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Humor & Opinion

From "Dumbest Product of the Week" to an occasional rant on the state of bicycle infrastructure, Austin on Two Wheels brings you opinion pieces that make you think and humor to tickle your funny bone. It can't all be bike rides, races, and reviews, right?

Latest Opinion Articles

The Auto Industry’s true colors: Creeps and Wierdos, Feb 19th, 2010

No Friday Film Fun today. Instead, I cannot resist posting this auto ad brought to my attention by Copenhagenize.
The ad which ran in Canada a few years ago was a more radical departure from the automotive industry’s usually more subtle attempt to make alternative transportation less appealing than throwing down tens of thousands of your [...]

Opposition to Nueces Street Bike Boulevard bring up same misleading concerns at UTC meeting, Feb 11th, 2010

Critics of bike blvd make factually incorrect statements in calling for delay or removal of bike boulevard. Plus an update on the free swim policy at Barton Springs Pool.
Tuesday night, the City of Austin Urban Transportation Commission met to review the current progress on plans to create Austin’s first bicycle boulevard on Nueces Street. [...]

A New Year, a new mindset, Jan 4th, 2010

More to learn from Copenhagen on making a city bikeable for all
I have spent a lot of time in my professional life trying to sell Texans and Austinites on a vision of life that does not center around the car. Whether it was sharing cars, using a bike for everyday errands, or riding rail, I’ve [...]

Yet more great new bike infrastructure ideas from Copenhagen, Dec 14th, 2009

Inspiration for the Copenhagenization the rest of the world
With the Climate Change Conference, Copenhagen remains very much in the news especially on the bike front. As a city with a dominate car culture until the 1970s, Copenhagen pulled back from the gasoline induced sprawl most of the Western world embraced and now has 37% of [...]

Vehicular cycling versus bike lanes: why they are both right, both wrong and why bike boulevards matter, Dec 9th, 2009

Thoughts on where we’ve been and where we are going ahead of tonight’s Bike Boulevard Open House
As Austin prepares to experiment with the concept of bicycle boulevards, it is important to remember where bicycle infrastructure has been and why bike boulevards are really important in the goal of creating a city where large numbers of [...]

Archive of all Opinion

Latest Humor

Friday Film Fun: Paint ball fireworks, Oct 30th, 2009

Today’s film is in no way bicycle related other than it comes to me from All Hail the Black Market, a great generally bikish blog by Stevil Kinevil. Many may remember Stevil’s writings from How to Avoid the Bummer Life, the blog he wrote while employed by Swobo. He was let go/left Swobo in August, [...]

Friday Film Fun: Music Madness in “Performance” and “The Bike”, Aug 28th, 2009

This Friday’s film fun is an intergenerational two-parter with first this roadie rap video called “Performance” by MC Spandex that’s been making the rounds of the Interweb.

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 [...]

New petition seeks to ban cars from Iowa Farm to Market Roads, Aug 5th, 2009

On Monday, we let you know about an online petition that is asking the Iowa legislature to ban bicycle on all Iowa farm to market roads. Not to be out done, a group calling itself the Coalition for the Safety of Citizens of Iowa put together a humorous counter petition, Stop sharing Iowa FM roads.
We [...]

Alabama bans wine with ‘racy’ label, Jul 31st, 2009

Alcoholic Beverage Control Board pulls wine with naked nymph and bicycle
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 [...]

Local political blog pokes fun at cyclist/car interaction, Smart Cars, Jul 27th, 2009

Local politican consultant and bull shit artist humorist Harold Cook writes a news satire site, Letters from Texas, commenting mostly on happenings at the Capitol and City Hall. In his Sunday news round up, he poked fun at the road worthliness of the Smart Car and the interactions between drivers and cyclists:
Local man killed in [...]

Archive of all Humor Dumbest Product of the Week is a series we bring you each Friday to highlighting the silly, useless things being brought to you, the American consumer, in a fleeting chance that we might all think twice about what we are doing before we buy one more widget. While we try to focus on things tangentially related to cycling, we reserve the right to single out any dumb product with the ridicule it deserves.

Latest Dumbest Product of the Week

Dumbest Product of the Week: Goldfinger Edition, Aurumania Gold Bike, Mar 13th, 2009

(Before we go any further, click here and start this YouTube video in the background to get you in the mood.)
I have to say I was mildly irritated with Marcus this week when he took what could have been a perfectly good Dumbest Product of the Week away from me with the $27,000 “The World’s Most Advanced [...]

Dumbest Product of the Week- 25th Edition, The Wind Helmet, Mar 6th, 2009

It’s hard to believe, but Dumbest Product of the Week has entered its 25th edition, our silver anniversary so to speak. We’ve enjoyed skewering silly products these last seven months, and despite the seeming implosion of our economy, they just keep coming.

I’d like to thank one of our vigilant readers for sending me this week’s [...]

Dumbest Product of the Week- Velo Couture Strikes Back, Rapha Three Piece Cycling Suit by Timothy Everest, Feb 27th, 2009

The fashion industry has inspired us to pen more than one Dumbest Product of the Week. When fashion and cycling converge as they often do with clothing maker Rapha, we have pay dirt.
Some of you may recall Rapha’s $750 Tweed Softshell as our 16th edition Dumbest Product winner. This softshell may be OK for slumming [...]

Dumbest Product takes a one week break, Feb 20th, 2009

Dumbest Product of the Week is taking a one week hiatus. I had a product selected for this week, but just not the time.
We’ll be back with more fun next week. In the meantime, check out our archive of previous Dumbest Products for some golden oldies.

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Dumbest Product of the Week- 23rd Edition, The Claw by Gladiator Garage Works, Feb 13th, 2009

Are dumb products simply foolish entries in the marketplace or are they part of an more sinister plot? In the past I’ve had my doubts, but I’d like to think all these folks are well meaning if misdirected souls.

Thanks to Bike Hacks for alerting me to this week’s nominee for Dumbest Product of the Week, The [...]

Archive of all Dumbest Product of the Week