Innehållsförteckning för May 2016 från Bicycling

1 I didn’t #GetSomeoneRiding last year—or at least not the person I’d hoped to. But lots of you did, and some of the winning advice and inspiration that came out of your experiences is in our feature, “How to Make a Cyclist,” starting on page 80. It’s got me psyched to have another go. If you achieved the goal in ’15, I hope you’ll commit to getting another person on a bike this year. If you were like me and the plan just didn’t come together, don’t be discouraged—over all the years I’ve been waging this personal campaign, I’ve learned that a single successful sparking of that immeasurable but profound and clear transformation into a cyclist is worth any number of fruitless attempts. Change one person’s life for the better…

How did the East Side Riders get started? Back in about 2007, my father told my uncle, my brother, and me that he wanted to start a bike club. He’d built bikes with his friends when he was growing up. I chuckled and told him he was crazy. Not long after, I got laid off from my job. I went back to my father and said, “Might be a good idea to start this bike club since I have a little more time.” The first thing we did was put together 50 sandwiches with 50 waters and ride around Watts giving them out. One of the things we did as kids was feed hungry people—no matter how bad we were doing, my mom still found a way to give to…

Sweet Potato Nonpancake Makes five 4-inch cakes INGREDIENTS 1 sweet potato (about ¾ lb.) 3 large eggs 1/2 tsp cinnamon ⅛ tsp nutmeg pinch salt 1 tsp coconut oil or butter PREPARATION 1. Prick sweet potato with fork, then microwave on high for about 7 minutes or until tender. Let cool, then remove and discard the skin. 2. Mash sweet potato, then mix in eggs, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt until smooth. 3. Melt oil or butter in a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Cook ¼-cup dollops of batter until golden and set. Gently flip and repeat. MAKE IT SAVORY Instead of cinnamon, add garam masala, rosemary, or garlic. Or top pancakes with caramelized onions, a sausage patty, or cheese. NUTRITION INFO Per pancake: 84 calories, 4g fat (2g saturated), 5g…

Last spring, we issued a challenge to BICYCLING readers: By the end of the summer, get one person on a bike. The rules of #GetSomeoneRiding were simple: Find a noncyclist. Pick a riding goal. Change someone’s life (maybe your own). NBD, right? Riders from around the world took up the call. #NewBikeDays dawned. Flats were fixed. Finish lines were crossed. (Disclosure: At least one relationship hit the skids—but both parties’ passion for cycling endured.) Lots more people fell in love with the freedom a bicycle brings, and many of them wasted no time passing it on. Here’s what they learned. 1 IT’S NOT ABOUT YOU Kelly Krause, head of SXSW Interactive press in Austin, Texas, spends most of her saddle time with “hard-core road cyclists.” When her sister Nicole wanted…

PRICE $2,030, as tested WEIGHT 23.5 LB (53CM) WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW 4130 chromoly steel tubing Clearance for up to 43mm tires Available as a frameset or a complete bike, with various size options for some parts and add-ons Complete bike built with a SRAM Rival 22 11-speed group; Avid BB7 Road S mechanical disc brakes; and Fi’zi:k bar, stem, saddle, seatpost, and bar tape THE BIKE INDUSTRY tends to present most products from a technical standpoint, but as a visual guy (and BICYCLING’s art director), I look at things a little differently. That’s not to say I don’t appreciate a 30 percent stiffer bottom bracket or “improved vertical compliance,” but when I look at a bike I generally first notice color, graphics, shapes, angles, welds, and cable routing.…

ERICK CEDEÑO 42, cross-country bike tourist, memoirist, and owner of the Bicycle Nomad Café PHOENIX 1. Leaving is the most challenging because it’s the beginning of a journey. We have so many things with our lives, so many distractions, that the first pedal stroke to leave is the hardest. 2. When you’re a nomad, you’re content with yourself. 3. Mechanical is like “old-school” right? I’m traditional. 4. When I was riding the Underground Railroad Bicycle Route, I kept asking why I was doing it. I did it, and I know how, but I still question what made me do it—what my why was. 5. Because of what I do and how much I ride, I purchase new when I need something because I need it to work. 6. That’s how…

IS IT BAD TO RIDE A MUDDY TRAIL? After a rainy stretch, it’s tempting to get out on knobby tires as soon as the sun peeks through. But take it easy, shredder—riding wet trails can cause harm over time, says Mark Eller, communications director at the International Mountain Bicycling Association. It can create ruts, which ruin the rhythm of a trail and provide channels for water to flow through on future rainy days, causing even more damage. How to tell if the trails are too soggy? If you see the complete imprint of your tire’s tread in the mud, stay off the singletrack. (UM...) IS IT OK TO BORROW A FRIEND’S CHAMOIS? We’ll assume you’re staring down a century ride and your chamois is tucked away in a drawer at…

I’ve always wanted to combine my passion for coffee and cycling. About two years ago, I saw the Velopresso trike while watching the Tour de France on TV. It was a prototype. Eventually I had the company make me one. Even the frame is custom. They wanted to know my measurements, how I ride, everything. I work a lot of races, art gallery events, farmers' markets. I pedal up to 10 miles to get to an event and then between 4 and 8 miles while grinding coffee. A lever espresso machine doesn’t need any electricity. A propane gas tank heats up the water and builds pressure for the machine. I pedal 6 to 8 minutes to fill up the boiler with water, light the fire, and then wait 25 minutes…

If you have ever pedaled a bike outside of the United States, chances are you’ve wandered into a mercado or a marché, a markt or a shijou and discovered a basic, offthe-shelf treat that became a favorite, maybe even a new obsession. It might have been the wacky packaging that first caught your eye (yes, that Naughty Tomato is winking at you). But we’re betting it was a delectable combination of sugar and fat, or some exotic flavor mashup that got you hooked— chocolate-covered licorice is a thing in Iceland. Here’s our visual celebration of these often-peculiar-yet-somehowirresistible ride treats from around the world.* Finland SALMIAKKI Nordic countries have a thing for salty licorice, and these boxes of addictive pastilles travel well. *It’s possible to procure these snacks without spending a…

I HAVE NOTHING against flashy, mirrored, pro-racer–style sunglasses that make you look intimidating. I even enjoy wearing them sometimes: Let’s play hardcore fast guys! But I’m actually not very hard. I like to have a good time, and I also don’t want you to look at me that much when I’m riding my bike. The POC DO Half Blades are more my steez. The shades remind me of my oversize snowboarding goggles. The curved upper edge provides ample fieldof-view when you’re looking ahead in the down-low riding position, but it’s also POC’s intentional deviation from the poker-faced flavor of most racy road glasses. “Instead of looking angry, it’s more like, ‘What’s up?’ like you’re raising your eyebrows,” says Jonas Söderqvist, head of eyewear at POC. They’re kickass shades too. Grippy…

TIRES, AND TIRE pressure, are the easiest and least expensive way to change the way your bike rides. Bigger tires are smoother, better at absorbing shock, generally more resistant to flatting, and provide more traction. This is why, a couple of years ago, road bikes started appearing in shops with stock tires measuring 25mm instead of 23mm. Now, thanks to the wanderlust that’s taking more of us off-pavement, and our collective growing desire to ride longer and more comfortably in more conditions, 28 is starting to become the new 25. (Extra clearance on an increasing number of road frames with disc brakes means it might not be long before 30 or even 32 become popular, but for now 28mm is what fits into modern road frames with short-reach rim brakes.)…

A STRANGER’S NEW BIKE When I was in college, the BMX bike I was using to commute to class was stolen from my garage. I went to the bike shop and I said, “I’m ready, I want a real bike.” I didn’t want to worry about maintenance, so they recommended a track bike for simplicity, but the only one they had in my size was reserved for a customer who was picking it up the next day. They said, “Take this home for the night and if it’s what you want, we can order you one.” When I went out for a ride, the roads were slick. There were misty halos around all the streetlights. It was magical. I rode around that evening by myself on this bike and was…

I’ve been adopting animals for 24 years. My boyfriend and I currently have six dogs, but we’ve had upwards of 10 in the house at once. I carry a leash in my saddlebag in case I see a stray. I’ll bring the dog to a friend’s garage until I can find where it belongs. Visit the shelter several times. A shelter environment doesn’t bring out the best in any dog. So try to play with an animal in a room where it’s just the two of you, and take him on a walk. And don’t be too quick to judge—dogs take longer to warm up than people. Slowly ease yourself and the household into the new relationship. If it’s just not working out, contact the shelter. They can help you…

Catch the Sunrise “I have two young kids, so I get up at 4 every morning to ride. If I don’t, I probably won’t get out that day.” ANDY JOHNSON Age 45 Loveland, Colorado Architect and triathlete Have a Purpose “Whether it’s a hard day,an easy day, or a fun ride with people, don’t just go out aimlessly doing miles.” SPENCER MILLER Age 17 Indianapolis, Indiana High school student and food blogger Put Down Your Phone “I try not to waste time on the Internet or watch too much TV, the time sinks that so many of us don’t realize we have.” KURT REFSNIDER Age 34 Prescott, Arizona Geology professor and 2011 Tour Divide winner Think #SquadGoals “When I say I’ll meet a friend, I’ll meet him. Otherwise the impetus…

PRICE $4,495, frame (no fork); $10,925, as tested WEIGHT 19.8 LB (54CM, custom) I FIGURED I’D START this review with a pithy dismissal of gravel bikes—something like, “Oh, it’s just a bike”—then head into a rant about how you can do the same ride on a cyclocross bike or a road bike with burlier tires. Then I rode the Boo SL-G. As fun as it is to grump about the upstart category of gravel bikes, I have to admit that when it comes to certain rides, the SL-G—and its peers—are proving to be more fun. Much more. As the design of these bikes matures, it’s moving away from being repurposed ’cross frames and developing traits specific to the bikes’ use. Gravel (or adventure, or all-road) bikes tend to emphasize stability…

PRICE $275 WEIGHT 544g/pair (41) IT’S ALWAYS BEEN necessary to buy a company’s stiffest, most race-focused shoe to get top-level features, materials, and construction. Until now— at least at Shimano. The company calls its new RP9 a “road performance” shoe, and situates it one level below its “road competition” category. This means the carbon-fiber sole is classed as an 11 out of 12 on Shimano’s stiffness scale (although those ratings have long seemed a bit arbitrary to me). But unless you have the power output of a WorldTour racer—just checked and, alas, I’m still off the mark—you won’t notice the hint of flex except perhaps in the absence of forefoot hot spots on long rides. The RP9s have a comfortably wide toebox for my standard, D-width foot, but accommodate higher-volume…