We wear kit and plain-clothes, depending on the ride

Pfftt! whatever to Velo Couture, Cycle Chic, and other stereotypes from @bikeyface. She wears what she wants. She also calls out the cycling creepers taking photos of women on bikes and how they use those images to further their own, self-centered, euro-centric agendas.

Erect baguette is a nice touch

Thanks for that dose of Political Bike Satire. Please may we have another. This time with tweed?

Illustrations by Bikeyface. Originals on Flickr. Posted on her blog too.

I attended a media event last time to celebrate the opening of the Gates Foundation Visitor Center. One of the most engaging exhibits is a wall where you share what you’d do with all the money. Of course, I said I’d give bikes away.

I would!

I’d attach some strings though with economic incentives or make sure the bikes went to Bros like this. They deliver medicine.

Santosh and Vikas are Bros that ride bikes delivering medicine

View more photos from the event on G+ and Flickr and I recommend you visit the center next time your in downtown Seattle. I don’t know museum science or that art enough to talk it more than what I experienced, but it follows the openness of the Gates Foundation new campus. That’s where they’ve also got the most massive bike parking I’ve ever seen. It’s for all their employees that bike to work.

A hallway for the kids to run around doing stuff

Moser on the cover

Jan Heine’s new book is shipping at the end of this month and pre-ordering now on Amazon.com for $31.26.

The Competition Bicycle will inspire cyclists and design lovers alike. The evocative, detail-rich photographs display the history of the bicycle, from racing high-wheelers to modern racing bikes with carbon-fiber disc wheels. Exceptional handcrafted machines ridden by great champions illustrate milestones in the mechanics and craftsmanship of bicycle design.

Why helmets were invented

The book chronicles our instinct to race and the machines we built to go faster, including penny-farthings and the modern, carbon frame.

Like a pentagram frame

It’s been a while since Jan and I have debated 650bs and 6 speeds, which were the new old thing 2 years ago. I see him occasionally dropping off copies of the Bicycle Quarterly at Mark V’s shop.

Like the messengers after them, paperboys delivered papers on bikes like this

Congratulations are deserved for getting the book out and then we’ll get right to the questions about tire pressure and his choices on what bikes to include in the book.

I think most cyclists were confused by the media reaction to Lebron James commuting to work on a bike. As Lebron said himself, what was the big deal?

King James commutes by bike

Photo: @jackNruth

It wasn’t any deal and especially to those of us who ride in a city with pro ball. Local builders in Seattle, like Davidson and Erickson, have built custom bikes for big and tall customers. @Dschrempf used to raced with us. I mentioned that on Facebook and friends responded with their Detlef stories.

While the media continues to marvel at Lebron James commuting to work on a bike and wondering if/how that affects his game, I remembered how many times I’ve been in a bike race with @Dschrempf. A few and this one time, we locked bars at Ballard going into turn one.

Detlef’s bars were enormously wide, like scaffolding that held him upright. As we turned, I rode under and up into them. When I steadied myself against Detlef, my helmet was in his ribs.

Brian Snyder wrote

Drafted behind him for almost 75 miles in Bellingham. What a motor.

And Matthew Hill added

I will never forget Det’s big crash at the Redmond Derby. He caught big air… HUGE air. When he launched, a gigantic shadow eclipsed the sun as he flew off the bike. It was like an airplane was attempting to land in the field, the sun was totally eclipsed. As he flew through the air, arms outstretched, you could feel the “holy sh**!” wave pass through the peloton… a 7 foot tall man hurled into the air like a giant, airborne starfish, followed immediately by the largest race bike the world has ever seen. It cut a wake of chaos unlike any I have ever seen…

Brian shared photos from his days with Det on the Byrne Invent team.

Det rolling

Photo: b.p.s

You know, I really like socks. An ex-girlfriend said that I was overly obsessed, because I really don’t like the feeling of leaving the house without socks. But who does? Anyways, I came across this photo, and it really caught my eye, seeing as it portrays Bianchi bikes and socks with girls, which are two of my favourite subjects. If you prefer socks with guys, well….if that’s how your gear shifts, whatevs….I just happen to like socks with girls.

From Shamanx

As seen in Thomas Hawk’s G+ photos.

Byron recently posted an aged picture of two men with bicycles strapped to their back. I recognized the photo from somewhere as being WWI Italian soldiers, and in my net search to verify I came across the webpage of The BSA & Military Bicycle Museum. One hundred years ago, shortly before Serbian nationalists assassinated Franz Ferdinand, this Bianchi Model 1912 was ordered by the Italian military to equip their Bersaglieri, or light infantry units with an emphasis on high mobility. At the time, Bianchi made 45,000 bicycles, 1,500 motorcycles, and 1,000 cars yearly. This Model 1912 was a fairly ambitious design, incorporating front and rear suspension on a folding frame. After WWI, Italia expanded the number of bicycle troops as part of tactical commitment to mobile warfare (as opposed to the stalemate of WWI trench warfare), though those divisions converted to motorization before WWII.

BSA Bicycles were a well-known, quality brand in the United Kingdom from the beginning of the bicycle until the company sold bicycle assets to Raleigh TI in the mid-1950s. The company came about from the consolidation of several munitions factories in Birmingham that came together to meet a critical British shortage during the Crimean War, eventually selling rifles to a handful of countries. In 1880 with military arms sales flagging, the Birmingham Small Arms Company diversified into bicycles since the industrial processes of guns and bicycles apparently had a lot in common. BSA’s bicycles introduced many innovations that paved the way for cycling’s popularity, while simultaneously serving as a critical supplier of military arms during the two world wars. Besides guns & cannons, bullets & bombs, bikes & bike parts, BSA seemingly had a role in every British machine that moved in the first half of the 20th century, including Daimler (autos, engines), Triumph (motorcycles), and de Havilland (aircraft).

BSA’s story bears similarity to that of Spanish cycle manufacturer Orbea, which also had a start in small arms in 1840 before building bicycles. Orbea’s transition to bicycles had more to do with Fascist dictator Franco’s policy of dismantling regional autonomy and arms production; the Basque company was prohibited from manufacturing weapons during the 1930s.

It is often said that bicycles today are soul-less products for mass consumption, but perhaps we are deluding ourselves if we romanticize the history of the bicycle. If we can only approve of a bicycle if is handcrafted in some one-man shop, then we should admit that we want luxury artisanal goods. Bicycles are as much an industrial product as automobiles, aircraft, sewing machines, and machine guns.

Packed up and sent back to Parlee

Bikes come and go at Hugga HQ – in for review, or special projects, and very few of them get my attention like the Parlee. I was attached. Mostly because I’d raced a Cross season with it, suffering in the Elite categories. I left my fitness somewhere on a plane in 2011 and just when I starting going good, finishing on the lead lap, I got sick. Then pulled the plug on racing to regroup over the holidays.

The Parlee never let me down in those races or in the snow. I pushed the bike to the limits when I could for a few hurtful moments at a time. While my legs didn’t show up until the season was nearly over, the heart, soul, and effort were there. So was the Parlee.

I have another Cross bike this next Season, a few months from now in the late Summer and Fall. Maybe it’ll perform as well as the Parlee CX-H did.

In the studio at Parlee

Hope so.

THE MAN WHO LIVED ON HIS BIKE from Guillaume Blanchet on Vimeo.

After 382 days spent riding through the streets of Montreal, being sometimes quite cold, sometimes quite hot - and sometimes quite scared, I dedicate this movie to you, Yves Blanchet :-)

Beautiful and meaningful to all; especially, those of us who spend much of their lives on the bike.

Limited visibility

Over the weekend, on Sunday, rode the I-90 bridge by memory. This photo is from an onboard iPhone camera in front-facing mode and shows visibility at about 10% from car spray. An earlier squall left standing water on the road. Anticipating an epic crossing, I quickly took the photo as we descended the ramp to the bridge bike lane. Then put my head down and kept a steady pace to the other side. The spray was as constant as the wind and polluted with run off from the cars. I’ve crossed that bridge thousands of times, but never like this. Gluckman was on my wheel and I knew all he could see was my tire.

We were here and could barely see

On Mercer Island, after the bridge deluge Gluckman said almost poetically

I get a rush from mastering the elements. Being comfortable in miserable conditions with the right gear.

Don’t know if I could sum up riding in the rain better or how we get through it hour after hour, then treating it as a challenge in itself. Especially when the weekend before, I failed at it and Mother Nature reminded me who the boss is.

To get a photo that fast on the move, I used the Cypher Gloves and the iPhone was in a Biologic Reecharge case.

Start with brand new Veloce Powershift Ergo levers

Finish sanding, righthand unit is a dummy lever and left hand is the most comfortable brake only lever created by mankind

When it comes to the ergonomics of dropbar levers, Campagnolo absolutely nailed it with their third generation Ergopower. I want these for my fixed-gear handlebar, but unfortunately the levers have that annoying and useless shifter mechanism. So in order to convert a new set of Ergopower levers into something really useful, namely the most comfortable brake levers ever, here’s what you do.

1 Gut the shifters.

2 Cut the cross section of the shifter cavity into thin cardboard

3 Trace cross section onto 2x4”

4 Start carving

5 Keep carving. The righthand unit is purely a dummy lever, so the goal is to completely fair in the gap underneath the body and replace the brake blade, since without the shift mechanism there is no return spring to keep the blade from rattling without a brake connected. With lefthand unit, you’re trying to fair in the underneath and as close to the blade as possible while still allowing the blade to complete its travel all the way to the handlebar.

6 Now that the carving and sanding is done, ideally I’ll get these painted to protect the wood and to improve aesthetics. I’m still considering options for that.

After the jump, see photos of intermediate stages.

Chuckled at this Scotch review and then thought, wait, I think I can make that work for a bike.

Imagine a bike shop several hours after the torches were turned off. Riding this bike, you get a whiff of acrid smoke, sweat, paint, distillates, and the personality that went into the frame. You can still see the fingerprints on the tubes from the hands that built it and know you can pronounce his name.”

All I got so far, but working through it.

Twitter version

Reviewing a bike like Scotch: in a shop after the torches were lit, a whiff of acrid smoke, sweat, distillates, & the builder’s personality.

Also, the Macallan Oak 10 isn’t anything like warm strudel.

Velo Couture from photographer Brian Rose

As Brian Rose said

I like street photography, fashion photography, and bicycles, so to have these come together like this was pretty darn cool.

It is cool. Brian is the community manager for Google+ photos.

The Tour of Ireland vs Kathy Ireland:

One is a former swimsuit model/actress (ok, so “actress” might be a stretch), the other is a former stage race that runs through the land of James Joyce, Guinness Stout, and hurling (it’s a ball ‘n stick game, not the result of too much stout).

The Tour of Ireland has been held in the month of August, off and on since 1953 (just barely more on than off, actually). In 1985, the race was renamed the Nissan International Classic. The race then enjoyed a stellar eight year run, capturing the height of Irish success in cycling. Legendary hardman Sean Kelly won the race a record 4 times, while countryman Stephen Roche finished 2nd in 1987, the year he won the Giro, the Tour, and the world championships. Interestingly, the race director during those years was Pat McQuaid, today’s reigning…oops, I meant current…UCI president. Following a 15 year hiatus , the Tour of Ireland returned in 2007 but the economic turndown caused it to be shortened to a three-day event in 2009. In June of 2010, it was announced that finances were dire and the race was cancelled. Talk of a 2011 comeback came to naught, and presumedly there will be no 2012 version either.

Kathy Ireland first appeared in Sports Illustrated’s Swimsuit Edition in 1984 and did so for another 12 years. She appeared on the cover 3 times, including the 25th anniversary edition which became the highest selling swimsuit issue ever. From Wikipedia: “In 1993, Ireland put her name on a line of socks. After they proved a best-seller for Kmart, the retailer gave Ireland her own clothing line. She then founded “Kathy Ireland Worldwide,” a brand product marketing company in which she holds a majority stake. By 2004, Ireland was marketing products from 16 manufacturers, including those of Standard Furniture. Ireland’s long-term exclusive contract with K-mart Corporation lasted until 2003, after which the company contracted with thousands of independent mid-tier retail stores for distribution. By 2005, KIWW products were sold at over 50,000 locations in 15 countries, generating an estimated $1.4 billion in retail sales. Ireland’s annual take is thought to be around $10 million, which has prompted Forbes to name her the ‘prototype for model-turned-mogul,’ in an article about the trend of ‘modelpreneurs.’”

Let’s break it down.

Born: Tour of (1953), Kathy (1963) winner: Kathy (we’re not talking about aged Scotch here)

Sport Illustrated covers: Tour of (0), Kathy (3) winner: Kathy (skin to win)

Financial status: Tour of (broke as f*** in 2010), Kathy ($10M net for 2010, corporate gross equal to 1% of Ireland GNP in 2010) winner: Kathy (one of these Irelands has a LOT more green)

Overall: Kathy Ireland, who turns 49 this year, is dirty rich and still smoking hot. It wasn’t a fair contest even from the beginning.

Before the Fat Tire Mothafawkers called ‘em Gravel Grinders, when there wasn’t any pavement, bros like this carried their bikes across fields. Then rode some more.

CXWorlds is this weekend and Mark V has written a couple posts for the occasion:

• Specialized: A Legacy of Pink

• Before Cyclocross Was Tamed

• A text buzzed my phone at 4:00 AM, Saturday, Seattle time from the Juniors race, cause Redline Bicycles-sponsored Logan Owen was 16th, 3:15 down on the winner M. Van Der Pohl. Andrew Dillman was top USA rider at 13th 3:06 down. I interview Logan last year at MFG Cyclocross.

Matt Haughey took this iPhone Video of Logan and Dillman getting it in the sand.

Also see this last lap recap formated to stream on iPhones. What’s Cyclocross? It’s a type of bike racing on dirt with road bikes and obstacles. For the Belgiums, it’s their superbowl. We’re super into here too in the States.

Photo: MPLSMINX

Follow along on Twitter with the #cxworlds tag and on G+. As I finished up this post:

Niels Albert is cyclocross world champion followed by Peeters and Pauwels

See the recap video on Sporza.

Here in Seattle, the Cross season ended last month. we’re all riding big miles in the rain.

A friend just linked me to this…………

From Sacremento Craigslist:

Want to look cool on your sweet fixie, but can’t even do a trackstand? Want the illusion to be complete on your ghetto POS singlespeed with one brake to get that fixed gear look? Looking for instant street cred?

trades also accepted for hip pouches, pbrs, american spirit cigs, or anything american apparel. not looking for anymore loose beanies nor wayfarer style glasses.

(image from Retired Belts)

Joel Metz is a cyclesport historian and former Bay Area cyclocrosser. I stumbled upon his now-archived webpages documenting some of the early days of cyclocross in Europe, mostly through photographs scanned from vintage magazines. What’s most striking is how untamed those race courses were. Most of the lines seem to be inappropriate for walking, let alone riding. The bracket seems to have been cleared with indifference if at all. Consider that the machines of the 19020s and 30s were practically all single speed (often fixed gear) with caliper brakes (you ever try brakes from that era? does not inspire confidence), and tires certainly no wider than 35mm and perhaps less. It would be another 40 or 50 yrs before American balloon tire bikes would morph into something resembling the modern mountain bike. Run-ups were immense, descents might mean clambering down boulders, and riders might need to throw the bike onto the ledge of a ravine before scaling out of it themselves.

This weekend, the UCI Elite Cyclocross World Championships take place in Koksijde, Belgium. Racers may be wary of Koksijde’s deep sand, but like all modern cyclocross courses at the elite level, there is nothing that compares to the difficulty of yesteryear’s courses. After nearly a hundred years, the athletic competition is fiercer than ever, but courses have no teeth. Arguably, the sport’s success and tradition are the primary culprits, as accessibility and consistency make for more profitable events. Ironically Northern California may be one of the last bastions of these ridiculously wild and demanding cross courses. There near the birthplace of the mountain bike, race organizers catered their race profiles to tap into the fat tire demographic, and the resulting events were often called “jungle cross”. Yet even as cyclocross in America has become more popular, it has in part done so by enticing a broader demographic with less treacherous riding. Coupled with USA Cycling’s desire to produce elite athletes capable of competing in Europe, now organizers have emulated the modern European courses as much as the local topography allows. Even in California, jungle cross has become as rare as a wolf sighting in NYC’s Central Park.

As an incurable gearhead, I wonder how the cyclocross bikes of today would look had cyclocross courses remained as they are pictured here, without the UCI mandating tire width to the millimeter, and I am curious as to how the racing would suit me. Maybe today’s mountainbike racing holds the true spirit of those early cyclocrossers. I’m actually really curious about trying some mtb racing for the first time in 15 years; I think I’d like the taste of something a little less refined.

1932 Criterium International

Le Championnat de France Cross Cyclo-pédestre, 04 Mar 1923

I was catching up on the European cross scene in the lead up to this weekend’s world championships, and I saw that the Czech Republic’s Zdenek Stybar won at the world cup event in Lievin. The 2-time and reigning world champion has been out shined by the exploits of Nys and Pauwels, and now suddenly he emerges from their shadows to take a win…..on a pink bike? This ain’t the Giro and Stybar’s not Italian, so why? Well, Stybar is a professional with Omega Pharma- Quickstep, the same UCI team as Boonen and now Leipheimer. With the demise of HTC-Highroad, the Belgian team picked up Specialized as their bike sponsor. Never slow to capitalize on an opportunity, Specialized lost no time kitting their hopeful for a cross world championship with the latest Crux carbon cyclocross bike.

Yeah, yeah, I get that….WTF’s up with pink?

Well, Specialized’s first mountain bike team in 1984 was called Team Stumpjumper. In the early days of mountainbike racing, this first ever team of professionals consisted of mainly road and cyclocross racers, and they used dropbar bikes painted PINK. As best as I can tell, the bikes used 26” wheels/tires, but they surely do like cyclocross bikes.

That mean besides John Tomac and Jacquie Phelan famously riding with dropbar offroad, the whole effing Team Stumpjumper was using them. I’m hot to build another dropbar mtb for myself; it’d be rad to have a modern pink Specialized Stumpjumper S-works.

Well that’s a first for us. Fan poster art and it was created by Danh Hoang for our Mobile Social SXSW. He’s plastering these around town. Guess we’re committed now. Flattered and blushing too.

Yup. We are coming to Austin.