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.

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

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.

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

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!!

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.

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."

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.

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