We sent Del, our foreign correspondent and chief miserablist, on a 15 day tour through Spain. The ride took him from Biarritz to the ‘end of the world’ following centuries old pilgrim routes.
After 1,000 km in search of God, Cake and clean socks he finally arrived at peace with himself and the bike – but it didn’t start out that way. Watch Part One of his Video Diary here. If you want to see redemption watch Part Two in our latest iPad edition.
http://itunes.apple.com/app/cyclo/id465051524
Cyclo is proud to announce that its second iPad edition is now on the (virtual) newstands with a cornucopia of all things two-wheeled to inspire and delight you. Our Olympics track guide, ahead of this year’s London Games, will help you tell your Omnium from your Keirin whilst our interview with coastal cyclist Nick Hand shifts us down a gear and reveals the utter pleasure of (just occasionally) taking things sloooow.
We also have plenty of kit and gear reviews to motivate you – everything from the quite sublime to the simply ridiculous (a chain wheel clock anyone?), along with our spotive guides and regular ‘How To’ video tutorials. This month they are all about the ‘Mech’.
Why not give it a try and download at the iTunes Store for just £1.49.
Happy swiping, happy reading, happy cycling.
We’re used to seeing surprising and delightful things from our friends at Copenhagenize.com but this tops the lot. Copenhagen, long known as the coolest cycling city in the world, just got even cooler with the Sperm Bullitt; the custom-built bike delivers samples for the European Sperm Bank around town and features a liquid cooling system.
According to Copenhagenize Nordisk Cryobank (European Sperm Bank) is one of Europe’s leading sperm banks and the company was looking at environmentally-friendly alternatives to how they could transport their sperm samples to the fertility clinics around Greater Copenhagen. The company’s CEO, Peter Bower, says, ‘The first idea was how we could deliver to the fertility clinics in a C02-friendly way. Shortly afterwards followed the idea of a custom-designed bike with a cooling system. Now, six months later, we can cycle around the city on our sperm cell bike.’
The bike was built by the Danish company 10 Tons, who specialise in zoological and botanical models, on a chassis by Larry vs Harry, the hottest thing in Cargo Bikes. 10 Tons are better known for building giant jellyfish and insects so Cyclo guesses this was an easy commission. The bike also serves as a moving billboard for the Nordisk Cyrobank who offer slightly unsettling services including ‘sample screening’ and even profiles, interviews and baby photos of your potential sperm donor. Those Danes – Ice Cold…
The first event of its kind in the UK the inaugural Bespoked Bristol, which took place June 11 & 12, showcased a wealth of boutique talent from both independent makers and small-scale manufacturers of bikes, components, kits and accessories. Held at Paintworks part of Bristol’s “Creative Quarter” and attracting a near capacity crowd of 2500 visitors across the weekend, the event was originated and organised by Phil Taylor. Already a keen cyclist Taylor explains the genesis of Bespoke Bristol as a mixture of fascination with the North American Handmade Bicycle Show and a spot of bad luck: “I’ve always ridden bikes and tinkered with bikes. I used to commute 30 miles a day from Worthing to Brighton along the beach or over the Downs and used to get a new bike every year and then a couple of years ago thinking about my perfect bike I decided to make one, it was while researching making my bike everything kept taking me back to the NAHBS website. Tessa (my wife) and I had set up The Brighton Art Fair (brightonartfair.co.uk) so I decided organise the UK version…It took about a year to pull everything together. Breaking my foot helped by giving me loads of time with my foot in the air!”
So, how did the exhibitors rate this inaugural show? Andrew Denham of The Bicycle Academy certainly seemed impressed: “This Bike show has been absolutely awesome; we’ve been able to meet all the people that are going to be our customers and all the people that are going to help make it happen for us.” Whilst Brian Rourke of Rourke Cycles seemed to speak for all with his summation: “I’ve been going to bike shows for about 50 years now this one, for me personally for this kind of show, has been the best ever, not by close, but by miles.”
With such glowing words and with such an impressive line-up of suppliers and frame builders from 18 Bikes and Burls to Condor and Enigma Titanium (to name but a few) on show at Bespoke it was no small wonder that the pressure filtered down to Taylor. “I felt so responsible for all the bikes, so much so that I had to sleep with the bikes the first night! Will Norgan from Hammoon Cycles lent me some hefty tubing…We got security in the second night!”
After such a successful start what, Cyclo wonders, are plans for the future? Taylor confirms that the wheels are in motion, “We have already got the dates out for the next show – March 23 to 25, 2012 – and have booked the venue, the Passenger Shed, Bristol.” But will growth into a bigger venue see a shift away from the boutique nature of the event? “We really want to keep the atmosphere that was at the show this year”, says Taylor, “So although we’ve gone for a bigger we are not going to pack it full (quality not quantity), leaving space for a test/race track. Application are coming thick and fast for next years show and we’ve also had some interest form the US with one of the Oregon builders seeing about getting a collective together…”
For more information on this year’s show – and to see updates on what you can expect for 2012 –
see bespokedbristol.co.uk or for a peek at what Cyclo saw at the 2011 Bespoke Bristol take a look at our video below…
Bespoked Bristol 2011 HD from D2 production on Vimeo.
So it looks like it might rain and it’s still winter, technically. You’re feeling a bit tired because, well, wasn’t it Christmas last month, almost. Well if you need a bit of inspiration to get back ‘on it’ try this beautiful film from Matt Blandford. Lido Domenichelli is a 73 year old resident of Quarrata, Italy. He still cycles up to 200 km a week in the hills around the town.
I was in my shorts before the credits rolled.
Two days – two century’s…Las Vegas to Mesquite Nevada and return. This was not an easy ride; challenging hills and some pretty horrific head winds. But even that couldn’t stop this group of dedicated riders. The largest team in the event – BikingLasVegas.com – was also the largest fund raisers with over $25,000.00 collected. Since they were unable to attend the Nellis Air Force Base open house and air show, I’ve thrown in a few Thunderbird clips at the end. These were shot from my office parking lot on the Friday before the event took place. Enjoy!.
The Denver Post Ride The Rockies is an annual bicycle tour that takes 2,000 cyclists, assisted by more than 100 volunteers, on a 6-7 day ride on paved roads through Colorado’s Rocky Mountains each June.
In celebration of 25 years, RTR patrons will be treated to a seven-day, 532-mile trek, ascending four of Colorado’s most scenic mountain passes including Red Mountain, Coal Bank, Wolf Creek and Poncha. Cyclists will also travel Molas Divide and experience two natural wonders in the Colorado National Monument and the Grand Mesa.
At Cyclo we recognise that many people are ‘coming back’ to cycling and many more are cycling for the first time. Some of the simple bike skills may have been forgotten, some may have never been learned. These simple step-by-step guides will help the novice, or the plain forgetful, to maintain and repair their own bikes.
Like all good things the bike is even better when lavished with affection. The way to get the most out of your biking experience and to maximise your investment, your fitness and your safety is to clean, check, replace and upgrade regularly. The first in our series looks at that most common repair job – the flat tyre.
To launch the How2 video player click the link below.