Why bike? Reason #1

The scenery.
I was out for an just an hour and saw sights much like these (photos from Panoramio, but could have been taken today):

Space Value Judgments

I've been thinking a lot more about space as an indicator of value. As a general rule, the more space you give to something, the more you value it.

My current company, Robert Stephen Consulting, assesses the amount of space a company devotes to its various activities compares that with the total space available, so our clients cam come to conclusions about whether the space is used effectively.

Space is a type of capital, like currency or labor. It can be managed much like money and time can be, though not nearly as liquid. It has been a change of perspective for to look at it as a commodity.

At work, we consider cubicles, office spaces, and circulation space. But I've begun to look at my closet space, desk space, garage space, and storage space in a similar way. Am I using my space effectively? Do my space allocations match the value I attach to the objects and activities in my life?

SF Bike Expo - Highlights

Honestly, the San Francisco Bike Expo http://sfbikeexpo.com/ was disappointing. It felt like a flea market rather than a convention. I would have liked to see new developments, serious custom bikes, and more of the stuff on the fringe. The Maker Faire is much better event for unique bike stuff.

There were a few displays that really caught my eye.

Wooden Bikes - a new take on an old material.

• Renovo http://www.renovobikes.com/ - engineered hardwood bicycles that you can park in your living room.
• Bamboo bikes - there were a couple companies showing off their bamboo bikes.
  

Bike Apparel - most biking clothes are garish and unflattering. They are fine tuned to serve a single purpose, racing, and while they do that well, they seem inappropriate for the other 99% of the time. It was nice to see some clothing with some style.

• Shelia Moon -http://store.sheilamoon.com/
  
• Outlier - http://outlier.cc/
  

Bilenky - http://www.bilenky.com/ - this was the reason we came to the expo in the first place. They do two really cool things:

1. They retrofit bikes with Bicycle Torque Couplers (BTCs) which allow any bike to be disassembled.
   
2. They build special custom tandem bikes where one rider is upright and the other is recumbent. This Viewpoint model can be adapted for special needs riders. We've ordered one and should get it around the middle of February. I'll post pictures when they are available.