The Amazing Return of the Friday Linkdump series!

Howdy everyone. Today's linkdump is all specific posts that I enjoy from blogs I read regularly.

Dave Moulton's Blog - "Simpler Times"

You know how much honking would go on now? 

I quite often think I was born in the wrong time. This post is full of photos taken of the streets of Dublin Ireland in 1961. Any time before 1973 seems super exotic to me. Dave also talks about the way cyclists interact with traffic, then and now.

Biking In Dallas - "Wheels that Heal"

You can almost smell the hippies. 

Toni, the organizer of the Wheels That Heal benefit, wrote about the results of the party. I get a shoutout.


Pedestrian! Two points! "A Little Katy Trail Etiquette"

On your left! 

The title is pretty self explanatory. After a weekend ride down the Katy with Hubbard, I second a lot of her thoughts here. Plano trails are pretty deserted compared to the Katy.

3 Speed Touring In Japan "Return To Sado part 7"

Narrow streets of a historic Japanese village. 

I love Japan, and plan to do a bicycle tour of the country when I make a little money (click those ads, folks!). Don is the mechanic and manager of a bicycle shop in Japan, and this post has some photos from a historic town he visited on a bicycle tour of the coast - I chose part 7, but really you should look at each part.

Fuji Otaku "The Phoenix Project - Nitto M12 Front Rack".

The Phoenix Project

This guy is building an awesome bike from selling some nice parts on eBay. I chose this entry because of his rating system, but the whole series is worth a look - this guy has mad skills, both literary and mechanical, and a $4k old bike. This, like the bloggipede, is an example of the value and versatility of a quality old bicycle frame.

See you next week with more fresh content. Thankfully I finished my licensing stuff, and will not have that extra pull on my oh so valuable time.

Inaugural Linkdump 2012!

As usual, I have been saving links for you to peruse today.

Brooks saddles aren't just for fops.

Switching Gears have hats that might be.

Wear this under your fop clothes for comfort.

Drink this for even more comfort under those clothes. 

And put it in one of these to affirm your fopness.

Have a great weekend. As usual, big things are coming. I will be posting another nude photo on Monday when I do my weight loss check in, and in fact I'm trying to work up a deal to work out with a personal  trainer and use some special equipment both with him and at home to take my transformation to the next level. This weight loss thing might get interesting after all.

Wish I could just Photoshop the flab away! 

An Official Notice and Linkdump

As I have been intimating, I will be going on a bit of a sabbatical from this blog in order to "find myself" in the mountains of Tibet. I plan to drink nothing but Yak-nog and eat Tibetian khapse cookies until my spirit animal contacts me via text message, or until I grow tired of khapse cookies, whichever comes first.

In the meantime, I understand that most of you will be celebrating some holiday or another, so I wish you a happy one. Once found, I will return to post here on December 27th. 

Here are some links you might enjoy.

Learn About Components

Learn About General Things

Learn About Old Bikes

Shop and Read

Read and Shop

Friday Linkdump - Amazon Edition, Complete With Giveaway.

I'm going to keep the "linkdump" feature going for as long as I can while making it kind of interesting. I'm planning to come in strong for next week as well, and fill your face with my computer words every day until Thursday the 15th, when I must go underground to avoid the alien invasion. If that whole thing turns out to be a hoax, then I will resume posting on the 27th of December, and rocket us into the end of the year with some year end roundup stuff, resolutions, and a NYE ride in to work.

IF we all survive. 

In the meantime, here are some books that I will be taking into the bunker with me. The majority are bike related, but all are great books. 

Major Taylor: The Extraordinary Career of a Championship Bicycle Racer I got this for Christmas last year, and I enjoyed it a lot. Major Taylor was the first black World Champion of anything, and he was an interesting individual to boot. Unfortunately after he retired he hit some snags and ended up dying a pauper at the age of 53. This is a great read. I thought I wrote a full article review, but I can't find it. 

Ballad Of The Whiskey Robber: A True Story Of Bank Heists, Ice Hockey, Transylvanian Pelt Smuggling, Moonlighting Detectives, And Broken Hearts. This is another great book that my wife gave me. It's not bicycle related, but it is sports related, so I'm going to give myself a pass in order to recommend a great book you may have never heard of. BOTWR:ATSOBHIHTPSMDABH is the incredible true story of Attila Ambrus, a Transylvanian professional hockey player who takes up robbing post offices to make ends meet. It's an incredible true story, and a great book.  

Escape Artist I'm torn on this book; one the one hand, I like it, and enjoyed reading it. On the other hand, there are some things about the book that bother me; his relationship with his suddenly dying wife seems to be very secondary to the cycling aspect of the story, though I think that he meant it to mean more. I am going to read it again and see if I can get a different perspective, since I posted it here. The writing is good, and the basic story is ok, but some aspects are a bit underdeveloped, like my legs. 

Zen And The Art Of Motorcycle Maintenance; An Inquiry Into Values. This one is also not bicycle related, but it is two wheel related, so I'm again going to give myself a pass.  I'm still not so zen as I'd like to be, but this is my problem, not the book. I first read this when I was in my late teens; one of my mother's co-workers gave me a hardcover copy on my 16th birthday. I remember he being a groovy older lady, though I've forgotten her name. I've read this book at least ten times, and I always come away with something new. This is a paperback copy that I bought to take on a motorcycle trip. 

French Revolutions:Cycling the Tour De France. I know I said I was going to reread "Escape Artist", but I think I'll probably reread this book first, after I finish the Civil War trilogy I'm reading. This book is a nice light sorbet for your brain. It's the travelogue of a guy who decides to cycle the route of the Tour De France a few weeks before the pros, and it's an interesting tour of France, the race, and people. He's a good writer (unlike myself) and the book is pretty funny. He's able to capture the unique character of all of the people he meets, and makes the reader feel as if they are riding along on the adventure.

There are my links for this week and please, if you have any good bike book recommendations, throw them in the comments. I mentioned a giveaway in the blog title, and here it is; if you would like to read "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance", I will mail you the copy above. I didn't realize that I had two copies of the book until I started pulling stuff of the shelves for this article, and I don't need both. The first person to post "I want it" on the comments will win this copy - I'll even autograph it if you want. The only rule is that if you have already read it, please let someone who hasn't claim it. I'm guessing that no one will claim it at all, but we shall see. 

Friday Linkdump - Play At Home Version

Today I'm going to make one post with links to all of the companies that have sent me stuff to review. If you want to order the same stuff so you can review along with me, then click through.

1. Uberhood Bicycle Umbrella. As I type this, the rain is coming down, so you can expect a follow up article in heavier rain soon.

2. NuVinci N360 hub. This is installed, so be prepared to read about it next week.

3. Monkeylectric Bike Light. This is flat out cool, and looks like fun and practicality rolled into one.

4. Bikecharge bike generator. This looks like a great alternative to a generator hub for a commuter.

5. Bikeconsole iPhone mount. I loved having my 3G on the handlebars, but hated that it was unprotected. The Bikemount actually comes with an incredible case as a part of the setup.

6. Aero Tech clothing has sent me a couple of different made in USA bibs. I am debating taking photos of myself in said bibs for the article. I'm leaning towards "no".

7. Chrome shoes has sent me some of their Kursk SPD shoes to give a run. I was hoping to compare a couple of different brands, but no one else seems to be interested.

8. Octopus Caps is sending me a winter cap to try out and report on. I am a cycling cap guy, and have several that I wear in the summer - but in the winter, they do not keep my head warm. I have one of those neoprene skull caps, but I feel like a brain patient when I wear it. Plus, my ears get cold.

As you see, I have my work cut out for me. Some of these reviews will "drop" prior to my Chrimble vacation, and some after.

Friday Linkdump and Grab Bag of Thoughts.

Friday arrives and finds me with much work on my desk at my regular job - and a new blog post going up on that site, if you are inclined to read it. Also, today finds me meeting with someone with an awesome name (Rob Sherlock) to pick up the NuVinci hubbed wheel. As such I haven't had time to come up with a really adequate post today. Some might argue that I have never come up with an adequate post, but that is a different discussion.

I am working on putting together a "shoetout" for the blog here, and have gotten a good response from Chrome so far, and am in talks with Keen and DZR to try to get a few different models into the PC offices to check out and show you all. I'll report back to you as soon as I get all of the details hammered out.

I should be getting my Monkeylight and my Urban 180 in soon, as well as my TiGRA generator light, so I am guessing that the last week of November/first week of December will be a rich one in terms of content. As long as we are discussing November, I will mention that I am taking the week of Lincoln's holiday off from blogging. I may post some small stuff if the mood strikes me, but I will primarily stay away from the Blogger dashboard all next week, returning with a fresh post on the 28th of November. I plan to build the Bloggipide up with the NuVinci during the time I am not posting here.

For today I'm going to do a link dump again; these are websites that I read, but don't check regularly.

Mama Bicycle is a blog from Japan about family bicycling. The Mama bicycle is the ultimate child hauler, and I wish they were available in the US. I used to live in Japan and this blog takes me back when I look at the photos. Well worth a peek.

Querencia Bike Shop. I know that I said Rob Sherlock has a great name, but the guy that started the Querencia collective in Denton actually has the greatest name ever; Remington Pohlmeyer. I sold Remington a bike trailer (and donated a bunch of parts to the cause) when he was starting out a few years ago. I have followed Querencia's progress from afar, and am pleased that they have their own building and are an important part of the bike community in Denton. Of course, my trailer was the key to it all.

Remington Pohlmeyer - epic name, epic beard. 

Pedestrian - Two Points!  This is another local (Dallas) blogger
who does lots of urban riding/writing. I enjoy her posts and encourage you to follow her blog. I've been meaning to add it to my blog roll on the right there, but haven't until this post. If you look over, she is there now.

Suburban Assault.  I love the name of this blog, and I check it every Wednesday for bike photos.

3rensho is a blog full of ridiculously beautiful bikes. Very inspirational.

That's it for today, have a great a great Thanksgiving, and I look forward to obsessively checking my stats again on Monday the 28th

Linkdump!

Once again, I am blogging at my "Pro" gig, so I am short on time here. I have been working on my final "Why I ride to fight cancer" post, but for today, I have to talk about PIP auto insurance. Sorry, but that means you guys get a little less of me today.

Is it good or bad to have less of me? The twelve of you who read will have to decide among yourselves.

Obviously, one doesn't come to blogging skillz like this without reading other blogs and stealing where it is appropriate. This list doesn't represent the entire list of blogs that I read, but it's a good portion.

I'll start with Bikesnob - his blog is the only one I check every day (aside from this one) and he is THE bike blogger. Funny, insightful, and more than a little absurd. I'm a big fan.

I'm on the "masthead" of Biking in Dallas, and check in there once a week or so. I haven't written anything for them in a while, but I have a kickass new speedometer that might just be appropriate for the site. Stay tuned.

Bike Friendly Richardson is a site I check in with weekly - David is a great writer, and he is all over the city on his bike, advocating for us cyclists. His Flikr accounts are also very worthwhile.

I do still check in with the Fat Cyclist now and again, but he does lots of running now, which leaves me cold. He is a fundraiser par excellence, and supports Livestrong with a lot of passion, but anytime he is writing about being in a marathon, I am out.

I check in with the Rat Trap Press occasionally, and have found some great deals thanks to his blog; he posted a link to some cycling luggage at a steep discount once, and for that I am forever thankful.

Dave Moulton was a custom framebuilder both in England and America, since retired, and his blog is great. His stories about the old days in cycling as well as his perspective on cycling issues today are both great reasons to spend some time on his blog.

Finally, I love the blog DFW Point to Point. Steve is a great writer, a hardcore commuter, and apparently some kind of physicist, because his blog often involves maths, diagrams, and equations.

There are some other blogs in my wheelhouse, but none are regular visits like these. I'm off to blog about Dallas Auto Insurance for the rest of the day, so feel free to check in over there if you can't handle not having my words in your eyes.

Once again, thanks to everyone who donated to my fundraising efforts - I really do appreciate it, and want to remind you that the time to donate to my cancer fundraiser is not over.

Comfortable cruising