Hey Bosses, Read This

From the Seattle Post Intelligencer:

Employees at Seattle law firm Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro recently got a big incentive to take up the sport. Management promised bicycles worth $3,500 to any employee who pledges to bike to work three months out of the year.

Firm managing partner and cyclist Steve Berman said he wanted to find a way to reduce the firm's carbon footprint and encourage fitness.

Berman said he gets the bikes at cost from Ridley Bicycles for about $1,800.

So far, 35 of the firm's 100 employees have signed up. Berman expects to hand out the bikes by May, and it will cost the firm $63,000.

The price was worth it, he said.

"As an employer, I was, like, over the moon in terms of the positive reaction that I got for this," he said. "First, I was worried that some of my partners would think that I was wasting firm money."

Sounds like a win-win scenario to me. Full story here.

Also worth reading is Slipstream rider Will Frishkorn's account of his close encounter with a hooved beast during last weekend's Monte Paschi Eroica:

In my report on eroica I forgot to mention one of the craziest things I’ve ever seen. We’re flying down this hill and see these 2 deer off in the field to the left. All of a sudden they’re flying towards us, one jumps over the field, and the other tries to go straight through, full blast. It t-bones the guy 2 ahead of me, fully takes him and his bike off into the ditch, and the rest of us fly by unscathed, fur flying through the air. Guess poor bambi didn’t make it, and the rider had a quick trip to the hospital. Unreal. Pretty much thought I was going to die. Lucky that deer was moving so fast…. Crazy.

And finally, check out the last few kms from yesterday's stage 3 of the Tirreno-Adriatico. "The wall" of Montelupone. 20% grade. And not just once but twice. The motorcycles were crashing. And some riders had to resort to pushing their bikes up the hill. Ouch.

OTT: Spoon, My Little Japanese Cigarette Case