Speed as power
Is speed a right of the powerful?
Nostalgia
Flickr member Chris 531 has a very cool set of [old cycling s][].
Cool and occasionally damp
I prefer my winters cool-to-mild with occasional showers. Not so the participants in Iditarod, "the world's longest winter ultra race". That's 350 miles or 1100 miles across frozen Alaska.
Call me a pansy but that's not my idea of a fun time.
300 stairs, 50 metres
"Eight mountain bikers, who all competed at the Beijing Olympics, take part in a race in a derelict building in Amsterdam." [The Red Bull Championship][]
Again, not really my idea of a fun time.
White-knuckled
These guys are pretty good downhillers.
This isn't really my idea of a fun time either. (Although I can see why they do it!)
Velochic
How to cycle to work and look chic
On a related topic, Sustrans has released the Bike Belles web site. [I like the idea, but I must say I found the site cluttered and confusing with no obvious place to start.—suggest the web designers consider not making people think.]
Who loses?
In An Open Letter to Car Drivers Everywhere, cyclist splork lets fly with a pretty well justified rant:
And why are you so impatient that you can't even pass me when it's safe? … If you slow down and give me a little room then you can simply speed back up when you get around me safely. Is it that hard to press back down on the accelearator? Why is 5-10 seconds so precious out of your life that you are willing to sacrifice mine for it?
…
The problem is, if I'm not perfect I pay for it with my life. If you aren't perfect, I pay for it with my life. It doesn't matter if you are right or I am wrong, or I am right and you are wrong, when it comes to sharing the road, the cyclist always, always, always loses. Always.
By the same token, there's something to be said for acting like a person rather than a car:
For biking to make it to the next level, for bikes to be completely accepted as the viable form of city transportation that they are, bikers must switch sides. They must act like people and stop acting like cars.
But when all is said and done, it is the cyclist who always loses, and it essentially comes down to [the selfish attitude of a small number drivers][]:
Contrary to the ludicrous notion of some motorists, bicycles are legal vehicles for all roads except restricted Interstate highways. Drivers of motor vehicles are legally and morally bound to give bicyclists the right of way in their lane and to observe safe, wide margins when attempting to pass them. They may legally and safely pass only when they can clearly see that there is no oncoming traffic.
Yet some drivers wrongly profess to believe — as some letters to the editor have shown over the years — that bicyclists have no right to obstruct a driver's use of roads, and no right at all to expect that they should be passed safely.
It's refreshing to have a newspaper editor directly correct the ignorance and stupidity of his/her readers.
Bloody hell
Melburn Roobaix is on 18 April, cover some of Melbourne's most treacherous cobbled lanes. Sounds like a hoot.
…like a Christmas tree
Fold it, pack it
Freeman Transport is a Montana-based company hand-building bikes in the USA. Using Columbus steel tubing and S-and-S couplings the bikes can be easily disassembled and packed into their signature waxed canvas and leather carrying case – a collaboration with NY-based Billykirk. The case's 26 X 26 inch dimensions ensure that the bike can be checked onto airplanes with no oversized baggage fee. This unique feature on all Freeman bikes allows for easy assembly/disassembly - with only one simple tool to put them back together - making it easy to ride to and from the airport.
Bidon holder
Now that's my idea of a bottle holder!
B4H
From the YarraBUG list, this notice about Bicycles For Humanity:
A bunch of passionate Melbourne folk have started the first Melbourne
chapter of the worldwide organisation, Bicycles for Humanity. Its aim is
pretty straightforward - collect disused bikes and send them to people who
really need them. There's an animation on our homepage that sums it up
nicely - see www.bicyclesforhumanity.com
We are holding our first collection in East Brunswick on 21 & 22 March.
We're aiming to pack 400 bikes into a shipping container destined for
Namibia, where the bikes will be distributed to HIV/AIDS remote care
workers. Our partner organisation BEN Namibia will also turn the shipping
container itself into Bike Empowerment Centre - a bike workshop - providing
skills and employment for the local community.
Photo credit: In bicicletta. Cina. . by Zingaro. I am a gipsy too. on Flickr
Comments
I can't wait for the next cyclocross season to start!! If you want to see some videos, check out my website http://www.crosstube.net
No, hadn't seen the Junkyard Cyclocross before—very cool. Any news on where the bloke on the pennyfarthing placed? :-)
another good crop of speedlinks - the pic at the top is wonderful too, just makes me feel happy...
The Downstairs MTB competition reminds me slightly of Junkyard Cyclocross, http://www.bilenky.com/Cyclocross_race_08.html well worth a look at the pics/video if you've not seen it before.