Critical Massk/Great Athens Bike Race

second ever Great Athens Bike Race! CM will start earlier than usual, so be ready at the Civil War Monument at 5pm with or without a costume. We'll do a few laps on Court, and go down to Camp Campbell (17 Campbell St, between BP and KFC on Stimson) where there will be voting for the best costumes and prizes awarded. From there the GABR will begin at 6pm and take racers on a checkpoint course all over Athens, with multiple drinking challenges facing each team of 3-4 people. Please pre-register for the GABR on facebook:

 http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=160126401495&index=1

There will be a $3 entry fee per team.

Thanks, Backdrop Magazine!

Hell, yeah. Awesome spread on the Athens Bike Co-op put forth by the OU student publication Backdrop Magazine. Pick yourself up a copy in one of OU's many buildings and read all about us. Special thanks go out to Shane Barnes for penning the article and to Tyler Sutherland for snapping those sweet pictures. Way to go!

Mows by Muscle

I made this:

It's a reel mower/bicycle hybrid. I call it Mose Allgrassin. I landed this reel mower that was all rusty and broken, so I spent a few days combining it with a 24" Huffy that had one of those "spray it like you stole it" paint jobs done to it. It took a few tries to hone the geometry, as a 70ish degree head tube angle turned tadpole trike tends to make the thing lean to the OUTSIDE of a turn. (Great if you wanna fall over with every steering correction.) Instead, the head tube angle has been made near vertical. Even a bit of caster (or anything greater than 90) helps more for leaning INTO turns. Even so, I had a hard time controlling the above version, because of the tall, narrow handlebar, and the hard front wheels that were too close to each other. Also, I needed to have adjustable height. Below is the newer configuration, with the bike's original handlebar added a little lower than its original height, a pair of 10" balloon tires welded outside the rims to widen the mower's stance and add pneumatic suspension, and pivoting sleeve-tubed bracing bars for changing the cutting height.

I'm still getting used to maneuvering  this thing, but it's hella sweet. The old lady next door to me could hardly believe it.