bikes and things

Lovely little video clip visualising the journeys taken by Boris bike users. Worth reading the full article which accompanies it over at New Scientist.

Via @RichardBattye.

Utter madness how arrogant these guys are. They can do no wrong and literally make the rules up as they go along.

Shocking undertaking move from this arrogant plonker with a hint of punishment pass.

Then this dodgy left turn from another pleb in blue. The cyclist really needs to grow a pair and stand up for himself though.

Not such a shocking revelation when you think about it but great to see a picture from London illustrate this so succinctly. Still want a Bullit Cargo bike as pictured in the image. Just think how many cars would be needed to for that many people!

Image © Carlton Reid.

#bikeboom pic negates almost every wonky stereotype about people who ride bikes in London

27 folks on bikes: some in helmets, most not; some in hi-vis, most not; some on fixies, most not. None on the pavement, none going through the red light. Two ‘cycle chic’ women; otherwise mostly men, but not one in Lycra. A pair of sandals but not worn by the only hippie. Perhaps oddly there’s not one folding bike to be seen, and no Boris bikes either. (And why is cycling so white?)

Along with this is the fantastic image from 1991 commissioned by Münster City Planning Department (interestingly my sister was born here) which has done the rounds again. They showed three images which showed the space required to transport 72 people by various modes of transport. The image speaks for itself really.

Back at work and missing my bike already. The come down after a cycling holiday is always hard to take so here’s a few photos of some of the amazing scenery from last week.

Full ride report to follow.

The annual riding trip is fast approaching for 2012. It’s something that has taken many forms over the years since its first inception in 2004. It started as a regular trip to Les Arcs in France and has since been trips around the UK and occasionally skipped a year but thankfully it’s still going strong for 2012.

The only two original members are myself and my good friend Gavin. Gav made the first trip happen by driving us all the way to France on his own with four bikes on the roof – due to me not being able to drive. Things were a bit different back then in terms of skills as well as bikes.

And I had much less hair.

After that trip I was kind of addicted to riding. Others have joined and departed the group since, but in recent years there’s been a fairly steady crew of people who are keen to get their kicks on some trails for one week of a year and forget about all the other shit that’s going on. Those people started as people I’ve known online such as Vaughan, Matt and Graham and now are considered solid friends after spending many a trip riding somewhere decent.

This year it’s all about the UK and reconnecting with the trails that are overlooked by that trip to France with all its amazing ski lifts and sunshine. It’s about riding what’s on your doorstep (relatively) and making the most of whats there and earning the descents. So the five of us are doing a UK road trip with two vans and mixing it up in terms of trail centres and natural stuff. Personally I can’t bloody wait to get away from a desk and back in the saddle and ride some great singletrack as well as the usual banter. Sometimes the chatting is just as good as the riding.

Beautifully shot video* of an equally beautiful bike shop in Brooklyn New York – 718 Cyclery. Fantastic story behind it all and also a rather pleasant way of engaging with his market rather than just offering a straight service of selling stock bikes.

*When I say beautifully shot I mean a little heavy on the shallow depth of field and bokeh.

You see all sorts of bad examples of driving each day when commuting but this video clip just terrifies me. It wasn’t until I viewed it again that I realised it was from a section of my ride back from work. Fortunately I take the left hand bus lane.

It’s hard to give people the benefit of doubt when you see examples like this. There’s still something that stops recording my commutes even though I have a GoPro which I could use.

Have to get this notebook! Thanks to @fatcharlesh for the tip off. Apparently available from the Barbican gift shop.

Managed to get a ride in today with Matt. Rather than the usual trip to the Surrey Hills we gave the Lordship Loop pump track a go up near Tottenham. Good fun but knackering really. Would be great to have this on your doorstep to play on when you had a spare five mins. Incredibly hard to pump all the way round and feel it should have had a shorter figure of eight and then a longer section for those who had the first bit dialled. Anyway, still good fun. Beer and pizza for after and a snooze too.

Image © Matt Noble

Pretty crap day until I logged into Twitter at 6.15 to see this wonderful little video. Who doesn’t like a bit of slapstick eh? Oooooohhh whahhheeeey! The music and commentary makes it. Some of it is like the scene from the Matrix when he comes out of it and is born through those big pink tubes.

Via @lawrencebrown