Bike Crash App

A New York law firm that specialises in representing cyclists has released a free app for iPhone and Android phones designed to be used in the event of an accident.In this litigious world, I suppose it's no surprise.

Like any good app from a lawyer, it opens with a disclaimer, or in this case a "Disclaimer !";

Drama!

I just came across this fantastic advertising campaign today. It doesn't have a whole lot to do with bicycles, except you'll notice a lot of people in Belgium cycle and someone gets doored (and then reacts appropriately...or not).

Here's the description from the producers;

To launch the high quality TV channel TNT in Belgium we placed a big red push button on an average Flemish square of an average Flemish town. A sign with the text "Push to add drama" invited people to use the button. And then we waited...

Enjoy...

 

Printing a bicycle

Fillet brazing, TIG welding, carbon layering, tube-to-tube, computer numerical control (CNC), monocoque, hydroforming.

These are a few of the methods used to construct bicycles. Some have been around for a long time, others are relatively recent.

This bicycle wasn't constructed using any of these methods;

A bike hot of the printer

It was made with a printer!

Four punctures and a funeral

When I told my mum that I planned to ride down the Mekong River from Kratie to Phnom Penh, she said, "Oh, is that safe? Why don't you take a little friend?"

Personally, I would have made a funny joke, like, "Huh, wouldn't it be better to take a boat?" But my mum's not so silly.

Fortunately for her, I already had in mind Rowdie as a potential little friend. That's his real name by the way - the one his parents gave him. Pretty cool huh? And before you ask, yes, he is a bit. But in a good way...mostly.

The night before leaving, I got myself organised. Amongst other things, this involved changing my tyres. This is normally a painless enough exercise, however on this occasion my valve snapped off. As a result I had to use one of my two spares. No matter, one tube should be enough, right?

Anyway, we set off on the bus from Phnom Penh bright and early on Monday and arrived in Kratie, which is just under 250km away, about nine hours later. If that sounds slow, it's because it is.

Kratie is famous for dolphins but while we were there we didn't go to see any. Instead, we saw nice old buildings, like this one:

Bill Cunningham

What do you think when you hear the name "Bill Cunningham"?

If, like me, you've never heard of him, probably something along the lines of "Invoice sly cured meat".

In fact, Bill Cunningham is an old man who rides his bicycle around New York and takes photos of people. I know, first thought, dirty old man. While this may or may not be the case, this is not what Bill is known for. Once he's pedalled around taking photos, he goes off and peddles these photos to the New York Times in exchange for money*. The NY Times then publishes his photos.

The Cyclist "In Yellow Lycra"

In its never-ending quest to confuse its readers about whether or not they should hate cyclists, The Age today showed a video of two mountain bikers biffing it out in Christchurch that has apparently gone 'viral'.

In her best I'm-a-reporter-and-this-is-very-serious-and-definitely-newsworthy voice, the anonymous reporter explains - both inaccurately and in less detail - what can easily be ascertained from watching the video in its original format:



Let's take a look at the transcript of the altercation, with some commentary from yours truly in blue;

A Sunday in Hell

De Vlaeminck

If you've got 90 minutes to spare, I can think of worse ways of wiling it away than by watching A Sunday in Hell (directed by Jørgen Leth). It follows the 1976 Paris-Roubaix and makes for some really fascinating viewing.

The Hell of the North

The pavé

“It's a bollocks, this race! You're working like an animal, you don't have time to piss, you wet your pants. You're riding in mud like this, you're slipping ... it’s a pile of shit.”

That's how the Dutchman, Theo do Rooij, described the 1985 Paris-Roubaix. That year, he was in the winning position until a crash ended it for him. When then asked if he would contest the race again in the future, he replied, “Sure, it's the most beautiful race in the world!”

Bike Fixtation In-vend-tion

If people like Homer get their hands stuck in food vending machines, what kind of person would get their mitts stuck in a bicycle vending machine?

Silly question, right? There are no bicycle vending machines. But wait. What's this I see before me?

Will you be my BFF?

Long before BFF came to mean what one free, web-based, collaborative, multilingual encyclopedia defines as "Best friends forever - a close friendship typical of teenage and young women (sometimes young men). Such relationships are common in high school but, rather than lasting forever, tend to deteriorate when the parties go to college", it meant something quite different and altogether less annoying. Not to mention better.

Pretty-picture-of-a-bicycle-in-a-coffee

I recently saw this photo. It was then that I realised that the effort poured into this blog had until now been wasted. It dawned on me that bicycles are not that important. Sure, they're fun to ride, environmentally friendly, sexy, expensive, light and just fantastic. But are they a pretty picture of a bicycle in a coffee?