Stuff I See From My Bike

As all of my loyal readers know, I spend a good part of my life in the saddle.  Adding to the almost infinite benefits of traversing my environment in a self-propelled manner through the open air, is the fact that I can easily stop and snap a photo of anything that happens to catch my eye along the way.  To facilitate my shutter-bug impulses, I always make sure that my iPhone is within hand's reach in one of these:

(Topeak really needs to start sending me some royalty checks -- really.)

Many of the images I capture make their way into the blog, but a good number of blog-worthy photos don't make the cut.  They have been amassing on my roll, and a quick tour through my collection today convinced me that it was time to cue the B-Roll!  What follows is a random array of cool (mostly) bike-themed stuff I have spotted from my saddle:

First off, there's this awesome bike sculpture that's part of a collection installed along the new sidewalk promenade in Solana Beach:

Many passers-by don't realize it, but he's pedaling hard so he can get to his totally hot girlfriend at Tidelands Park in Coronado:

Then there's this "Ghost-Bike" installation that any of us who have traversed the coast from San Clemente, through Camp Pendleton, to Oceanside are all familiar with:

"Ghost Bikes" are installations placed in honor of fallen cyclists.  The first bike was moved to San Clemente in honor of Mark Anthony Leones, who died after crashing on a steep downhill curve.  The frame was placed in honor of John Cuchessi, a former bike shop owner who struck a fence on his way back from a Pendleton ride.

Next up is something else I spotted on one of my rides from Orange County back to San Diego.  Along the designated bike route that follows the rollers on top of San Clemente's coastal hills is this, ingenious little piece of bike infrastructure:

As I have previously pointed out, intersections are major danger zones for bikeists.  I love how this lane separates bikes from cars, allowing for a smooth right turn that funnels cars away from the bike.  Sweet!  Feeling a little guilty for thinking that Orange County dwellers were all brain dead.  Although, it's altogether possible that they hired a consultant from San Diego to come up with something this clever . . .

I wrote a post en route to Boulder last Fall, but never had a chance to post this photo of the mural on the side of the building housing what might just be the most awesome bike shop in the world:

I try to get there every October to do some recruiting, and always rent a bike from the iconic "Uni Bikes" on the Saturday after my recruiting is done.  Just look at those gorgeous blue skies beckoning!

Uni Bikes is almost like a museum of bikes and cycling.  Here's the bike that Andy Hampsten rode to his win in the 1988 Giro:

Yes, it has "Huffy" decals, but this hand-made beauty is not the huffy you or I grew up riding . . .

Moving back to bike, art, there's this giant bike sculpture I spotted in Lake Tahoe last summer:

There are several of these installed throughout the Lake Tahoe area.  They especially caught my eye, thanks to the similar sculptures I pass every night on my way home around the bay:

These are constructed and installed in the South Bay along the Bayshore Bikeway by the sons of my fellow Crown City Cyclist, Dan.  The first three were painted yellow, polka-dot, and green, in honor of the jerseys worn by Le Tour leaders and "kings."  They have since added three more bikes, including a tandem and a penny-farthing.  Fun stuff!

Might as well continue with the metallic, painted, bike-sculpture theme:

These cool bike racks are at the corner of Fifth and University in Hillcrest.  The Orange tube-like thing on the sidewalk is actually a bike-repair station:

Great idea!  However, I'm sad to report that this station has since been vandalized, with many of the tools removed and the pump destroyed.  Hating, Hateists . . .

Finally, I give you these guys:

I spotted them along the PB boardwalk one gorgeous Saturday last month.  I'm not sure if it was worth all the welding it must have taken to create such crazy bikes, but they definitely seemed to be having fun!