Bike Hugger 

A reader just sent us Imagini Gift Finder that sorts gifts by your visual DNA (sort of like eHarmony with a 40 point personality profile or something). It’s fun to see all the choices and mine came back with a Life Cycle for a midwife in a developing country; the Cycloc, a simple solution for bike storage (big props for the Clip-n-Seal style minimalism) and a bicycle taxi.

Considering gift-giving, King County is publicizing it’s Waste Free Holiday program with “experience” merchants. For the past two years, our holidays and gifts have been trips and we’ll ride all over Maui again this year. In 07, we’re planning Bike Hugger tours and those will be experiences! Of course, we’ve got our store and the goods we sell.

Just in time for the holidays, Timbuk2 has announced Limited Edition Messenger bags – 43 styles, 18 speciality materials, classic Timbuk 2 Designs, and all sewn in San Francisco. While I’ve got a new lust for re.load baggage, I’ve been very happy with my Pro Series Messenger Backpack (shown below). Not only does it a carry all my stuff when traveling, it can be seen from the International Space Station! I think it also confuses the TSA, as it’s so bright, I get through security lines a bit easier.

A few years ago, I’d ride in any weather, a lot like that scene in Forrest Gump, in the storm, where I’d challenge the winds and rain to throw more at me. The defiance comes from learning how to ride in the Tri-Cities, where the wind blows in all directions all the time and my intense dislike for trainers. The defiance was tempered a few years ago, when I suddenly slipped in the snow and slid down a hill into a parked car and another time when the visibility was so bad, I rode right off the bike path into the Puget Sound.

So, as predictable as seeing a cyclist riding in shorts with bare knees, no matter how cold it is, I bet someone is out riding today, in Seattle, in the snow.

I’ve ridden in it all, not so much anymore, but though I’d ask what are your limits? What will you ride and not ride?

Admittedly, my indoor trainer discipline is low, terrible, and I’d normally rather ride in a hailstorm that sit on a butt-numbing trainer. But with the non-stop rain finally getting to me, it’s time to commit to riding inside. I decided a new trainer may help my motivation and ordered a Tacx Cosmos. The Cosmos is a programmable trainer with a unique motorbrake that simulates climbs, downhill coasting, and amazingly a “road feel.” It also produces enough power to break your legs - I learned this by blowing during an especially hard effort (ramp test) to baseline my fitness for the new season.

Our friends at Bike Portland posted this weekend about the bustling bike industry in Portland. The topic is on the front page of the Oregonian and the Portland Development Commission is working to attract more bike-based business. This quote from Matt O’Rourke, Vice President Chris King Precision Components, says it all

Portland is a whole new day for us. Chris and I are so incredibly optimistic about the town, our new building, the new people that we have interviewed and hired, everything.

Seattle (and any City) should take note.

Writing for the Seattle PI, Washington State Senator Dan Swecker defends car culture as being necessary. Dan apparently missed the basic tenet that when you build bigger roads, people fill them up, and it never ends. Dan’s mindset is the same as those that want to save the Viaduct or thought it was a good idea to run I-5 right through the middle of downtown Seattle. To the absolute contrary, if you add more bike lanes, and less car lanes, people will ride bikes and drive less.

Cross-posted from Snow Hugger, we’ve got the ATC2K Waterproof ActionCamera from Oregon Scientific. The camera mounts to your handlebars or helmet and you can shoot your favorite training ride, office park crit, cyclocross race, or your incredible explosion off the back when the annual day-after-thanksgiving ride goes up the first steep hill. It also promises to be much safer than holding a camera in one hand while pedaling around a roundabout – also reminiscent of the original Late Night Monkey Cam. Hat tip to Gizmodo

Courtesy of our friends at FeedBurner, we’ve added a new hugga email feature. You can now keep up with our blog by email. Just click, enter your email, verify you’re not an evil spammer, and boom!

Our next hugga post will arrive in your inbox faster than the cancellation of K-Fed’s world tour.

By way of the Pedal : Reloaded (every photo there is a photo of the day) galleries, I found custom handmade messenger bags by Re.Load Baggage and drank two cups of espresso while clicking through their site.

Having just bought a new Timbuk2 Pro Series Backpack for our trip to Spain, I’m impressed by the craftsmanship, creativity, and art. I’ll have a long-term review of the backpack up soon (overall a very good bag) and disappointed to learn that I’ve missed the window to order a Re.Load bag as a gift (damn)

In an unrelated Google search this morning, I found a news article from 2002 about the Browning SmartShift. I’d only heard about SmartShift and don’t know the story, how it worked, if it worked, and if cyclists are still riding it.

The background is intriguing: “a new generation of more comfortable bikes, could bring a return to growth,” and the RD was largely backed by the Browning firearm fortune.

Anyone ever see a SmartShift?