bicycles

4 posts

Victorian Sarah Chrisman: 14 Reasons Her Husband Gabriel Should Be Launched into the Sun

I have so many things to say about Sarah Chrisman’s book, Victorian Secrets: What a Corset Taught Me about the Past, the Present, and Myself. I have serious, non-snarky things to say that concern Sarah and the corset. I worry about her body image and how she approaches the corset as a solution to a life-long struggle with what she perceives as a serious weight problem.

However, I cannot go further without addressing her husband Gabriel. Much like this writer, I have developed strong feelings about Gabriel and they are not positive. I must share them and get them out of my system. Continue reading

Whose Streets? Our streets! Ovarian Psycos’ Clitoral Mass in Los Angeles

“Whose streets? Our streets!” was one of the chants repeated Saturday night by organizers of the Los Angeles edition of Clitoral Mass. The ride’s official start time was 5:00 pm from Watts Towers in South Los Angeles, and would take the women and women-identified cyclists throughout Los Angeles, traveling north through downtown Los Angeles, and east into Pasadena, Highland Park and Boyle Heights. Continue reading

American Households are Increasingly Going Car-free

NBC news reported on a study by CNW Marketing that found that the amount of car-free American households has doubled in the last two decades, meaning that nearly 10% of American households do not have a car.

There are several reasons that the number of car-free households are increasing, from the recession making it difficult for those who wish to own a car to do so, to environmentalism, to technology making shared or public transit more accessible. Increased urbanization (or gentrification) and the revitalization of urban neighborhoods, as well as investment in public transit and cycling infrastructure have made it easier for people to choose to live car-free. Continue reading

How To Add 70 Pounds of Cargo Capacity to Your Bicycle

After three years working overseas with no opportunity for biking or other healthier forms of commuting, I was looking forward to breaking out my old Trek bicycle and using it to get around town this summer. The Trek was originally purchased in the mid-nineties following my move into condo-style housing built by my college several miles off main campus. Winters can be brutal in rural upstate New York – walking back and forth was clearly not an option, and public transportation was non-existent in a town without so much as a stop light. I asked for a car, but got a bike. Continue reading