009, 6:04am EDT
  by Da' Square Wheelman,

• What's going on in Iran?

  Number of comments: 0
  in Iran?
  
  CHICAGOANS TO RALLY IN SOLIDARITY WITH IRANIAN PROTESTERS EVENT SCHEDULED FOR SATURDAY JUNE 20, 2009, 4-6PM AT DALEY CENTER PLAZA
  
  Supporters in Chicago have secured permission to stage a peaceful rally at Daley Plaza, where a crowd of approximately two-hundred is expected to gather. Rally participants [...]
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  Posted: June 20, 2009, 5:48am EDT
  by Da' Square Wheelman,

• Ghost bikes...

  Number of comments: 0
  now haunting the Brits
  
  
  The BBC UK Magazine reports on the haunting trend inspired by the Brit's American Cousins.
  Ghost bikes don't just commemorate the dead, they also aim to draw attention to the dangers on the UK's roads. They first appeared' [...]
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  Posted: June 19, 2009, 7:24am EDT
  by Da' Square Wheelman,

• Forever 2 wheels

  Number of comments: 0
  F.T.W.
  by the
  Smut Peddlers
  
  I realize this little punk ditty is actually about motorcycles. But it does capture the frustrations of the velotariat as well! Enjoy.
  I’m not encased in metal
  And I do not watch TV
  I like my motorcycle
  Because it [...]
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  Posted: June 18, 2009, 6:30am EDT
  by Da' Square Wheelman,

• Isaiah Berlin...

  Number of comments: 3
  and the lost cosmonaut
  
  The 65th Anniversary of the D-Day Landings in Normandy on 6 June greatly overshadowed the 100th birthday of Isaiah Berlin that same day. And I realize there haven't been any posts on Isaiah Berlin lately. It's not that I've stopped [...]
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  Posted: June 17, 2009, 6:30am EDT
  by Da' Square Wheelman,

• The nomadic alternative

  Number of comments: 1
  wandering and wondering
  
  Back in 2006, I posted a NYTimes op-ed piece by David Brooks eulogizing the passing of the old school, streetwise skeptics of the Chicago press corps. It, as well as comments from a couple of readers I wrote about in [...]
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  Posted: June 15, 2009, 6:57am EDT
  by Da' Square Wheelman,

• Brit cager kills biker

  Number of comments: 0
  ... & 2008 Beat Bobby
  of the Year
  
  From the BBC,
  Pc Guy Swatland, 49, who had been with the Leicestershire force for more than 15 years, was a beat officer for the Stoneygate and Knighton area. Named Beat Bobby of the Year in [...]
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  Posted: June 14, 2009, 6:16am EDT
  by Da' Square Wheelman,

• Sinister motordom

  Number of comments: 0
  in the
  Windy City
  
  The Hope Chest, posting Bad news from the past, came up with this little depressing nugget from the 22 April 1922 edition of The Chicago Tribune. Every 19th cager driving the streets had killed or injured a human being in 1921.
  
  [...]
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  Posted: June 13, 2009, 6:46am EDT
  by Da' Square Wheelman,

• The 1st vélotarian

  Number of comments: 0
  Ever bike?
  
  [...]
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  Posted: June 12, 2009, 7:06am EDT
  by Da' Square Wheelman,

• Patently obvious...

  Number of comments: 0
  or utterly
  unnecessary?
  
  The Boy made an interesting comment on my post, As you spin along... . He wonders where I find the more wacky topics on which I write. In a word - Google - especially its Patents Search. An [...]
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  Posted: June 11, 2009, 7:19am EDT
  

• Why we bike - Part II

  Number of comments: 1
  28 more answers!
  
  Thanks to all who replied to last week's post, Why we bike? I've been painting a friend's third floor so I've had time to think about more answers to the question.Then I remembered Martino's Bike Lane Diary. A post from' [...]
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  Posted: June 10, 2009, 6:45am EDT
  

• As you spin along...

  Number of comments: 2
  pedal your
  blues away!
  
  What must be the first blues bicycle song was written by Earl Rouse & Brothers for Perfect Records in 1936. The cartoonist, R. Crumb and his band, The Cheap Suit Serenaders, did a cover in the 70s. You [...]
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  Posted: June 09, 2009, 8:16am EDT
  by Da' Square Wheelman,

• Roadside Assistance?

  Number of comments: 1
  ...ah-hem
  
  
  
  Crazy Cagers [...]
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  Posted: June 06, 2009, 6:48am EDT
  

• Paris blind spots=

  Number of comments: 2
  angles morts
  
  [...]
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  Posted: June 05, 2009, 8:15am EDT
  

• Why we bike?

  Number of comments: 6
  Let me know!
  
  [...]
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  Posted: June 02, 2009, 1:22am EDT
  by Da' Square Wheelman,

• Pedaling Revolution

  Number of comments: 1
  how cyclists
  are changing
  American cities
  
  Over at the NYTimes, David Byrne reviews Jeff Mapes's new book, Pedaling Revolution. Byrne highlights two fascinating points. First, biking won't truly take off until more women join the Vélotariat. This is especially true with celebrity women [...]
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  Posted: May 30, 2009, 7:05am EDT
  

• Tonight's critical mass

  Number of comments: 0
  we've been
  warned
  
  
  Yesterday, Chicago's Finest uploaded a Chicago Alternative Policing Strategy Bulletin to the Worlwide Critical Mass flier exchange:
  In order to ensure the safety of residents and visitors to the City of Chicago, all ordinances will be strictly enforced, [...]
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  Posted: May 29, 2009, 7:58am EDT
  

• Massholes

  Number of comments: 0
  and the summer's
  first mass
  
  There's been quite a discussion on the CCM listserv in anticipation of tomorrow's Critical Mass. It was sparked by the following email from Rob Sadowsky, the Executive Director of the Active Transportation Alliance - formerly the Chicago Bicycle' [...]
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  Posted: May 28, 2009, 7:49am EDT
  

• Philosophy of travel

  Number of comments: 0
  from
  Pico Iyer
  
  [...]
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  Posted: May 27, 2009, 6:39am EDT
  by Da' Square Wheelman,

• Have tweed, may travel...

  Number of comments: 0
  to Dekalb
  
  Regular readers (and thanks for hanging in there!) have probably noticed that the frequency and quality of my posts has dropped a bit lately. There are several reasons why: first, I was laid-off back in March and I'm just coming out' [...]
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  Posted: May 26, 2009, 7:01am EDT
  

• Memorial Day

  Number of comments: 3
  ghosts at the barbecue
  
  It's Memorial Day here in Lincoln Square. Folks are getting together to enjoy the first really good weekend in Chicago. It's 66 degrees and cloudy. Anywhere you go, a wonderful barbecue smell wafts up from backyards, porches, and decks. And anyone [...]
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  Posted: May 25, 2009, 11:17am EDT
  

• Off-duty police officer kills 13 year old

  Number of comments: 1
  
  Today, the Chicago Tribune is reporting:
  Terrence Booker had planned to pick up his 13-year-old son, Trenton, from school Friday afternoon for a holiday weekend of family barbecues just weeks shy of the boy's 8th-grade graduation.
  
  But he instead received a heartbreaking' [...]
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  Posted: May 24, 2009, 9:21am EDT
  by Da' Square Wheelman,

• Keep to the left...

  Number of comments: 0
  and ring your bell
  
  Miles Kington, who died in 2008, wrote humorous columns for London's The Independent. A fine example is his Old country wisdom can put a spoke in your wheel which appeared in 1997. In it he reported what you could' [...]
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  Posted: May 21, 2009, 7:00am EDT
  

• Fun with photoshop!

  Number of comments: 0
  and some really
  cool fonts
  
  
  
  
  [...]
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  Posted: May 20, 2009, 11:06am EDT
  by Da' Square Wheelman,

• Full Moon Fiasco Ride!

  Number of comments: 0
  every full moon,
  never cancels
  
  
  The FBC-Chicago now has a monthly (or nearly monthly) ride--the Full Moon Fiasco. It is exactly what it sounds like, no hidden gimmicks. Come join 'em, drink some beer, ride a little, drink more beer, take some pictures to' [...]
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  Posted: May 13, 2009, 6:26am EDT
  

• Cup of Brown Joy

  Number of comments: 0
  possibly a new theme song
  for the tweed rides?
  
  Love a cup…. I would… ah, God yes!
  Ooh that is gorgeous. Yeah!
  
  I need a cup of the brown stuff, the shade of an acorn.
  Made warm by the same source that I take my cakes from.
  Using [...]
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  Posted: May 12, 2009, 11:19am EDT
  

• Ode a 3speed

  Number of comments: 1
  from
  an Englishman
  in NY
  
  [...]
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  Posted: May 11, 2009, 6:47am EDT
  

• Star Trek

  Number of comments: 0
  alternate
  trailer?
  
  
  NEW Star Trek trailer
  watch more funny videos [...]
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  Posted: May 10, 2009, 12:37pm EDT
  

• Don't mention the war...

  Number of comments: 0
  on Winston's next
  tweed ride!
  
  
  Based on the enthusiasm for Winston's Tweed Ride on 2 May, we hereby announce Winston's DMZV Tweed Ride.
  

  Leaving from Bialystok Pub @1pm, we'll make our way at a genteel, civilizing pace to the [...]
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  Posted: May 08, 2009, 12:50pm EDT
  

• We few, we happy few...

  Number of comments: 2
  we band of bikers!
  
  
  The 1st Annual Winston's Tweed Ride was a rousing success! Nearly 40 ladies and gents, fabulously kitted out, enjoyed our civil meander past and into some of Chicago's (in)famous speakeasies. More pix here, here, here, [...]
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  Posted: May 05, 2009, 10:34am EDT
  

• 3 days till Winston's Tweed Ride!

  Number of comments: 0
  & the tweed thing
  is taking off Down Under
  
  
  The Sydney Tweed Ride will be celebrating the Queen's Birthday on Sunday, 7 June 2009. Meet up at Sydney Town Hall, 483 George St., Sydney, NSW 2000, for the 8am - 9am start.' [...]
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  Posted: April 30, 2009, 8:59am EDT
  by Da' Square Wheelman,

• Stupidest bike lane

  Number of comments: 1
  part II
  
  [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: April 29, 2009, 6:20am EDT