Big Wheel

On numerous occasions, Fly has watched Metro photographer Felipe Buitrago pedal up to the front office with various cameras and other equipment strapped to his body, and, without dismounting (hardly even slowing down), throw open the doors and glide in. Apparently that's nothing. Buitrago was recently named Santa Clara County's Bike Commuter of the Year by the Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition (SVBC). What SVCB director Corinne Winter was most impressed by was the fact that Buitrago, who bikes to and from most of his assignments, is also able to meet his deadlines. That's a feat that Fly struggles with daily, even driving a car. In winning the award, Buitrago beat out fellow cyclist Carl Guardino, CEO of the Silicon Valley Leadership Group. Buitrago, a former fixed-gear enthusiast, says Guardino was dismayed that he'd lost the honor to a guy on a one-speed. Guardino, who was given an Honorable mention, felt better when Buitrago informed him that he'd switched to an 18-speed after the fixie almost crippled him.

Video Wars

Following the success of a YouTube video attacking activist Raj Jayadev, the San Jose Police Officers Association (SJPOA) has launched a blogsite called Protect San Jose. Its homepage prominently features the SJPOA-doctored video of Jayadev, alongside a crime map and links to various local sites. In the blogs section, Sgt. Bobby Lopez, president of the SJPOA, posted what he claims is a rebuttal made by Jayadev's supporters. "In the interest of fairness, I'm including it here," Lopez writes. But he does not include the fact that Jayadev immediately disowned the so-called rebuttal video, and made it clear that nobody in his organization made it. Fairness be damned: This is the closest thing we have to local reality TV, the popcorn has been popped and Fly has added ProtectSanJose .com to its list of favorites.

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