Bike Culture

A couple of quotes about flying - just substitute the words “fly” for “ride”, or “aircraft” for “bike” etc.: “Flying in itself is not inherently dangerous. But to an even greater degree than the sea, it is terribly unforgiving of any carelessness, incapacity or neglect.” Captain A. G. Lamplugh, British Aviation Insurance Group, London. c. early...
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I’ve done well - it’s now 13 months since I last fell off a bike. That was when I discovered a patch of black ice and the front wheel went out from under me like a jolly fast thing on a very slippy surface. Since then I’ve been extremely wary of ice, wet roads, patches...
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I went for pretty much six months without a single flat. Then the post-Christmas weather sent everyone’s recycling bins blowing along our back alley (not a euphemism), scattering broken glass everywhere. In the last two weeks I’ve had five flats, including this morning… …A puncture in my Pashley’s Schwalbe Marathon Plus rear tyre I’ve had this...
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Before we begin, a jolly big “well done” to all of you who entered last week’s contest. The clear winner was Tlatet, who correctly identified that this was an escaped maths lecturer from the Open University. But most of the rest of you did really quite well, so you have permission to go for...
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There’s no doubt about it, the car industry is very successful at marketing. It sells us a dream of driving along the open road… The Dream: The Reality: The Alternate Reality (do watch this one ’till the end!): They tell us about the sporty playfulness to be had in towns and cities: The Dream: The Reality: The Alternate Reality: The tell...
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First there was this on the front page of The Independent last April: Then today, this in The Times (do visit their page and sign up): So now we eagerly wait to see if the other opinion-forming newspapers will fall into line. Rumour has it that The Daily Mail will be next - here’s an advanced...
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Yesterday there was a whole lot of twitterings about this Ross Lydall article. It’s all about how a lorry driver got off scott free after running over a cyclist. James Moor suffered horrific injuries after Nigel Gummer turned his lorry left across Moor’s path, dragging him under the vehicle: ‘Mr Moore had been riding on...
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First up, a big “well done” to everyone who entered our last competition. Sadly it was too hard to pick a single winner, so you all have permission to go out for a Jolly Nice Ride this weekend. Take some sandwiches, pack your Thermos, and make sure you’re all back in time for tea,...
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…after this dramatic footage of a child abduction was released by kidnappers: As you can see, the plucky kid makes a break for it at 1:30, but was brought down by the pack of Lycra-clad snatchers. The kidnappers have issued their demands: “We want some great carbon wheels, ceramic bearings (’cos, they totally make a difference), the...
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I was in New York in the summer of 2005, and one morning found myself in a bookshop flicking through a book of photos of bikes left locked up on the city’s streets. It showed their decline over time from usable transport, to components, to scrap metal. It was depressing, yet fascinating stuff. Anyway, someone’s...
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