Every week, the Mercury keeps its eyes peeled for a pair of hot wheels around town, bringing you photos of one sexy bike and a mini-interview its equally scintillating rider.
Joel’s patterned reflectors caught my eye as he rode a flew blocks ahead of me down NW Davis and I didn’t think I’d be able to catch him, but he stopped at every stop sign. I rolled through a couple and pulled up beside him — turns out he teaches school kids about bike safety for the Bicycle Transit Alliance AND is the keyboardist for the local band Hurtbird, which is playing the Aladdin on Friday. So he’s a smart cookie who helps kids and plays music? Lordy lordy.
This Week: Safe Sexy
Bike: Centurion frame with extra-wide handlebars and partially cut-off pink fenders.
Rider: Joel Holly
Spotted At: Third and NW Davis, right next to the BTA.
Do you really always wear a helmet?
I always wear a helmet, even if I’m just riding one block to the store. It’s true – actually, I’m very paranoid about crashing.
How have you tricked out your bike to be safe?
Well, it has this charming bird that honks. And it has this bell that rings constantly while I’m riding, which drives some people crazy but it’s a good pedestrian alert system. Also I have a ton of reflective tape on my bike and the eye-catching pink handlebars that make motorists think twice before running me over.
I like that bird.
It’s very regal looking, huh? You’ll also notice I have both brakes. There’s a tendency among people to remove the back brake for God knows what reason.
You don’t think there’s something sexy about unsafe bikes?
I used to be a snowboarder, but I’m 30 and I think I’ve gotten that flirting with danger thing out of my system. I think it’s a bummer that they require brakes, though, it should be a personal choice. I’m against the helmet law, too. Most of those things are turned into a way for the police department to generate revenue.
What kind of questions do the kids in your safety classes ask?
Why are your tires so skinny? Also, why is pink on my bike since I’m a boy? They always ask that. I tell them I like pink.
Awesome profile on a great bike & rider!
What the fuck? Will someone at the Mercury please teach Sarah how to take a photo.
If y’all are taking requests, could we please give Sarah an “unpaid intern” byline just like the other interns?
That Friday show is actually the Portland Cello Project CD release show–there’s a Hurtbird song on the record, and I think they’ll be playing a song that was newly arranged for the show as well.
Sir:
It takes a real man to wear pink, so your handle bars count.
I remain pretty in pink,
Jacomus
sarah mirk > matt davis
anyone > matt davis. just don’t let him know, the dude’s fragile. meds, or lack of meds, or whatever it is this week.
still, sarah starting off her blogtown career with the lovely “i’m gonna sign off at the bottom!” exhausted any goodwill i felt for her on the topic of byline irregularities.
is somebody seriously pissed off about this woman signing her name to what she wrote? I don’t get it.
Lotta haters today….
Just a matter of protocol, la foi. If you pick up a newspaper and find the authors signing off at the end of articles, it would strike you as unprofessional. If you’re reading a blog and the authors that have their names at the top of the posts are signing at the bottom, it’s just weird.
“If you’re reading a blog and the authors that have their names at the top of the posts are signing at the bottom, it’s just weird.”
Yes, that would be weird. But when Sarah was signing off at the bottom, she didn’t have her name at the top. And her name should be somewhere, as she deserves credit for the great stuff she’s posting.
I agree, Amy. Sarah’s one of the best new writers the Merc’s gotten in ages.
Perhaps all of the blogtown authors should justinclude their name in the “posted by” portion of the post. Seems so obvious when I put it that way…
What is with the obsession with pink?