OYB Links

Here's a list of sites I enjoy. At the top of each section in bold red are OYB advertisers: they're special people: they "get it" and act on it. A rare combo. If you visit any of their sites, let em know where you found em. --JP
 

 

Bikes

A.N.T.---custom ANT bikes for transport, not sport
Angletech---seller, modifier, accessorizer and consultant for recumbents
Bicycle Classics---a rare resource for parts for quality vintage bikes
The Bicycle Shop ---a friendly, smallworld bikeshop in Grayling, Michigan, that has everything from commuter stuff to racer stuff with good diversity around it all
EasyRacers---the EasyRacers godfathers of recumbenteering, from recordsetting to grocerybikes, since the start---also supporting OYB since the start
Hostel Shoppe---the hugest store for recumbents and much else in the USofA, offering a wonderful free color print catalog
Recumbent Cyclist News ---the one and only loyal, committed, been-around-forever magazine about recumbents
Vintage Bicycle Quarterly ---the only magazine of vintage bikes, versatile bike design, evaluation and history
Volae Recumbents ---a builder of the new breed of "high racer" bikes
Wallingford Bicycle Parts ---another of the very few places that one can get quality saddles, luggage, supplies and accessories for the classic-(or versatile)minded cyclist (a New Orleans shop that's going to need recovery assistance, presently run from an out-of-state travel trailer)
WizWheelz Recumbent Trikes ---a lead player in the hot new scene of 'bent trikes: comfort, stability and speed: from start to stop and even ice and snow
 Practical Pedal -- new magazine, blog, website for useful everyday riding and more
Fully Loaded Touring -- a photo gallery of touring rigs on tour
Bicycle Fixation -- a website of bike glories, stories and city bike action
Cyclofiend -- ever more tasty, cutting edge bike culture
Bike Forest -- a huge gallery of homebuilt bikes; a super bike designing software program---intro version is free, I think; amazing project pics (canoe bike trailer action galore!); rockin' indy bike spirit
C.H.U.N.K.666 -- razy homebuilder chopper dudes
Classic roadbikes galore
Bicycle Paintings, by Taliah Lempert
Transportation Alternatives, NYC
'BentRider Online Magazine
Cycling News -- world bike racing news (UCI only)
VeloNews -- bike racing news (UCI only)
VeloVision -- diverse bike culture magazine site (all bikes)
The VVofA Home Page -- mt-bike cult guru VVA, also OYB book author
Rivendell Bicycle Works -- catalog of cool, hard to find, great bikes and bike stuff
HPV Home Page -- HPV info
WISIL HPVers -- HPV info resource for great midwest club
Varna Innovation -- current world record speed bike
M5 -- source of fine Euro recumbents and low-racers
Birk -- gorgeous website for builder of gorgeous HPVs
Development of the Virtual Edge -- world's fastest bike info
Thys Roeifietsen -- the world's best row-bike: supercool, elegant, fast!
Crazy Joe Kochanowski's Bikes -- infamous homebuilder's "urban assault bike" website

 

XC Skiing

The Cross Country Ski Shop ---a great pro XC ski shop to hang out at and get cool stuff at, in Grayling, Michigan
NordicSkiRacer.com ---a friendly site for citizen skiers to learn a lot and have fun; Michigan emphasis
SnowFlea Telefest ---a bigtime downhome northwoods ski weekend with great food and music in Canada up near the Soo
Master Skier magazine  
FasterSkier.com --racing news and info website
NordicSkater --a huge variety of skates for touring, SPARK!sleds and other goodies
Kicksleds --Dave Dermott's great info on this nifty tool
Cross Country Ski World --US Masters skiing, HQ of AXCS
Cross Country Ski Shop --Dick Fultz's shop in Grayling, where Jeff shops
ERNordic Home Page
Akers Ski, The X-C Specialists
Silent Sports Magazine Home Page
 

Boats

Long Haul Kayaks ---the best builder of folding kayaks, uses wood framing: classic yet most advanced
Kruger Canoes ---renowned builder of the partially decked, extremely versatile canoe design that Verlen Kruger used to paddle 100K+ miles of adventure waters over the past 20 years
FoldingKayaks.org ---Mike Edelman's great roundup site for all things related to folding kayaks.
peephens.org ---The world of the classic Peep Hen micro-cruiser sailboats, courtesy of, once again, Mike Edelman!
Old World meets New  Solomon Carriere: worldclass canoe racer, northwoods "Metis" Indian  
Messing About in Boats OnLine --online resource for world's best small boat mag
Craig O'D's Cheap Pages --fun boat stuff to make at home

Adventure

AdventureCorps ---a source for creative outdoor endurance events, hosted by Chris Kostman, a recordsetting racer who often participates in his own events. It's the home for the next big thing in U.S. ultra-cycling: the 2006 Trans-Am---the first self-supported race across America with no sleep deprivation.
Bellevue Valley B&B ---a friendly and very affordable resort just north of the Soo with access to worldclass XC, backcountry, and rivers (host of the annual Snowflea Telefest!)
Silent Sports Magazine ---the only magazine dedicated to aerobic outdoor sports and adventure. Friendly, personable, and all about events and sports that everyday people affordably do for health and fresh air. Has a Midwest emphasis with a whole-world orientation. Not slick or fancy: just great articles on bike, run, XC, paddle and all their friends, steadily for many years now.
Uncommon Adventures ---an adventure, trip, guide and GOURMET FOOD service from one of the best in the business. Michael Gray has been making wonderful trips happen for people for decades now, to several amazing parts of the world that he knows well and shares expertly: Michigan, Montana, Florida, Honduras. Kayaking, flyfishing and great food are the focal points of what he offers: very affordably!
 
 

General Outdoors & Gadgets


The Knife Domain ---an online knife shop with the best prices around on many classics (plus some superthrifty) knives
Mystik Longbows ---maker of fine selfbows in gorgeous character wood, very affordable heirloom items you can hunt and shoot with every day. He also sells supplies and teaches clinics, has done so for a long time.
Raven Farm ---my brother Kelvin's sawmill, exotic lumberyard, farm and orchard
Gulf Specimen Marine Lab ---the only independent marine life educational aquarium on the Gulf Coast---small and personable, but offering the most amazing things to see in a very natural setting (you'll hear birds in the trees as you wander from tank to tank). It's also a hardworking lab providing specimens for institutes all over. Hosted and started by OYB writer, Jack Rudloe (the thriller novel "Potluck").
FindaScope.com ---Mike Edelman's HQ for DIY telescope action, great for the layman who just wants to look up, in focus.
Cultery-to-Go --the most beautiful website of elite world knives, wow.
Inline Speedskating
Doublepush.com --fast new way to inline speedskate
Welcome To MapQuest!
Organic Guide
Organic Crop Improvement Association
ORGANIC APPLE SPRAY PROGRAM
MICHIGAN DNR SNOWMOBILE INFORMATION
Stickbow Conference Center --lowbow info
Laguiole's famous french knives --cool, countrystyle knife
Agri-Fab ® 21" Push --supposed to be world's best push mower
Victorinox. Original Swiss Army Knife
Swiss Army Knives
Welcome to the GWPCA Website --German Wirehaired Pointer dog info
NAVHDA Home Page --Versatile dog breeds info
CMP --Civilian Marksmanship Program--where the public can shoot in military-style events and buy an M1 of their own. Also nice $75 target .22 rifles and more.
Fulton Armory --this guy shows you how to take care of your CMP M1
Training for defense with a knife --real world drills
 

Culture

Morgan & York> ---a smallworld highclass wine, cheese and meats store, offering artisan and local foods
Small World Coffee ---this is the real smallworld shop, right?  : )  SWC offers hand-selected and hand-roasted coffee from a small team of owner-operators who are constantlly called in to train (and rescue) the cafes and coffees that are supposed to be the best. You'll never find people more intense about the idea of "best service NOW." Talk about pro's!
Michigan Brewing Company ---a microbrew with nerve and Michigan style. Not started as a marketing concept. Started to make great beer. Bobby also bought one of the oldest Belgian breweries, Celis, and makes that, too---and pleases the tough Euros with his work. Also has a bar and eatery and courtyard. Located in a plain metal building behind a gas station at I96 & Webberville. Look for the Harleys out front. A hardworking, goodtimes microbrew.
Bloodshot Records ---a Chicago record label that started today's "country punk" scene. They've greatly helped bring country back to its whisky, great voices and great songs roots. Hard-driving creative stuff. 10X as good as Nashville. Honkytonk lives!
Richard Dobson Music ---Dobson plays trueblue Texas singersongwriter "folk'n'rockin" country. He's one of the Austin godfathers. He's been raved about by the likes of Townes v. Zandt, John Prine, Nanci Griffith, Steve Earle, Guy Clark. As a result we find him most appreciated in *Europe*, where he lives and regularly plays, tours and records. That is, he's a no-hoper for Nashville today. I reprint his "greatest hits" collection CD so we don't suffer too much over here in the U.S. Dobson also writes great reports, memoirs, stories and prose, a la his "Gulf Coast Boys" about his years touring with Townes and working oilrigs.
Underground Literary Revolution --activism to improve the US literary scene
Current Book of The Daily Bulletin --Jack Saunder's homepage for world literature
Road Food --info and forums about good hinterlands eateries from Jane and Michael Stern
A Michigan Slow Food blog ---Mike Edelman is into homestyle food. Here's his take on the southern Michigan slowfood scene.
Welcome to Vagabond Productions --a great legend of the underground publisher
Jim Haizlett --folk music, family guy, web designer
The Animal Rights FAQ
Eye Control --our pal Joey's photo webblog
Rollerderby online -- Lisa Carver's candid pop trailer culture website
Nerve Magazine - NerveCenter --sensualist site for brainy hedonists
Zine World --the Reader's Guide to the Underground --the only big review zine
TAM Interview - Al Ackerman --twisted interview with an underground legend
Sobaka --inside culture info about the Balkans
Bloodshot --new country music label
Crad Kilodney --one of the best failed writers ever, Canadian
Intel Dump --a blog of Iraq war insights; pro-soldier, questions military
Winds of Change --a blog/site of internat'l progressive insight
 

Books

LitVision Press ---an indy publisher and website dedicated to promoting the best in indy lit! Publisher of Jack Saunders' latest audacious novel "Bukowski Never Did This."
West Side Bookshop ---a couple of left-handed guys run this classic used-and-rare bookstore in Ann Arbor. They do special work and help with fine bok repairs, all the time, forever and ever. They are also a dealer in Edward Curtis and Alfred Steiglitz photography. No website, yo. Personal service all the time. And staunch supporters of indy lit.
Alternative Press Center Online Directory
ABE--Book Search --great place to find cheap old books
BookFinder.com: Search for Out of Print and Used Books
Small Press Review
PROJECT GUTENBERG --textfiles of public domain classics
MobyLives --a literary issues and discussion website
 
 

Integrative Philosophy

The Puhek Page --by the host of our weekly integrative studies meetings
Peaceful Jihad --Islam explained for moderns
Kebzeh --a Caucasus integrative technique applicable to any religion or worldview
 

Motors

Water Buffalo  Suzuki GS750---a cool old very fast stylish motorcycle, can be bought cheap
Yamaha 650 Special fan club ---for a simple, classy bike that sounds great, can be had cheap
Greatest all-vehicle racer of all time  Do you know Tazio? Here's a great quick bio.