Why do you bike?

UPDATE: I’ve had some early feedback from people wanting this on a shirt. Are you one of them? If I get 10 people committing to it, I’ll put it up for preorder.

UPDATE UPDATE: It’s gonna be a shirt. All of you who commented, prepare those wallets!

UPDATE x3: How’s this look? Seriously, I want your opinion. If you’re not going to buy it, I’m going to change it. I’m reworking that. Stay tuned to the site, and the final shirt will be posted on the online store, HilariAwesome.com. Probably going to stay with that shirt color palette, just change up the design. If you’re looking for a cool biking shirt, check out the Bike Sniper shirt already in the store.

A followup to yesterday’s comic.

BUY A COOL SHIRT: Remember, the “My body is just a (coffee) filter” shirt is still in preorder sale. Preorder Now »

WIN A COOL SHIRT: And the Coffee Wins Shirts contest that kicked off yesterday is on like Donkey Kong! I’m hungry for entries! Seeing as how I’ve received 0 so far, as of now any 3 entries are garuanteed a win. So now might be a pretty good time to do so! Learn All About It »

Serious news, Systemics. Here in DC there’s a bunch of extra people in town due to a nuclear security summit. That means extra police, blocked off roads, and extra traffic. One of these extra vehicles, a National Guard truck to be specific, struck and killed a cyclist yesterday around 6pm. No details have been released about the cyclist. No details as well about the exact circumstances from the accident as well. UPDATE: The identity has been released. Given the fact that the cyclist was a 68-year-old woman, I somehow doubt she was breaking traffic rules.

I know I often do comics about cars vs. bikes and bikes vs. cars (including Friday’s comic), and a wonderful discussion has been raging about the nature of this dynamic. At the core of these comics is really this: when a vehicle and a bike go up against each other in a collision, regardless of who is at fault, the cyclist is going to lose catastrophically.

Take a few things from this incident, since that is all we can do:

• Cyclists, be careful out there. Obey laws as best you can and don’t take any risks you can avoid.
• Motorists, calm the hell down. You’ll get to your destination 2 minutes later but much much safer for all of us (cyclists, motorists and pedestrians alike.)
• Sure I’d like more advocacy for cyclists and loads of other things (like a pony, possibly on a bike), but let’s save that for another day.

Stay safe, Systemics.

Thanks to Systemic MichaelK42 for posting a link to this awesomeness in the (still raging) comments section of the “Bike Rep” comic from Friday. Too great to not share and bring up. Thanks, MichaelK42!

Next up is an infographic spotted about the overuse of infographics that aren’t really more than a chart or graph with some pretty colors on top. This is only the top section to give you a taste, go check out more here. LINK »

Finally, check out this Awesome Parfait by Carolyn Sewell! It’s pretty awesome. LINK »

Respect and reputation are very important. That’s why I wear my bike sniper shirt as much as my laundry schedule will allow.

Yesterday in DC a car seems to have intentionally run a cyclist off the road. What can bikers do to help show the cars around us whose boss? I want your thoughts! Keep it legal, or if not legal at least creative, and worth breaking the law for.

I know there was no comic Monday or even last Friday, so I’ll be spending the rest of the week trying to catch up to the schedule. Stick with me, Systemics. Big things are on the horizon.

Btw if you like this and are looking for some cycling revenge, you may want to check out the Bike Sniper shirt from our store, HilariAwesome.

Systemic Boxhill sent in this one. As she says, “System-in-the-Wild meets the Birth of the System? Cycling-centric, too”. It covers the history of “Helvetica Man”, and even some other examples (though this site has been left seemingly absent). LINK.

Systemic Haley sent me word of these. Bike clips that mimic Hermes’ (the g-d not the accountant from Futurama) magic little shoe wing things. $18.00 for a pair. Cheap, right? Since they’re so cheap, you should buy me a pair! LINK.

Smarter phones =! smarter drivers.