one less car news

Me & Cole just got done doing a small tour from Chicago IL, to Muskegon, MI. 3 days, 200+ miles later, we made it. I'm back home, and Cole is still on the road, and on vacation. we'll be back next week with stories, reviews, and more!

Thanks for checking in and stop back next week when things will be back to normal!

Til then, ride safe & get aggro...do what ya do & have fun doing it!
Brandon

this week we reviewed Stone Cold Outdoor's Cooler Bag / Pannier



Stone Cold Outdoor sent me their cooler pannier to review along with a couple of their "square bottles", and I'm pretty impressed- I'm really surprised the price is so cheap!



It doesn't look very big, but my girlfriend and I had it packed with 2 tallboy Starbucks frappacinos, lunch, plus snacks for later...and there was still room left over. It would hold two of their bottles (they're really more of a rectangle than a square, but the shape makes them super easy to hold onto) as well as enough food for a day. READ MORE...


Cole and I are also leaving for tour Sunday, on a 300 mile journey from Chicago to Muskegon, MI. Hopefully we'll be reporting from the road! We'll try to get everything out before we go, but will be out of the office for a week or so...but when we get back we'll have a good story and more reviews, so stay tuned bike fans!

SAME BIKE TIME!
SAME BIKE SITE!

This week in reviews, I reviewed the 2nd Boneshaker Almanac (42-200), and the first issue of Bicycling Times Magazine. Cole did a handful of updates this week!

He updated his reviews of IRD's disc brake, Jones Wares' Base Layer, Lake's Winter Boots, Portland CycleWear's Messenger Pants, and Swobo's Merino Wool Mens Short Sleeve Jersey (and i threw in a couple cents here and there...).

For One Less Car, this is Brandon...signing off. enjoy!

bianchi was kind enough to send us a san jose pro! we will let you know what we think.

Sometimes I don’t know how I get myself into the stuff I do.
Last night I found myself at a fundraiser for a very important
Alderman here in Chicago.
Why you ask?
Well, the city is trying to regulate us pedicabbers (see article
below) and the Alderman spoke up in our defense in a city council
meeting. My boss wanted to say thanks but was out of town, so he asked
me if I would go in his place.
It was fun! I had never been to a fundraiser like that. I spoke with
the Alderman and he was really a great guy. I guess there's something
new out there every day.

Wrap-around advertising on rickshaws stalls pedicab licensing
Comments
June 3, 2009
BY FRAN SPIELMAN City Hall Reporter

A demand for wrap-around advertising on rickshaws has stalled Mayor
Daley's plan to license as many as 200 pedicabs in downtown Chicago.

With bicycle-powered taxis already operating around Millennium Park,
Navy Pier and Wrigley Field, Daley proposed last month that the city
license and regulate them to guarantee public safety. But, the
ordinance is stuck in the City Council's License Committee, despite a
lengthy hearing on the issue earlier this week.

On Wednesday, Norma Reyes, commissioner of the city's Department of
Business Affairs and Consumer Protection, explained why: Pedicab
owners want to wrap their rickshaws in advertising, but the mayor's
ordinance expressly forbids advertising.

"Without advertising, they said they would not be able to exist," the
commissioner said. Reyes noted that ads are prohibited on horse-drawn
carriages because they're required to post fares, identification and
contact information. The same would be required of pedicabs "so people
know who is operating the business and how to contact them for
enforcement reasons," she said.

"It's a space issue. Where is the advertising going to go and still
have all the information that is required for public safety concerns?"
the commissioner said.
Reyes said she plans to meet again with pedicab operators to try and
find a middle ground.
But, she said, "We have serious public safety concerns. That is first
and foremost for consumers to have the information they need if there
is an issue with a rickshaw. For a police officer stopping them, maybe
it would be easy. But what if there is a traffic situation and a
driver in another vehicle wants to file a complaint?"

The mayor's ordinance would require pedicab operators to purchase
liability insurance and a $400 license. Operators would have to be
fingerprinted and pass both drug tests and criminal background checks.
They would have to be licensed Illinois drivers, doctor-certified and
at least 18 years old.

Equipment would be strictly regulated, with battery-operated
headlines, tail-lights and seat belts required.

The city would not set pedicab fares, but haggling that now goes on
routinely between driver and passenger would become a thing of the
past. The fare schedule would have to be clearly posted. Drivers would
be prohibited from charging more than that amount.

Pedicabs would be confined to city streets -- not sidewalks -- and
limited to the downtown area roughly bounded by Oak Street, LaSalle,
Roosevelt and Lake Michigan. To avoid rush-hour traffic conflicts,
they would not be permitted on the streets before 7 p.m. Monday
through Friday.

Passengers would be limited to three per rickshaw.

so it's 1 in the a.m., but the reviews are up. This week we're taking another look at the PBR Ringleader from Traitor Cycles, and a couple products from Axiom- their Monsoon Panniers and QR Urban Rear Grocery Basket. A great bike, and a couple of great products to help you on your commute!

We've got lots of rad things coming up...can't wait!!! crazy stuff....

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.