| Cyclists get back to basics: Fixed-gear bicycle riders take simplicity ...
Some ride them to train, some ride them for the thrill and some ride them just for the bragging rights, but whatever the reason, many local cyclists are ditching their derailleurs to ride fixed-gear bicycles. Fixed-gear bikes, or "fixies," are as basic as a bike gets -- a frame, two wheels, one gear and often times, no brakes. The defining feature of a fixie is its lack of a freewheel, the mechanism that allows the rider of a normal bike to stop pedaling and coast. On a fixed-gear, there is no such thing as coasting. The chain of a fixed-gear directly connects the pedals to the back wheel. So if the wheel is moving, so are the pedals. And for fixed-gear riders, this is both the allure and the advantage. "It's a different style of riding," said Winston Sauber, a Humboldt State University student who rides a fixed-gear to and from classes every day.
Bike-theft suspect hangs self in hospital
A Longview man who faced multiple charges for allegedly stealing a string of expensive bicycles throughout the Northwest killed himself Saturday morning in a Longview psychiatric hospital where he'd been admitted after two previous suicide attempts. Jacob J. Bos, a 35-year-old podiatrist, was the subject of a Page 1 story Friday in The Seattle Times. Longview police spokeswoman Deborah Johnson said Bos committed suicide at St. John Medical Center in Longview at 6 a.m. Bos hung himself with a belt in a hospital bathroom, according to Dr. Richard Kirkpatrick, who owns the clinic where Bos worked. Bos had pleaded not guilty in Cowlitz County Superior Court to 12 counts of possessing or selling stolen bikes. Seattle police arrested him last month after they traced him through DNA on a coffee cup left at a Fremont bicycle shop, where he'd allegedly stolen a $6,800 bike, and on another occasion, a $5,500 bike.
A Personal Rememberance by John Allen, League Board Member
In 1972, I was halfway home with a flat tire and walked into a bike shop that was just closing. Sheldon stayed late to fix it. That's how I first met him. There were 46 bicycles in or around his house "with a few shared wheels", by his recent count, mostly in his basement. He didn't buy bicycles off the shelf -- as a challenge to his mechanical ingenuity, and a way to spend less money and spend more time doing what he liked to do, he cobbled up customized bicycles from parts he acquired mostly through special deals, barter or secondhand, to suit himself or someone in his family. He often came up with a something unique, clever and useful. You may read about his bicycles on his Web site. He had an eye for style, but also, one or two rusty clunkers hung out by the back door getting rustier, for the quick ride to the convenience store, and several old hulks of bikes lived under the front porch.
Viktor Schreckengost (1906 - 2008) Career Produced an Elegant Design ...
Melding Bauhaus functionalism and an American sensibility, Viktor Schreckengost pioneered industrial design for products from toys to dinnerware. Mr. Schreckengost lacked self-promotional drive, yet managed to make himself a presence in most households by the sheer quantity and variety of products he designed. Flashlights and riding mowers, bicycles and fire-engine pedal cars for children all flowed from his drafting table. He once told an interviewer, "If we sold 400,000 of something, I felt I was on the right track." .
The changing cycle
India may be the second largest producer of bicycles in the world but precious little has been done to promote the cause of cycling in the country. Shveta Pathak reports that the cycle industry is today churning out beauties that could easily make a style statement but the road ahead is rough for the two-wheeled bikes. And, the status-conscious still refuse to adopt them as a mode of transport. DO you remember the tinkle of the bell as daakiya Rajesh Khanna delivers the post in the song Daakiya daak laya? Or, the very urbane Aamir Khan making your breath stop for a while as he competes for the famous race in Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikander? If you do, you mustnt have forgotten the spirit lent to these moments by the good old bicycle. India is the largest cycle manufacturer in the world after China.
Mayor nabs alleged burglar with bare hands
OGDEN, Utah, Oct. 24 The mayor of Ogden, Utah, is clearly not one to be trifled with if his capture of a suspected burglar on Wednesday is any indication.
Ogden Mayor Matthew Godfrey told the Deseret Morning News that when he heard a noise just outside his house early in the morning, he immediately leaped into action and eventually captured a suspect with his bare hands.
"We heard somebody trying to come in our side door, so I jumped out of bed and tried to see who it was," Godfrey said. "Then I heard somebody at the back door."
After checking on his family members, the mayor allegedly saw someone leaving his shed with one of his family's bicycles and reacted.
"I just ran right the side doors and he was heading across the front lawn riding a bike of ours," he said.
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