NYT on cycling in Portland

Anyone who happens along this blog will already have seen this, but how else to find this material myself months from now?

New York Times video titled "The Business of Biking" and the NYT story that comes with it.

favourite colours

My favourite colours (incomplete list):

Molteni orange
British racing green
Bianchi celeste

bike thief

Originally uploaded by schroepfer

This little rascal of mine took a little something from Jitensha Studio. Click picture for more details.

dunlop valve

dunlop valve
Originally uploaded by schroepfer

Because of the nature of dunlop (woods) valves, bike stores in countries where you find these things actually sell parts to them. I knew an American who bought a mamachari. When he loosened the part that holds the valve in (second from right at top, second from top at lower right), the valve doohickey shot out and hit the roof. He found it, but what if he hadn't? In my own experience I've had the rubber part that goes over the valve doohickey (see fingers) dry out like the eraser on an old pencil. It holds air until you loosen the valve to add more air, because the dry rubber won't block the air when the valve is back in place. So it's always good to have a spare little strip of rubber tube like the one in the upper left corner at the ready whenever you're putting air in a tyre that hasn't been ridden in a long time. (And oh yes, the only thing my daughter swallowed as a baby was that little valve doohickey, which perhaps is the reason I scanned this image back at around that time.)

I suppose it's not even ironic that the type of valve probably most common the world over, from Shanghai commuters to Taliban couriers, isn't even known about by avid cyclists in the United States. I've also seen them on sale in the U.K. The store Bicycle Workshop has a setup on the counter with three valves (dunlop, schrader, and presta) so customers can point to them if they don't know their names. Dunlop valves originated in England so I suppose there's still a lot of them around.

[about] Record of a Bicycle Midlife

I've several blogs. I'm known best the internet for one in English about Korean politics, my misadventures and, more often than not - especially since sneaking around was getting old - just commentary. Another is mostly for family overseas, mostly in English. I operate two others, exclusively in Korean.

I do not usually think of myself as a bike freak. Indeed, to some degree I ride bicycles like I use computers. I do not know all the technical stats about my computer(s), but I do like to go places on the internet. Likewise, while I do have several bicycles and have built up a few over the years, I often forget a lot of their technical characteristics. The other day someone asked me how many spokes are in the wheels I usually run on my Bianchi and I had to count them to answer, though I could tell you how to get to TOEI on the Tokyo underground and why wool and lugs go well together. I don't have any "bike buddies," at least not in the U.S. (where I've only lived for 10 months since turning 18), though I do sporadically follow the random doings of a certain set of characters on the internet, particularly on the iBOB list and some of the virtual locales frequented by many who lurk there.

That said, I do talk about bicycles quite a lot and, in the views of those who have been brainwashed by popular culture images of them, am highly opinionated. Between two children, a phd dissertation (premodern Korean fiction), and "work," I very rarely go on "rides," even by myself, though I do often find a scenic and roundabout way to get where everyday life dictates I must go. Perhaps if I got to actually ride more I'd think about bicycles less, but if I'm going to spend time thinking about them I might as well have some place to scribble. Hence the present little bloggie.

About the title. '自転車中年期' (kr. 자전거중년기) might be translated as "record of a midlife on bicycles." The idea came from a recent Japanese novel by the title '自転車少年記' (Jitensha Shōnenki), one interpretation of which could be "record of a boyhood on bicycles." You see the hardcover edition at the top of this post. It was followed by a paperback edition and TV movie that just became available on DVD. I am still thirtysomething, btw, but there wasn't anything between "childhood" and "midlife" that worked with "record of..." in a kanji title.

I have purchased the novel but haven't had a chance to read it yet. It is about two young male friends growing up together, spending much their time on bicycles. Actually, "had a chance to read it" is not so accurate. I can only read Japanese, and just barely, because the word order is similar to Korean and because I know a lot of Chinese characters, not terribly unlike how an English speaker who knows Latin can struggle through the written form of a Romance language. The reason I haven't read the whole novel in one sitting is because each sentence is painstakingly slow, and reading it is what is finally going to get my Japanese somewhat up to speed. There is a whole world of fiction (incl. manga), non-fiction, photography, and more in Japanese that appears to be entirely unknown outside Japan. In a way it's harder for me because I know what I'm missing. At any rate, expect more content about the culture and sociology of bicycles here than about technical matters. Thanks for reading.