Just under three weeks wait until this years L’eroica and once again I’ll be travelling out there to Italy with Le Coq Sportif to document the weekend’s activities.
If you don’t yet know about this fantastic annual event then it’s about time you did. Last year’s L’Eroica -my first- was an absolute eye opener for me and you can read all about it here.
Mora at L’Eroica Ciclismo.
Whatever doubt that I had in my mind as to whether I should stump for that modern group for my steel frame was quickly dispatched upon sight of this fluoro Tommasini.
Spotted at Fame & Spear.
The ‘essential items’ series, if you haven’t already guessed is about cycling related objects and items that I can’t live without and these shoes by Adidas are exactly that.
I’v ruined countless pairs of Vulcanized soled Vans whilst riding bikes so I needed a tougher shoe. For a shoe to be harder wearing it will no doubt be a bit chunkier than a flimsy pair of Vans and yes, these are certainly chunkier but I must say they fit into my double clips like a glove.
Unlike Vans’ waffle soles the soles on these Adidas Busenitz are somewhat stiff, not carbon stiff by any means but stiff enough to transfer some power to the pedals. With Vans I felt like my foot would turn into a lower-case letter N, wrapping around the cages of my pedals like a hand around an ice-cream cone. Not good.
Now me, being a sucker for tradition and aesthetics I have to point out that these shoes, originally designed for football and reinterpreted for skating, look the biz in their O.G Cobalt blue colour option and I rock them with a happy face every single day. This colour please me.
What more can I say about these? Mad comfortable, stiffer than Vans, old school ‘hip’ factor 10, reasonably priced and very well made. Damn! I love these shoes and I have to give shouts out to Kris at Ideal for the recommendation. If you’re in the market for a casual shoe to wear on your daily ride, look no further. Toss your Vans and don’t look back.
Swoop and go a size up.
Seen at the In the saddle flickrspot.
I have been taking a bunch of B+W shots recently too and I’m enjoying it… peep my tumblr.
Now this I like. Eveything about it has got it ‘going on’… Frame, wheels, group, Slamming.
More at Cycleexif.
Love this image, and as Elcyclista says… there’s nothing better for roller work than a plain white T!.
I am meant to be boarding a plane for Morocco tomorrow but to be quite honest I am really not that excited, especially when I’ll be leaving my friends and family behind to deal with the mess that is the UK riots.
I’m quite lucky in that the store I run has been mostly un-touched but I wonder how long it will remain so. Some of my friends have not been so lucky, with heavy damage and losses of much stock over that past two nights.
I won’t get into my opinions on the situation right now as it goes very deep but I must send my love and wishes out to everyone that has been affected by the UK riots. These are dark days we are currently in so please, everyone, look out for your neighbours and stay safe.
Back soon.x
These guys clearly meant business.
Seen here.
The right side of my upper lip is cracking. I should reach back under my vest, remove the lip balm that is stashed in one of the jersey pockets and apply it. This would be the right move to prevent further pain in the face region. The balm will probably be in the far right pocket. If I could just think back to this morning when I was loading my pockets. But I can’t. Reach back, that is, just as I can’t recall where I put the damn balm. The wind is so severe it’s having that effect on me. It blows you to the side when you take a hand off the bars and right back into the saddle the rest of the time. It’s funny how one moment the wind can whip its way along the base of a canyon and propel you to speeds you never thought possible. And then, moments later, it wipes clean any notion of assistance by completely stymying any sort of forward motion. Which is what it is doing right now… Read more.
This summer, French sportswear brand le coq sportif became an official sponsor of the London Open 2011 Bike Polo event. The tournament took place from Saturday 30th – Sunday 31st July on Hackney Downs, East London.
Bike polo players from around the World battled it out over the two day event. The tournament, which follows the European and World Championship tour, proved to be an exciting finish to the season. A total of 52 teams, each consisting of three players, competed in the London Open 2011. But it was the German team “Supersonic” who dominated in the final, against “Call me Daddy” and went on to win the much anticipated final on the Sunday evening.
As an official sponsor of the London Open 2011 Bike Polo event, le coq sportif was on site to showcase a selection of L’Eroica Cycling jerseys and vintage imagery from past cycling events, including the Tour de France and L’Eroica Cycle Race, within a le coq sportif area, celebrating the brands rich heritage in cycling and deep French roots. A le coq sportif pétanque pit proved popular with not only the 1,400 strong crowd of spectators who enjoyed experiencing the much loved French game of Boules, dating back to the 1900’s, but also the players who were in need of a well earned break in between games. A seated area, complete with deck chairs and a parasol provided a retreat away from the heat, as temperatures sored over the weekend.
Le coq sportif’s commitment to cycling continues.
Here we go again is the phrase that ran through my mind as we drove south through Oregon and into the state of Idaho. After riding some of the toughest stages of theTour of California earlier in the year, another stage race reconnaissance was in the offing. Darkness covered our way as we entered Wyoming and, lucky for us, it was still there when the sun came up. Here we go again. Bouncing along the straights of Highway 80 through Wyoming, a road that seems to run the 1,200 miles directly from Portland to the Denver International Airport, we finally took a quick right hand turn in Cheyenne (stopping at the illustrious diner The Egg and I) and entered the great state of Colorado….
Read more at Rapha Continental.
3 years ago I saw an ad for a steel track frameset, my size, within my budget and looking good. So off I went to Bristol to pick it up. I arrived, checked the frame and agreed to make the transaction. It was a mid 70s silver enamelled Carlton, badged as a Marcarini, lovely it was, Fischer crown and everything. Yes please. But before I swapped my cash for the merchandise he offered to show me another frameset. “OK” I said. He then brought this out: A 1976 Team Raleigh track SB969 in ‘the’ colourway.
Dilemma. I’d always wanted one of these and this was again my size. It looked a bit tatty and the fork was rusted to within an inch of it’s life but then it’s not everyday someone presents you with one of these in your size. Even though the Raleigh was in much poorer condition to the Carlton he wanted more money for it. More than my budget. I got him to put wheels in both, stand them up side by side and I stared at them for a bit. The mental tussle went on for half an hour and then Bang! it finally happened. I saw the potential in that Red, yellow and black, I had chosen to burn the budget and I had bought the Raleigh.
Three years later and I still use it daily, rain or shine. It is scratched, battered and bruised but continuing to work like a beautifully oiled machine, hell it is a beautifully oiled machine! I love it and I can’t see it leaving my hands anytime soon. I’v had many bikes since this has been around but they’ve all gone to new homes, all except one.
I want to live in southern France one day and when I do I want this in the lounge.
Previous Raleigh posts.
The awesome Recollections of Ilkeston.
Classic lightweights on Raleigh SBDU.
Sorry, I just had to. I think I’m addicted to Peloton’s Vimeo stream.
So now you have seen the preview, get yourself a cup of coffee and perhaps a palm full of amaretti and click here for the full 35 minutes.
Chr*st, these films are good.
Now go to the awesome Peloton for more of the same.
A manual for speed is a collection of photo essays, videos, narratives, interviews and anecdotes, all of which illustrate the pursuit of speed.
If you’re a fan of Garmin-Cervelo or Castelli, or just pro racing in general then head over and take a peek, you’ll love it!
Manual for speed via the excellent Headset press.
Have I ever posted a music video before? I think not. So in a bid to get more people following me on twitter to read my pointless ramblings I thought now was as good a time as any to break the mould.
I love this shirt, It’s fantastic. Since I first laid my hands on my Rapha+Paul Smith windproof shirt I have been using it nonestop, bar the washing.
This smart, highly technical jacket/shirt hybrid is made from the same fabric as the Rapha Wind Jacket. It has a water-resistant treatment to repel sudden showers and when paired with a Rapha base layer, is all you need for fast summer riding in town.
Seriously, it’s all of that and then some. The versatility of this shirt is second to none and that, my friends pleases me. I have it on right now, back from a short cycle ride to my local store, complete with a sweet potato and a packet of couscous in the rear pockets. I love it. I can now leave the bag at home.
I watched part of this movie two years back at my favorourite local independent and soon after I left the establishment I forgot about it. Until now.
In an exploration of the abstract and the extreme, Second Nature is an examination of the natural boundaries of the human body. Noah Sakamoto, Patrick Rizzo and J.M. Duran star as the test subjects as they wield skateboards and blue suits to race down the roads of the High Sierras in California.
Lack of cycling aside, watch it, all of it. It is pure, 600% poetry in motion.
The tour goes up it today and I’ll be watching on TV. I’m looking for faces of death, the gurning, the pain and the suffering… The same face contortions of pain and suffering that I encountered myself in 2010.
Late last year I travelled out to this region on what was our annual alpine adventure with my ‘boys’ Joe Hall, Kieran Young, Hardysan Mason and Army Armstrong. We had a fuc**ing blast out there and for a week and it was truly awesome.
Our final climb, the Galibier, ruined me. I was smashed… but I tell you this, it was worth every moment of suffering to reach the summit. Read my account again right here in ‘Notes from the Galibier’.
Best of luck to our boys in the TdF today and Cavendish, god speed. Hang on in there son.
