The Return of the How's My Driving? Sign

I've been reading some old posts on this blog and I think I'm gonna try the "How's My Driving?" sign again for a while.

I have 3 main reasons:

1) I have never tried it in winter. The fact that I'm out in the snow and ice might spur more people to comment. We shall see.

2) My URL is way more simple... (rantwick.com) people may remember and use it more easily. Plus, there are way more smartphones out there than when I tried it the first time. I hope and pray it is the passenger responding, though!

3) That sign kept me really honest when it came to riding responsibly. Having it displayed makes me ride better / more safely.

IMPORTANT NOTE: As before, the sign may draw comment trolls and other honestly angry or rude people to this blog. Engage if you like, but follow my lead and kill them with kindness and utter civility. If you can't do that, do not comment. This is about a hopefully useful discussion between me and the motorists who see me, not name-calling or finger-pointing or any of the other nonsense that plagues comments about cycling all over the Internet. 

Yer Pal,

R A N T W I C K

Mutant Winter III Mutated into Mutant Winter IV!

Congratulate me, the father of a new mutant! Some might think you get used to spawning a new mutant after the first few, but let me tell you, they are so wrong! Every mutation is special in its own way. Some may recall that I put together yet another bike for this winter, Mutant Winter III.

When I wrote that post, this weird thing happened where somebody commented and I responded; it was cool:

Well, John's concerns about "the balance" proved to be more than warranted on this bike. Like I said in my reply, I thought it would be OK, but I was wrong. I don't know if it was related to frame being much lighter (alu instead of steel) or frame geometry or 700c wheels or what, but where the tub used to only lightly affect balance before, on this bike it made the ass end totally whippy and weird. Whippy and weird is not cool when you're riding on ice and snow. The 2nd best tub in town (sniff) had to go.

I got a rear rack for the bike and am using my Ortliebs with it. The rack I bought had no "deck", so I had to come up with a way to avoid the dreaded dirty stripe up the backside. Normal fenders are prone to snow and ice buildup between the tire and the fender, which I hate. The wacked out fender/rack setup I ended up with (zip ties, back duct tape and junkpile fender piece) leaves loads of room for gunk to fly or fall away:

And it shall be called the "rafender"!

I have ridden in lots of slushy snowy goop in the last little while, and the fender stays nice and clear while blocking spray very well. I was surprised that the panniers did not collect any appreciable amount of spooge either. This bike is really working out well so far.

I hope to get a little snow riding video processed soon. It'll be boring, but pretty. Like me.

Yer Pal,

R A N T W I C K

Pick 3

OK everybody, the time has come to determine who has won the Third Annual Rantwick Autumn Tree Smackdown.

I really liked how it went down last year, so I'm just gonna do it that way again. For those of you who have forgotten or are new to the contest, the entrants voted for each other. Last year I allowed each entrant to vote for 2 trees other than their own. This year, since there are so many great entries, I'm increasing it to 3. I then create a stupid video about the voting, the trees and the winner. Here's last year's video:

Whether your tree kicks ass, lands in the esteemed "Hall of Zeroes" or falls somewhere in between, believe me when I say that I (and many others, I bet) really enjoyed getting a look at it. Thanks!

If you are one of the justifiably proud participants in this contest, please review all of the entries by visiting the web album they're in by clicking here. Then, Pick 3 faves and send me an email saying what they are.

When I've heard from those who actually read this blog anymore (considering my absences recently), I'll bug the other entrants directly for votes via email. At that point I'll also set a deadline for votes so things don't drag on forever.

Good luck everybody, and oh yeah, belated Merry Christmas! I'm hoping to post again before the new year about something other than trees.

Woo Hoo! It's voting time!

R A N T W I C K

PS - Hey, are you wishing you could vote, but didn't enter a tree? Well, I've come up with something for you too:

Take a crappy picture with your stupid phone next year and enter my contest. You can vote then, even if your tree sucks! Sorry if you were hoping for more, that's all I got.