Bike:// City Bikes:// Hermes Bicycle

Hermes Bicycle

You could get a bike for free on freecycle.org, but for anyone with enough spare change or is a fan of the luxury Hermes brand and want to spend a quiet afternoon riding a bike in the Hamptons or whatever exotic island their private yacht has set its anchor on, there's the Hermes bike for you. The omafiets-looking stainless steel bike is available for $4,650 on the French brand's U.S. website.

Bike:// Art:// Ai Weiwei's "Forever Bicycles" gets bigger for Toronto

Ai Weiwei's "Forever Bicycles" sculpture at the Toronto Nuit Blanche festival

In yet another example of the intersection of art and bicycles, Chinese contemporary artist Ai Weiwei has brought his an upsized version of his "Forever Bicycles" sculpture to Toronto for the Nuit Blanche festival. This new piece is a bigger than his earlier "Forever Bicycles" sculpture which was exhibited at the Taipei Fine Arts Museum as part of the "Ai Weiwei absent" exhibit.The original only had 1,000 bikes while the Toronto piece features over 3,144 bikes. The piece strikes me as a nod to M.C. Escher what do you think? Leave a comment! Photo courtesy of Alex Meoko via Flickr (used with permission)

Ride:// Gear:// Topeak MTX Trunk Bag

If you're a regular commuter and a bike basket can't quite hold your gear and a backpack weighs you down, consider the Topeak MTX Trunk Bag. This bag has 1,010 cubic inches of storage and has rigid molded side panels, enough to fit extra clothes and shoes to change into once you get to work. It's also built with water-repellant 420-denier nylon construction to help keep your gear dry. The bag is compatible with all Topeak MTX Quick-Track rack system and when you need to take it with you, carry it like a messenger bag with its included shoulder strap.

Happy weekend!

It's the weekend! Where will you be riding this weekend? Post it in the comments below! As for me, I won't be riding the bike this time but I'll be joining my first full marathon (42 kms.) this Sunday. I can't say I've trained well enough for this one like I did for my 32-km run last June since I've been busy job hunting lately. I found a new job and I plan to ride my bike to work most of the time for this new job since I could get to the office faster on my bike than if I ride the public transpo. It takes 20 minutes plus the time to freshen up and change clothes if need be versus 45 minutes riding two jeeps and a train. I'll probably post a pic when I've adjusted to this new job. Wish me luck - but more than that, wish that I have the guts to stick to this one.

Ride:// Gear:// GoPro HERO3

GoPro HERO3

Make sure you capture your next epic ride in all its glory . GoPro has released the HERO3, its most advanced model yet. Its mounts help you secure your GoPro HERO3 securely to your helmet or handle bar or pretty much anywhere so that you can focus on enjoying the trail. The HERO3 Black Edition has twice the resolution and twice the frame-rate of older models and also doubles its low light performance. Just want to capture photos? You'll be glad to know that the Black Edition's photo performance is three times better than previous models. Users can also download the GoPro App which lets you control the GoPro camera remotely with your smartphone or tablet. Check out fellow riders as they savor the trails of Peru in the video below.

Ode to my cruiser, "The Ghost"

I had a cruiser a few years back, I don't remember posting about it here. It was black and white and I sanded it down and painted it to a nice cream color while the fenders and chain guard was white. I bought white wall tires for it and white grips to go with its half moon handle bars. It also had a bell on it and no brake levers since it had coaster brakes. I loved it, I even rode it on a critical mass ride. That bike even served as a prop for my wedding pic! Then the kids came and I had no time to ride and maintain it so I decided to sell it. I found a picture that I used when I sold it online. A lucky guy who decided to check online that day for a cruiser found my ad the same day I posted it and made the offer. After some back and forth texts and some haggling, we met up at a gas station near my house and he left with my cruiser, the one I sanded down and painted lovingly. I miss it some times, but heck, I'm sure the guy who bought it is having more fun with it. So here it is, my cruiser that I nicknamed "The Ghost."

"The Ghost"lookin' good my old pal!

This cruiser looked good from the back too!

If you're looking for cruisers, you might want to check out some of the cruisers available on Amazon.

Ride:// Music:// Deftones' Koi No Yokan

I've been a fan of the Deftones ever since I discovered Around the Fur in 1999 (released 1997) and then I discovered their earlier works and rocked out to that too. Around the Fur was followed by the Album White Pony which made them a critical success. I haven't followed their work after the 2006 release of Saturday Night Wrist (God I love Cherry Waves) but I was able to catch their show when they performed here for the first time in 2011 if I remember right. The guys have been back a second time to promote their Koi No Yokan album (released 2012) which I unfortunately missed.

A video was just released for Romantic Dreams off the Koi No Yokan album featuring skater Jay Park doing his thing in the city night. Romantic Dreams contains the signature emotions I always look for in a Deftones track. There's elements in their work that are always there, I can't describe them but there's always a woman that Chino seems to be singing about who he loves but there's something wrong with her or she's this fantastic creature that has trapped him (Feiticeira comes to mind but that's just my interpretation). If you want some tunes to listen to on your next epic ride, you might want to check out their latest album.

Video: Deftones' Romantic Dreams