Author Archives: Christopher

Twenty-five years ago three bicyclists set out to cross America on bicycles. Starting in Buffalo, NY they got all the way to Texas when disaster struck, or rather a truck struck and hospitalized two of the three riders. Now, twenty-five years later they are finishing what they started and riding across America again starting at the same hospital where they were forced to end the trip the last time.

They will be passing through Albany tomorrow Aug. 18th which there will be a press event in Washington park at the Henry Johnson Blvd entrance at 3:00pm. Come and see the three men who never gave up on their dream.

For more information you can read the original article here.

Written by Chris Belsole

Few events actually shake the fabric of LA. As the Daily Show suggests, if drought, fires, and earthquakes won’t do it closing down a small section of highway will.

JetBlue Airlines thought to get some publicity out of this and is offering flights to from one airport in LA to another for just four dollars. This 3 mile flight will take 45 minuets they say. Not to be outdone a cyclist said that he could beat them to their destination. Never let it be said that bicycle riders are pessimists.

In other news Casey Schreiner, host of the web show “The MMO Report” and G4 TV personality, Is also affected by the cartastrophy. He has the greatest quote in a recent episode, “Hello and welcome to the MMO Report, one of the few places that does not care if they close the 405 or not. Suck it drivers, I have a bike.”

Written by Chris Belsole

Oh LovelyBicycle!, how beautiful your pictures are, how insightful your articles are, and how often you get me thinking. What does commuting mean to me?

When I first started back over a year ago it was all numbers. Three dollars a day. That is how much I would be saving on bus fees if I rode my bicycle. Fifty dollars a week. That’s how much I would be paying for gas if I had a car, if not more. That was before I learned to love.

It all started with my Trek. You see, before that I was riding a beater bike that had not been properly maintained and had been sitting in my garage for years. Comparatively riding my Trek was like riding on air, much how my Masi is now, so little effort, so much speed.

Then came the Albany Bicycle Coalition, a group of people who I first thought were tree hugging hippies, no offence, but I have now come to understand that they, I, are passionate which is something that often gets confused with fanaticism. I still remember my first group ride. It ended with Lorenz and I talking and riding up Western Ave. He not knowing who I was or how long I’d be around for, I the same.

It was ABC that introduced me to the Albany Bike Rescue. It was much more disorganized back then, but still able to get much accomplished thanks to the great men and women that worked there. The first time I came in was for a routine, foreign to me at that time, chain cleaning and regressing. It was Dakota, young Dakota for lack of a better adjective, that helped me. I know now that what I’d come in with was trivial, and I was probably wasting his time, or giving him a much needed respite. I can’t recall. What I can recall is that I loved what they were doing. Helping people fix bikes so that they would become more knowledgeable themselves. I had to be a part of that.

Where am I going with this? Bike commuting means so much. If it wasn’t for riding to work I would have never met Lorenz and the rest of the amazing people at ABC. If it wasn’t for ABC I wouldn’t have known the joy that comes from helping a child get his first bike at ABR. The dominoes of life are ever falling and missing that crucial piece might mean that I wouldn’t be talking to you today. Thank you LovelyBicycle! for helping me remember.

Written by Chris Belsole

Summer is here again. Time to get those shorts out because the temperature is rising and people are flocking into the world that winter kept so isolated. The London Cyclist blog has a great article on summer clothing so I won’t replete them in hopes of looking more professional. I will however share a tip I was given by a thrifty friend of mine who does triathlons and is used to buying cycling apparel.

Ebay, but not just Ebay. There is a specific shop called LOVE2PEDAL. This is where I bought my cycling shorts, I am actually wearing them right now, for $9.95 plus $5 shipping, but if you buy a bunch of stuff you can group it all together. What you do is you make the minimum bid whenever you can. If you don’t win don’t worry. They replace the items every day so a new chance to claim your items will happen often. They are not the greatest bike shorts, but at $15 dollars a pair, if you don’t save on the shipping, they are a steal, and with an unbroken Brooks saddle they are a must.

Drink plenty of water. Happy riding.

Written by Chris Belsole

I am not a brave person. I ride the Washington Ave. Extension, but that’s because I follow the rules of the road and am comforted by the hope that drivers do as well. Maybe it is more correct to say that I don’t take unnecessary risks.

What brought me to this though was a timely article that I read from the London Cyclists about saddles and being comfortable. Today was my first day riding with my brooks, as mentioned in the article, and under my shorts I sport my cycling shorts in all of their padded glory. You see, with a leather saddle there is a “breaking in” period in which the leather is hard as a rock. After losing 130 lbs. and quite a bit of cushioning down there my bones are left baron and therefore the shorts in all of their padded glory.

I’ll probably come out with an article in a month of how the breaking in process is going, but for now I’ll keep my shorts snug and my bike upright.

What do you sit on?

Written by Chris Belsole