Central Cycle and Auto Stores - cycling in the UK from 1949 to 2010

Here is a great site:  http://www.centralcycle.co.uk/

David Hibbs has bought the Central Cycle and Auto Stores in Crystal Palace, south London.  The previous owners, Margaret and Geoff Talbot, both passed away in 2010 but had been working in the store since 1949.  20 tonnes of 'stuff' was removed from the old store before becoming 'Blue Door Bicycles'.  The stuff is magical though, from vintage cycling parts and memorabilia to an old car and a handmade boat.  So magical that David has created a site documenting all that was found and sharing it with the world, isn't this one of the things the net was invented for?  

Here are a few highlights but I suggest you grab a cup of tea and a Rich Tea biscuit and enjoy.

How to go fast at the 2012 Olympic Velodrome - pray for a thunderstorm

..which may be harder than you think in the UK.

".....Hard work and raw speed were clearly the main factors behind their success, but the British elements could yet provide home riders with that crucial edge come Games time.

Thunder and lightning might offer the quickest-possible conditions for track cycling in an arena where speed is influenced by a vast range of factors, many derived from the weather outside.
For performances indoors to be governed partly by meteorology might seem odd, if your time is not spent immersed in the data which now drives elite sport.
But the waking hours of Esme Taylor, an English Institute of Sport  physiologist, are consumed harvesting the tiniest details about how Britain's finest are performing and what affects them.

Taylor worked with British Cycling during last week's Track World Cup - the first event to be held inside the new Olympic Velodrome. Armed with laptops, small boxes affixed to bikes and other sensors, she and her colleagues amassed an arsenal of information.

"We're using this event as a dry-run for the Olympics, trying to learn from it," she says.
"We collect information on temperature, pressure and humidity in the velodrome throughout the racing so we can get an idea of what to expect. That's affected by the weather outside.
"A lot of people have talked about this being a world record-breaking track. Some of that is related to track geometry, but a lot is related to the weather....."

Read the rest over on the BBC here:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/cycling/17100619


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'Gilbert' - new piece finished

Last spring Gilbert was the darling of the cycling world and hopefully still is as I have been working on this since then.

 'Gilbert'

2012 - Acrylic on canvas - 30" x 24"

The painting has gone straight into the Bike Winter Art Show so can be seen there.  In the meantime I have some not so great photographs of details I can share. 

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Inside the Peloton - new book by Nicolas Roche

This leaped out at me my whilst browsing the shelves of one of my favourite bookstores in the world which strangely happens to be in the small border town of Oswestry.  It's called Booka and the atmosphere, display, selection and cakes are amazing.

"Inside the Peloton" is a great read and I can't say I knew too much about Nicolas before hand but had noticed his results occasionally when drawn to that surname in reports and result sheets.  The start of the book is a pretty good biography of his growing up, of being Stephen's son, turning to cycling and his progression in to the professional ranks.  The remaining two thirds is a collection of the Grand Tour diaries he had written and for Irish newspapers except here he has taken the time to expand some entries and fill in the gaps between the Tours with stories from other races or aspects of his life.  I actually really like the race reports, sure they explain the basics for non-cyclists but we have to be used to that by now.  

Sir Paul Smith looks inside the London 2012 Velodrome

Scene in Chicago

Various cycling sights from Chitown over the last month.

If you know anything about anything here, please share.

 

 A lovely striking white 'Leader' working the streets.

 A nice pairing.

15th Bike Winter Art Show opens this week

This Friday night is opening night for The 15th Bike Winter Art Show and it will be my fourth time showing some pieces.  I will have 'BOB_Woods' and the recently finished 'Gilbert' on display, yep that's 'Gilbert' as is 'Philippe...'.  In fact I think I am going to hold off showing the full painting online here until this show is open, I'll use that as the so called grand unveiling.

Anyway the show will be filled with some great art of varied styles and types and there's always a good turn out for the opening and closing events. 

'BOB_Woods'

 'Gilbert' detail

It's in a new gallery space, called Gala, owned by the artist 'Slang' I spoke with him on Saturday and he seems like a really genuine great guy who deserves our support so check out his site here: Slangism

 

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Power and Movement: Portraits of Britain's Paralympic Athletes, By Richard Booth

"Somehow evoking movement and stillness at the same time, the commercial photographer Richard Booth's graceful monochrome portraits of Britain's confirmed and hopeful 2012 paralympians also seek, as he says in his introduction, to "redefine traditional perceptions of disability, fitness and power".

taken from the Independent newspaper.

And a great photo gallery on The Telegraph's website here.

Photographer Richard Booth also has much more on his own portfolio site here.

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London Track World Cup photos from the BBC

...or look what happens when the cycling media focuses on the men as usual.

Yep the women's competition seems to be stealing the limelight and rightfully so.
First off the Australian's break the Women's Team Sprint Record in qualifying then in the final Victoria Pendleton and Jess Varnish set a new World Record when winning the final.  The British women's team pursuit squad also set a new World Record for their event in their final against Canada.

Great stuff.

Some great pictures on the BBC site too:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/in-pictures-17066641

Train with Mark Cavendish from the comfort of your own home or garage or wherever...

'3 Legs Cycling' is a company based on the Isle of Man, birthplace of Mark Cavendish and Peter Kennaugh, that produces indoor training videos without the need for powermeters and other high end equipment.  It's all about your effort, cadence and fun.  A couple of the videos were filmed in studio conditions with Cavendish and Kennaugh involved riding and teasing the riders, it all seems pretty light hearted and fast.  Not that I can judge as I do not ride on a turbo and if I did I would rater not be watching a screen at the same time.  Their promo videos are worth watching as is their race face contest.

Happy Valentine's Day from Butch Cassidy and his bike.

"the Kid with a Bike" a film.

Watch the trailer it looks fabulous.  Let's face it it's a coming of age drama from France, of course it's going to be great.

About The Kid With A Bike

Winner of the Grand Jury Prize at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, the deeply moving new film by the Dardenne brothers (L’enfant, Rosetta) delves into the emotional life of troubled 11-year-old Cyril (newcomer Thomas Doret). When his father (Jérémie Renier) abandons him, Cyril obsessively tries to find his bicycle—after all, his father must have cared about him enough not to sell that off, he reasons. Almost by accident, he becomes the ward of a kind hairdresser (Cécile de France), a woman who seems surprised to find herself so determined to help him. With his wild, unpredictable behavior and his disastrous search for father figures, Cyril risks losing her—though she refuses to give up without a fight. Full of heartbreaking betrayals and unexpected grace, THE KID WITH A BIKE is a film about a child, abandoned to the elements, learning to become good.

Sketchbook 2012

I have started a dedicated sketchbook for just cycling - some artists do a painting a day etc but realistically I reckon a couple of pages a week in a sketchbook will keep me ticking over.  I'll occasionally post an image or two here.  The idea is to do whatever comes to mind, experiment a  little and to not tear anything out!

Of course this is when I discovered the paper is quite water resistant - bugger - makes for a nice effect here though.

That's on top of the non cycling stuff, mainly Molly and train passengers, in other books. 

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When someone yells at you from their car.....

Actually 'flashing' someone isn't going to help.

Other than that I am a big proponent of 'Look Confused'.

via www.systemcomic.com

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'Along a Long Road' by Frank Viva

I was going to post some scans and info about this fantastic children's book.  But there is a book specific website, great video and all the hard work has already been done.


 
Suffice to say, it may be simple but it's elegant.  The artwork is terrific and the print quality including the shiny orange road is superb.  It was so much fun to follow the road with Molly and realise that it loops around the inside covers, outside covers and back into the front.

The book's own site is here:  http://alongalongroad.com/

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Cycling with kids must be the new boom for Industrial Designers

I mean the Bakfiets and other cargo bikes are already design classic hipster machines and yes I would love one.  Molly is outgrowing her iBert and ready to move on, sure she will be getting her own 2 wheel bike soon but we need something so we can get places not just circle the park. We do actually have a bike trailer ready to go, as soon as the weather warms up, though I am a little uncomfortable with the visibility of it back there for drivers who already don't always leave room for a bike.  Also one of the joys of the front mounted iBert has been the ability to see her partake in the ride, to be able to talk with her about the journey, back there she will play with books and probably get frustrated as she calls out to me and I can't hear her.

When I first saw this my jaw dropped, a bike and a stroller combined - sweet. Looking at the pictures now it seems a little impractical for us.  Ideal for cruising the bike ways of Copenhagen or Amsterdam, but here in Chicago - 'mmm? The lightest configuration is 44lbs so it's pretty heavy too, hope you don't encounter too many stairs, it's also $1500.  On the plus side it does come in orange.

Still what an interesting concept.

I just Googled Taga to get an idea of price and the first sponsored result was this:  Don't Buy a Taga - Until You've See Zigo - myzigo.com

It's dearer and it's really only a bike with a detachable stroller - not quite the same really.....

It's a LeviNation now.

Levi Effect 2012 Teaser 2 from Bike Monkey LLC on Vimeo.

Take an online tour of the London Olympic Velodrome

The London 2012 website enables you to take panoramic and interactive tours of the Olympic venues.  Well so far that includes the velodrome and handball arenas.

Click on the images below to go to the relevant images.

Look at those beautiful light tubes used to funnel daylight into the arena - stunning.
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Paper Bikes: What's next?

Saw these kits over on Pedalr.

 

For only $2 you can buy the templates for these super fixed gear and dirt jumper bikes.  That's right only $2 for a bike, of course at 3.5" x 2.5" it may be a little small, or not!

Paperbikes of Brooklyn has more on the way including BMX and downhill.

There is a lot more to persuse on "Pedalr: A marketplace for people who love bikes."