Tuesday 16 November 2010

WTF (reprise)


If it is not only appalling that the life of a cyclist, killed by a driver who was clearly in the wrong, is worth next to nothing (Is a £200 fine and three points on your licence an appropriate punishment for killing a cyclist on the road).

We now get the indignity of this

Apparently the fact that Matthew's parents didn't make him wear a helmet, is mitigation for the following behaviour...

"Weaving was found guilty by a jury in December 2008 of manslaughter and other charges after the court heard he had driven at 83mph in a 45mph zone in Connecticut. His record showed that he had been arrested on five previous occasions for drunk driving."

...and it's the lack of a helmet that is causing the mental anguish?

Wednesday 10 November 2010

British Customer Service


Don't ask!

Ukulele Fun



I went to the Stoke Newington ukulele group upstairs at the lion last night. Good fun all round and a lovely mix of people and songs. I had serious Uke envy though because unlike the work related meet-up, everyone had lovely little instruments (ooer)



I will be going again!!

Thursday 4 November 2010

bike loan...


I am currently the recipient of a loan bicycle from my friend Isa (similar to the picture on the left). It is a 1970's ladies road racing bike in champagne gold. It is a little more glittery than my usual choive of steed, but I'm finding the step through frame (reminds me of the brompton) helpful. I know Jarvis Cocker rode around Paris on a ladies cycle... but it got me thinking. I have a lovely 1980's Raleigh Superb (ladies) at my parents house... Could I... Should I?





Are ladies bikes just for ladies? What if I find this more convenient?

Wednesday 3 November 2010

Long time no post...




I have been quite busy with un-bike related things... like trying to perfect the ukulele. Anyway, as the nights draw in and the summer cyclists put away their steeds I thought I'd add a post of the lovely bikes that I have seen over the summer.

Tuesday 7 September 2010

sustainability

Prince charles today, set out to persuade his subjects to go green by travelling around in a train powered by chip fat. I kind-of-get-it, but I'm becoming sick of celebrity greens travelling ostentatiously whilst trying to get me to wear horsehair. Why not try this

Monday 6 September 2010

tfl hates the banjolele - it's official


I saw this yesterday whilst perusing the paper. Outrageous. I was looking up Nigle Birch to see when he was playing near me next, and then this...

And a picture of my soon to be fixed banjolele

weekend wondering


I managed to miss the London Skyride this last weekend (due my bike still being in pieces after a recent attack by vandals). It is an amazing experience. For those that have not been before, it is cycling through a traffic free loop of central London with thousands of other cyclists.

My concern with this event however is indicative of my general concerns about the mayor and tfl. Why the sponsorship... the money (I know). We now have a Skyride and a Barclays bike hire scheme. Why can’t we do anything without a massive corporate logo on it. I wouldn’t mind, but the mayor’s office has branded the bike lanes in barclay’s blue. It won’t be long before all bike lanes, racks and signage is branded. We can build motorways, but painting the road for bikes requires a sponsor.




After a very dignified tea party for Jess’s 30th birthday... we had a very undignified evening in Barrio North. Noisy latin themed cocktail bars aren’t normallt my thing, but when the mojhito’s are this strong I found I soon got into it.

Saturday 4 September 2010

lovely blogs


I'm very impressed with the number of blogs out there about utalitarian cycling with style. The one suprise is that they are nearly all written by girls. The suprise is not that girls are interested in stylish cycling, but that men seem to want to write tech oriented blogs about performance and materials. I follow one blog by a guy, but where are the boys into brooks, twine, pashley and tweed in this country?



I haven't linked to the blogs because they are in the "blogs that i follow" window

Monday 30 August 2010

flippin' 'eck

it is almost impossible to buy tyres in 700x38 anymore. which is odd. I only bought this bike 5 years ago and already it is very difficult to find appropriate rubber. I am beginning to understand why dedicated round-the world riders ride 26" wheels every good tyre comes in 23mm only. surely that's practically a blade!!

Wednesday 18 August 2010

101 Wankers

This lady, Dawn Foster, has started a blog called 101 wankers. It details the level of sexual and violent abuse she receives almost daily as a female cyclist. Somebody recently stole her bike, so here's to a speedy return to cycling, and good work with teh blog.

Wednesday 11 August 2010

You've got to love the american right...

I'll just quote the article because Dan Maes really says it all for himself.

"To their users, bike hire networks like that just launched in London and the popular Vélib scheme in Paris might seem no more than a convenient, fun way to get around a city. But they're wrong.

Dan Maes, the Republican frontrunner to challenge for Colorado's governorship has discovered the truth about such cycle schemes: they are a grand United Nations plot to enslave the US.

'This is all very well disguised, but it will be exposed,' Maes told supporters at a campaign rally."

Monday 9 August 2010

bastards!!


Someone tried to steal my bike yesterday. They took a concrete block to the lock (which survived in a slightly stripped down form), then stabbed both tyres when they couldn't take it.

I'll post pictures of the lock. This one has survived bolt cutters, a hacksaw and concrete block. Can you imagine the uproar if this happened to cars all the time. Everyone I know who cycles has had a bike stolen in London.

I need to update most of these posts with photos and start putting up the photos of lovely bikes I've seen whilst around town.

Tuesday 3 August 2010

why we love erin


It's been a while since the last post, but as no-one is reading this it doesn't really matter!!

Just got back from camping in Croyd (Devon) which I will write about later.

This in the guardian today from model and Cyclist Erin O'Connor

Thursday 8 July 2010

Globe Bikes

In recent months (ever since the theft of my beloved desert sand s-type Brompton) I have been riding my backup bike. It's a Specialized Crossroads... A dull commuter.

I say dull, but it's 6 years old has done several thousand miles and has only needed new inner tubes and a new rear brake. It also lived outside for over a year uncovered to the elements...

This got me thinking...If only they made something I could ride and hold my head up high... affordable, reliable... an ideal commuter really... and then this

Globe bikes are an off shoot brand. They do 2 cargo bikes, a fixie and a trad styled bike. Ok so this isn't my dream Pashley Cubman, or my dear departed Emma (erm... the brommie).All designed by one young female designer... and I can't find the bloody article about her!!Goddamn the accents!!

Tuesday 22 June 2010

It's as easy as riding a bike

Apparently riding a bike isn't all that easy...

"the commercial director of Halfords, said: “It turns out that getting off on the right foot on a bicycle, ditching the stabilisers and speeding away from your anxious parents is actually much more complex that people realised. "

Full article here

I personally wouldn't trust Halfords with anything bike related (but that's just a personal point of view). They are, after all one of the leading retailers of BSOs

From what I remember my little brother managed all of these things, in one go, straight down the steep drive and into the road.

Wednesday 16 June 2010

I saw this and I thought of you

http://rideafuckingbike.com/

Subtle... I think not

Pedals not Petrol : The World Naked Bike Ride

This last weekend just gone I attended the World Naked Bike Ride in both London and Brighton. I don't think I've ever spent that much time naked outdoors in my life before. (Photo below was of some people I met in the bodypainting area)

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The London ride started with a call from Will Golden about the location of the secret body painting area over the opposite side of Hyde Park to where the ride would be starting. En-route I was stopped by the archetypal (and those of you have been will know what I mean) middle-aged-non-participant-photography-enthusiast asking me where the start was. I was a little rude and later apologised. The London ride really went off without a hitch and I met some lovely people. We ended bizarrely in a side street by Tower Bridge with much dancing and cheering.

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This is the first time the roads weren't blocked off for us by the police so there were a lot of very suprised bus passengers that day.

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Brighton was a worry for me. I'd not tried to get a bike down there on the train before, but in the end all was well. Everyone was lovely. Brighton people a little less suprised by this sort of thing than Londoners.

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On an odd note there were three breaks built in to the route. One by the beach on some grass (makes sense), another on a roundabout in the town centre (not so normal... if you've never seen a queue of naked painted girls waiting patiently for ice-cream then you haven't lived) and finally a party on the beach.

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The bands were all from the Pleasant Revolution on a pedal powered sound system. Lots of dancing, lots of sun, and a lot of wobbly bits. Anyway the rest of my photos are here (some are a little NSFW)

All told a great time... but not the training weekend I had in mind for the London to Brighton ride next weekend...

Wednesday 9 June 2010

Happy days...

Well Stupidly I got the date wrong. It looks like I will be cycling on the London to Brighton ride a week or so earlier than i thought. 53 miles and I'm a little unprepared. To top it off I am off to visit friends of friends on the saturday, meaning train back from party... bed, then up at 04:00 to cycle to Clapham for the start... oh good lord... that's another 8 miles on top!