Bike Hugger 

In Japan they’re called Mama Chari, or mom’s bike, and are used to get groceries, ride to the train station and according to “halloween” in the Bike Forums, they’re considered disposable by the Japanese consumer.

They’re also quite useful and even raced in a 12-hour endurance marathon (translated) – check the aero bar basket option and more on Flickr.

The bigger the basket, the more groceries, and surprisingly the more aero.

I know everyone watching the Tour is thinking, “man, I need a set of love the hugga socks, while I listen to Phil, Paul, that annoying guy, and the ramblings of Bob Roll.” Well, we’ve got ‘em coming! The Bike Hugger socks are arriving this week, we’ll sell them directly right away, and next week Amazon.com will fulfill them for us.

More post-dated entries from me, Mark V, Bikehugger’s colorful and suave international man of mystery

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This is a little bit out of sequence, since this is from the Shibuya area in Tokyo before we left for Kyoto…but check it out, they freakin’ named a place “Mark City”…in my honor obviously. Also, here’s a picture of yet another type of “mini velo” we saw on the way.

Set to roll out for STP bright and early Saturday morning, I thought it wise to start prepping things and run down a checklist. As important as preparing your body to ride, one should invest some time into putting together a ride “strategy” prior to rolling out. The plan of attack needn’t be elaborate, in fact the simpler the better.

Why bother? Because when out on the road, there’s much temptation to stop and chit-chat during every stop. Not necessarily a bad thing, many will argue that the culture and camaraderie of such events is far more exciting than the actual ride. Even if your goal is to take the miles slow and steady, you’ll still need to keep an eye on the clock to ensure that you’re not stuck out on the road after dark with a mechanical issue. Plan your ride. Plan your stops. Have a back-up plan for both. Read on for additional considerations and some of my own “must haves” in surviving STP.

While it’s not like a Tour de France crash at 40 mph, that involves the leaders, but how many times do you see one from a racer’s perspective? At our local Tuesday Night World Championships, the Native Planet racer with the helmet cam crashes with the camera taping it all. Crashes happen that fast … on Saturday at Redmond Derby days, I fishtailed right by one.