What happens to global bicycle travelers when they've completed their journeys? In the case of two from the British Isles, they take to the sea.
Scotsman Mark Beaumont and Englishman Alistair Humphreys are separately embarking on trans-Atlantic rowboat journeys this month. Both are dyed in the wool adventurers and already have completed endurance expeditions off their bicycles.
The six-member Atlantic Odyssey rowing team, above, which includes Beaumont, embarked from Tarfaya, Morocco, Monday afternoon. They're seeking to set a world record for the 3,000-mile east-west crossing and become the first crew to break the 30-day barrier.
Their boat is the "Sara G", a 33-foot vessel with 3 sculling positions on the deck that allow 3 to row while 3 rest. They clocked 4.17 knot speeds on Monday ... more»
Browsing through the bicycle videos on YouTube this past weekend, I stumbled across this bike that reminds me of those low-riders outfitted with hydraulics.
The bike solves the problem for those who like the idea of a tall bike to see over traffic, but don't like the idea of mounting or dismounting it.
A standard -- but usually unseen and unsung -- piece of athletic gear in many sports is the common jock strap.
Although I doubt that any cyclists wrapped up in lycra and chamois these days would consider using one, the jock strap was created to support bicycle riders.
While visiting a museum on Orcas Island this past week, I stumbled across this antique box for a Jockey Strap Suspensory. It was in a collection of early 20th Century items found in a home's private dispensary.
Notice "The Bike" logo and the guy riding his bicycle .... more»
Scores of painted bicyclists made the ultimate sacrifice for their art on Saturday when they bared their skin for the brush and spray-can at the Fremont Solstice Parade.
Although the parade celebrates the coming of summer, the temperatures hovered in the upper 50s and a windy drizzle swept off the Puget Sound.
In such conditions, even two coats of body paint won't keep a person warm.
More than a hundred cyclists participated in the parade this year, in spite of the chilly weather. The painted cyclists have been a fixture at the parade hosted by the Fremont Arts Council ..... more»
Congress voted today to enforce a mandatory recall of 200 million bicycles, effective April 1st.
The action, which covers all bicycles sold within the U.S. for the past 10 years, is being taken in cooperation with the automobile industry, the petroleum industry, and the National Manufacturers Association.
The surprise vote came as the 182 members of the Congressional Bicycle Caucus, headed by Rep. Earl Blumenauer of Oregon, were out for a spin on the new bicycle lane down the center of Pennsylvania Avenue. They got the news during the dedication of the bike lane, christened the Tony Kornheiser Obstacle Course .... more»
When bicyclists are shooting the breeze about their bike touring exploits, each and every one will have a pretty good dog story.
Joe Kurmaskie won't stop there, though. He'll probably tell you about the time he was chased by an elephant.
Kurmaskie, aka The Metal Cowboy, is a Portland-based bike travel writer who recently posted a short video about being chased by an elephant while on a charity bike ride in Botswana.
The African elephant charged Kurmaskie and his companions briefly one afternoon.... more»
With my email address displayed in the upper right column of every page of the Biking Bis website, I get frequent mail from readers.
Usually people offer compliments and suggestions or ask for coverage of their bike tours or websites. But lately, I've received a couple of emails regarding the sexual orientation of the Biking Bis blog.
Over the Christmas holidays, someone wrote:
"I'm um not sure how to say this... but your web site name: "Biking Bis" is confusing! I got several hits for this site before finally checking it out. It is excellent. I did not look at it earlier because I thought it was for Gays, Lesbians and Bisexuals, hence the title.
How about changing it to "Biking Biz" or even "Bike Business"? There are more bikers than gay people in the world, so hopefully your readership should go up. :)" ..... more»
As it could have been reported in my hometown newspaper:
A Bellevue resident celebrated his 60th birthday with a 60.5-mile bike ride on Sunday.
"It shows what you can do if you ride regularly and have a strong stubborn streak," said Gene Bisbee, who writes the Biking Bis blog.
An avid bicyclist, Gene said that he'd run into a streak of bad luck -- all his own fault -- with bicycling the past year and didn't know whether he would be able to achieve his goal of 60 on his 60th.
It all started with a fall in January 2009 caused by his improperly maintained bike. He stayed off the bike for several weeks and thought everything had cleared up until this autumn when he was again forced off the bike with severe knee pain. A physical therapist told him it was related to his hip injury ...... more»
We all know that Twitter is a great resource for social networking, and it's the one place where you'll always be able to find out what Lance Armstrong is up to on a daily, in not hourly, basis.
But I never have been so entertained -- and wasted so much time -- on Twitter as this morning with suggestions from the Twitteratis of the best bike movies never made.
Here's just a few of my favorites from this morning. They can be found at Twitter.com #bikemovies:
Citizen Chain Astana Potter and the Prisoner of Kazakhstan The Year of Spinning Dangerously ... more»
Although bicycling is a major interest of mine, another is playing trumpet in a community concert band.
So you can probably understand my joy and amazement to see my two avocations combined in The Netherlands by the Trompetterkorps Bereden Wapens. It just makes me smile.
In addition to the fact that they're riding in formation as they play their instruments, they actually sound pretty good. And check out the snare drummer -- no hands on the handlebars. (Larger version on jump).... more»
From the nation that brought us the Velib bicycle rental system comes another revolutionary idea: Remove convicts from prison and take them on a bicycle tour.
Beginning next month, 196 French prison inmates will begin a 1,400-mile bike tour of France. They'll be accompanied by 124 guards.
Reuters news agency reports that the peloton will start in Lille on June 4 and stop in 17 towns. Although each host town is home to a prison, the inmates will be sleeping in hotels. They'll conclude the trip in Paris.
A French prison official explained the trip ... more»
I'm always a little oxygen-deprived when I reach this figure on the way up Cougar Mountain in Bellevue, Washington, and not sure what I'm actually seeinig.
When I rode up on Saturday, I thought I'd take a picture to confirm if I were seeing things or not.
Sure enough, it looks all the world to me like a person riding a recumbent. All the other markings along this stretch are "standard" bicycling figures.
The Cascade Bicycle Club in Seattle is encouraging everyone to get involved in the annual "Jurassic Petroleum Drive to Work Day" on Wednesday.
That's right, it's time for bicycle commuters, bus passengers, pedestrians and even car-poolers to jump into their individual cars and experience the love of crawling along to work on a congested four-lane superhighway, spewing carbon emissions as they go.
If you look at the calendar, you'll realize that Wednesday is April Fool's Day, so I doubt if the announcement at the Great City blog or Cascade's Twitter is being made in all seriousness. But there is a serious point to be made.
There's a Florida band named "This Bike is a Pipe Bomb." If you want to keep life simple, do not attach their bumper stickers to your bicycle. Otherwise your ride could be considered a terrorist threat.
That happened Monday in Memphis where an airport terminal was shut down when such a bicycle was spotted near a passenger ramp.
A pilot saw the bike with the sticker and notified police, who evacuated the terminal. Bomb-sniffing dogs were called in, but did not detect any explosives.
Airport police took the bike owner into custody ... more»
Watching the Golden Globes award show the other night, I was surprised to see this excellent Belgian beer commercial that tells the story of two brothers in a circa 1930s tandem bicycle race.
Entitled "The Race," the 1:30-minute commercial for Stella Artois looks like it came directly from the pages of a book on the history of cycling in the Alps and Pyrenees, right down to the dusty roads and stone buildings.
Searching around, I discovered that the footage was shot on the Mediterranean island of Majorca (Mallorca in Spanish). The extras were cycling fanatics from the mountainous island, and the photos at the end of the piece came from a widow whose husband was a local cycling legend ... more»
What happens to global bicycle travelers when they've completed their journeys? In the case of two from the British Isles, they take to the sea.
A standard -- but usually unseen and unsung -- piece of athletic gear in many sports is the common jock strap.
Congress voted today to enforce a mandatory recall of 200 million bicycles, effective April 1st.
With my email address displayed in the upper right column of every page of the Biking Bis website, I get frequent mail from readers.
An avid bicyclist, Gene said that he'd run into a streak of bad luck -- all his own fault -- with bicycling the past year and didn't know whether he would be able to achieve his goal of 60 on his 60th.
From the nation that brought us the Velib bicycle rental system comes another revolutionary idea: Remove convicts from prison and take them on a bicycle tour.
I'm always a little oxygen-deprived when I reach this figure on the way up Cougar Mountain in Bellevue, Washington, and not sure what I'm actually seeinig.
The Cascade Bicycle Club in Seattle is encouraging everyone to get involved in the annual "Jurassic Petroleum Drive to Work Day" on Wednesday.
There's a Florida band named "This Bike is a Pipe Bomb." If you want to keep life simple, do not attach their bumper stickers to your bicycle. Otherwise your ride could be considered a terrorist threat.