Unlikely Words » biking

New weather app for bike riders

aaron cohen — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 20:50:36 +0000

If the folks developing the Dark Sky weather prediction app have their way, you'll no longer have the ability to misjudge the weather and get caught in a storm when you're riding your bike to work last Thursday, the Tuesday before, and pretty much every time it rains I get stuck in a storm, and I'm fucking sick of it. Sorry. Anyway, how do they do it? Who knows! What's the catch?

Well, the catch is that it only works over a short period of time: a half hour to an hour in the future. But, as it turns out, this timespan is crucially important. Our lives are filled with short-term outdoor activities: Travelling to and from work, walking the dog, lunch with friends, outdoor sports, etc.

Via Kottke

###

Possibly related posts:

Joe Pennell

aaron cohen — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 02:12:18 +0000

Got a request for more BMX/Skating/Snowboarding/Skiing/Surfing/Trials videos. Will try to comply. Starting tonight.

Via Chris

###

Possibly related posts:

Michael Lewis on California

aaron cohen — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 14:08:54 +0000

Michael Lewis's latest chapter length depresso is about California and how many of the cities there are pretty royally fucked because of pension promises that will begin to come due very soon, and in some cases have already begun to cause problems. One thing I learned, the states won't ever have to bust their budgets because they can force more and more costs on to the cities. (I guess counties can do this, too, because this is exactly what happened in Topeka yesterday, where the city council voted to decriminalize domestic battery in order to force the county district attorney to start trying these cases again. He stopped last month citing budget concerns.) Anyway, we're screwed, so here's Lewis talking about a bike ride he took with Schwarzenegger.

He hauls a bike off the back of the car, hops on, and takes off down an already busy Ocean Avenue. He wears no bike helmet, runs red lights, and rips past do not enter signs without seeming to notice them and up one-way streets the wrong way. When he wants to cross three lanes of fast traffic he doesn’t so much as glance over his shoulder but just sticks out his hand and follows it, assuming that whatever is behind him will stop. His bike has at least 10 speeds, but he has just 2: zero and pedaling as fast as he can. Inside half a mile he’s moving fast enough that wind-induced tears course down his cheeks.

He’s got to be one of the world’s most recognizable people, but he doesn’t appear to worry that anyone will recognize him, and no one does. It may be that people who get out of bed at dawn to jog and Rollerblade and racewalk are too interested in what they are doing to break their trance. Or it may be that he’s taking them by surprise. He has no entourage, not even a bodyguard. His former economic adviser, David Crane, and his media adviser, Adam Mendelsohn, who came along for the ride just because it sounded fun, are now somewhere far behind him. Anyone paying attention would think, That guy might look like Arnold, but it can’t possibly be Arnold, because Arnold would never be out alone on a bike at seven in the morning, trying to commit suicide. It isn’t until he is forced to stop at a red light that he makes meaningful contact with the public. A woman pushing a baby stroller and talking on a cell phone crosses the street right in front of him and does a double take. “Oh . . . my . . . God,” she gasps into her phone. “It’s Bill Clinton!” She’s not 10 feet away, but she keeps talking to the phone, as if the man were unreal. “I’m here with Bill Clinton.”

As a bonus, here's a profile of Lewis from NY Mag.

###

Possibly related posts:

Goodbye Summer with Gregory Tylosky

aaron cohen — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 22:30:32 +0000

This is just wonderful. Do yourself a favor and watch it. Great music, fun tricks.

Via Matt Haughey.

###

Possibly related posts:

Two videos tonight

aaron cohen — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 03:46:38 +0000

It's late, but there are some of you out there in Europe and what not, right? Your day is about to begin.
The Midlands

Beringer's House

Via Chris

###

Possibly related posts:

Late night falling off of bikes

aaron cohen — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 03:01:56 +0000

If the way you relax before bed is to watch some dudes fall off their bikes, this video is for you. It comes replete with a relaxing soundtrack. I don't think I've posted a late night extreme video since Kottke, so here you go.

###

Possibly related posts:

Slow motion BMX

aaron cohen — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 18:48:23 +0000

Slow motion makes things cooler (sometimes).

Thanks, Dominik!

###

Possibly related posts:

Just watch this video if you like good stuff

aaron cohen — Sat, 20 Aug 2011 19:03:05 +0000

(Via Stellar)

###

Possibly related posts:

Slow down, Tom Dugan

aaron cohen — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 01:26:44 +0000

This guy rides too fast when he's riding around a pool and doing flips and going down stairs.

Via Chris.

###

Possibly related posts:

JC Pieri

aaron cohen — Sun, 19 Jun 2011 21:55:49 +0000

If it wasn't for the internet, most of us would never see videos like Jthis. Happy Sunday.

Via Chris and Stellar

###

Possibly related posts:

Biking!

aaron cohen — Thu, 26 May 2011 02:38:41 +0000

I saw the new Danny MacAskill in Capetown video and figured everyone would have seen it. It's been out a couple hours already, right? Anyway, that's linked above, watch it. And then watch this.

From Chris and Stellar

###

Possibly related posts:

Dominik Raab

aaron cohen — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 17:04:38 +0000

Dominik Raab rides his bike much harder than you do.

@BigBikesThom

###

Possibly related posts:

Up and down

aaron cohen — Sun, 13 Mar 2011 15:37:00 +0000

Chris Akrigg rides up and down A Hill in Spain. Notes of Danny MacAskill.

Via Matt Haughey

###

Possibly related posts:

Hell of a day for a bike ride

aaron cohen — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 20:39:11 +0000

It was a hell of a day for a bike ride this morning. Though, in fairness, it felt more like 10° than -1°.

###

Possibly related posts:

Biker jumping into a pond

aaron cohen — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 23:35:39 +0000

I've noticed a theme to the Unlikely Words posts this week. Still, if you were to sit there and tell me, "No, I have no interest in watching 4 minutes plus of people riding bikes down a 35 foot ramp and jumping in to a pond." I'd call you a liar and I'd mean it. How could this not be relevant to your interests?

Via Bricks And Mortar and Alex.

###

Possibly related posts:

Danny MacAskill: Way Back Home

aaron cohen — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 02:50:48 +0000

Holy crap, Danny MacAskill is BACK with another movie! This is great.

Via MattonlyMoore

###

Possibly related posts:

Wow

aaron cohen — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 00:33:29 +0000

This is an awesome video.

Via MattonlyMoore

###

Possibly related posts:

Upside down biking!

aaron cohen — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 21:19:50 +0000

Love this picture.

###

Possibly related posts:

Big Wheel Backflip

aaron cohen — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 18:58:57 +0000

The first 20 seconds or so of this video are the goldest of gold. The rest isn't bad either. It's always nice to see someone succeed.

Via Kottke

###

Possibly related posts:

Hipsters vs Hasidim

aaron cohen — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 23:44:50 +0000

This is a bit old, but apparently there is a passive aggressive war going on in Brooklyn. Hasidic Jews in Brooklyn got the city to paint over bike lanes in on certain streets in their neighborhoods and hipsters repainted the lines. The Hasidim say it's a safety issue and the bikers ignore pedestrians and traffic laws, the hipsters say the Hasidim don't like seeing women in shorts. Objectively, I think the Hasidim aren't arguing in good faith. The way you get bikers to follow traffic laws is to get the cops to enforce them, not by making the roadways less safe for bikers. Apparently, the hipsters had a naked bike ride planned to further antagonize the situation, but a recent blizzard forced them to bundle up some. Oy.

###

Possibly related posts: