A Cool Way To Get Around
“A Modern Bicycle with a Classical Touch”
Think of it as a beach cruiser on steroids—a “Muscle Beach” cruiser, if you will. There’s nothing metrosexual about this Eurostyle city bike—it’s updated from a Swedish army bicycle of the 1940s, and it would not look at all odd with a carbine scabbarded to its fork. Pure, manly utility: steel and plenty of it; big 650B tires for floating over broken roads, debris, and dirt; fenders to keep the “mud, the blood, and the beer” off your blue jeans; and a rear rack you could strap a keg to. It’s 100% at home in the big, bad city: laughs at potholes, sneers at alleys, rolls with the slow grace of someone who knows he’s got nothing to fear. If it were a car, it would be a Checker Marathon, staple of the New York City taxi fleets in the 1950s and ’60s. It’s an old Irish cop of a bicycle, right out of Raymond Chandler. (Ladies, fear not: there’s a women’s frame available as well, for the shorter and the skirt-clad amongst us)
Source- About the Kronan
Remembrances
“Waiting Patiently”
The bike was a 1950s vintage one-speed, perfect for the seashore’s flat terrain. It had a wide, comfortable seat, sturdy aluminum or steel handlebars complete with a one-chime bell, and wide tires. I rode sadly but hopefully towards the convent by the sea, riding into the wind. It had been a long time since I had ridden a bike, and my legs could feel the steady push-pull of pedaling at a measured pace. Damn, it was tough riding that old bike. Despite not having ridden for awhile, I was an avid, regular walker and worked out with weights several times a week. I couldn’t believe how tough it was just to pedal on such flat terrain. “Oh, yeah, I’m riding into the wind—that must be why it’s so damn hard,” I reassured myself. On reaching the convent, I spied a sister and hurried over to her.
“Sister, I’m having an awful day. Could you possibly give me communion?”
“Well, Father just finished Mass. I’ll see if he’s still here. Come with me,” she offered.
“Come on, sister,” I muttered inside, “we’re in a post-Vatican-II world. Sisters can give communion. Even I could give communion in an emergency. Can’t you just do it?”
“No, I think Father’s still here. He’ll give you communion.” Father gladly offered me communion and asked if I knew what day it was.
“It’s Thursday,” I replied, “the fifteenth of August.”“Quite right, young lady,” the kindly priest answered. “It’s Our Lady’s feast day, so be sure and put your feet into the ocean and say a thank you to Mary.”
Story – “Riding into the Wind” / Ann Bracken
Read
Photography – Carla Costa
Photo
I just want to ride my bike
Bicycle bicycle bicycle
I want to ride my bicycle bicycle bicycle
I want to ride my bicycle
I want to ride my bike
I want to ride my bicycle
I want to ride it where I like
A Girl & Her Bike
“Bike Logic”
No tenemos mucha más información sobre este corto realizado por Andrea Dorfman, con música de Kev Corbett, enviado al Festival de Cine de Bicicletas de Nueva York 2009 (del 17-21 de junio pasado). Pero está bien hecho, resulta muy poético y vale la pena verlo.
Source: Biking Thoughts
Bike Buddy
“Bike Pal”
Are you lonely tonight? Are you wanting to go for a wild bike ride, or perhaps a leisurely ride around the park.
Well then scoot on over to Bike Pal and find that special person that enjoys the same riding styles as you. Lycra Optional.
By the way you don’t need to have Gucci bike to go riding like this rather lovely looking bicycle pictured above
The Dutch-style bike is out of the range of most of us, at around $3400, and the official product page is very light on information… about such matters as gear ratios or brake technology. But it is stylish.
Source:
Find a Riding Buddyl
Uni Wheel
“Grill”
UGANDA, Kampala Mobile grill for goat’s meat. White, square grill box made of metal (approx. 40 × 40 cm), to which an old bicycle wheel with fork was welded at the front. Grill box closed on five sides, only opening to the rear. In the inside, three grill grates. On the outside the label: “Goats Meat Muchomo”. Including the original wooden skewers and forks.
On the occasion of this year’s imm Cologne, the new contribution from Dornbracht, Edges, celebrated a well received private view with more than 500 guests on 19 January 2009. “Global Street Food” is dedicated to the fascination of improvised kitchens in public spaces. Urban fast-food stations operating between the conflicting priorities of pragmatic dilettantism and complexity in the tightest of spaces. For the exhibition series of Dornbracht Edges, Mike Meiré curated a total of 12 objects and street kitchens from various parts of the world in the classic White Cube. An exhibition that portrays the sculptural quality of the authentic objects and their cultural identity.
Source:
Global Street Food“ – A project by Mike Meiré
Memories of Bikes Past
Back in Gear
My son and I were in our local bicycle shop getting a bike for him. I saw new bikes all around me and I was amazed at how much they had changed. I scoffed at the complication. Who needs shock absorbers, 28 speeds and a gel seat? Then I realized who – I did. My old bike was willing. I wasn’t able. Soon enough there were two new bikes, one for my son and one for me. Then there was another one, this time for my wife.
What a summer it was. I rode by myself. I rode with my son. I rode with my wife and son. There were long rides and short rides. Rides on the street, rides on the trails. Sometimes I rode because I had to get somewhere, most times because I didn’t.
Time passes and things change. Old can become new again, although sometimes it shouldn’t. Throwing a Frisbee, eating brown rice, reading philosophy? No thanks. Listening to the blues? That never stopped. And now, thanks to an old bike and a new one, I’m a bicyclist again.
I was sometimes tempted to get rid of my old bike rather than cart it from house to house and consign it to a dark corner of the basement. But it meant something to me. I had been proud of it once. I still was. Thank heavens for that. If I hadn’t kept it, I wouldn’t be riding now. Of that I’m sure.
Even though I’ve got a new bike, I’ll keep my old one to remind me of simpler times and big ideas, of all the things that have changed and those that haven’t. Then I’ll get on my new one and go riding.
Source:
Back in Gear / Robert Jones – Globe and Mail Tuesday may 26, 2009
Illustration: Steve Adams for the Globe and Mail
Ya Vuelvo.
Oi Va Voi
You ask me
Why it is I come to you
When someone else is just as good
I asked them but they said the same
Didn’t even ask my name
Explain to me
Just what it is you have to lose
Take a minute in my shoes
Don’t you feel like you’ve paid your dues
Already
I’ll show you
That all our fates are so entwined
Don’t lose your faith in humankind
Just don’t forget my state of mind
Is fragile
Together
We can enjoy the taste of dignity
As long as you believe in me
I’ll show you my reality
I’ve seen a few
You ask me
Why it is I come to you
When someone else is just as good
I asked them but they said the same
Didn’t even ask my name
There’s another refugee
There’s another refugee
Oh oh there’s another refugee
Oh oh there’s another refugee
Source:
Copenhagenize
Urban Legend
Bike Messengers Should Be Shot
Some images from Tim DeFrisco’s Bike Messenger portrait series will be included in the Urban Legend Fashion and Art Show in the Venetian Ballroom G.
“The Urban Legend Fashion and Art Show will help feature the great gear, bikes and apparel that have been recently introduced for the increasingly important urban and transportation cycling categories,” said Rich Kelly, Interbike’s communication manager. “When we learned of Momentum’s innovative fashion show, which they produced earlier this year, we knew their show had the right mix of style, vibe and utility—all in a fun, unique atmosphere.”
Source:
Interbike Introducing Fashion and Art Show
Tim DeFrisco
Messengers project
Velo Club Gianfranco Bianchin
Ponzano Veneto
Quattordici sono gli Juniores, ragazzi di 17 e 18 anni, (guidati da Franco Lumpugnani) in forza alla nostra società ciclistica. Quest’anno hanno gareggiato in varie parti d’Italia, al Giro di Toscana, Giro del Friuli, Giro del Veneto, Trofeo Buffoni e varie gare nazionali e internazionali, ottenendo ottimi risultati. Hanno vinto due volte su strada, 6 volte su Mountainbike, 6 volte su pista, conquistando un Campionato nazionale Inseguimento, 2 Campionati regionali Inseguimento e corsa a Punti. Vittoria anche nel Trofeo Campagnolo, piazzandosi in 4 nei primi 4 posti. Secondo posto al Trofeo D’Oro dello Scalatore, vincendo la classifica a punti. La Federazione Ciclistica Italiana ci ha convocato un ragazzo in ritiro con la Nazionale, partecipando a gare in Francia. Nell’arco del 2008 i nostri juniores si sono piazzati oltre 50 volte entro i primi dieci.
Crediamo che con questi risultati possiamo essere fieri di loro, che hanno portato con dignità in tutta Italia il nome del Velo Club Gianfranco Bianchin e di Ponzano Veneto.
Il presidente Elio Zanatta
Source:
ItaliaCiclismo net
