hi there. some of you longtime readers may remember my desire to make a spindle hub. I'd link to the posts I've made about it, but I'm not interested in wasting hours going through the archives.

suffice to say, I want to be able to pedal from the same axis around which my drive wheel rotates. I think this will allow me to design a prone position bicycle with aerodynamic, ergonomic, and structural advantages over modern upright bicycles. I think a spindle hub might be interesting to unicyclists and people who want to make recumbent bikes, too. anyway, after trying to get somebody to help me make this invention, I decided to go to college and make it myself. it's taken me a lot longer than I would have hoped, and I'm not finished yet. but I finished cutting the hub shell for my first prototype. I did it as an independent study, and the semester's over, so I needed to take pictures to document my work.

if you want to see more, click on the picture below:

So, my friends and I over at the Bike Saviours in Tempe, Arizona, have put together a 2010 calendar that features all of the Collective members who staff the shop (we're a volunteer-run co-op). The calendar is a fund-raiser, so if you're looking for an awesometastic, bike-related holiday gifty-poo, look no further!

A preview and ordering information can be found here. If you are ever in the Phoenix area, get in touch and stop by the co-op.

On a side note, I'm in Seattle at the moment, riding around with my boyfriend on a pair of rusty old ten-speeds. Hi, Seattle Bikepirates!

I made it up to Bend for the Nats. It was cold cold cold but I survived.
Anyone else make it that way?

Domestic priority shipping and 20% off all jewelry (handmade and vintage) and vintage clothing in my Etsy shop until midnight Friday 12/18. (Vintage sewing patterns and fabric remnants are excluded from this offer...but those are still clearance priced at only $2-$6 each!)


MoiraCoon's Shinies on Etsy

Let me tell you a sad sad story of me not being responsible and pissed as hell.

I live in Oakland, part of the SF bay area. One day, a few months ago, I went to do my laundry at pops house, and walked over to my truck. To my surprise, it was on the curb and the back end was smashed in! wtf? Some lady walks by and tells me, "ac transit hit yo shit". Fuck!. I was supposed to go see Noam Chomsky in Palo Alto that night, and after doing the police report bs, find it still runs. Sweet. So I drive over to pops house in Fremont, with my bicycle to bike over the dumbarton bridge to this spot in Palo Alto. I had no turn signals, and no lights, so I didn't want to get a fix-it ticket, or be a cop magnet. This is a considerable bike ride from Fremont. Nothing insane, and I had gotten back from a tour of the coast, but it was an hour and a half of trekking.

On the way back, in east palo alto(a lower income separate city), I am stopped at a light and notice a cop behind me. Whatever, I am biking and almost to the bridge! Then after a considerable time at the light, a light pops on from the cop and out the window they tell me to pull over. They pull me over because I had no front light (it got jacked). I am a little iritated because I have been pulled over, bicycling a couple times, all in lower income areas, so I know they just assume I am buying dope. Frustrated, pumped from Noam Chomskys speech, I tell them my feelings, instead of remaining silent like I have previously. "Man you just pulled me over because you think I went to this area to buy drugs!" I've found on a bike, it is really hard to defend yourself against police.

Long story short, I got a fix it ticket, at 10:30 at night, in east palo alto on a bike. I'm sure they couldn't be doing anything better. So in the spirit of civil disobedience, or maybe school, work, and living rather far away with no car, I ignored the ticket. Smash the state. No previous experience with this nonsense, I just got a 170 dollar bail ticket in the mail. Geez!

Has anyone ever dealt with getting pulled over on their bike? Whats your best defense?

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