Need Your Vote !!

If anyone remembers a few weeks back, I posted a story about my old pal John building up a Xtracycle from a bike I sent him - that was given to me by a neighbor. It's an all around tale of bicycle goodness and keeping old bikes from collecting dust in the garage. John has been using this bike as the "2nd car" for the family and that deserves some praise - no?

John submitted a story to Xtracycle about crashing his, along with some other folks who've also ditched their Xtracycles. The only thing funnier then dumping an Xtracycle, would be crashing a recumbent, so let's give these people some credit. Any cyclist going down in flames piloting an oversized two wheel vehicle, should receive something for providing entertainment for us all.

This shindig is some sort of contest and John is one of the three finalists. With my massive blog readership (ha!), I've agreed to help swing some votes his way. Click on this link to vote. Vote early, vote often.

In case you get confused, John's story involves crashing with a load of ice. Not on ice, carrying ice - as in crushed ice. There's also a funny story of someone crashing with a load of potato salad. Yes, potato salad. Please ignore this story, along with finalist number 3 about a beer crash. Sure, beer dude will get some sympathy votes - please discount that. You wanna vote for John, trust me.

Once again. Vote early, vote often. Thanks for your patronage.

Xtracycle in Action

A few months ago, while I was selling off some old bike items to finance some new rides for Ian and I, my neighbor gave me two old bikes collecting dust in his garage. One of 'em being a nice old school Giant mountain bike, complete with XT group and rigid fork. Bike was clean, but sporting a huge frame - around a 21" seat tube. I immediately thought of my old pal John, back east, who earlier emailed about creating a utility bike for daily use.

A deal was struck, bike boxed up, and sent to the DC area for it's new life. John did complete the project, installing a Xtracycle kit to the old Giant. It came out pretty sweet, a cool useful rig. Pic below as completed.

This week I received a pic of John giving his daughter a lift to school on the Xtracycle. That's Mollie hitching a free ride while catching up on some reading. Awesome. John mentioned Mollie now rides her own bike to school. Even more awesome. Eventually Mollie will probably be hauling the old man around the on Xtracycle, having things come full circle.

John and I met back in the early '80s while spinning wrenches at Whippany Cycle. John later went on to form Ozone Action - group of folks to point out companies that produce chemicals destroying the ozone layer. After that, a multi-year stint as Executive Director of Greenpeace USA. He's now combining his economics background and environmental expertise to help fund various environmental causes. Super intelligent guy and damn funny as well. I always get a kick out of hearing from him. A Google search on John Passacantando will get you more info my old bike shop pal. Not bad for a bike mechanic from New Jersey.

Super cool seeing this old mountain bike get a new lease on life. What a perfect use for it, I think you'd have to agree. The Xtracycle kit is pretty freaking neat. I also dig the wave of complete utility and transportation bikes that have hit the market over the last few years. These are the types of bikes that could bump up bike use for "regular" folk, not just bike enthusiasts. Wear street clothes, buzz down to the store and carry a few bags of groceries home. It just makes too much sense. If I had some extra dough to burn, would build up a utility bike to toy around with. Being ex-motorcycle guy, I'd even mess around with electric assist on the rig. Would be a fun project.

For now, a messenger bag and my current pile of bikes work just fine for daily use. Even so, I find the utility style of bike a fascinating addition to the scene and hope to spot more of 'em in use.