940+bike

Mulatu Astatke

2009-03-04T10:08:00.001-06:00

enjoi

ethiopia

surly ride

2009-02-23T19:55:00.003-06:00

Gardening and Community

2009-02-19T11:45:00.006-06:00

on a nice sundown bike ride/stroll up north from my house a few miles, last night - i ran into a community garden just off of Bowling Green - south of Windsor st. (which runs through the center of NorthLakes Park

View Larger Map

ill be trying to document other garden spaces in town, as well as hopefully showcasing mine in the very near future.

love
jw

"stop hatin' 'merica

2009-02-18T22:33:00.002-06:00

and use fossil fuel!"

Cambridge Massachusetts

this was on this crazy lady's blog

Shelley the Republican is out there, y'all....be careful out there

keep it rubberside down

jw

TX fireball

2009-02-18T14:26:00.006-06:00

and no im not talking about this kind of fireball, im talking about a real, potentially, life ending fireball. The New York Times couldnt quite put their 'liberal' finger on exactly what the hell this was, but it wasn't a colliding telescope up in space.

E.T.?
a large fireball, the size of a pickup truck?
A God sending us an apocalyptic message? - I mean i know 2012 is approaching and this is supposed to be the end of this life, as we know it - but damn - this didn't even kill anyone - besides, these 'experts' are saying if this did make it through our solar system it would've gone from the "size of a pickup truck" to the "size of your fist."

probably nothing like this one....this one wouldve really hurt

at least ill be safe
i wear my helmet

week(end)

2009-02-15T09:26:00.007-06:00

tall Bikes

2009-02-12T12:02:00.000-06:00

just a snippet of local bike culture, here in Denton - as outlined in our shoddy UNT paper .

the streets of Denton are filled with bottlenecked traffic, scampering students on crosswalks and bicycles weaving in and out of both.

Every so often, a 10-foot bicycle can be seen hovering above the crowds and keeping eye-to-eye with the road's tallest sport utility vehicles.

Denton resident Peter Stanley travels through the Denton Square every day on his bike built on top of another bike.

"I call them 'tall bikes' or sometimes 'freak bikes,'" Stanley said.

About three and a half years ago, Stanley had to wait about eight months to get his bike fixed and decided he could begin fixing bikes himself.

"People just leave old bikes in the Dumpster or on the side of the road, so I pick them up and use them to build my bikes," Stanley said.

After he started repairing bikes, Stanley said he decided to have a little fun and build the "tall bikes" in his own backyard.

"Tall bikes" consist of two or three bikes in which one is welded onto another, with a big tire on the front and a small tire on the rear.

"They don't have brakes; I just stop it by putting my foot on the back tire," Stanley said.

Stanley's roommate also rides a "tall bike."

"It's a great way to travel," Stanley's roommate, Elliot Morgan, said. "I ride mine to work all the time."

Stanley's workshop is full of bikes and the remains of old bikes, but his most prized collection includes the "tall bikes" he has named.

Bull, Jackalope, Pedestal and Wal-Mart bike are among the bikes' names. Jackalope is the hardest to ride, Stanley said, and Pedestal is the tallest.

"I've never sold a bike, but I am thinking about making it a business," he said.

Stanley can build a bike in only five hours but hasn't put all of his time into bikes because he has a job fixing computer products for various businesses.

"It's just fun," Stanley said. "That's why I do it."

He said if it weren't for his welding degree from Austin Community College, building bikes might not have been possible, and Denton residents wouldn't have the pleasure of seeing a guy on such a tall bike.

"I just work out of my garage when I have the time," Stanley said. "I actually got a bright light and took up working at night because it is so hot."

As for showing off his bikes, Stanley plans to take his "tall bikes" to the Makers Faire in Austin next month.

"It's a big party where people get together and just make stuff," Stanley said.

Stanley said he is not sure if he will ever make a business out of his tall bikes, but for now he will continue to build his bikes and ride around Denton.

i am not a statistic.....

2009-02-12T09:39:00.000-06:00

yet.

Although i am reading on a lot of different blogs how this economic shithole this country has dug itself into over the last quarter year has been affecting a large majority of good folk. Luckily - I have not really been affected by this situation...I have my health, my good friends, my bicycles, and best yet a loving partner who whips my ass into shape when i start slouching a little, albeit, not painlessly on either part, ha!

So, aside from me still having a job, still being able to pay for an education (no, im not becoming a DR., yet), still being able to afford to buy bike related goods (more on that in a later post)I can say my life is pretty darn good.

For those out there who may not have it that great - keep fighting the good fight - your time will come - all will work out -
o yea
OBAMA! he will fix it - i hope.
peace

Little Joy

2009-01-31T12:08:00.000-06:00

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Enjoi:

I Quit

2009-01-31T09:40:00.000-06:00

It has been 30 days without a tobacco product. I began smoking, stupidly of course, at 18 years of age - who the hell knows why -chicks dig it, you do look very very cool, etc...Anyhow - after ten years of being a slave to this drug, i decided it was time to give it up.
I go out of my way to eat fairly healthily, organically, naturally, vegetarian(ely?) - most of the time - so the smokes never really fit...This last point was ofcourse brought to my attention by my lovely ladyfriend, C...! Anyhow - I bicycle at least 10-15 miles a week, do not drink sodas - still drink plenty of beer and good coffee though - but hey whats a man without any vices, huh?
The quitting process wasnt too bad...I didnt use any nicotene aids - i did utilize a lot of toothpicks.
The urges have pretty much stopped - although - i do miss, sometimes - the actual act of stopping what im doing, heading outside, rolling a smoke and just being outside - now i just go outside...what a concept! - ha!
What am I going to do with all that extra money im saving from not buying cigarettes, you ask? Im sure ill spend it on more bike stuff - camping/backpacking stuff/beer/coffee - you know what everyone else spends their hard earned moneys on.

currently listening to:

first ride/New Bike

2009-01-30T21:30:00.000-06:00

Finally did it - i purchased a new bike.

Surly Long haul Trucker - it is a HUGE upgrade in what i had - rides sweet - im ready to pack it up and take it into the woods

the newness:

The old one on right is the specialized hardrock - mid 90s biggun - converted to my camp/commuter bike:

on left -is my new Surly Long Haul Trucker - STOKED - more to come on this beaut.

This photo was taken at old alton bridge just south of town(see map below)

Route we took last week (thursday night)

View Larger Map

not just bikes

2009-01-30T15:18:00.000-06:00

this is a film/documentary review of this great doc C and I watched.

Man on Wire is an exercise, no, a meditation on uneasiness. Phillipe Petit, a french carny like fellow, is a tight rope walker who sets his dreams on "conquering" - or rather tight rope walking across the distance of the World trade Center buildings in Manhattan back in 1974 a.d. intermixed with his own personal video of his youth and modern day interviews with him and his cohorts - the doc will send shivers up your spine as you watch the action go down - everything from his lust after the tight rope walk itself to the tons and tons of preparation hours that were involved in order to get himself, his cohorts, and his equipment onto the top of the most highly symbolized pieces of architecture in the western world. A little creepy watching this old footage of these buildings, seeing as how in their place now is nothing but a huge hole and possibly, by now, a memorial of some sort.

post 1 - intro - biking in denton (940)

2009-01-30T14:34:00.000-06:00

well - this is my first "blog," figured might as well - everyone else has one. I would like to utilize this page in order to keep up with friends/family/other folk interested in bicycling and bicycling culture (more on that im sure in later posts.)

we are a one car household - i commute via bicycle everyday to work/class a little over 2 miles (i know, not far at all) - but hey, im doin my part! I would like to utilize this little piece of the interwebs to inform/enlighten/educate/propagate tidbits of info to the local culture of my hometown Denton, TX.

There is a lot that denton has to offer - again, more on that in future posts.

So, i will leave this post with some shots of us from this past year.

peace