one less car news

i took a break and fell asleep...but i'm still on time! (insert hushed "yes!" under my breath!)

this week Cole has a couple reviews for you- for everyone that doesn't like getting wet in the rain, he has O2 RainWear's 3-Flow Jacket and Pants. and EVERYONE reading this needs tires! Cole also reviews a pair of Kenda's Konstriktor tires!!!

enjoy!!! we're getting closer to our mini tour from chicago to midwest michigan and getting pretty excited- we'll keep you posted!

Being subscribed to a lot a bicycle blogs, I got inspired to update
ours with what I did on Sunday. I came up with plan Saturday night and
decided I would take a few pics and let you guys know how I spent my
Sunday.

Once a year in Chicago, we have this thing called Bike the Drive. The
local bicycle advocacy group gets the city to shut down one of
Chicago's largest roads and allows BICYCLES ONLY on it for a few
hours. It’s pretty cool because you never get a chance to ride on
Lakeshore Drive during the year unless you’re really fast and not
afraid of getting run over by speeding Beemers.

I decided to get up early (9:00 am- hey I was out late the night
before, working!) and ride my pedicab down to the park to see all the
vendors and bicycles. From there I rode up to the train station in
hopes of getting people who took the train into Chicago to see the
Chicago Blackhawks play the Detroit Red Wings, and then from there
over to the United Center to work the game.

I grabbed my cab, my peanut butter and chocolate bagel for breakfast,
and starteded my day. I rode down town to Grant park and right inside-
that’s big for me, because usually they kick us Pedi-cabers out of the
park- but today, what could they say!? I headed straight for the Clif
Bar tent- I figured I would sweet talk the girls working into giving a
bunch of the Mini Clif Bars by saying I had to work all day...I was
bummed to see that there were no Mini Clif bars this year. They were
cutting up regular ones into small pieces. Damn- seems the economy has
taken it's toll on everyone.

I surveyed the park looking for vendors to meet, and see about getting
some products to review on the site- but honestly was disappointed
that no major companies had a booth there. I mean, come on! SHRAM,
you're based in Chicago...I mean Schwinn was there last year. One of
the problems might have been when I checked on getting a booth for One
Less Car- their fee was $1300...ouch! To the bike federation's credit,
they offered to work something out with me, but I dropped the ball. I
sat in the park for awhile, talked to a few people when they asked
about my cab, and then decided it was time to work.

I rode up to the train station and parked outside amid the buses and
cabs- it was too hectic, so I moved off to the side and figured I
would catch people as they started to walk toward the United Center,
being easy to spot because they were all wearing Blackhawks jerseys!
To my surprise there were hardly any people heading to the game- I
mean a few here and there, and my offer of “20 bucks to the game”
wasn’t even acknowledged -even though it was at least a $30.00 ride! I
sat there for too long and decided to cut my losses and head closer to
the game and hope for few rides in. I stopped to say hi to a fellow
pedi-cabber and we got a double ride up! I got $15.00- not too bad. I
was heading back to see if I could get another ride when I was flagged
down by 4 people. I decided to take all 4- they piled in and away we
went. They gave me $15.00, so now I was up to $30.00. The game was
about to start.

I was hungry and wanted to watch it, so I headed home, locked up my
cab, grabbed a slice of pizza, and watched the Blackhawks totally fall
apart. Halfway through the third period I went back down to work. As
soon is a got there I got ride- $8.00. then another that I didn’t know
the street. He said it was only a few blocks and offered $10.00. I
knew better, but took it anyway and got screwed. I rode way too far
for $10.00. Luckily I got two more nice riders- one for $20.00 and one
for $25.00. I snagged one last ride almost to my house for $15.00.
Once again I should have asked for more, but in this economy you take
what you can get. After that I was done.

I parked my cab, went home, took some vitamins, and went over to my
girlfriends. So the day broke down like this: I rode maybe 15 miles
total. I made $108, and according to my heart rate monitor I burned
2240 calories.

So there you go- that’s what trying to make a living riding my bike looks like!

Cole

From Lake Cycling:

On Saturday May 30th, from 10am to 5pm, Lake Cycling Shoes will be holding its first ever Warehouse Sale, which will be open to the public. Lake has been a major manufacturer of cycling shoes since our development of the first, purpose-built MTB shoe back in 1982 and we have continued to offer products that speak to the racer as well as the everyday cyclist.
Early next month, we will be moving our warehouse from Evanston to Skokie and as a result, there are many styles of shoes and clothing that we would like to offer to the local cycling community at incredible prices. In short, the less we have to move the better. Items will include:

- MTB/SPD shoes: from race to everyday applications
- Road shoes in carbon and nylon soles including some Tri models
- Winter Boots in both SPD and Road soles
- Casual/Recreational styles for both clipless and platform/toe-clip pedals
- BMX/Freeride shoes
- Gloves; short/long finger and winter styles
- Jerseys, both short and long sleeve
- Jackets and Shells for wind or rain
- Gear Bags
- Flip Flops
- Good Times

The warehouse is located at 1315 Sherman Place (just east of the CTA/Metra tracks) right across the street from the Dempster purple line station. You’ll walk right out of the station and into the sale. Riders can cruise up Clark/Chicago ave. to Dempster and head west to the next street where you’ll turn North and right into the action. We hope to see you all there.

Ya hear that? Me Neither- It's the sound of no late bells ringing!!! On time... Word!

This week we've got the second review on IRO's Angus, the first of Torker's U-District, we take a good look at Bern's Brentwood Helmet, and a special toy review- Flick Trix's PK Ripper from SE Bikes- circa 1981! Check it!

We're working hard trying to get ready for our tour- My sleeping came from Kelty the other day- it's their Forecast model- and we've got a set of panniers coming from Arkel! I'll post pictures soon, and expect the reviews towards the middle of June!

Bronwen found this picture on the internet (stolen location unknown) the other day and we both thought it was funny...

o.k. -so i'm late. this has been a problem throughout my entire life. all through school, through jobs, whatever it is- no matter how hard i try to be on time it just doesn't happen. this would be one of those times... but we're all laid back, right? we're all still kool & the gang if ya know what i'm sayin... and if ya don't- just relax, sit back, and learn about a couple new products out on the market that you might want to know a little more about. this week, cole's got an intro review for YUBA's MUNDO bike and i've got a review up for BOOQ'S new TAIPAN PACK! both really rad... so i hope those perk your interest and you'll excuse my lateness...or late-nightness (i've always considered it to be the same day until i go to bed, which unfortunately doesn't work out so well on the rare occasion i pull an all-nighter...).

i'm really excited about the BRENTWOOD helmet that came from BERN today!!! you'll hear about that and much more very soon!!!

have a great night...or day. i'm going to bed.

goodnight-
brandon

I was totally excited when Fedex showed up today! I tore open the box
and pulled out what was soon to be (after some assembly) the Yuba
Mundo. I'll put it through its paces and let you all know what we
think. Hmmmmm... not what can I haul, but better yet, what can't i
haul!?!

Back again with a couple reviews this week- check them out!


Cole followed up with another Darn Tough sock review, and also reviews a Kryptonite NYC Evolution lock. Next week we've got a rad backpack from Booq, follow up reviews on some rad bikes, and more!

We are also printing on new shirts- come back tomorrow to find out more about that! oh yeah- you'll soon have more choices in shirt color too!

til tomorrow-

brandon
olc

I'd also like to take this opportunity to make a shout out to all the Wild Angles out there! Respect.