Let's Get Mello on the Mend!
Bike Blog or Die
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3y ago
 I didn't work with Jermell "Mello" Atkins a lot in my time at Blackstone Bicycle Works, but when I did he was a total gem: knowledgable, funny, relaxed, and confident. He's a father and a mentor who helped bring up dozens of skilled mechanics in Chicago and other cities and states. It breaks my heart that somebody shot him three times, but with support from the community he'll soon walk again and will no-doubt keep nurturing the next generation of skilled bicycle technicians.  Donate to his get-well fund here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/jermell-akins To hear the whole story fro ..read more
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Free and Unlimited Data
Bike Blog or Die
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3y ago
 On a gallows a couple serious-faced authorities offer a man his final chance to tell King George, and God, whose original thought, duly executed by the soon-to-be-executee, began the series of actions that led to a rope around his neck. The ruins of a smoking cotton mill lie behind them, and a repeating pair of footsteps in the mud lead from a workshop to the very spot the fire was set, then to the pub. Two more sets of footprints, themselves originating from the constabulary, intercept the first pair inside the pub, then lead them to the hangman’s workstation. The reader may imagine a q ..read more
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The Best Mountain Bike Trails of Chicagoland
Bike Blog or Die
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3y ago
In order of proximity to the city center, here are the top MTB trails in Chicagoland.  Shout out to CAMBR, the main organizing body of the Chicago area trails. Check out trail conditions and news here:  https://cambr.org/ 1. The Garden Just off the grounds of Lane Tech High sits a long-time jump joint where BMXers and dirt jumpers can get raw. Though not a MTB trail proper, people on mountain bikes often go here just to get a little wild. There's a pump track for noobs but most of the jumps are pretty gnarly and not for weekend warriors.  Pros: The jumps are high-quality, flow ..read more
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Why the Two-Way Singletrack Must Die
Bike Blog or Die
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3y ago
For the past few months the entire world has made pastime out of exposing society's faults in relation to Covid-19, and this humble cycling blog would like to take a moment to throw a twig on that righteous fire. While off-road cycling is meant to be a distanced, often solitary activity, many county-park MTB trail system can't remove close interaction between people because of a poor policy and design decision that forces riders into close, face-to-face contact, while both parties breathe heavy droplets right at each other's inhalation zone. If we want to fight the pandemic, something must be ..read more
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Cornering Tip: Hip Angle and Pre-Positioning Will Make You a Better Bike Rider
Bike Blog or Die
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3y ago
It's rare that a cyclist can focus on one single riding tip and see immediate and meaningful results, but adjusting position before a turn can provide more confidence, more speed, better control, and reduce the likelihood of a crash in all circumstances.  I snagged the picture above off the Julianna Bikes homepage because the woman shows textbook-perfect pre-turn body positioning. But what does that mean? Look at her hips. What do you see about her and what can you tell about what she's planning to do in the next few seconds?  We can't see where the trail's going, but we know it ..read more
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Riding through Chicago's Black Lives Matter Protests - 30 May 2020
Bike Blog or Die
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3y ago
I'm riding south on Damen on Saturday, May 30 of this year at roughly 2pm, and at the intersection with Lake Street when I see flashing lights and sirens travelling east at twice the speed limit. Maybe five-dozen police cars and SUVs pass me in a tight line, headed for the Chicago Loop, I assume.  I'd been planning to go downtown anyway just to enjoy the empty roads during the Covid lockdown, so even though I should know better I followed the cop cars into downtown.  I see a few protesters on my way, but the streets are mostly empty. Usually protests start at Daley Plaza because it ..read more
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Pedalare! Pedalare! A History of Italian Cycling by John Foot and a Review by BBoD
Bike Blog or Die
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3y ago
Book reviews are a new thing for me on this blog, but I figure that since I have a whole bookshelf dedicated just to cycling books, maybe I should write about some of the good ones, starting with one of my favorites.  Pedalare! Pedalare! by John Foot is a comprehensive history of bike racing in Italy, and by extension a history of bike racing the world over, as Italians dominated the sport for much of the bicycle's history.  Modern Italy went from a medieval state to a world power with an advanced industrial base and relatively stable political institutions in a couple generatio ..read more
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The Midwestern Slayer Sleigh We Call Surly Karate Monkey, a Review
Bike Blog or Die
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3y ago
I live in the Midwest, Chicago to be exact - in the middling state of Illinois. We have excellent soil, strategically valuable geographic placement, a huge lake full of sunken cargo ships - a true land of wonders. What we do not have is mountains.  Confoundingly and compoundingly annoying in regards to this ostensibly mountain-bike-oriented blog post, that great soil I mentioned earlier makes for wretched cycling, as it's prone to erosion and doesn't drain moisture easily. And the strategic placement of my fine city means land is valuable and usually privately owned, so there is ..read more
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The Pivot Shuttle e-Bike is Very e-BBBRRRRRAAAAAPPPPPP!!!!!
Bike Blog or Die
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3y ago
So I have a business idea. I've been working on it for a while and I got all the kinks worked out so don't steal it, and if you do you have to give me a cut or at least make a statue of me and put it in your house to remind you. Anyway, here it is: A Downhill Bike Park. OK, yeah I know that there already are tons of downhill bike parks, all over the place. But here is what makes my park different: instead of building expensive ski lifts to take riders and gear to the peak, I will put everybody on e-bikes, and they can ride up and down! Double the fun! To test my concept, I took a pre-pandem ..read more
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Outside Magazine's Cyclist Death Tracker Shows Valuable Data
Bike Blog or Die
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3y ago
Outside Magazine is tracking every cycling death in 2020 and compiling that information on their website. Take a look, knowledge is power ..read more
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