Seen.

Yessss! Love this on so many levels.

The ride will be completed over 11 days and we will only be staying in towns and cities beginning with the letter ‘B’. Now That’s whatssup!

Check them out here and you can also sponsor them too, do that right here.

It’s taken me an age to get my head around this movie lark and that coupled with a dying mac has had me in bits of late, but in between panic and a lot of hand gestures and shouting I managed to squeeze this quick edit out. I hope you like it, and especially my Birmingham peoples!

Shot during the Midlands Rollapaluza heats in Birmingham, April 2011.

At the end of the night Tom Gillespie won in fine style, beating his opponent Marcus by 3 seconds over 1000m.

Peep the results.

In 2011 Nocturne and Brooks England will bring Penny Farthing racing (properly called ‘Ordinaries’) back to the streets of the City of London. Competitors from across the globe will descend on the historic Smithfield Market to battle it our across two action packed races:

RACE 2: The Brooks Ordinary Trophy
With an illustrious history the Grand Old Ordinary Trophy will once again be decided on the streets of the City of London. Our daring riders will race for 30 minutes and 5 laps across the challenging London circuit as they bid for glory and the coveted trophy.

Well this looks like fun!

More.

‘At The Ride-In, Birmingham’

Two Arrows, D’Acciaio (of steel), A Throw of the Dice, Copenhagen Cycles, Red Light Divide, Bike Kill, Vive Le Tour, Bike Polo Manual, We’ve Got It On Tape, Cuts from Red Light Go, Cuts from Ride the Divide

Super, rad and awesome! Tomorrow is my Birthday and so long as I am not buried under a mountain of cake I’ll be going…

More.

Yes indeed. The time has come for all midlanders to show what they are made of.

Rollapaluza was in town last summer but it was in a: the afternoon and b: in a shopping centre so it doesn’t count… but this time, being in a boozer and in the evening we are on for a right showdown so all you folks from Birmingham and surrounding areas – Prepare your legs!

Details:
ROLLAPALUZA NATIONAL SERIES – BIRMINGHAM
THURSDAY 28TH APRIL 2011
THE RAINBOW COURTYARD, HIGH STREET DIGBETH

Qualifiers from 6 – 9pm with prizes for 1st, 2nd, 3rd men’s and women’s.

Yikes!

In changing times, there is a certain art to aging well. One does not want to reflect too longingly at an overly romanticised past. Or rush headlong into the latest, ultimately passing, fad. Like most things in life, aging gracefully takes balance.

Quite possibly the best article on Birmingham’s own Brooks I have ever read, written by ‘wingnut’ of CDB, one of my favourite webspots to visit.

I mentioned this article last night to some of my fellow Midlanders while we talked about Zines and such, so for you guys… here you go.

Via Campagnolo Delta.

Here is a photograph of my man Hardy, of Macchina beginning a prototype of what will soon become Spinwell Projects No.4.

It’s a long way off but we are on our way. Hold tight.

The French Cyclo company was the creation of Albert Raimond, one of the giants of derailleur history. Raimond developed the ‘Le Cyclo’ derailleur in 1923 (the design which became the Cyclo Standard in Britain). These derailleurs were imported into Britain from 1926. In 1932 the Great Depression had caused widespread protectionism, and Britain imposed high import duties on derailleurs imported from France. Raimond and his British Agent, Louis Camillis, responded by going into partnership and forming The Cyclo Gear Company to manufacture derailleurs and freewheels in Birmingham. By the end of the 1930’s the Cyclo Gear Company was clearly the leading player in the British derailleur market, while the French company was rapidly losing ground to Simplex.

It’s amazing what you can find out about Birmingham cycle product manufacture when you have a good look.

Seen here at the amazing Disraeli Gears.