First, the good news is that following his big spill, Alin is out of the hospital, and if a bit battered (see below), still looking forward to his next ride.

Now, for some Tokyo bike news. Tim sent me a link to the following post from Japan Probe, about a new parking system for bikes at Kasai station:

Here’s a video report on the new parking system:

The big change in my cycling life this week is that my wife has joined in on the fun. Is it much of a surprise if I tell you that she got a MUJI bike as well? She got the model pictured above, the Aluminum ATB Type Bicycle. I always figured I’d eventually upgrade and let her use my current bike, but I think I’m going to be putting off the upgrading for a while, so this is good. The same day she received it, on Tuesday, we did a late evening ride following my regular route along Kanda river (but unfortunately, it wasn’t as pink as pictured here).

Update
Some sad news to add. It would seem that our good friend Alin Huma was in a serious bike accident. His son Meta was with him, but apparently wasn’t hurt. There are more details in the comment thread.

I know, I know, it’s such a cliché to put up photos of the cherry blossoms in full bloom at this time of the year, but I finally made it out for a quick bike run today on my regular route alongside Kanda river, and it really was an amazing sight. You can see more (all 20) in this Flickr photoset.

Here is my second cycling mix, CYCLO DE GO 2, which I’ve made available as a downloadable mix this time (you can see the first mix here).

Cyclo de GO 2 (31.9MB) 34:45

• Amon Tobin - “Always”
• Sebadoh - “License to Confuse”
• Arcade Fire - “The Well and the Lighthouse”
• Art Brut - “Bang Bang Rock & Roll”
• Built to Spill - “Sidewalk”
• Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - “Heavy Metal”
• Cubismo Grafico - “Valvoavox”
• Darkel - “TV Destroy”
• Elastica - “Annie”
• Flin Flon - “Ukraina”
• They Might Be Giants - “I’m Impressed”
• Cassius - “Toop Toop”
• Vampire Weekend - “A-Punk”

I’m not the only one obsessing over cycling these days, as Alin Huma’s blog seems to have been taken over by bikes as well. He’s even building wheels now! The podcast image is made up of a photo taken by Alin, which I hope he doesn’t mind me using.

Next week I hope to ride out to Nakameguro to meet up with a few people, and to check out PEdAL.E.D, a shop that specializes in original cycle-wear.

Time to share some cycling playlists! If you have some mixes you’ve made for riding please post the track list in the comments thread. Here’s my latest one, I call it “Cyclo de GO!”

• Air Miami - “Airplane Rider”
• Mark Robinson - “100% Garanteed”
• Holland - “Anorexic Colt Herd”
• Pixies - “Alison”
• Black Francis - “Threshold Apprehension”
• Superchunk - “Slack Motherfucker”
• Pavement - “Flux=Rad”
• Peaches - “You Love It”
• Mother Mother - “Oh Ana”
• Eric’s Trip - “Girlfriend”
• New Model Army - “Poison Street”
• Thee Headcoatees - “Wild Man”
• Whitey - “Non Stop”

What happens when you drop by Y’s Road in Ikebukuro? You may just run into Alin Huma, who biked there from Ginza, on the hunt for some spokes. I was there to get some degreaser and lube — I got scolded by Craig for not doing proper maintenance on my bike. It’s always nice to meet fellow bike people in town, and we then went to Cafe Pause for a coffee and chat.

Speaking of Alin and bikes, it looks like the next show at his Ginza the Edge gallery space will have a very strong bike theme. What’s Ginza the Edge? Check my most recent event listing for info on the opening exhibition.