one less car news

today is the last day of the end of the year sale & the last day to get a hoodie!!! take advantage before the year is over...or i wake up tomorrow- whichever happens first!

While bikes seem good, in theory they're kinda tricky.

Sure- the bike lanes keep you out of traffic, but it also puts you square in the dooring lane. Not to mention the dive bombing cabs, delivery trucks, plus the *holier than thou* Mercedes driver parking in it "really quick" to get his dry cleaning.

My approach to bike lanes is to ride almost on the left white line.

Sure, I'm closer to traffic, but I feel drivers have to see you while the person opening their door doesn't ever see you coming.

I'm constantly scanning the parked cars. I'm looking for a head in the car- movement of any kind. If there is a person in there, there's a pretty good chance they are going to get out. I'm also looking for brake & reverse lights as an indicator. People are getting ready to pull out of their parking spot.

These are just a few tricks I've found.

I'm interested in seeing if anyone has any other ways of dealing with bike lanes and the streets in general.

-Cole

Hope everyone is having a great holiday season! We are, so we thought "Let's share our happiness!"...so we decided to have another sale and drop prices one last time before the end of the year!

All t-shirts only $15.00!!! No limit...take advantage while you can!

-Your friends @ One Less Car

Thanks to everyone who took part in our 12 Days of Christmas sale!

This week in reviews, Cole takes a last look at Breezer's Finesse...The Breezer Finesse has been sent back and now its time for a final look at this bike. To me, this bike is a high-end commuter. This bike looks nice and rides even better. Read more...

I got a nice care package from our friends at Peace Coffee- They sent along a lb. of their Snow shoe Brew, a rad shirt, and a pretty rad pair of socks- I'll tell you more about that next week...with pics! (my batteries dead right now...my bad.)

But that will give all of you coffee lovers something to look forward to next week!

Til then- Stay warm and have a merry Christmas, a happy Kwanzaa, a happy Hanukkah, a wonderful Festivus...all that!

Cole & Brandon

The basic theory is this: At a stop light there is a pretty good chance that a ca

r is in the right lane to turn right, and will do so without looking to see if there is bicyclist along side of them- and in doing so performs what is referred to as the right hook.

Now there are a lot more situations were this applies. Let's say a car is stopped as you approach. If you pass on the right they could be letting out a passenger, and if so, you're getting doored!

photo courtesy of buff

Passing on the left works because most likely the driver is not going to stop in the road and leave their vehicle sitting there- unmanned... although people in the city are pretty nuts.

With taxies this is especially important! They have a sign inside cabs that says: people exit on curb side of car. So if you see a taxi, stop. There's a pretty good chance there's going to be some getting in or out on the right hand side of the car.

The biggest risk with passing on right is oncoming traffic, but you do (most of you...) always have brakes, and if it means you have to stop and wait for traffic to clear, then go around! It's better than spending the day and $10,000 in the emergency room.

I know it seems to go against what your body is saying is safe out there, but it really is the safer ways to do things.

Stay safe out there!

-Cole

Check it out: http://www.chicagoreader.com/TheBlog/archives/2009/12/04/gifts-for-cyclists

Really- it is!

Just a quick note to say thanks to everyone who helped make our first 12 Days of Christmas Super Sale a success!!!

All orders have been shipped, and if you haven't received it yet you will very soon!

So a big thanks to all of you and everyone else, and we hope you have a Happy/Merry Festivus/Hanukkah/Christmas/Feliz Navidad/(Insert your religious preference's holiday here)!!!

We've got a bunch of rad things in the works for 2010- but we'll be back before then! Stay tuned...

Cole & Brandon
One Less Car | http://www.1lesscar.com

That's right-
We've decided to let everyone (that means YOU!!!) in on our Last Day of Christmas Sale!!!

Today only, all shirts are only... wait for it...

...wait for it...

ONLY $10!!!

You pick the shirt(s) you want, as many as you want, for $10 each.

It's that simple!!!

Go here to access the page- it will be gone in 24 hours!!!
http://www.1lesscar.com/12days01.html

Thanks and happy holidays!!!

Cole & Brandon-
One Less Car

Just a reminder- if you want your goods to arrive by Christmas, you must place your order no later than December 15th!!! Any later and we can't guarantee it will arrive on time, but we'll do our best!

I decided screw it- today we're offering everyone the holiday deal of the day:

Rule #2

Be realistic.

The reality of riding in city traffic is that its your life you're playing with.

Those cars are big and the driver is always going to win.

If they hit you, you're the one who is coming out on the losing end- they're going to kill you in air conditioned comfort...

So it's your responsibility to take care of yourself!

post 200... word! going strong, and we’re gonna keep going stronger next year!

right now we're in the middle of day4/9 (i'm counting down...)- want in? sign up for the mailing list pr follow us on twitter (look left!)

have a rad weekend!

brandon
olc

It's Wednesday again and we're back with a couple of bike reviews! Keeping it a family affair, Cole's mom reviews the Day 6 Dream and his brother Jeff reviews Sun's EZ-3 USX HD Trike!

And our 12 days of Christmas sale starts tonight at midnight (EST)! We'll be offering a different deal, counting down the next 12 days- we won't be blogging about it- you have to be subscribed to our mailing list to get the details each day!!! But it's gonna be good, promise!

Also, time is running out to get an OLC hoodie! Available in most designs, cozy, and affordable! Grab yours before it's too late!

This week's reviews:

Day 6 Dream

WOW, that's the first word that comes to my mind with my new Day 6 Dream bike. It has given me back the bike riding that I so love. Here is how I came about riding this great bike.

I had knee surgery in the Spring of this year and went through intense therapy for 4 weeks, 3 times a week. When I had completed the therapy my knee was still very sore, but my therapist's last words were "Don't let that knee lock up".
Read more...

Sun EZ-3 USX HD Trike

People always stop to ask me how I steer this bike.

“Jedi mind powers”, I tell them.

They look at me quizzically, mumble something like “that's cool”, and move on more confused than when they originally saw me pedaling this monster of a bike.
Read more...