Spring 2014 was a very long wait through terrible winter months of record snowfall and now its time to really celebrate Spring!

Autumn with my Workcycles Transport

Hope your summer riding was great, let's hear it for Autumn, get out there and move some beer on those bikes!

Dutch Bike Co of Chicago

Thanks PJ for taking these great pictures!  While in the windy city on Wednesday we stopped at the Dutch Bike Co. and got a new helmet and stopped in to pay our respects.

So many crates, so little time!?

Found this awesome wood crate today in Holland at a farmer's market.  Asked Farmer Visser how much for a crate - ten bucks says he.  ten bucks it is!  But oh how I love my black wire basket.  Help me decide!  Please vote now!

Brother Terry, Father Dean

No these are not priests, they are my brother Terry and Father, Dean on my recent trip to Caro.  Thanks Terry for the great time riding bikes with you. I can be seen in the tan shirt.  Terry's cat can be seen in the milk crate.  Daughter Sophie can be seen petting Molly the cat.  

Store Bededag

Today in America it is Ride your Bike to Work Day. But in Denmark it is Store Bededag Holiday or "Great Day of Prayer" in Denmark. Since 1686 the Danes have consolidated all minor holy days following Easter into one single day off 4 weeks following Easter. Throughout the country there will be prayer, Bible reading, and most importantly, no automobiles allowed in Copenhagen. Bikes only - imagine how quiet that renders a huge city. Ride your bike to work today.

Bike to Work Week

This week is National Bike to Work Week, so in honor of a guy who started biking to work this year, here is a great picture he took on his route just this morning.  He cycles all the way in from the Rockford area, that's more miles in one day than I cycle all week long.  He's got some outstanding new gear, and ever since we found the locker room at work, which was like finding the cave of the Sleestaks on the Land of the Lost, pulling back doors and levers and false entrances and finally coming to the actual showers, he's able to spray off after getting to work.  You just have to remember to flip the sign on the shower door or a female sleestak might wander in.  Anyway, this week is way more fun with PJ on board, so thanks pal for making the office so bike friendly.

H.G. Wells

When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of the human race.  ~H.G. Wells

Wow, what a guy.  H.G. Wells was an avid cyclist.  If you get a chance to read The Wheels of Chance, you might enjoy a delightful literary journey through jolly old England, on a bike. 

Oh Canada!

One would think that snow and ice would deter our Canadian neighbors from cycling.  Just the opposite.  They are the most cycle friendly of all North Americans.  How ironic.  And the least friendly, the least likely to cycle?  That would be states in the less-than-snowy part of the continent. The warmer the weather, the less cycling.  Colder weather, more cycling.  It sounds crazy.  It sounds counter-intuitive.  It sounds unlogical. But the truth is the truth.  The truth can be nothing like you would imagine.  There are days when it is so crappy outside, that I don't want to cycle.  Those days are rare, and usually wet, and that is what the bus, or the car, is for.  But the other 300 days can be spent on a bike.  I heard today that you could save around $5,000 or more giving up that second car and gym membership.  You probably don't need an over priced gym membership if you bike daily.  There are so many ways to save money, save the planet, save our cities, save your health, and maybe even save your soul, in the process, by giving up a second car.

Outfitting your ride

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40qQAx0SAGE&feature=related

I love this youtube video because this guy is decked out with some of the same gear I have come to love - the fluorescent vest, head-mount mirror, etc.  You can tell that even though his bike is "rag tag" (his words not mine) he loves his ride.  That's the important thing - love your ride.

Speaking of love, how about the rain this week?  I love my rain pants!