Saris Bones 2

6 Oct 2009 Update: I've posted a few more notes on my experience here.

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I began a quest this morning to find a bike rack for my impending country lap. Europeans take note: in the next 3 weeks, I'll cover over 6000 miles without repeating terrain, while going through less than one-third the states. This is why we yanks gripe when gas prices rise, this place is huge. Hamburg to Seville is roughly a fourth of what I'll drive, and with no checkpoints.

This post is largely intended to help the fellow motorers who, like me, would give up their left, uh, toe before parting with their MINI. However, we do wonder which accessories fit our diminutive rides and how well they do it. In my search today, I couldn't find a picture of the rack I wanted on the car I have. Worse, the manufacturer's site was a little inclusive, casting enough doubt that it wasn't worth losing the cost of shipping if the thing didn't fit. Heaven knows that there just isn't a perfect match for carrying a bike on a MINI.

After a reasonably impatient search, and an obligatory swing by the local bike shop where I picked up a couple of insulated water bottles (more on those later), I settled on either a low-end Bell trunk rack or the Saris Bones 2. It took more than 2 seconds, but less than 5, to decide I wanted the Saris, if I could get a deal on one. Although the bike shop had only Yakima racks to show me in person, I called back to see if they could order a Saris. Lo and behold, I overheard the friendly mech say, "Justin? Tell him he can have my old one." (Price not disclosed.) Take note people, this is why you schmooze, talk, and otherwise design t-shirts for free for your local bike shop.

Here is the Saris Bones 2-bike rack.





The top arm doesn't actually touch the spoiler. It does rest on the lip; I'm not sure how that works over 2000 miles, but I'll be trying a few adjustments.







The following words are gratuitously included so that fellow motorers can have what I didn't: pictures of an '06 Cooper S with a Saris Bones 2 on the back. Saris, Bones 2-bike, Mini Cooper S, Mini Cooper with Saris Bones, Bones on Mini, Bones 2-bike, 2006 MINI bike rack, rack options for Cooper S, Mini trunk rack, Saris Bones 2-bike rack on 2006 Mini Cooper S.

A street half empty

I was looking at some random pictures of old Boston. I love scenes like this one.



I commented that all the streets and buildings are in use, "people still live there." My sister replied, "Yes, but they're not happy."

Two if by Sea

I spent the weekend in Boston at a Down syndrome conference. Interesting stuff. Although I've been to Boston a few times while living in New York, it has been 7 years since I walked around downtown and the historic areas. It was really great this time and not nearly as cold as when I did it last.

This is for my western friends, seeing as though most easterners probably study this stuff for years: We walked through the Paul Revere House and struck a (good) nerve with one of the stationary guides. Seeing that we were the last group and she had no requirement to repeat her lines over and over, she grabbed maps from behind the door then proceeded to lecture on more intricacies of Paul Revere's ride than I had ever read. I was stuck in my spot and soaked it in.

Here's an interesting tidbit: Revere and Dawes would not have shouted, "The British are coming!" because they considered themselves to be British citizens. They also didn't know for certain where the British were headed; the troops were already in Boston (after the tea incident), and the main suspicion was that Samuel Adams and John Hancock needed to be warned of any troop movements. Revere himself would have put the lanterns in the Old North Church, knowing that they were visible across the water gap, knowledge he gained while working in the church as a boy. Ultimately, Revere was made famous by Longfellow's poem just prior to the Civil War, written as propaganda. He intentionally omitted mention of Dawes and the others in order to emphasize the notion that one, single individual can be historically significant.




25 minutes later and we looked back at the Old North Church.

MINI EV

From Automotive News Europe, via Wired, another in an lengthening line of things BMW-makes-but-won't-sell-to-me comes the electric Cooper. I don't know that I'll ever give up the power and torque of the S, but man, would I appreciate at least the opportunity to turn my nose up.



The gist is that MINI needs to meet a California requirement to produce a certain number of zero-emission vehicles in its fleet by the year 2014. But my cynical side says here's hoping the JCW Clubman stays available for those of us below the Mason-Dixon line.

Can I get fries for free if I tell someone?

A volley of pundits started with an article in Time written by Anita Hamilton wherein she laments the forthcoming App Store* won't have free apps. She notes that many other distributors give their software away for free; they instead sell ad space and transfer the cost from you to the advertiser. Her reasoning behind the lack of free from Apple: "quite simply, because people are still willing to pay for them." The Macalope responds here. And the Gruber puts in his two cents, too.

I'm not so convinced that Ms. Hamilton is whining. Although it's possible that I didn't read the article closely enough, I still didn't get an overwhelming sense that all is wrong with the world because of Apple. Instead, I read that most people make software so bad that they have to give it away. Many Apple developers, on the other hand, make something so good that people want it. And they pay for it.

Quite frankly, this rule of quality is something that will never be dominated by the masses. It is certainly not easy to create something that has great value, but if it does, customers will pay. I've found the same to be true lately of business purchases and sales. When we create something that actually works for the customer in a really good way, beyond their expectation, they want to know or buy more.




* The App Store is a store for buying programs that run on your iPhone. Well, actually, buying programs that run on my iPhone. If you had an iPhone, you'd already know this, so I have to assume you don't have one yet.

Nostalgic Hammer

While perusing old episodes of Hammer & Coop, I was admiring the 180-degree, backwards spin in Episode 1 (about a minute-and-a-half in). It's rather MINI.



Even better, it's authentic. Here's the power slide into the street shot by an amateur several stories up.



Now that is MINI.

Artistic MINI

The trees are green, and it's 70-degrees outside.



Peace, everyone.