Erik Voldengen

All other mistakes aside, this is a good example of how one should NOT
publicly reply to a private email message.

Thanks for the example, Brady.

-Erik

Jeff Tedder & Shari

You tell em Brady, it's all those good Hammer products you buy from me, they make you a tough dude....HAH....
Anybody that walks out the door in the morning is a potential Darwin Award Candidate..

----- Original Message -----
From: Brady, Brady A
To: Brian Engelen
Cc: obra@list.obra.org
Sent: Tuesday, January 15, 2008 1:04 PM
Subject: Re: [OBRA Chat] Schwalbe Snow Studs

"Riding on narrow curvy steep icy roads with traffic? Sorry but you are a future Darwin Award candidate. Brian Engelen"

Thanks for the kind words, Brian.

Thompson road is where I live, and I ride a bike to work. I wasn't up for an 8-mile walk. Even if I wanted to drive, my car doesn't have studded tires. so I'm not going to hop in it and place other people at risk-that would be pretty irresponsible, don't you think? I'd rather live (or die) with being hit by an idiot than BE the idiot. I waited until the "rush" of morning traffic had subsided, it was light out, and I gave the tires a trial in the safety of my driveway and neighborhood before going down Thompson. Next time I'll just e-mail my boss that I'm taking off work because I don't want the difficulties posed by my death, should it occur, to be exacerbated by the ignominy of a potential Darwin Award nomination. Or, I can call you and you can give me a ride into work. If you get me there and back safely I'll give you a nice shot of espresso when you drop me off at home.

Since you're on the list, I'll make the not-entirely-unreasonable assumption that you race bikes. Do you race PIR? There are some who consider the PIR races auditions for Darwin Awards, does that make it so? What about Fabio Casartelli? Should he get a Darwin Award?

I've been hit by a car before on Thompson. Have you? I was descending in broad daylight, on dry pavement, at the speed limit, having taken the lane, when someone tried to pass me *on a curve*, *crossing a double yellow line*, *while speeding*, *into oncoming traffic*. Had I died from my injuries, I doubt anyone with the brainpower of a pea would have nominated me for a Darwin Award. Or, maybe I should have known that since it was summertime and school was out, that teenagers would be driving. and should have just stayed home. Yeah, go ahead, give me an "honorable mention" Darwin Award for that one. I definitely should have known better.

Had I been hit and killed this morning while descending, lawfully and in complete control, because of someone else's negligence, I would be no more a candidate for a Darwin award than in the previous scenario. To suggest otherwise is to misunderstand the meaning of the award, and most likely, many other, more important and complex issues.

Out.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: Brian Engelen [mailto:bengelen@comcast.net]
Sent: Tuesday, January 15, 2008 11:42 AM
To: Brady, Brady A
Subject: RE: [OBRA Chat] Schwalbe Snow Studs

"Riding on narrow curvy steep icy roads with traffic? Sorry but you are a future Darwin Award candidate. Brian Engelen"

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: obra-bounces@list.obra.org [mailto:obra-bounces@list.obra.org] On Behalf Of Brady, Brady A
Sent: Tuesday, January 15, 2008 10:54 AM
To: obra@list.obra.org
Subject: [OBRA Chat] Schwalbe Snow Studs

Just rode a set of these this morning and thought I'd let you all know how it went, in case you've been debating.

These were 38s, which fit nicely on the cross bike and even fit under the fenders (barely). They also have a 26" available, I believe.

Thompson Rd. was quite icy this morning, but while descending I felt confident on these, and didn't feel a single "sketch" moment. they were definitely grabbing. I tested them out on a flat, icy patch and they convinced me that on glare ice you'd have a better chance of staying upright riding on these than walking in normal shoes or boots. No comparison to the icy day last week, when descending the same stretch on a fixie felt like riding rollers. In fact, the only time I almost fell this morning was when I was straddling the bike to hit a switch for the traffic light. I was slipping but the bike wasn't!

Climbing a couple of short steepies, no slippage under high torque / low rpm.

Nice auditory cues as well. when the "clickity clack" stops, you know they've begun to bite ice / snow.

I'm definitely sold. One disclaimer, though: I wasn't trying to push the envelope (emergency braking, leaning hard into turns, etc.) so can't report out on that.

I think they're $50 at biketiresdirect.com, with free shipping for orders over $75.

Enjoy.

Brady

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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Brady, Brady A

"Riding on narrow curvy steep icy roads with traffic? Sorry but you are
a future Darwin Award candidate. Brian Engelen"

Thanks for the kind words, Brian.

Thompson road is where I live, and I ride a bike to work. I wasn't up
for an 8-mile walk. Even if I wanted to drive, my car doesn't have
studded tires... so I'm not going to hop in it and place other people at
risk-that would be pretty irresponsible, don't you think? I'd rather
live (or die) with being hit by an idiot than BE the idiot. I waited
until the "rush" of morning traffic had subsided, it was light out, and
I gave the tires a trial in the safety of my driveway and neighborhood
before going down Thompson. Next time I'll just e-mail my boss that I'm
taking off work because I don't want the difficulties posed by my death,
should it occur, to be exacerbated by the ignominy of a potential Darwin
Award nomination. Or, I can call you and you can give me a ride into
work. If you get me there and back safely I'll give you a nice shot of
espresso when you drop me off at home.

Since you're on the list, I'll make the not-entirely-unreasonable
assumption that you race bikes. Do you race PIR? There are some who
consider the PIR races auditions for Darwin Awards, does that make it
so? What about Fabio Casartelli? Should he get a Darwin Award?

I've been hit by a car before on Thompson. Have you? I was descending in
broad daylight, on dry pavement, at the speed limit, having taken the
lane, when someone tried to pass me *on a curve*, *crossing a double
yellow line*, *while speeding*, *into oncoming traffic*. Had I died from
my injuries, I doubt anyone with the brainpower of a pea would have
nominated me for a Darwin Award. Or, maybe I should have known that
since it was summertime and school was out, that teenagers would be
driving... and should have just stayed home. Yeah, go ahead, give me an
"honorable mention" Darwin Award for that one... I definitely should
have known better.

Had I been hit and killed this morning while descending, lawfully and in
complete control, because of someone else's negligence, I would be no
more a candidate for a Darwin award than in the previous scenario. To
suggest otherwise is to misunderstand the meaning of the award, and most
likely, many other, more important and complex issues.

Out.

________________________________

From: Brian Engelen [mailto:bengelen@comcast.net]
Sent: Tuesday, January 15, 2008 11:42 AM
To: Brady, Brady A
Subject: RE: [OBRA Chat] Schwalbe Snow Studs

"Riding on narrow curvy steep icy roads with traffic? Sorry but you are
a future Darwin Award candidate. Brian Engelen"

________________________________

From: obra-bounces@list.obra.org [mailto:obra-bounces@list.obra.org] On
Behalf Of Brady, Brady A
Sent: Tuesday, January 15, 2008 10:54 AM
To: obra@list.obra.org
Subject: [OBRA Chat] Schwalbe Snow Studs

Just rode a set of these this morning and thought I'd let you all know
how it went, in case you've been debating.

These were 38s, which fit nicely on the cross bike and even fit under
the fenders (barely). They also have a 26" available, I believe.

Thompson Rd. was quite icy this morning, but while descending I felt
confident on these, and didn't feel a single "sketch" moment... they
were definitely grabbing. I tested them out on a flat, icy patch and
they convinced me that on glare ice you'd have a better chance of
staying upright riding on these than walking in normal shoes or boots.
No comparison to the icy day last week, when descending the same stretch
on a fixie felt like riding rollers. In fact, the only time I almost
fell this morning was when I was straddling the bike to hit a switch for
the traffic light... I was slipping but the bike wasn't!

Climbing a couple of short steepies, no slippage under high torque / low
rpm.

Nice auditory cues as well... when the "clickity clack" stops, you know
they've begun to bite ice / snow.

I'm definitely sold. One disclaimer, though: I wasn't trying to push the
envelope (emergency braking, leaning hard into turns, etc.) so can't
report out on that.

I think they're $50 at biketiresdirect.com, with free shipping for
orders over $75.

Enjoy.

Brady

Brady, Brady A

Just rode a set of these this morning and thought I'd let you all know
how it went, in case you've been debating.

These were 38s, which fit nicely on the cross bike and even fit under
the fenders (barely). They also have a 26" available, I believe.

Thompson Rd. was quite icy this morning, but while descending I felt
confident on these, and didn't feel a single "sketch" moment... they
were definitely grabbing. I tested them out on a flat, icy patch and
they convinced me that on glare ice you'd have a better chance of
staying upright riding on these than walking in normal shoes or boots.
No comparison to the icy day last week, when descending the same stretch
on a fixie felt like riding rollers. In fact, the only time I almost
fell this morning was when I was straddling the bike to hit a switch for
the traffic light... I was slipping but the bike wasn't!

Climbing a couple of short steepies, no slippage under high torque / low
rpm.

Nice auditory cues as well... when the "clickity clack" stops, you know
they've begun to bite ice / snow.

I'm definitely sold. One disclaimer, though: I wasn't trying to push the
envelope (emergency braking, leaning hard into turns, etc.) so can't
report out on that.

I think they're $50 at biketiresdirect.com, with free shipping for
orders over $75.

Enjoy.

Brady