Wednesday Video Roundup: Andorra, DIY bike storage, and Bono

https://vimeo.com/146133783

Welcome to today’s post-Thanksgiving video roundup! Today we’re starting with video from downhiller/4Xer Katy Curd. Lean back and enjoy a video without music or overediting.

Quality storytelling about regular people who ride bikes is something we need more of. This video from Wheeled Pedestrian is powerful in its simplicity.

SSCXWC, which is the singlespeed cross races, is basically a confusing party. The “day 2” video was on here before, but now we have the actual racing day footage. Plenty of odd costumes, odd bikes, and even odder riders. I understand this will be in Portland next year. (Note: some colorful language. What do you expect from SSCXWC?)

Don’t have much space but want to store your bike(s) for the winter? Here’s a DIY version to put it flat against the ceiling. I’ve installed four of these in garages that had plenty of height (or a lack of car).

Michael Anderson came across this topic. They aren’t fresh, but it’s an interesting thing: dredging the Amsterdam Canals and finding piles of bikes. Why are there so many bikes in the canal? I can only come up with a few scenarios. Here’s a longer version of the video.

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Ride a bike with U2’s Bono (not some other Bono) for charity. In Central Park. Where he crashed. Tandems are worse than IKEA. As he says, “I’ll tell you what it’s like to suffer a facial fracture involving the orbital of your eye and having your elbow redone in titanium AND enduring the torture of 18 months of physical therapy with a satanic German physio. Good times!”

Danny MacAskill’s 80’s hair metal themed trials video is out. Action starts around 2:10.

Andorra’s climate is mild. Watch this new Col Collective video and dream.

Honorable mentions: BMXing through NYC (dangerous, bad camera angle), GCN’s winter training howto, how to whip your bike while jumping, GCN’s five most expensive bikes in the world, and Cranksgiving in Los Angeles.

Inclusion criteria: If I’ve missed something, post it in the comments! I’m trying to only include videos published in the last week or so. Note if there’s a specific point in a long video that is worth highlighting. Also note if there is colorful language. When it gets to spring, I will delay videos containing pro racing spoilers.

– Ted Timmons, @tedder42

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abomb
abomb
8 years ago

Katy, don’t ride your bike in the mud. You just killed a whole school of salmon.

Granpa
Granpa
8 years ago
Reply to  abomb

That is a hilarious comment. Jokes about killing endangered species never gets old. It is also a proven way to make friends and influence people.

Zimmerman
Zimmerman
8 years ago
Reply to  Granpa

Or, maybe reasonable people get the joke and don’t spend their energy being constantly offended.

Granpa
Granpa
8 years ago
Reply to  Zimmerman

…so the judge says “Ole, I’ve often wondered, what does loon taste like anyway” Ole replies “sorta like California Condor”…..

As humanity drives the earth’s biosphere into the 6th extinction it is not unreasonable to value the diversity of life on earth and try to be the voice for life that can’t speak for itself. Yes it is exhausting to watch my species sweep biodiversity into the history books. And yes it is offensive to make light of a very serious subject about which informed, educated and passionate people care deeply about. It is just not funny. For Mt. bikers to laugh at the values of these people they align themselves with the enemies of these values.

Chris I
Chris I
8 years ago
Reply to  Granpa

You’ve completely misinterpreted his comment. We all know that mountain biking does not endanger salmon, and nearly all of us care about salmon health. That’s why we ride bikes for recreation, and not ATVs or motorcycles. That’s why we want places where we can ride locally, rather than drive for an hour, spewing CO2 emissions.

Don’t be offended by his joke. The joke is directed at those that use the threatened salmon to further their personal goals on our local trails.

Zimmerman
Zimmerman
8 years ago
Reply to  Granpa

You do grasp why the mountain bike community is making these jokes right? It’s not because we want to kill endangered species. It’s because arguments like “the salmon issue” we’re trotted out as scientific fact to prevent us from riding bicycles at Riverview. Where’s the proof that the trails there impact salmon habitat? There’s is none, it’s nonsense, just like the jokes mocking it. Using something as sacred as environmental stewardship to prevent an activity that hasn’t been shown to have an impact on an endangered species to curtail bicycle riding in the woods should be what really offends you. It trivializes your cause.

Zimmerman
Zimmerman
8 years ago
Reply to  Zimmerman

Ugh, smartphone typo city: my apologies.

Granpa
Granpa
8 years ago
Reply to  Zimmerman

The comment mocks environmental stewardship. This is a topic that needs support, not mockery. The “joke” is not funny.

Club sandwiches, not seals

Zimmerman
Zimmerman
8 years ago
Reply to  Granpa

One pound of meat requires between 70 & 2500 gallons of water to produce. Club sandwiches offend my sense of environmental stewardship.

jered
jered
8 years ago
Reply to  Zimmerman

ZING – FTW!!

BTW my bike is fair trade shade grown dolphin safe organic and kitten friendly and I never ride it on any surface that has been shown to harm the environment

soren
8 years ago
Reply to  Zimmerman

But your tires are not vegan!!!!!!1!!!!

Granpa
Granpa
8 years ago
Reply to  Zimmerman

I suppose I’m being a bit of a prig on this. I did get the irony/sarcasm in the comment. I was finger nails on a blackboard to me. It is an issue I am passionate about (but not quite perfect in practice). Considering I am basically on the side of biking and support access to natural areas for responsible bikers, consider how anti-Mt. bike activists could be taking the comment.

Chris I
Chris I
8 years ago
Reply to  abomb

Don’t let the people opposed to trail riding in Portland get their hands on that video. It’s going to be all over their websites as an “example of mountain biking in Portland”.

spencer
spencer
8 years ago

Awesome 1st video. I’d like to point out for Portland folk that the trail pictured is NOT a shared use trail, its NOT open to pedestrians nor horses. So while an awesome video, its not representative of the trails that METRO is building in the Tualatin mountains. There is no danger of the proverbial “scary mountain bikers trying to maim hikers” events happening on that trail, because its use specific. Shared trails have slower speeds, and decreased elevation change.
Also of note, the rider rides through puddles rather than hiking around them (creating a larger bog ie Wildwood Trail right this instant).

Dave
Dave
8 years ago

Andorra is beautiful–and probably takes a pro like Dan Martin about half an hour to ride across the whole country!

B. Carfree
B. Carfree
8 years ago

That was a lovely collection of videos. Thank you very much.

I know the “tandems are worse than Ikea” video was all tongue in cheek, but far too many people think exactly what the male said. This myth that the stronger rider should ride captain has really held back tandems, imo.

My partner, all 5′ 6″ 130# of her, has ridden captain on our tandems since 1988 while I ride stoker at 6′ 2″ 185#. This arrangement lets both of us see the road and scenery (very useful on those many long rides in the hills amongst the deer, elk, bears, cougars, bobcats, turkeys, pheasant and such. It also allows the stoker to control the shifting (much better shifting performance with shorter cables) and the drag brake, which makes the job of the captain a lot easier and brings more teamwork to the ride.

Someone’s bound to chime in about this arrangement somehow being slower. I wonder how many watts they lose every time their tiny stoker gets whacked by a pothole the captain didn’t call out. We don’t have those issues and as a result we have ridden double centuries in under eight hours, though we are a bit slower now in our old age.

Pedal on, twogether.

tedder
8 years ago
Reply to  B. Carfree

I’m a total fan of tandems. When the WCWC tandem passes you (blind stoker, seeing captain) and it’s all you can do to catch their draft, it’s hard not to love them.

I’d love to ride a tandem with Dr Mz Tedder. Or anyone else, for that matter.

Pete
Pete
8 years ago
Reply to  B. Carfree

My wife and I rented a tandem on Cape Cod to ride the trail. I had no tandem experience and wanted her to be captain (she rode lots with an ex), but she insisted on being stoker. I think getting neckrubs and backrubs most of the way was her plot to sucker me into buying one…

Harald
8 years ago
Reply to  B. Carfree

What kind of tandem are you riding? I don’t think I’ve ever seen a small-captain–tall-stoker frame. But it sure sounds appealing.

James Edward Hat
James Edward Hat
8 years ago

who else was thinking one of those roadies was going to ride that loop just because you saw MacAskill right before.