The flowers are sprouting here in Louisville, and at the bike shop I’m at we’ve got radishes:

The Radish, as seen above, is the S.U.B. put out by the folks from Xtracycle. S.U.B. is of course Sport Utility Bike. Read more about these bikes and their associated health providing Free Radicals at xtracycle.com, or come on up to Bike Couriers Bike Shop on Frankfort Ave and take a ride yourself on our Radish and find out what these long-tail bikes are all about. 

They’re not only fun to ride, but exciting to look at and think about—the concept that is, primarily having the ability to be wholly self-sufficient and easily car-free; the Radish (or the conversion of an existing bike to a long-tail) enables you to haul hundreds of pounds of cargo or simply a week’s worth of groceries without having to fight traffic gridlock, fill up a gas tank, or search for parking. These are all benefits that really equate to having a good time!

Radish—image courtesy of Xtracycle.com

Just glancing through one of those Conscious Choice magazines commonly found in coffee shops and came across a cool article about musicians traveling around on tour by bicycle. Check out the full article here.

I love this perspective (emphasis and links mine):

But not the Ginger Ninjas. In April, this folk-ska band from North San Juan, California (fronted by Xtracycle co-founder Kipchoge Spencer) completed a fully pedal-powered tour of 5000 miles from Lake Tahoe to Chiapas, Mexico. The Ninjas’ tour — called Pleasant Revolution — included 80 dates. So did the Rolling Stones’ 2006 Bigger Bang Tour, but the tired supergroup’s tour also included 80 semi trucks, a jet plane and 37,000 barrels of oil — each incinerated, of course. The Ginger Ninjas, who employed a pedal-powered sound system at most shows, estimate they expended a third of a barrel of oil on their journey.

This issue of Conscious Choice also has a great interview with Michael Franti.