In his “I’m too sick to blog today” post, Bike Snob NYC mocks this photo I took at the SF Bike Expo last November. Woo hoo!

The outfits from B. Spoke Tailor are described here by the designer, Nan Eastep. The dude is on a Renovo wooden bicycle.

Craigslist missed connections and guys with bikes…

I mentioned it way back when but this classic best of CL is making the rounds again and it’s worth another mention: this guy is confused by women’s fascination with bicycles in CL missed connections.

It seems you hardly even saw the dude, so transfixed as you were by his yellow fixie. Honestly, is this the new chick magnet? Has the red sports car of the 80’s been replaced with the fixed wheel bike?

That might explain some of the anti-cycling hate in Facebook and elsewhere: They’re jealous. Back in the caveman days we competed for mates by hooting like chimps and bludgeoning each other with sticks. Through the modern age, economic status (or the appearance of it) seemed to work well. Joe Winebox believed the advertising that his shiny car from Smythe European (that’s the name of a real Bay Area car dealership, no kidding!) would attract the perfect trophy wife, but when his tactic doesn’t work, Joe might be tempted to revert to ape-like yammering squawks, threats and bludgeoning.

I probably read too much into it, so just have some fun with this.

After several minor quakes rattled the South Bay last week, a magnitude 6.5 earthquake about 20 miles off of the California coast shook coastal towns in Humboldt County Saturday afternoon. Damage mostly consisted of downed power lines, broken pipes, shattered glass and toppled shelves. Mark Ritz of Kinetic Koffee in Arcata momentarily lost power and his Internet access, but otherwise reports no real damage. Humboldt County is about 300 miles north of Santa Cruz, California as the crow flies.

The city is repaving a 2000 foot section of road in my town using Federal ARRA (‘stimulus’) funds. Because the regional transportation commission has a “Complete Streets” style requirement in place for any project that accepts ARRA funds, a new sidewalk and bike lane will also be installed on Bean Creek Road as part of this paving project. This is one example where a Complete Streets policy can be very helpful.

Pedal powered trash collection in Northhampton, Massachusetts.

Peak Car Ownership? Some people hope so.

For those sitting under a log this past week: People are upset about Facebook’s lack of action regarding a group inciting violence against cyclists. There’s an anti anti (i.e. “pro cyclist”) group now to counter. Carson Blume has organized a protest ride around Facebook HQ in Palo Alto Saturday, January 23 at noon.

James’s notes on Sanyo’s Eneloop bike.

Cool: A new Banshee Spitfire?

Totsumo Yamaguchi worked for Mitsubishi in Nagasaki. He was in Hiroshima for a business trip when the Enola Gay dropped the Little Boy atomic bomb on that city. Yamaguchi lost his hearing, was blinded and burned over half of his body from the blast. He returned home to Nagasaki three days later just in time for, you guessed it, Fat Man’s atomic explosion. Yamaguchi passed last week at the age of 93. More here.

Salud! I now direct you to The Bike Intelligencer weekend roundup of bike news.

Stanley Song from Cannondale’s advanced products describes “Simon,” an electronically controlled bicycle suspension proof of concept at the Consumer Electronics Show 2010.

More at Engadget: Cannondale’s mind-blowing Simon electronic suspension system hands-on.

The key to riding a bicycle in winter, Yvonne Bambrick confides, is tissues.

“Some people do the, what do they call it, snot rockets. Yuck.” She digs into her purse in the front basket of her bicycle to reveal a pale blue silk pouch, brimming with Kleenex. “Do you want one?”

More in the Toronto Star: Hard-core cyclists do not fear winter.

While most of you in the USA and Canada are freezing your keisters off, it’s a balmy 70 degrees in Santa Cruz this weekend. ~~ Love, Fritz.