Anybody attend the Rivendell book reading for Bike Snob?

[Mark in Beacon]

Any Walnut Creek habitues attend yesterday's reading with Eben Weiss and his Ultimate Bicycle Owner's Manual that would care to comment? Did anyone ask about the weird front fender on the cover of the book? (I know, I know, don't judge--but still.)

[Joe Bernard]

I was there. Grant gave me a ride from shop to hotel on a HUBBUHBUBBUH tandem, which was very cool. I kept trying to steer from the back seat!

The book event started with a film. Grant said it was an Oscar-winning French short from the '50s which anyone born before 1963 probably saw in school. I'm that guy..I said, "It's gotta be The Red Balloon." Nailed it. It's an adorable film, and probably has a fascinating backstory. It plays as though a guy with a camera just put a balloon on a string and had a boy follow it through town. There's little evidence of 'film things' like actors and sets.

Then Eben did his book talk, which was...I'm not a regular reader of that blog because its level of sarcasm and "edgy" isn't really my thing. Most of the attendees seemed to be more attuned to the vibe, so I kind of viewed it from and 'outside' perspective. Which isn't really the review you were asking for, but I don't feel like I was the target audience..I was mostly there to see Riv people and go for a ride. Which I did!

Joe Bernard
Vallejo, CA.

[Lungimsam]

If its the movie i remember, i saw it in grade school about 1973/1974/1975.

There is an old man in it too?

Cool you got to ride on the Hubbah with Mr. Petersen.

[Joe Bernard]

Yep. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Red_Balloon

[Joe Bernard]

Oh, I probably should clarify: I bought the book and got it signed. I made it sound like I crashed the event just to hang with Riv folks. Not so!

[Mark in Beacon]

Thanks for at least confirming the event was held, Joe! I take it that was your first time as a stoker, though there are rear steer tandems. I think the tandem ride is ultimately more interesting than any book reading. I've been following that project and I don't think I'm going out on a limb to say the HHH will become a sought after classic in short order (whatever the minimum standard time is to become classic, which keeps dropping.)

I haven't been a regular reader of his blog and have not visited in some time. He's a funny guy and a good writer and he often uses that off beat "edgy" humor to point out the benefits of cycling and the radical monopoly that currently drives our transportation system without the need to be school marmish or high horse or pedantic. In today's high background noise culture, having his voice in the advocacy camp can't hurt, and probably reaches people in a younger demographic than a typical Riv'r or iBoB.

For some reason, I watched The Red Balloon a year or two ago. It was a little weird. My main thought, especially with the end scenes with the hundreds of balloons, how did they do it without special effects/cgi?! And I hoped no turtles were killed. I saw it for the first time when it was broadcast on Kukla, Fran, and Ollie. From the number of films they have listed, Eben can write a lot more books before they run out of movies to open his talks...

[Joe Bernard]

Am I really the only Riv Lister who went to this thing? There were a lot of not-Riv bikes on the ride, so maybe it was mostly Bike Snob people. Interesting.

[Lungimsam]

Wonder if the balloon movie was the author's idea or Mr. Petersen's?

[dstein]

I was there, mostly to go for the ride after which I ended up not going on, go figure. 

I've read another of his books but not really his blogs so wasn't too familiar with him. His presentation thing was fine, pretty funny. The Q&A I thought was weird, the questions kind of put Eben in a weird position of being bike ambassador of the world, and he really just didn't know how to answer the questions (which I don't blame him at all), but still had a good sense of humor about it. He riffed on track bikes, triathalon bikes, and fat bikes a good bit. The book itself is nothing special, its an intro buyer's guide to bikes. After drinking the Rivendell kool-aid over the years I felt it didn't have much more to offer and was missing the philosophic musings in Gran's riding. That being said, I'm glad I went and paid the $20 for the book because I wanted to support the community and encourage the message. 

Grant gave a pretty funny intro of being pulled over and given a ticket for running a stoplight (which he did in fact do), and then he went to contest in court in which he convinced the judge to 'think about it' for a few days. He just got the letter from the court and had an audience member open it and let him know what the decision was. I won't ruin this surprise ending, you'll have to call rivendell and ask to find out the verdict ;)

[Lungimsam]

Does one get points on their DMV record for tickets accrued while bike riding? Or just have to pay the fine?

A bike isnt a motor vehicle or car, though the cyclist must follow the rules of the road.So I wonder how the DMV handles that.

[Joe Bernard]

I liked his attitude about bike racing: "Electric motors? Sure, go ahead, who cares!" That cracked me up.

I confess, I bonked out of the ride. I've always been a slow cruiser guy, but a few years ago I could still climb a decent hill without keeling over. This time?..not so much. I was off the back but still plugging away on the paved part, but the dirt trail did me in. I got to the third rise as the next off-the-backers were walking up the fourth one, and it was getting HOT.

I said to myself, "Joe, don't be a tough guy. You have no idea how much longer/tougher this route is. It's time." So I headed back to RBW. I heard later that someone wiped out, quote, "spectacularly", (no injuries) so I guess it was a semi-gnarly ride. It was a day of adventure!

[Joe Bernard]

Lungimsam: I think the movie was a Grant thing. It's his vibe, and Eben isn't old enough to remember it ;)

[Mark in Beacon]

In New York, one does in fact get DMV points on their license after receiving a ticket for an infraction while operating a bicycle.

[Mark in Beacon]

My take on this book (I purchased his first, and I think second, or maybe I borrowed that one) is it recycles some of his familiar themes, such as types of cyclists and their attitudes. It also takes fairly standard advice--shop for a bicycle in the winter, when business is slow and you can get more attention--and spices it up with humorous asides. Ultimately, I think he is at his ripping, take-no-prisoners best when commenting daily on various goings-on in the world that touch in some way on cycling. The books, by their nature, tend to be Bike Snob lite. When I was first getting back into cycling, no doubt I would have enjoyed the Ultimate Guide. His next book should be a satirical roman a clef about the "bike world"--racing, boutique builders, advocacy, etc. I'll drop him a note...

Curious what kind of questions. Do you recall an example or two? Along the nature of What do you think of bike lanes?

[PineTarSoap]

I went as well and the above descriptions are accurate. His blog (BikeSnobNYC) is hilarious and while I go months forgetting to look at it, whenever I do, I am always very amused. His focus is bikes of course, but you wouldn't have to be that into bikes to enjoy it. He is simply a good writer. 

You sort of expect him to have some sort of life plan or be on a mission about bicycles, but what comes out when he speaks is that he is just a guy who fell into writing a blog that became a hit and his world is about amusing vignettes rather than crusading for bicycle advocacy.

Grant's rambling but hilarious anecdote about the traffic ticket stole the show for me however!

[David Stein]

I don't remember too many of the questions now, something like 'what is the craziest city for bicycling' or 'what is the future of cycling'. PineTarSoap's description is pretty accurate, he comes off in person as a pretty dry, sarcastic, funny guy who lucked into making money off the blog (he actually did have a funny anecdote about this - with the blog writing being a step up from his day job), and his answers to the questions reflected that. You can see him hesitate a little bit on each question, thinking 'how the hell am i going to answer that?!?!'

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[Joe Bernard]

I liked the answer on e-bikes 'cause I have one and I knew it wouldn't be a popular subject. Eben was supportive of pedal-assist on hilly commutes, which I agree is the strongest selling point: It gets people riding bikes on routes they would normally use a car for.

Then he launched into e-mountain biking, which was hilarious. (Paraphrased) "If you want to go mountain biking, go do it! It's recreation!" His point being that if you need a motor to go bomb some singletrack on the weekend, maybe you should find a hobby you can actually DO. Which I agreed with...until I bonked on the dirt ride. I was, like, "Dang, my eCLEM on low-assist for the steepest parts would be GREAT here."

So yeah, I'll probably do it one of these days because there's plenty of room to move off-trail and away from other riders and hikers, but tight singletrack places like China Camp in Marin would be a no-no. And even if I do the open space trail, he's still right: Electric mountain biking is stupid!

[Nick Huemmer]

I was there - it was a whole lot of fun.  The talk was funny, but a bit short considering it started late.

The ride was the more fun part.  There was plenty of stunts and other goofy bike nonsense.  The two high points were riding watching people attempt riding down a steep downhill near Toad Rock and having walkers chastise us for riding on what Grant calls "the best singletrack in the area" (Indian Creek Trail), which doesn't allow bikes (but they ride on it anyway).

Nice to meet some other locals that ride Rivvy bikes.

[Deacon Patrick]

Brilliant, Joe! I love it! I keep wondering when I'm going to see eMTBers on trails. It's actually a perfect place for it in our Ute Pass area because it's a climb to get to town and then around town (Woodland Park) there is no flat. But on trails, most folks drive to the top in a carpool and ride to the bottom if that's their thing, so I'm not sure if/when I'll see it.

On the plus side, I've seen infinitely more riders on my connector route to WP this year than ever before (0). Far more bikes as practical transport around town here, people in regular clothes, etc. then ever. I'm a trendsetter. Sardonic grin.

With abandon,

Patrick