While this Friday’s video clip is a British ad promoting Sony products, it also is a pretty cool collection of shots of exploding paint fireworks in an abandoned housing project. Enjoy.

Every generation has its MC Spandex, and I like to think that Eddy Merckx’s generation had Alex Marco  singing this ditty, “The Bike” recently found by Bike Hugger. Fellow cyclists, it is your job to bring back the long forgotten dance crazy by the end of the year so it may take its place in the pantheon of the Mashpotato, Macarena, and Boot Scoot Boogie.

Finally with the issue of safe passing in the news again, it is only appropriate to think about how much more efficient bikes are in the space they take up on the road and when you get to your destination. Brompton, the English folding bike company, did this promotional picture showing how many Bromptons can fit in a single car parking space.

Image courtesy of Gizmodo

It turns out that like the meaning of the universe, the answer is 42. Imagine how different our city would looke if we didn’t have to take up so much real estate and concrete parking our vehicles.

We the undersigned are citizens of the world who urge the Iowa Legislature to support a ballot initiative for the November 2010 election which will prohibit any motor vehicle from using state and county defined farm-to-market roads.

A farm-to-market road is a state or county road which serves to connect rural or agricultural areas to market towns.

Over the past ten years the number of motorists using these farm-to-market roads has increased dramatically, as have the number of preventable accidents and fatalities.

Traditional rural methods of commerce are significantly impacted when forced to share the farm-to-market roadways with motorists. Because of the growth of today’s commerce and agricultural business, shared roadways are no longer safe or practical in today’s society.

Operators of automobiles routinely disobey speed limits, spook horses and raise clouds of dust. They zip about, and act as though they own the public road itself!

So please if you are a resident of the world join us and help make our roadways safe for both people and livestock. Thanks for your time and your support.

As of this morning, it already had over 300 signatures. I encourage you all to sign it as well.

Here are some of the better comments from signees:

We pay big bucks for expressways – use them.- Anonymous

In the last two weeks I have seen two goldfinches hit by cars on farm-to-market roads while riding my bicycle. This is our state bird. It’s a travesty.- Brenda Conry, Iowa

Entitled Driver Syndrome needs to be stopped. Driving is a privilige, not a right. If you can’t do it safely, then the state shouldn’t allow you to do it at all.- Anonymous

4.000 pounds rolling at 55 mph. Collisions with that are not pretty and the safety of the farm to market roads will see a much higher improvement by banning cars instead of bicycles.- Anonymous

Gas Sucks. Ride your bike.- Anonymous

Speeding cars scare me, my wife, my children, my pets, and my cow.- Patrick Coughlin, Iowa

Cars should be strictly controlled as deadly weapons. Which means a thorough background check is in order for motor vehicle drivers licenses, just like gun ownership.- Wendy Peabody, California

Manpower: I am the engine.- Anonymous

Please get these dangerous cars off the road before they hurt someone!- Anonymous

Gosh darn motor carriages! They are the Devil’s work!- Jason Parkin, Iowa

The dust affects my allergies and the drivers my pursuit of happiness.- Anonymous

In another News of the Weird moment, the Alabama Alcoholic Beverage Control Board has banned the sale of Cycles Gladiator wine because the label has a drawing of a naked nymph riding a bicycle. The AP reports that:

The Alabama Alcoholic Beverage Control Board recently told stores and restaurants to quit serving Cycles Gladiator wine because of the label. Board attorney Bob Martin said the stylized, art-nouveau rendition of a nude female with a flying bicycle violated Alabama rules against displaying “a person posed in an immoral or sensuous manner.”

So a product you have to be 21 or older to purchase is deemed immoral because it has a drawing of the human form? Or is it the bicycle that makes it “immoral and sensuous”? The NPR blog The Two-Way points out that Fat Bastard wine is OK to sell in Alabama. So I guess you can use swear words to your heart’s content, but show the natural female form, and you get stopped at the boarder.

The wine maker which also supports cycling events started a Banned in ‘Bama campaign and has not been financially hurt by the ban. Bill Leigon from Cycles Gladiator is quoted in the AP article saying:

. . . he will never miss the 500 cases sold annually in Alabama. “There is going to be a significant increase in our sales,” he predicted.

I think we should do everything we can to support a company promoting bicycling and naked ladies. It just seems like the right thing to do.

Local man killed in traffic accident involving bicycle, Smart Car

An Austin man was killed today when a Smart Car collided with a bicycle on Lamar Blvd.

Police say Nathan Winters, 23, was pronounced dead on the scene following the accident. The bicycle rider, however, escaped with only minor injuries and was treated at the scene and released.

Winters’ family said that in addition to Winters being the proud owner of the Smart Car, he was an active member in Greenpeace, PETA, Earth First, NORML, and the Travis County Libertarian Party.

While the motor vehicle was a total loss, the bicycle will only require minor cosmetic repairs, police said.

This piece initially caught a fellow bike blogger off guard since we’ve been having quite a few bike/car accidents lately (not to mention stories of firefighters shooting cyclists because they weren’t being safe.) When you’ve had too much of our Governor vetoing Safe Passing Bills, head on over to Letters from Texas for a little levity.

One thing that any self respecting fixed gear blog must have is video of riders doing all kinds of tricks on their fixed gear bikes. This is pretty cool at first, but once you’ve watched about three or four clips you realize they are all doing the same tricks for the most part. I rarely bother to watch these clips anymore because other than the location, color of the bike, and clothing of the rider they are ensentially the same. (Notice I left out ethnicity, age, and gender in the list of differences. That’s because pretty much without exception the fixie trixters are white guys in the 20-35 year old range. I’m not sure why but there it is.)

Here’s a prototypical fixed gear trick video with requisite loud punk music:

Sometimes, the clips get a little more interesting like this one from Arak Avakian showing the evolution of a trick.

ATX Fixed 2 from Arak Avakian on Vimeo.

Well, I have to give a big shout out of thanks to BikeHugger for discovering this classic 1899 film clip from Tom Edison of a cyclist doing tricks on his fixed gear bike. 

Guess what? They are all the same tricks today’s fixters are doing. I don’t know but maybe it’s time to take it up a level or stop video taping the same tricks they did in the when the horse-less carriage was new. Or at least do tricks that are 23 years old instead of 110 years old:

Anyway, take some time to enjoy the whole series on The Bicyclists website. Here’s the first episode.

There is also a feature film version that just premiered in Portland last week. The trailer makes the story seem a little more melodramatic and less funny than the web series, but hopefully we’ll get to see it here in Austin soon.

Slow Bicycle Race – Copenhagenize vs Amsterdamize from Colville Andersen on Vimeo.

Get ready to be amazed.