Stupidity or Cosmic Justice?

There is some justice in this world, it appears. A couple of days ago, there was a particularly tragic hit-and-run accident here in which a bicyclist was killed while riding in a bike lane. The following story from the San Diego Union-Tribune tells the story of how the suspect was caught. May all hit-and-runners receive such swift justice:

Suspect Arrested in Fatal Hit and Run With Bicyclist

ALPINE – An Alpine man suspected in Tuesday's fatal hit-and-run collision with a bicyclist was arrested Thursday night after he went into a bar in view of the victim's friends and family at a candlelight vigil, authorities said. Relatives and friends of Edward Costa, 30, of Alpine were gathered at the spot on Alpine Boulevard near East Victoria Drive where he was killed, California Highway Patrol Officer Brian Pennings said. About 6:15 p.m., some in the group saw a white Ford F150 pickup with front-end damage drive past and pull into the Liars' Club bar parking lot, Pennings said. He said the witnesses, knowing the CHP was looking for a truck of that description as the hit-and-run vehicle, called the county Sheriff's Department. Deputies found Travis Weber, 44, in the bar and detained him for the CHP. Pennings said Weber was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving to the bar and on suspicion of felony manslaughter and hit-and-run from Tuesday night's collision. Pennings said the CHP received hundreds of tips, and Weber was one of several people mentioned by tipsters as a possible suspect in the case. Investigators had been trying to find Weber and the others named. Pennings said officers are confident that Weber was the driver behind the wheel of the Ford pickup, which was towed Thursday night as evidence.

RIP Edward, hope his helps.

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Sturmey-Archer Trigger Shifters

In trying to figure out why the nameplate on my Huffy/Raleigh's Sturmey-Archer trigger shifter is upside-down, I've been directed to the following very informative article on the history of the S-A trigger shifter. Fair warning, the link goes to a rather large PDF.

Sturmey-Archer Trigger Shifters, 1938-1960

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Limited Edition Coco's Variety Store Letterpress Posters

I've posted about Coco's Variety Store in Los Angeles before. The inimitable Mister Jalopy runs the joint, when he's not blogging at Dinosaurs & Robots, writing for MAKE, or getting interviewed by the New York Times and NPR, and that's just a partial list. Well, over at Coco's, they've now got limited-edition letterpress posters only available in-store (Los Angeles), complete with a staple gun, for $25. If you live in or near L.A., these make the perfect Christmas present for that special power pole in your life. Do your part to spread the word!

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Resurrecting an Old Bicycle

Here's a neat piece detailing the adventures of a first-time "resurrectionist" from Bicycling Magazine, posted to the discussion board of the Flickr group "Free Bikes, Cheap Bikes, Used Bikes."

"Just needs a little TLC," read the hand-lettered cardboard sign taped to the top tube. "Looking for a good home."  A sloppy two-tone paint job and an acute, framewide case of rust didn't leave me swooning. But when I picked up my find I understood the owner's urgency. The bicycle wasn't only feather light but was also exquisitely balanced, fluid almost, like the bones of the wind. I recalled an early 20th-century advertisement I had once seen of bicycles with wings, of riders gliding like blue-sky gods. It was almost dark, so I drew the frame closer and, even with my relatively uneducated eye, I saw things: ornate lugwork, Campagnolo components, an old, English-made Brooks saddle.

Link to full article.

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Day 1 & 2: Huffy/Raleigh Sportsman

The first shiny bits made their appearance today. I've got the wheels, fenders, chain guard, kickstand, etc. off the bike, but have left the handlebars/stem/fork assembled and the saddle and post on so that I can upend the bike to clean from all angles. I always clean everything first before I get too serious about the technical bits like bearings, crank, hubs, etc. Part of the reason is so that I can handle the bike without getting too dirty, and I also like the psychological boost I get from sprucing everything up. I washed the whole frame with Pedro's Bio-Clean squirted on a wet cloth, then went over it with rubbing compound to get a deeper clean and to coax what luster is left out of the paint. The fork and its chromed cap came out beautifully, but the head tube reveals the overall poor condition of the paint. The head badge turns out to be chromed copper, which explains the greenish hue it had. I made a go at the handlebars, and confirmed that much of the chrome is flaking off, but what remains shined up better than I expected; same with the stem. I didn't take a photo of that yet.

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1955 Huffy/Raleigh Sportsman

This is my new project for winter: a 1955 Huffy Sportsman, made by Raleigh, with a Sturmey-Archer 3-speed hub. This guy is a bit the worse for the wear, and I think quite a lot is going to have to be replaced. The chrome is mostly shot, and the frame has got a good bit of rust, but it's a solid old "British steel" bike. All of the components are Raleigh-made, and many of them are stamped "Raleigh Industries."

My favorite part is the chainring with the letters "NR", which I can only assume stands for "Nottingham Raleigh" (Update: nope, it's R.I.N. for Raleigh Industries Nottingham; the "I" is a bit hard to see). I haven't been able to find any other examples on the intertubes of this particular chainring design (wrong again--apparently common for brands taken over by Raleigh. See this thread at OldRoads.com, about 2/3 down the page, as well as this bike).

My final goal is for this to be a cargo bike, all fitted out with racks and baskets and whatnot. I've got a lot more photos up at my Flickr account, with a bit of explanatory text, so go check them out. And, of course, I'll be blogging about the restoration here as I go. The previous owner has even promised to check in, as he expressed a desire to see this old bike returned to its former glory. I'll do my best!

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Mumbai

I know I have some readers in India, and perhaps even a few from Mumbai. As the current crisis unfolds there, our thoughts and best wishes are with you.

Photo: Mumbai Daily Photo

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