Fadsters part Deux

Over a million Pet Rocks were sold. Rocks the guy got from the local rocks r us shop and sold them for $4 each. Without Fadsters the guy would have been stuck with a truckload of rocks. Fadsters have made possible banana-seat bikes, mood rings, muppet babies, beanie babies, slammer whammers, tie-die, polyester, blue suede shoes, slinky's, the boufant, Pee Wee Herman, silly putty, the British invasion v. 1 and 2, spud guns, platform shoes, the macarena, flappers, suv's, magic 8 ball, grunge, lava lamps and hipsters.

Not that long ago the bicycle was the thing you got when you were a kid and soon forgot about when you weren't. Or those rusty things in the garage that you and the little lady got so you could go and have some "exercise" together. 

That's all changed (unless you live in like some small town in Ohio, like where I'm from, where they're still in the garage).

Now there's designer bikes and designer helmets and designer clothing and designer bags and designer accessories, and the Fadsters can't get enough of them. And there's Cycle Chic sites and bicycle blogs and magazines that praise the utilitarian bike. We're in full blown bicycle Fadster mode. 

And what would a good fad be without some music? Some Fadsters are making an album called "Bicycle" that will be comprised of songs about... bicycling! The singer is a 17 (soon to be 18) year old girl with a "sweet" voice and the songs will most definitely not be for the CAT-0 crowd. 

Being privy to the process I have access to early home recordings of the songs. I had a choice of several to pick from but I just had to go with one named "Cycle Chic". 

"Cycle Chic" 

(©2011 Patches Publishing/ASCAP)

Th head Fadster says it probably won't be released til the fall. Not very "now now now!" generation but I guess we'll just have to wait.

Fadsters

If you are a member of CABI, the DC bike share thing, then you can get a free cupcake at Sprinkles Cupcakes in Georgetown through this week.

Cupcakes stores have been popping up for a few years now. This appears to be a hot fad among those that follow fads. I'm guessing there are people who follow fads because there sure is a line of 'em lined up outside of these cupcake places and just as there is no way a sane and rational person would mount a fixie there is no way a sane and rational person would stand in line for a cupcake. No, this is the realm of fadsters.

Of course it helps to have a TV show. Georgetown Cupcake has a show on TLC (DC Cupcake).

Georgetown Cupcake

With a line of fadsters

What surprises me is how far cupcakes had fallen out of favor. That they have made a comeback to the point where you can make a career out of them and even get a tv show is a testament to how much we have missed and longed for them.

I certainly had no idea. I don't recall there being a shortage of Little Debbies on the grocer shelf but surely there must have been, no?

With all the health food diets over recent years I would never have imagined a baked cake topped with gobs of sugary frosting would line 'em up. But then the last and only fad I can recall participating in was bell bottom trousers.

Hey, if they were good enough for the King...

As all fads, the cupcake will again fall out of favor for no other reason than fads change. I predict that macarons will be the next fad. By that time brakes will be the "new" fad for bikes and, to draw them in, the macaron stores should offer free macarons to all bikers with brakes. The fadsters will line right up.

Too sexy for NY

In case you're not aware NYC has been brutal on bikers this summer. Bikers getting tickets are becoming as common as tattoos on bike mechanics.
As this young lass from Dutch country learned.

Apparently the men in blue of NYC think that a woman wearing a skirt is a danger to others and could warrant a ticket if they go about looking too good.

I have to side with the officer on this one. We should have a standard in which bicyclists present themselves. However it should be based not on simply good looks but looking good in general and with some style. To start with we need to establish a baseline:

Going from here we can take a sampling of todays bikers and see if they're ticketable.

Goofy looking - ticket

Goofy looking - ticket

Goofy looking - ticket 

Ass holes - ticket

 Riding a clown bike without a clown costume - ticket

CAT-0 - ticket

CAT-0 - ticket

Cell phone - ticket

Shopping cart and sandals - ticket

Not enough threads. Ticket.

No ticket

Exposed crank and tattoo's - TICKET TICKET TICKET!

No ticket

Swim trunks - ticket

The middle ground - CAT-Os and morning commuters

Having been off the bike for the last week or so (bad hamstring, bad bad hamstring) I've been forced into the dreaded car.
This is a painful thing seeing all the bikers going merrily about the day while I'm stuck in way too much metal and plastic.

I've always thought that the Costumed And Tattooed (CAT-0) who go about terrorizing the other users of MUPs have a lot in common with aggressive drivers. The only difference is that the drivers are pretty much forced to slow and wait to pass when there's oncoming traffic whereas the CAT-0s simply blasts down the middle.

I was wrong.

 

Driving to work on MacArthur Blvd. has shown me the light. The number of cars that straddle the middle to pass the bikers while there is oncoming traffic is scary. I've even encountered cars that are half in my lane coming around blind curves. This has damaged my cyche. I thought it was only the CAT-0s that figured they have a right to make you use half of your lane. I had no idea that someone driving an SUV figured the same way.

They certainly figured right.  I will hold my ground when the CAT-0s challenge me but no way I'm messing with damn commuters in SUVs. I scooted over every time.

b x c x d > a x d2 + eb2

In my never ending quest to understand how exactly I don't fall over more often I stumbled on this:



My search continues.