im joel, and all you really need to know about me is...
i work as a bike messenger with the magpie messenger collective, a small independent messenger company in portland, oregon. i worked as a messenger for 10 years in san francisco (with short stints in toronto and london), and relocated to portland in spring of 2005 because, well, i just needed to be somewhere smaller. at magpie, we not only cover downtown pdx, but all the outlying areas as well, and even nearby cities. all told, counting copious non-work mileage, i probably put in a good 15,000 miles a year.
(some of these are more regularly maintained than others...)
web sites |
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|---|---|
| messengers.org | - the ifbma homepage, and resource clearinghouse for the international bike messenger community. |
| ira ryan cycles | - my housemate builds bicycle frames, and does a pretty good job at it. |
| magpie messenger collective | - portland, oregon messenger company which I'm a partner in. |
| bikes to rwanda | - a collaborative effort between the portland bike community and stumptown coffee, with the aim of improving the lives of rwandan coffee farmers, through bicycles! (while I'm no longer doing the web work for this site, it stays here cause it's such a damn cool project!) |
special projects |
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| bay city wheelmen (update 02 Jul 2007) |
this will eventually house a short history and other summary of my research on this early San Francisco cycling club. |
| courier racing in paris 1895-1960s (update 01 Dec 2007) |
summary of my research into the critérium des porteurs de journaux and championnat des triporteurs. |
| pre-war cyclocross in pictures (update 22 Sep 2007) |
a ~weekly pseudo-photoblog on early cyclocross, covering the years from the turn of the century up through the end of the 1930s. |
bike touring / travel |
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| joel's rando pages (update 05 Jun 2008) |
home of my diaries from various brevets and randonées, including PBP in 2003 and 2007 |
| pbp mess (update 10 Sep 2007) |
wherein i attempt to convince my worldwide messenger friends to join me at PBP 2007 |
| europe 2001 | 3.5 month tour (on and off the bike) through central europe on the way the ECMC and CMWC 2001. |
| europe 2002 | okay, not so much bike touring here, but its still a 2 week trip to iceland and copenhagen for CMWC 2002. tons of images. but theyre thumbnailed now so people with slower connections wont feel so left out. |
| raid californie-orégon 2003 (update 11 Jul 2004) |
this crazy race/ride from SF to portland that i organized as part of the lead-up to CMWC 2003 in seattle. |
| bay city relay cup 2004 (update 08 May 2005) |
a 4-person team relay alleycat i held to commemorate my 10th anniversary messengering. |
| raid olympique (update 17 Dec 2006) |
Someday... - Portland to Olympic Nat'l Park and return, indefinately postponed, for the time being, but it will happen, sooner or later. |
manufacturer archives |
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framebuilders |
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| jack taylor cycles (update 03 Jun 2007) |
serial # registry, photos and history of the work of this longtime british framebuilding trio of brothers |
| umberto dei (update 05 May 2006) |
beginnings of a home for a history of this italian framebuilder. |
| caminade/caminargent (update 02 Apr 2007) |
archives concerning this french framebuilder and component manufacturer |
| small french framebuilders (update 13 Jun 2006) |
start of a page covering the lesser-known small builders of france during the 1930s-1960s |
| mantis valkyrie/x-frame (update 27 Apr 2006) |
tiny beginnings of a registry for early mantis mtb production, with a focus on the original, pre-elevated chainstay, valkyrie/x-frame |
components |
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| specialites t.a. (update 08 Apr 2006) |
french manufacturer of cranks, chainrings, bottle cages, pedals, etc |
| magistroni (update 15 Feb 2005) |
italian manufacturer of cranks, bottom brackets and headsets |
| jos (update 02 Apr 2007) |
french manufacturer of lights, dynamos and reflectors.. |
| j. lefol (update 02 Apr 2006) |
french manufacturer of fenders, brakes, rims etc |
| maxi-car (update 02 Apr 2006) |
french manufacturer of hubs and drum brakes |
| radios (update 09 Apr 2006) |
french manufacturer of lighting components.. |
| rene herse (update 09 Apr 2006) |
components manufactured or modified by the famed french "constructeur" |
| alex singer (update 08 Apr 2006) |
components manufactured or modified by the famed french "constructeur" |
wheelman era |
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| morgan & wright (update 07 Jan 2005) |
a listing of products, and my collection of ephemera from this early american bicycle tire manufacturer. |
| the white bicycle (update 03 Apr 2004) |
start of a page relating to bicycles manufactured by the white sewing machine co. |
other bike stuff |
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| daniel rebour (update 06 Feb 2005) |
a growing archive of rebour drawings from le cycliste, including the descriptive information not reprinted in the data book. |
| obscure brakes (update 09 Apr 2006) |
dedicated to odd cable-actuated brakes for mountain (and now road too!) bikes. |
| christophe on cx | Eugene Christophe's tips for aspiring cyclocross racers, circa 1921. |
record label discographies |
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| droll yankees (update 23 May 2005) |
discography of this now-defunct label devoted to "the sounds of old new england". |
| experiences anonymes (update 11 Mar 2005) |
discography of this now-defunct label devoted to early music. |
| gramm records (update 10 Jul 2004) |
discography of this icelandic record label which eventually became smekkleysa/bad taste. |
random nonsense |
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| chainwheel sleeve (update 24 Sep 2006) |
a tattoo idea ive had in my head for a while, finally starting to come together... |
| domestic productivity /d.i.y. projects (update 13 Aug 2004) |
what i end up doing when i get that creative spark |
| scavenger hunt! (update 29 Feb 2004) |
digital camera + time on my hands = ... |
bike stuff |
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|---|---|
| www.portlandmessenger.org | the portland united messenger associations home on the web. |
| www.sfbma.org | the san francisco bike messenger associations place on the web. |
 |
an organization devoted to the collection, preservation, and understanding of pre-1918 bicycles. |
| the rough-stuff fellowship | british cycling club focused on riding unimproved trails on touring bikes. |
 |
magazine devoted to vintage bicycles, especially as related to randonneuring and bike touring. |
| zo bags | after 10 years, still the only messenger bag ill use on the job. simple things that work. |
| oregon randonneurs | oregon's wide-ranging randonneur "club" (are we more like a focus group?) |
| sf randonneurs | san francisco bike club dedicated to the ideals of unsupported long distance cycling |
| carfree cities | the companion website and online magazine to the book of the same name - an excellent resource for carfree city design. |
| california millenium ride (milly) | this crazy idea some friends had about 1000-mile unsupported bike rides in the vein of the "century"... |
| trento bike pages | THE online resource for bike touring around europe and beyond. |
music stuff |
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| the ex | legendary dutch anarcho-punks, always doing something interesting. |
| current 93 | the ever-changing music adventures of david michael and friends. |
| bjork | what more need i say?. |
| smithsonian folkways records | keeping alive the vast archives of folkways records. |