Visited my friends Diane and Marco in Taos last week. Diane has a fucking brain tumor (more about that later) and there were many logistics in operation. But there was also plenty of beauty at which to marvel, and the whole New Mexico vibe to rock to: they talk about “personal transformation” there […]

Check out this bike that the friendly neighborhood crackhead sold me for $10. It has a totally homebrewed front end, solid rubber tires and humongous spokes. Vern thinks it was used to haul a wheelchair. What do you think?

Well, that didn’t take long.
Mere weeks ago I was proclaiming my love for gears and joking about “fixie freaks.” But one or two sentences in defense of fixed-gear riding from Alex, along with this passage from Sheldon Brown’s site, was all it took to convince me to convert the old Bianchi frame Jay gave […]

Lately I’ve been hearing a lot about “hipsters.” People argue much about what that word means, who it applies to, whether it holds any meaning at all, whether it’s an insult, or just a demographic, or…etc.
I ran across this article in the amazingly humorless magazine Adbusters (sorry dude. I am all for culture […]

This is Braley:

She works with me at Star. She helped organize and run the national bike polo tournament. She’s 20 years old. Last night she trued a wheel at the coffee shop, using her legs as a truing stand.
In a few days she’s leaving for five months on a student work Visa […]

One day in the 90s I was walking through the Loop when I noticed a big black dude sitting in a folding chair and scribbling on a huge piece of what looked like drywall board with magic markers. Upon closer scrutiny, he was “painting” a sweet sketch of the street scene in front of […]

1. Tote 50 pounds of bananas:

The best part was the look on the clerk’s face when I told her I didn’t need any bags.
2. Gather a few friends
(or in this case, a few Windy City Rollers)

My derby lovah and Co-President of UPWGSD, the Union of People Who Get Shit Done, Loco Chanel

My […]