Re: [RBW] Re: Anybody attend the Rivendell book reading for Bike Snob?

[Deacon Patrick]

Brilliant, Joe! I love it! I keep wondering when I'm going to see eMTBers 
on trails. It's actually a perfect place for it in our Ute Pass area 
because it's a climb to get to town and then around town (Woodland Park) 
there is no flat. But on trails, most folks drive to the top in a carpool 
and ride to the bottom if that's their thing, so I'm not sure if/when I'll 
see it.

On the plus side, I've seen infinitely more riders on my connector route to 
WP this year than ever before (0). Far more bikes as practical transport 
around town here, people in regular clothes, etc. then ever. I'm a 
trendsetter. Sardonic grin.

With abandon,
Patrick

On Tuesday, June 21, 2016 at 12:22:46 PM UTC-6, Joe Bernard wrote:
>
> I liked the answer on e-bikes 'cause I have one and I knew it wouldn't be 
> a popular subject. Eben was supportive of pedal-assist on hilly commutes, 
> which I agree is the strongest selling point: It gets people riding bikes 
> on routes they would normally use a car for. 
>
> Then he launched into e-mountain biking, which was hilarious. 
> (Paraphrased) "If you want to go mountain biking, go do it! It's 
> recreation!" His point being that if you need a motor to go bomb some 
> singletrack on the weekend, maybe you should find a hobby you can actually 
> DO. Which I agreed with...until I bonked on the dirt ride. I was, like, 
> "Dang, my eCLEM on low-assist for the steepest parts would be GREAT here." 
>
> So yeah, I'll probably do it one of these days because there's plenty of 
> room to move off-trail and away from other riders and hikers, but tight 
> singletrack places like China Camp in Marin would be a no-no. And even if I 
> do the open space trail, he's still right: Electric mountain biking is 
> stupid!
>
>

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[RBW] Re: Anybody attend the Rivendell book reading for Bike Snob?

[Nick Huemmer]

I was there - it was a whole lot of fun.  The talk was funny, but a bit 
short considering it started late.

The ride was the more fun part.  There was plenty of stunts and other goofy 
bike nonsense.  The two high points were riding watching people attempt 
riding down a steep downhill near Toad Rock and having walkers chastise us 
for riding on what Grant calls "the best singletrack in the area" (Indian 
Creek Trail), which doesn't allow bikes (but they ride on it anyway).

Nice to meet some other locals that ride Rivvy bikes.

On Monday, June 20, 2016 at 7:05:20 PM UTC-7, Joe Bernard wrote:
>
> Am I really the only Riv Lister who went to this thing? There were a lot 
> of not-Riv bikes on the ride, so maybe it was mostly Bike Snob people. 
> Interesting. 

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Re: [RBW] Re: Anybody attend the Rivendell book reading for Bike Snob?

[Joe Bernard]

I liked the answer on e-bikes 'cause I have one and I knew it wouldn't be a 
popular subject. Eben was supportive of pedal-assist on hilly commutes, which I 
agree is the strongest selling point: It gets people riding bikes on routes 
they would normally use a car for. 

Then he launched into e-mountain biking, which was hilarious. (Paraphrased) "If 
you want to go mountain biking, go do it! It's recreation!" His point being 
that if you need a motor to go bomb some singletrack on the weekend, maybe you 
should find a hobby you can actually DO. Which I agreed with...until I bonked 
on the dirt ride. I was, like, "Dang, my eCLEM on low-assist for the steepest 
parts would be GREAT here." 

So yeah, I'll probably do it one of these days because there's plenty of room 
to move off-trail and away from other riders and hikers, but tight singletrack 
places like China Camp in Marin would be a no-no. And even if I do the open 
space trail, he's still right: Electric mountain biking is stupid!

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Re: [RBW] Re: Anybody attend the Rivendell book reading for Bike Snob?

[David Stein]

I don't remember too many of the questions now, something like 'what is the
craziest city for bicycling' or 'what is the future of cycling'.
PineTarSoap's description is pretty accurate, he comes off in person as a
pretty dry, sarcastic, funny guy who lucked into making money off the blog
(he actually did have a funny anecdote about this - with the blog writing
being a step up from his day job), and his answers to the questions
reflected that. You can see him hesitate a little bit on each question,
thinking 'how the hell am i going to answer that?!?!'

On Mon, Jun 20, 2016 at 11:06 PM, PineTarSoap  wrote:

> I went as well and the above descriptions are accurate. His blog
> (BikeSnobNYC) is hilarious and while I go months forgetting to look at it,
> whenever I do, I am always very amused. His focus is bikes of course, but
> you wouldn't have to be that into bikes to enjoy it. He is simply a good
> writer.
>
> You sort of expect him to have some sort of life plan or be on a mission
> about bicycles, but what comes out when he speaks is that he is just a guy
> who fell into writing a blog that became a hit and his world is about
> amusing vignettes rather than crusading for bicycle advocacy.
>
> Grant's rambling but hilarious anecdote about the traffic ticket stole the
> show for me however!
>
>
> On Monday, June 20, 2016 at 9:35:15 PM UTC-7, Joe Bernard wrote:
>>
>> Lungimsam: I think the movie was a Grant thing. It's his vibe, and Eben
>> isn't old enough to remember it ;)
>
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[RBW] Re: Anybody attend the Rivendell book reading for Bike Snob?

[PineTarSoap]

I went as well and the above descriptions are accurate. His blog 
(BikeSnobNYC) is hilarious and while I go months forgetting to look at it, 
whenever I do, I am always very amused. His focus is bikes of course, but 
you wouldn't have to be that into bikes to enjoy it. He is simply a good 
writer. 

You sort of expect him to have some sort of life plan or be on a mission 
about bicycles, but what comes out when he speaks is that he is just a guy 
who fell into writing a blog that became a hit and his world is about 
amusing vignettes rather than crusading for bicycle advocacy.

Grant's rambling but hilarious anecdote about the traffic ticket stole the 
show for me however!

On Monday, June 20, 2016 at 9:35:15 PM UTC-7, Joe Bernard wrote:
>
> Lungimsam: I think the movie was a Grant thing. It's his vibe, and Eben 
> isn't old enough to remember it ;)

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[RBW] Re: Anybody attend the Rivendell book reading for Bike Snob?

['Mark in Beacon' via RBW Owners Bunch]

My take on this book (I purchased his first, and I think second, or maybe I 
borrowed that one) is it recycles some of his familiar themes, such as 
types of cyclists and their attitudes. It also takes fairly standard 
advice--shop for a bicycle in the winter, when business is slow and you can 
get more attention--and spices it up with humorous asides. Ultimately, I 
think he is at his ripping, take-no-prisoners best when commenting daily on 
various goings-on in the world that touch in some way on cycling. The 
books, by their nature, tend to be Bike Snob lite. When I was first getting 
back into cycling, no doubt I would have enjoyed the Ultimate Guide. His 
next book should be a satirical roman a clef about the "bike 
world"--racing, boutique builders, advocacy, etc. I'll drop him a note...

Curious what kind of questions. Do you recall an example or two? Along the 
nature of What do you think of bike lanes? 

On Tuesday, June 21, 2016 at 12:11:32 AM UTC-4, dstein wrote:
>
>
> I've read another of his books but not really his blogs so wasn't too 
> familiar with him. His presentation thing was fine, pretty funny. The Q I 
> thought was weird, the questions kind of put Eben in a weird position of 
> being bike ambassador of the world, and he really just didn't know how to 
> answer the questions (which I don't blame him at all), but still had a good 
> sense of humor about it. 
>

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[RBW] Re: Anybody attend the Rivendell book reading for Bike Snob?

['Mark in Beacon' via RBW Owners Bunch]

In New York, one does in fact get DMV points on their license after 
receiving a ticket for an infraction while operating a bicycle.

On Tuesday, June 21, 2016 at 12:25:55 AM UTC-4, Lungimsam wrote:
>
> Does one get points on their DMV record for tickets accrued while bike 
> riding? Or just have to pay the fine?
>
> A bike isnt a motor vehicle or car, though the cyclist must follow the 
> rules of the road.So I wonder how the DMV handles that.
>

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[RBW] Re: Anybody attend the Rivendell book reading for Bike Snob?

[Joe Bernard]

Lungimsam: I think the movie was a Grant thing. It's his vibe, and Eben isn't 
old enough to remember it ;)

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[RBW] Re: Anybody attend the Rivendell book reading for Bike Snob?

[Joe Bernard]

I liked his attitude about bike racing: "Electric motors? Sure, go ahead, who 
cares!" That cracked me up.

I confess, I bonked out of the ride. I've always been a slow cruiser guy, but a 
few years ago I could still climb a decent hill without keeling over. This 
time?..not so much. I was off the back but still plugging away on the paved 
part, but the dirt trail did me in. I got to the third rise as the next 
off-the-backers were walking up the fourth one, and it was getting HOT. 

I said to myself, "Joe, don't be a tough guy. You have no idea how much 
longer/tougher this route is. It's time." So I headed back to RBW. I heard 
later that someone wiped out, quote, "spectacularly", (no injuries) so I guess 
it was a semi-gnarly ride. It was a day of adventure!

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[RBW] Re: Anybody attend the Rivendell book reading for Bike Snob?

[Lungimsam]

Does one get points on their DMV record for tickets accrued while bike riding? 
Or just have to pay the fine?

A bike isnt a motor vehicle or car, though the cyclist must follow the rules of 
the road.So I wonder how the DMV handles that.

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[RBW] Re: Anybody attend the Rivendell book reading for Bike Snob?

[dstein]

I was there, mostly to go for the ride after which I ended up not going on, 
go figure. 

I've read another of his books but not really his blogs so wasn't too 
familiar with him. His presentation thing was fine, pretty funny. The Q I 
thought was weird, the questions kind of put Eben in a weird position of 
being bike ambassador of the world, and he really just didn't know how to 
answer the questions (which I don't blame him at all), but still had a good 
sense of humor about it. He riffed on track bikes, triathalon bikes, and 
fat bikes a good bit. The book itself is nothing special, its an intro 
buyer's guide to bikes. After drinking the Rivendell kool-aid over the 
years I felt it didn't have much more to offer and was missing the 
philosophic musings in Gran's riding. That being said, I'm glad I went and 
paid the $20 for the book because I wanted to support the community and 
encourage the message. 

Grant gave a pretty funny intro of being pulled over and given a ticket for 
running a stoplight (which he did in fact do), and then he went to contest 
in court in which he convinced the judge to 'think about it' for a few 
days. He just got the letter from the court and had an audience member open 
it and let him know what the decision was. I won't ruin this surprise 
ending, you'll have to call rivendell and ask to find out the verdict ;)

On Monday, June 20, 2016 at 7:05:20 PM UTC-7, Joe Bernard wrote:
>
> Am I really the only Riv Lister who went to this thing? There were a lot 
> of not-Riv bikes on the ride, so maybe it was mostly Bike Snob people. 
> Interesting. 

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[RBW] Re: Anybody attend the Rivendell book reading for Bike Snob?

[Lungimsam]

Wonder if the balloon movie was the author's idea or Mr. Petersen's?

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[RBW] Re: Anybody attend the Rivendell book reading for Bike Snob?

[Joe Bernard]

Am I really the only Riv Lister who went to this thing? There were a lot of 
not-Riv bikes on the ride, so maybe it was mostly Bike Snob people. 
Interesting. 

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[RBW] Re: Anybody attend the Rivendell book reading for Bike Snob?

['Mark in Beacon' via RBW Owners Bunch]

Thanks for at least confirming the event was held, Joe! I take it that was 
your first time as a stoker, though there are rear steer tandems. I think 
the tandem ride is ultimately more interesting than any book reading. I've 
been following that project and I don't think I'm going out on a limb to 
say the HHH will become a sought after classic in short order (whatever the 
minimum standard time is to become classic, which keeps dropping.)

I haven't been a regular reader of his blog and have not visited in some 
time. He's a funny guy and a good writer and he often uses that off beat 
"edgy" humor to point out the benefits of cycling and the radical monopoly 
that currently drives our transportation system without the need to be 
school marmish or high horse or pedantic. In today's high background noise 
culture, having his voice in the advocacy camp can't hurt, and probably 
reaches people in a younger demographic than a typical Riv'r or iBoB.

For some reason, I watched *The Red Balloon* a year or two ago. It was a 
little weird. My main thought, especially with the end scenes with the 
hundreds of balloons, how did they do it without special effects/cgi?! And 
I hoped no turtles were killed . I 
saw it for the first time when it was broadcast on Kukla, Fran, and Ollie 
. From the number of films they have listed, Eben 
can write a lot more books before they run out of movies to open his 
talks... 

On Monday, June 20, 2016 at 12:25:35 AM UTC-4, Joe Bernard wrote:
>
> I was there. Grant gave me a ride from shop to hotel on a HUBBUHBUBBUH 
> tandem, which was very cool. I kept trying to steer from the back seat!
>
> The book event started with a film. Grant said it was an Oscar-winning 
> French short from the '50s which anyone born before 1963 probably saw in 
> school. I'm that guy..I said, "It's gotta be The Red Balloon." Nailed it. 
> It's an adorable film, and probably has a fascinating backstory. It plays 
> as though a guy with a camera just put a balloon on a string and had a boy 
> follow it through town. There's little evidence of 'film things' like 
> actors and sets. 
>
> Then Eben did his book talk, which was...I'm not a regular reader of that 
> blog because its level of sarcasm and "edgy" isn't really my thing. Most of 
> the attendees seemed to be more attuned to the vibe, so I kind of viewed it 
> from and 'outside' perspective. Which isn't really the review you were 
> asking for, but I don't feel like I was the target audience..I was mostly 
> there to see Riv people and go for a ride. Which I did!
>
> Joe Bernard
> Vallejo, CA.
>
>

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