The Chain Gang - Orlando Sentinel

Schwinn’s Ride of a Lifetime giveaway

Liam Miller — Fri, 25 May 2012 02:42:39 +0000

You pick the bike you think a friend or relative would want, and if they win, you win too. The contest ends June 25. You can enter it at schwinnbikes.com/RideofaLifetime

Cannondale offers Tour de France contest

Liam Miller — Thu, 24 May 2012 14:01:57 +0000

Cannondale says:

“Cannondale has launched its exciting Backstage at the Tour Contest. For the second consecutive year, Cannondale will make a cycling fan’s dream come true by giving them a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to spend a week with Team Liquigas-Cannondale at the Tour de France. As part of the experience, the winner will be a member of the behind-the-scenes team working on race-day preparation and athlete support at the world’s most famous cycling event.

Consumers can enter by simply liking Cannondale’s Facebook page, clicking on the Tour de France icon and filling out an application. Deadline for submissions is Thursday, May 31 at 11:59 p.m. EDT. This year’s grand-prize winner will spend seven days in France, touching down on Thursday, July 5 and departing Wednesday, July 11. The Grand Prize winner will also take home a SuperSix EVO bike, recently named the “Best Bike in the World” by Tour Magazine.”

David’s World Cycle comes to Winter Garden

Liam Miller — Wed, 23 May 2012 12:36:12 +0000

The location at Winter Garden Village plans a grand opening June 1. This will be the chain’s eighth location, with the original being the one in Orlando’s College Park. Get a map and read more by clicking here.

Cross Seminole Trail bridge, north end

Liam Miller — Wed, 23 May 2012 03:27:58 +0000

Minor wrap-up work is being done on the northern end, where a water truck was sprinkling new grass on either side of the trail recently. The south end appears finished. Seminole County trail-construction website still shows completion date of May 2012.

Alert: 10 bike-related recalls

Liam Miller — Fri, 18 May 2012 03:48:06 +0000

From the Consumer Product Safety Commission, these alerts:

Bridgeway Bicycles (91,000 units) The bicycle chain can break, causing a rider to lose control and fall.

Trek 2012 FX and District bicycles (27,000 units) The bolt that secures the seat saddle clamp to the seat post can break posing a fall hazard.

Fuji Saratoga Women’s Bicycles (10,500 units) The bicycle’s frame can break in the center of the downtube during use, causing the rider to lose control and fall.

Public Bikes 2010 through 2012 Model Year Bicycles (4,100 units) The pedals can crack and break, posing a fall hazard to the rider.

Specialized 2012 bicycles with Advanced Group carbon forks (460 units) The brake component housed within the bicycle’s carbon fork can disengage from the fork and allow the brake assembly to contact the wheel spokes while rotating, posing a fall hazard.

Chariot bicycle trailers (44,000 units) and bicycle-trailer conversion kits (70,000 units) The bicycle trailer’s hitch mechanisms can crack and break, causing the trailer to detach from the bicycle. This poses an injury hazard to children in the bicycle trailer.

Topeak Babyseat II Bicycle Carrier Seats (40,000 units) A child can place his or her fingers in the opening at the grab bar’s hinge mechanism. When the consumer lifts the grab bar to remove the child from the seat, the child’s fingertips can be caught in the hinge mechanism, posing a laceration and fingertip amputation hazard to the child.

Little Tricky Bicycle Helmets (30,400 units) Product testing demonstrated that these helmets do not comply with CPSC safety standards for impact resistance. Consumers could suffer impact head injuries in a fall.

GT, Giant and Trek Bicycles with SR Suntour Suspension Forks (17,000 units) The suspension fork’s internal support tubes can break and cause the rider to lose control, fall and crash.

Gore Bicycle Brake Cables for Road Bikes (9,700 units) When the brake cables are installed on Campagnolo style brake levers, they can detach, causing the brakes to fail and posing a fall hazard.

To see this press release on CPSC’s web site, including pictures of the products involved and links to the individual recalls, please go to: http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml12/12177.html

Join Clermont’s Ride of Silence Wednesday evening

Kate Santich — Wed, 16 May 2012 00:20:48 +0000

Two local women who lost their cyclist fathers have teamed up to organize a Ride of Silence in Clermont. You can read about the event and the fathers here:

http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/changetheworld/2012/05/wednesdays-ride-of-silence-salutes-two-beloved-fathers.html

Section of Seminole Wekiva Trail closed for repairs

jeff kunerth — Tue, 15 May 2012 20:01:20 +0000

The Seminole Wekiva Trail from Long Pond Road to Lake Mary Boulevard will be temporarily closed for repairs and maintenance Wednesday, May 16 through Friday May 18.

For additional information please call 407-349-0551.

Chain Gang blogger gets new bike

Liam Miller — Mon, 14 May 2012 03:17:42 +0000

I hold on to my bicycles longer than I do my cars. I’ve averaged one new bike a decade, I think. In the 1970s, I had a green trike with tassels, then a black Huffy, which I rode to high school. For college, my mom upgraded me to my beloved dark-green 1985 Raleigh Mountain Tour, which was stolen circa 1993. I replaced it first with a green chromoly Marin mountain bike, but I didn’t like how it rode, so I quickly sold it and got a used red Jamis mountain bike. When, in 2002, Orange Cycle said bringing the Jamis up to decent riding quality would cost more than buying a new bike, I bought a blue 2002 Schwinn Frontier mountain bike. But I ride frequently with two friends who have road bikes, and they have pushed me for a while to get a faster bike. The Schwinn is 38 pounds of steel. My new 2012 Cannondale Quick 5 is 27 pounds of aluminum and light-years ahead of the Schwinn or any other bike I have owned. I’m already in love. I plan to take it on a long ride this week. Anyone else have a favorite-bike story? Or a bike-from-hell story?

What happened to kids biking to school?

Liam Miller — Wed, 09 May 2012 13:39:49 +0000

I rode my bike to school in sixth grade and then again all through high school and college. (My schools from K-5 and 7-8 were too far away to ride to.) I got groceries and ran errands via bike in college and mooched off friends with cars if I needed to do a longer trip — say, from Gainesville back home to West Palm Beach. I didn’t own a car till age 21 and even then, I could walk to work, as it was just three blocks away. So I am disheartened by the plunge in biking to school by kids. In 1969, 48 percent of kids walked or rode bikes to school. In 2009, just 13 percent did. Why the drop? An NPR report examines the reasons. One is the fact that some schools actively discourage kids from cycling or walking. You can listen or read the transcript by clicking here.

Orlando’s Bike to Work Day: May 25

Liam Miller — Wed, 09 May 2012 03:54:29 +0000

Registration starts at 7:30 a.m., and the ride with Mayor Buddy Dyer starts at 8 a.m. at Dartmouth Park, 822 Dartmouth St., and ends at Orlando City Hall. Click here for details.