one less car news

wednesday night reviews are here- check it out!

this week, we've got another bag from Minnehaha, the FU2- handlebars from Misfit Psycles, and some Darn Tough socks!!!

oh- by the way, have you heard the recession is over? good times are ahead.

and don't forget about the sale, it's almost over!

wow, two posts in one day... this time, the reviews are officially up! my neck is still pretty stiff, and my head is still a little sore, but i'm all good (i think!) and besides- i've got reviews to get up!!!

and i did- this week cole did reviews for IRD's dual banger mechanical front disc brake and also a rad pair of grips from Ergon, the gp1's...then we both wrote reviews for Sportique's get going cream.

next week i've got some bars from Misfit Psycles, another Minnehaha bag, Darn Tough socks, and i've also got a new backpack coming from Booq! It should be here tuesday, so the review won't be up for a couple weeks, but it's going to be featured on their website which totally stokes me out! I don't know what cole has up his sleeves, but i'm sure he's got something.

it's been an exciting day! kick back, grab a cold one (mine is coca cola tonight- straight, no chaser.), and enjoy the reviews.

see ya soon!

brandon

p.s. if you've got a gmail account follow our blog in the reader of your choice (ours is google's goggle reader...well, it's mine anyways and i'm pretty sure cole feels the same!) and keep up to date with all of our latest news and reviews... i'll also be posting some diy tips soon, so be on the lookout for that too!!!

gracias y buenas noches!

that's right- like i was saying late last night, the following five shirts are now on sale for a measly $15.00 each until may 1st, and after that they are being retired!

they are: black flag, cars kill, crank arm, man's ruin, and true 'til death. it's gonna be may 1st before you know it, so get 'em while you can!!!

i'm outta town at the moment and will post reviews when i get home tonight, so come back!

at approximately 1:00 P.M. this afternoon, i crashed. i tend to crash a lot- at least compared to everyone else i know. if someone's gonna crash, it's probably gonna be me.

it was one of those crashes that i didn't even see coming. gravity was against me. before i had the chance to even utter the words "not again!", i was flat on my back. the back of my SWRVE jacket got thrashed a little (which was a total bumout). stars were shining around my head like a cartoon from smacking the back of my unhelmeted head on the pavement. one more scrape, and a bigger lump to match.

i'm slowly reevaluating my feelings on helmets the older i get and the more i hit my head hard. even walking i'm guaranteed to hit my head at least once a day. guaranteed. seriously, we should get a pool started on if i hit my head every day or not- it's legal to gamble on the information super highway isn't it?

i'm also thinking i would love to review a helmet if any helmet manufacturers are reading...

because i had a bad gravity day, my head hurts, and consequently the usual late night wednesday reviews won't be up until tomorrow.

but as a bonus for the wait, we decided to do a little spring cleaning, and there's 5 more shirts that we're going to say goodbye to. they are good shirts, but retirement time has come, and sometimes you gotta get rid of the old before you can bring the new. those shirts are: true 'til death, under a black flag, man's ruin, cars kill, and our first user submitted design: the crank arm. as our way of saying goodbye, these five shirts will go on sale tomorrow (early afternoon est.) for $15.00 and continue to be available until the end of the month! but come may 1st, it's adios...so get 'em while you still can!!!

we are also discontinuing women's shirts for now, so please don't order them if the button is still up (i'm working on that tomorrow too!). instead, this summer, we are thinking of offering spaghetti strap shirts...how's that sound ladies? holla! let us know what you think!

we've also got some other changes coming soon, and new stuff in the works, so stay tuned and thanks for reading!

brandon
olc crew

04/15/2009
“The power of words”

College kid writes column warning cyclists he’ll run them over as he changes the playlist on his iPod because bikes don’t belong on the road.


Cyclists organize a Critical Mass ride in East Lansing.
Walk and Bike Lansing! includes the column and reaction on its task force meeting agenda this week.
Folks got educated, according to Jessica Yorko, program manager for Walk and Bike Lansing!

Many didn’t know the rules of the road before. Now they do. (For the record, bicycles are legally allowed on the road and not on the sidewalk on MSU’s campus; they are allowed on the roadway in Michigan except for highways and interstates or where marked; they are allowed on the sidewalk in Lansing, except where marked.)

As some of you know, Zack Colman is the author of a column that ran in the MSU student newspaper the State News, that generated a lot of heat. He advocated bicyclists ride on the sidewalk and off the roads “where you should not be.” The hottest trigger was likely his indication that he might run cyclists over with his Black 2001 Saturn SC2.

Zack says the strong reaction from avid cyclists has rattled him. He got death threats. He even filed a police report.
“I am sincerely sorry to have upset so many people and that my words got taken in the wrong way,” said Zack in phone interview Tuesday afternoon.

Here’s what Zack had to say about his column, the reaction from readers and his future:

B: Were you trying to rile people up?
Z: “I knew the way that I wrote the column would upset some people but did I expect people to send me death threats, clog my email with more than 400 emails? Did I expect people to find my cell phone and interrupt Seder dinner? No.”

B: How serious was the column?
Z: “It got misconstrued. It was never meant to be an attack. It was meant to be sarcasm….
If you're removed enough from the situation you can see the sarcasm. I didn't realize how big a problem angry motorists are in the community. I’m not an angry motorist. Maybe I took the sarcasm too far.”

B: Will you be writing a follow-up column?
Z: “We've decided it's best not have me comment on this any more.”

B: Do you own a bike?
Z: “I own a bicycle myself. I don't have it at school... I'm not a skilled enough cyclist. I don't feel comfortable riding here. Using hand signals is not natural to me.”

B: So what are you writing about next?
Z: “I’m planning on writing a column about Autism Awareness Month. My brother has Asperger’s Syndrome...I've tried to make every column hyper-localized: schedule changes to the academic calendar, restaurant changes in East Lansing. But this topic is very important to me… I don't want anyone to think it's a cop-out column in any way.”

B: What are your thoughts on the Critical Mass ride that was held as a direct result of your column last Friday?
Z: “I was driving down Division on Friday at the time the cyclists were in front of the State News I decided to turn left on Albert instead of going down Grand River... It shows you the power of words. It's good to see that people can get together for a cause.”

Thanks for the interview, Zack!

Zack is a junior at MSU, majoring in journalism and international relations. This is his fifth semester on the State News staff. He has covered the capital beat for this past election season and he’s covered football and hockey.

P.S. - the counterpoint author did get back to me, but I've run out of time and space for this post. So stay tuned!

Up this week we've got 3 bikes! An Electra, a Trek, and a Breezer Finesse! We've also got a Kryptonite Lock and a utility pannier from Minnehaha!

keep on rollin'

OLC

A few years back, I decided to make a living riding my bike. The first
thing I did was to start riding a pedicab. I called my business One
Less Car because at the time, I really was one less car. The logo I
made became the Classic sticker, and 1lesscar Clothing was born.

I still ride a pedicab. I do it for two reasons- the clothing line
alone is not enough to sustain the high class of life I'm used to, and
because I really like pedicabing. This year I'm lucky enough to be
part of the Roger Rickshaw team in Chicago. The owner asked me to come
aboard as manger and I'm really excited about it.

Roger Rickshaw is Chicago's biggest and oldest company. We have a
fleet of about 30 bikes. It's crazy to think that I started riding in
a small town in Michigan and now I'm managing Chicago's largest fleet!

So the quest to live on my bike continues, and thanks to my promotion
I can buy that Hummer I've been looking at


www.chicagorickshaw.com

Bicyclists need to stay on sidewalk
*Zack Colman*

Zack Colman

Black 2001 Saturn SC2. That’s the car I drive — and if you’re a bicyclist on the road but not in a bike path and you see my car, I hope you’re wearing a helmet, because I might run you over.

Maybe not intentionally.

But you see, with all these things I can do in my car nowadays, such as choose a different song on my iPod, send a text message while driving or fall asleep at the wheel because I had to wake up for a worthless 8 a.m. biology lab, I might not notice you.

And, considering you are where you should not be, I might hit you.

The simple fact of the matter is, MSU has so kindly provided sidewalks for people on foot and Rollerblades, and MSU’s ordinance should be revised to require bicyclists be there too. The university has outlined bike paths on certain roads, but bicyclists can’t just create imaginary bike paths like they do.

I cannot drive my car on the sidewalk, so why must you ride your bicycle where I drive?

Many of my friends ride bicycles on campus, so I’m not trying to berate a whole demographic of students. I appreciate bicyclists who advocate environmentalism, since they are making up for the damage I do with my car.

I respect bicyclists who use bicycles as a form of exercise, since people certainly can never get enough fitness in their everyday routines.

But for as much as I respect and appreciate bicyclists, I will not hesitate to honk at them when they are interfering with the roads.

My concern is not merely about inconvenience.

Bicyclists on the road are a driving hazard to people in automobiles, since many bicyclists make turns without using hand signals and ride too close to other vehicles when there is no designated bike path.

For example, I was driving to work Tuesday when a bicyclist pulled up in front of my car in the right lane on Farm Lane going northbound where it intersects with Shaw Lane. There is no bike path at this portion of the road, and I needed to be in the right lane to avoid the left turn only lane, but the bicyclist was in the way.

Instead, I had to speed ahead and veer away from the fast-approaching rear end of the car in front of me, just barely making it into the right lane.

Some will say I could be more patient on the road.

But roads are for cars, not bicyclists. The bicyclist should not have been in the car lane.

It’s possible some bicyclists are trying to live out their dreams of being Lance Armstrong, and the smooth terrain offered by the roads where big, people-killing cars are designed to travel on are more desirable than the sidewalk pavement.

I get it, bicyclists — you’re in the Tour de France. Well, in your head at least.

But in reality, my gas-guzzling, carbon footprint-leaving car is trying to get around you, the bicyclist. And you, the bicyclist, prefer to coast, not along the side of the lane but in the exact middle.

Maybe in your head you are actually driving a car. Maybe that’s why you believe you should be behind a pickup truck and in front of 15 other cars trying to pass you.

And maybe you are Armstrong, so talented and in shape and able to pedal so, so fast. But Armstrong’s average speed in the 2001 Tour de France was 24.9 mph, which is 0.1 mph less than most of the speed limits on and around campus.

Plus, I’ve had difficulty finding students who actually obey the speed limit anyway.

It’s common for motorists to drive at least 5 mph above the speed limit, which makes your task to out-pedal Lance Armstrong all the more daunting. And considering you’re not actually Armstrong (even if you do wear a skintight yellow bicycle uniform), you likely are not going 24.9 mph.

And, oh yeah, Armstrong is competing when he is bicycling — your leisurely ride through campus might not even register on a police radar.

But, hey, snap out of it. You’re not Lance Armstrong.

And those are the headlights of my black 2001 Saturn SC2 bearing down on you.

Zack Colman is the State News opinion writer. Reach him at colmanz1@msu.edu.

Published on Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Late for class and caught without a pass. It's 12:17 a.m. Thursday. Damn. My first time being late with The Wednesday Reviews. My Bad.

I just finished throwing the reviews together, so check it out!
This week we've got four rad reviews- more on the PBR Ringleader from TRAITOR Cycles, a jersey from Reverse Gear, the Ready to Pedal DVD, and a new site called World Commute.

it's that time of the week again- got some great stuff to tell you about this week!
check it out!

as promised, panniers from the ladies at Queen Bee Creations (Portland, OR) and the gentlemen at Arkel OD (Canada). another sweet rack from Old Man Mountain, and ladies, this one's for you- one more Sportique product to round out the week...their Rise and Shine Lipgloss!

see ya on the road-
your friends at one less car!