About bikes, cycling and cycle to work - Tredz Blog

Bike film festival in Edinburgh

Tickets have gone on sale at the Filmhouse for the films in next month's Edinburgh Bike Week Film Festival. The programme looks great - worth a trip to the Scottish capital if you don't live there already!

The cycling theme coincides with other Scottish Bike Week activities and the range of films on offer is likely to seduce anyone interested in cycling, whether actively or not.

The films include:

• a pre-release screening of The Flying Scotsman, about record-breaking cyclist Graeme Obree, which opened last year's Edinburgh International Film Festival;
• the documentary In search of Robert Millar which looks into Britain's most successful yet mysterious Tour the France cyclist preparing for the 1986 Tour de France;
• a short which recreates the classic New York gang film The Warriors with more than 800 bicycle riders follows B.I.K.E. - "Destined to be a cult classic";
• Beijing Bicycle, where one bicycle ends up having to fulfil the desires of two different youngsters - a rather different take on dealing with a stolen bike;
• the world premiere of Extended Family, celebrating Scotlands best riders in anticipation of the World Mountain Bike & Trials World Championships at Fort William in September;
• cyclists building Critical Mass in Vancouver, reclaiming  public space in You Never Bike Alone;
• Jacques Tati, as village postman, doing his rounds on his bicycle in Jour de Fête;
• the remarkable story of The Flying Scotsman: Graham Obree who came out of nowhere to smash the world one-hour cycling record on his self-constructed bike.

The first screening is on June 15 at the Filmhouse on Lothian Road. Now, I wonder how far that is from the airport....

Posted by Caroline

Cycling gold: Jody's Wales Grand Prix & World Cup updates

The Disability Grand Prix of Wales

The Wales Grand Prix is in its 2nd year and was originally setup as a warm up event for the World Cup. The Australian and Irish team showed up as well as the full GB squad and a few extra entries.

I was originally down to do the flying 200, kilo, pursuit and the scratch race, but after talks with my coach, Barney Storey, we decided to pull out of the pursuit and scratch race in order to keep my legs as fresh as possible for the world cup just 2days away. The final plan was to do a maximum effort in the flying 200 and a 500m max in the kilo and cruise to the finish.

The flying 200 went well considering the lack of warm up, not my fault, the organisers told us we were running in numerical order which would put me on number 28 however just as I was about to start my warm up proper, the organisers decided to reverse the order which put me off 3rd without a warm-up! I did my effort and didn’t feel particularly great but the time was 11.675 which is actually a pb by 1/1000th of a second, and had it been official would of also been a WR by the same amount.

On to the kilo, my target was to do my first 500 faster than the schedule I set when I broke the world record which meant my target was 36.446. Without a starting gate the start wasn’t as good as usually but quickly got up to speed and settled into my aero position. The conditions didn’t feel favourable at top speed, you could almost feel the drag! However my 500 was covered ¾s of a second quicker than my target. I then eased off and tried to maintain as much speed with as little effort as possible. Final time 1.11.253 only a second outside my best and that was without consciously trying for the last 500, looks good for world cup!

Paralympic World Cup gold medals

First up at the World Cup was the team sprint and it was also the 1st race, I was off 3rd again with Rik Waddon and Darren Kenny ahead of me. Have to say my legs didn’t feel that great but all the changeovers were smooth and that was what was important as we’ve been disqualified for those on more than one occasion. The time was 52.096 not the fastest we’d ever been, however it was the fastest we’d been in an official IPC competition and subsequently it was faster than the old WR. Not a bad start and it certainly got the crowd noisy!

Next up was the kilo, a quick change into my world champion skinsuit and back on track. Hopefully the team sprint hadn’t taken too much out of me. Target time to beat was 1.10.271 by Jiri Bouska, only a fraction slower than my WR. My first lap was up on schedule and going through 500 I was faster than I’d been in Newport 2 days prior, now it was all about holding it together on the last 2 laps, which although were seriously painful I think I managed that. I crossed the line to a massive cheer from the crowd and Hugh Porter going mad on the PA, as I’d smashed my WR from 1.10.255 to 1.09.028. Which I later found out is the fastest kilo by any paralympian other than the tandems.

No time for much celebration as the team sprint wasn’t long. We were up as fastest qualifiers, against the Spanish team, and coming into my changeover we were as quick if not quicker than our qualifying run, however as Darren peeled off I could see we’d caught the Spanish team, which meant when I was flat out they were about to change. So I had to go the long way round almost up to the fence to overtake safely. When I crossed the line it was 52.740, so outside the WR but considering we’d caught our rivals in 44seconds meant it was my 2nd gold of the day!

To top the weekend off I was announced as the Nationwide Achievement Award male Track Cyclist at the awards ceremony after the event. 

Extreme cycling - the Dutch way

Think of cycling in the Netherlands and the words 'flat and windy' may spring to mind. Where better to experience this than cycling across the 'Afsluitdijk', the 32km (approx 20 mile) long dam across the top of the IJsselmeer which protects the low lying land from the North Sea following severe flooding in 1916.

Dutch journalist Bram Postumus ponders the "two iron laws of cycling in the Netherlands" while covering this stretch on his bike.

The first law of cycling in the Netherlands: "it's always further than you think" becomes disappointingly clear when he thinks he's sprinted across the whole length in no-time at all (what is all the fuss about?) when the half-way point looms in the distance. Of course, the whole stretch also has to be repeated to get back. Easy to forget.

Having finally reached the other side and ready for his return, he encounters rule two:
"when you change direction, so does the wind".

Posted by Caroline

New Cardiff bike shop open

Well we finally opened our new  bike shop in Cardiff on Penarth Road. After ridiculous hours for a few of the team (I do mean obscene), a lot of stress and a handful of arguments, we opened on Friday 25th May. That’s right on schedule, surely a first for us!

Unbelievably, we saw several dozen customers on day one. About 80% of them went out of their way to say how great the shop looked and wished us well (honestly). I’ve never known feedback like it – amazing, thank you all. Meet the lovely Becky, our first bike-buying customer. She came in at 5pm to buy a mountain bike to take to Scotland for the weekend and left with an equally lovely Scott Scale 50.

Our sign for the cycle shop was inspired by this blog’s header, but it’s about to be all consuming and eat its originator (well soon, when I get a few hours to update the format of this blog).

A big shout for Daryl at Colourbox. When I haven’t got eight hours to play with a concept in Photoshop I outsource my ideas to Daryl and he knocks them up in about 30 minutes. He deserves a medal for putting up with my obsessive-compulsive disorder and allowing me to make about 57 reworks until the perfectionist in me finally shut up. Cheers mate, the artwork is excellent.

We’re open 7 days a week and would love to see you:
Tredz, Penarth Road Retail Park
(opp. Porsche garage)
Cardiff, CF11 8EF
Tel - 02920 702229, Fax - 02920 702009
Email - cardiff@tredz.co.uk

Bicycle-friendly business idea - full service bike parking

No matter what, the Americans do a good job of customer service. Here's one specifically for cyclists: 'bicycle valet parking'.

No longer the exclusive terrain of plush cars, a new kind of service is catering to people who need to park their bikes in Santa Monica where officials are hiring staff to handle up to 350 bikes at their Sunday market to fill up the tires and repair bikes.

Deborah Schoch of the LA Times paints the picture well:

Now, cyclists in search of heirloom tomatoes and organic cilantro can enjoy valet parking of the sort offered to BMW-driving diners at Ivy at the Shore or Chinois on Main, handing over their wheels to polite attendants who park them at a nearby bicycle stand.

Not to be outdone, Santa Barbara has opened a bikestation with hot showers and locker rooms for bike-riding commuters to freshen up before work and many other cities are following the idea.

Most of these bikestations offer valet and self-service parking. Some contain small repair shops and some offer classes. They were built largely with public funds and revenues cover most operating expenses.

The idea started in California and is spreading eastward, spearheaded by the Bikestation organisation. It started because commuters were unable to safely park their, often expensive, bikes. Now the programme is broadening to encompass a wide audience, with an outreach programme to teach cycling skills to women who have recently been released from prison or drug rehabilitation who will get bicycles to help them find jobs once they complete the programme.

Posted by Caroline

Cycling's Greatest Misadventures - new book

A bit skewed towards events in the US, but it sounds like this might be a 'different' cyclist's holiday read: "Cycling’s Greatest Misadventures" is a collection of true cycling-related stories which range from terrifying to comical with some bizarre events thrown in. The stories are told by bicycle aficionados, journalists, magazine editors, professional racers and everyday cyclists.

A selection of the odd but true stories in the book:

• a former pro cyclist's unusual dating tactics by spreading tacks on women’s race course in an attempt to get a date;
• a stationary bike crash during a spin class;
• bicycle escape from a prison yard (after accidentally (??) cycling in there in the first place);
• the first group Trans-American crossing on iron bikes with wooden rims;
• rat attack after the animal jumps on a woman's bike;
• animal one-upmanship, where a man is knocked from his bike by a flying dead dog.

Not sure whether the tales will make you cringe, laugh or just cause a stunned disbelief.

If you think you have experienced worse freak accidents, animal attacks, sabotage, idiotic decisions, or eerie events, why not submit your own story on the publisher's website for Volume 2!

The book is written by Erich Schweikher and is available online (Barnes&Noble, Amazon) and may be available off-line in bike shops and book shops.

Posted by Caroline

Skate Jam at this weekend's Swansea County Show

Interested in some live action? Come and watch Swansea's local talent showing their skating and bike skills at the Bank Holiday weekend during two days of street sports and music at Singleton Park on 27th/28th May, 9am - 5pm.

Special free ride ramps have been built for beginners and experienced riders, and various competitions should provide plenty of inspiration (or awe on my part).

As well as the rides and demonstrations, there will be DJ's, refreshments and stalls so it should be a great weekend!

Last year's festival included skateboarding, in-line skating, BMX and mountain bike competitions as well as displays and graffiti workshops, have a look at the gallery of pictures on Swansea Street Sports (S3) website for a taster.

If seeing all this action makes you feel like showing off your skating or biking skills, you’ll have an opportunity at the ‘Outsider Fest’ organised by S3 on September 2nd/3rd also in Singleton Park.

  Keep an eye on this blog or the S3 website for more information, or contact
  S3 for a poster to advertise the ‘Outsider Fest’.

 

Blind cyclist to finish 5th in Tour d'Afrique

Apparently it takes four months to cycle from Cairo to Cape Town, through 10 countries over 12,000 kilometres in the Tour d'Afrique. As if this isn't enough to feel in awe of the riders finishing this monster event, fifth in this year's race was Kenyan mountaineer and cyclist Douglas Sidialo, the first blind person to have cycled the length of Africa.

“The sense of achievement felt by each and every participant
cycling those last few meters of the 12,000-kilometre event is beyond words.” said Henry Gold, Founder of the world’s most gruelling bicycle event. “It is one of those rare moments in life when everything seems to be crystal clear, when you feel secure about yourself, your life path, your place in the world and when you say to yourself “After this, I can do anything”.”

The aims of the Tour d'Afrique are threefold:

• first, to create an athletic event for both amateurs and professionals;
• second, to foster international goodwill; and
• third, raise funds for environmental protection and promote bicycles use in Africa.

The world’s longest bicycle race has been captured on film and will be released as a documentary the second half of this year.

By the way, registration for Tour d’Afrique 2008 is now open.

 

Bike orders arriving fast

It's great to be able to still surprise customers with good service when high expectations are the norm:

The bike I ordered over the web on Sunday evening has just arrived (Tuesday morning). Your service is absolutely first class.

Thank you! Gavin

....even when the Allen key is supersized (oops!) we're worth recommending to friends:

Hello,
Just a quick note to thank for the wonderful service. I was very impressed by how professional the transaction was. The bike, and the surprise gift, arrived in perfect condition....and next day!

A little note about the included Allen key, though. Unfortunately, it seems to be  too  big  to use with the handlebars and so I was unable to tighten them  with it.

But once again, thank you very much and I'll be definitely recommending you to friends.

Ahmed

Posted by Caroline

A degree in cycling

Well, almost. Derby University (Buxton) has created a degree in cycling but it's really a Foundation Degree in Sports Coaching for cycling coaches, which they believe to a world first. As well as several people at the university, the course was developed together with British Cycling.

It's good news in that it shows the increasing importance of cycling - in the words of Keith Florey, Coaching and Education Manager for British Cycling:

“The University’s development of this new ‘Cycling Pathway’ for the Foundation Degree in Sports Coaching is testament to cycling’s growth and development as a sport and the growing culture of sports coaching as a profession.

Posted by Caroline

European bike-friendly cities

A recent Wall Street Journal article on bike-friendly cities looks at the advanced levels of bike-friendliness in countries like the Netherlands and Denmark, starting with a quote from Copenhagen's Major:

"No one wears bike helmets here. They're afraid they'll mess up their hair. "I have a big head and I would look silly," Mayor Klaus Bondam says."

When reading the rest of the article it becomes clear that there are some better reasons than hairdo's making Danish citizens feel safe out on their bikes.

Copenhagen as well as Amsterdam are pushing bike commuting to even higher levels, their ideas closely observed by other countries:

Officials from London, Munich and Zurich (plus a handful from the U.S.) have visited Amsterdam's transportation department for advice on developing bicycle-friendly infrastructure and policies.

The article highlights some of the plans in various countries, for example Paris making thousands cheap rental bikes available to cut traffic pollution. Still, Copenhagen and Amsterdam come tops with the most innovative and practical ideas, such as the construction of a 10,000-bike parking garage outside Central Station in Amsterdam, cycling lessons for non-natives and installation of special mirrors for lorries to notice cyclists on cross-roads.

The main aim is to get people swapping short car journeys (the most polluting) for a 'hop on the bike'. Aside from the carrot of better cycling and public transport infrastructures, there are also sticks such as increases in parking fees and stricter fines.

There are obviously drawbacks to being hindered to get one's car into the city centre at times - think heavy or bulk shopping items for example. Here the Danes seem to have the right idea about balancing life's everyday demands:

"the Dansk Cyklist Forbund, the Danish Cyclist's Federation, says that to make progress it can't be too confrontational and must recognize that many bikers also have cars. "Our goal is the right means of transportation for the right trips," says director Jens Loft Rasmussen.

Let's hope plenty of UK policy makers take note!

Posted by Caroline

Gower bike ride - July 1st

The Gower Bike Ride is another opportunity to get out on your bike and  experience the beautiful Gower peninsula coastline (again) while helping the British Heart Foundation. Depending on your fitness and preference, there are two routes to choose from: either 16 or 29 miles long.

On Sunday 1st July, the ride starts from St Helens ground, Swansea between 8 and 10am.

If you like to collect a medal and a goodie-bag you'll need to return to St Helens ground by 4pm.

Registration can be done in advance online and is cheaper (and quicker) than registering on the day of the ride.

Posted by Caroline

Shimano Deore XT or XTR?

The 2008 Shimano Deore XT group set is considered the 25th birthday revamp for the XT group, still regarded by many as the benchmark of MTB technology. The set has undergone a complete redesign including some new technology not yet included in the XTR set. The tecchies apparently developed it for the 'All Mountain' market, but surely it'll be popular on all 26" or 29" bikes.

The highlight is the "Shimano Shadow"€ rear derailleur RD-M772 which is lightweight, as you'd expect, with an extra thin profile (in the picture, on the right).

Key design features (as stated by Shimano):

• Super low profile design - improved clearance from trail side hazards;
• Top normal spring - for use with rapidfire shifters;
• Increased vertical stability - prevents contact with the chainstay on rough terrain;
• New crisp shift response - lightweight shift performance;
• Shortened cable routing - reducing cable friction and enhances the low profile design.

Singletrackworld goes into more details about the other parts of the XT set but as can be expected, their review creates some debate among some readers not equally convinced of the 'completely new technology'. Read Bikemag.com for a more data-driven overview listing the specs of the various parts.

With this current buzz about the previews of the new 2008 Deore XT group set, Go Clipless ponders XT's advantages over the XTR and concludes:

"To me, the XT group is the poor man's XTR. But ironically it usually is a better choice than XTR if weight is not your only criteria. The system is simply more durable. (...) If you take your riding seriously, but don't make a living from it, you are better off with XT."

This new XT set is available in August.

American Bike Week

For the 51st time, the American 'Bike-to-Work Week May 14-18' encourages people to take a break from motorized transport and instead propel themselves to work on two wheels. Activities take place throughout the country, aimed at:

• Increasing public awareness of cyclists
• Educating the community about the benefits of bicycling as a form of transportation
• Making information about bicycle commuting available to potential riders
• Encouraging people to try bicycle commuting

Those taking part will enjoy skills classes and cycling-gear giveaways, not to mention free juice and granola bars to fuel their journeys to work. There will be well-meaning volunteers to cheer the bike riders on.

In fact, activities are taking place all month. Should you happen to be in the US the next two and a bit weeks and fancy some action, check the list of cycling events for activities nearby.

The UK's equivalent, the National Bike Week, will take place 16th - 24th June 2007, a great opportunity to take part in local activities or to leave the car at home and cycle to work. But then, we would say that, wouldn't we? :-)

Posted by: Caroline

Jody Cundy wins two more gold medals

Tredz team rider Jody Cundy broke two world records and collected two more gold medals yesterday at the VISA Paralympic World Cup in Manchester.

Jody was riding in the team sprint with Darren Kenny and Rik Waddon. They broke their own world record in the morning heats stopping the clock at 52.096. Jody said “although we broke the world record, we’ve been faster as a team. But it’s the first time we’ve done it in an event and that’s what counts.” They went on to take gold in the final.

Our man Jody then showed himself to be the fastest Paralmypic athlete over the kilo by breaking his own PB and the world record in 1:09:028. The guy can’t stop collecting gold. The BBC called “him the star of the show.” Let’s hope they can all duplicate the performance in Beijing next year.

There’s a full write up on British Cycling and BBC2 has coverage from 3:45pm on Sunday.

Paralympics - Good luck to Jody

This weekend sees the Paralympic World Cup in Manchester where one of TredzTalk's contributors, Jody Cundy, plans to break another cycling world record in preparation for his attendance at the Paralympic Games in Beijing in 2008.

Jody has successfully taken part in three previous Paralympic Games as a gold-medallist, record-breaking swimmer and looks forward to winning as a cyclist this time.

Tredz wishes Jody the very best of luck - we look forward to the results.
Posted by: Caroline

Cycling Festival Yorkshire 18-20 May

I know we've only just got over the Spring Bank Holiday and here's already another fun event for the cyclist's diary: the Craven Cycling Festival, North Yorkshire from 18 - 20th May. The Prologue (it's the first year the festival is organised) includes activities for all tastes - from fit, independent riders to beginners and families.

There is a downloadable festival programme which lists the wide range of events including:

• Hire a bike and explore the lanes;
• Free guided MTB rides;
• MTB bike stunts and cycle displays;
• Combined bike & rail trips;
• Family rides;
• Etaps du Dales: a 175 km Cyclosportif Ride;
• Cycling films & pasta food in Victoria Theatre (Settle).

With a choice of the bridleways, byways and green lanes of the lovely Yorkshire Dales, or Gisburn Forest with traffic free waymarked cycle routes; whether you like to explore by yourself or prefer some guidance, the options are all there. Certainly worth a look!







Posted by: Caroline

Cycling TV

Like to watch road cycling events?  Cycling TV offers live streaming of over 100 race days with on-demand re-runs available within 10 minutes of the race ending. The live events are available via Broadband TV.  Alternatively, for those of us with less viewing time, there's a choice of full or abridged highlights. 

Many events can be viewed free but the quality is not as good as with  the paid-for versions.

The site is relatively new and still seems to suffer from a few bugs - but when it works there's an awful lot of viewing to choose from. As a bonus, you get to see a lot of Belgium at the same time!

You may want to check out the full race information and the 'Inner Tube' community section with members' video uploads.

Caroline

Tredz goes all Flickr

We thought we'd show off some of the kit we've built for customers over months gone by. Drool away at the Tredz Flickr account here... We'll be adding more custom bike pictures as we go along.

Some examples to get your appetite going:

You may have spottted the Flickr badge on the left here on the blog. Useful for easy access if you fancy a quick look at the collection in times to come when this post is buried deep in the blog archives.

Cycle training weekend for deaf cyclists

I just read this press release about a training weekend in the US later this month, specifically for deaf cyclists from all over the US.

Must be an extraordinary experience to attend, or to be organising for that matter.

Puts a bit of a perspective on the  normal challenges of cycle training.

Caroline

How to choose a full suspension mountain bike

Fed up of reading dozens of catalogues and their sales jargon to find your ideal bike? Use our Full Suspension Experience Chart as your research tool instead. To be honest, it’s a revamp of something Specialized produced for those attending their Specialized Bicycle Components University (SBCU: a week of riding in California, bummer eh?).

Now, there's loads of full suspension bikes on the market from dozens of manufacturers, but they are all designed with a rider in mind. Each rider’s style is assigned a category at the development stage; it’s these categories we’ve dissected. It comes down to what you want from your full sus rig – the experience you want to have on the mountain.

Want to ride your favourite loop in 2 minutes faster than your previous PB? Ok, then speed is obviously your main criteria. If fun (shits & giggles as they say in CA), gnarly, slopping, single track is more your bag then it’s more travel for you, my friend. Basically, you need to ask yourself two questions:

1) how important is my speed when I ride uphill?

2) how important is my speed downhill?

Then express these as a ratio e.g. 20/80 makes you a pretty hard-core downhill rider.

Personally, I hate to be the last man to the top. I’m rarely first (especially if I ride with Chris) but I push myself to be as close as I can to his rear tyre – I want my muscles and lungs to know they’re on the bike. That means I’d like less travel and wasted energy – more hard-tail than full suspension. However, I also want to be able to hit stuff on the way down without being kicked off (I’m not that great at picking my lines, so most rocks/roots get touched in some way). Full suspension is obviously far better here than a hard-tail. Overall then, I don’t want to be handicapped in any particular area on the mountain - all round speed and efficiency (of pedalling) is my goal. Therefore, my ratio of priority (% up versus % down) is about 50/50.

Simon, on the other hand, has duff knees and doesn’t give a damn about being first to the top – “you’ll all wait for me anyway, right”. He gets his grins from coming down and riding ‘through’ things with his 6” travel Kona Coiler. This much travel isn’t the most on the market, but it really does mean you can pick some crazy lines to overtake people where you’d never usually put your rubber. His ratio is about 10/90 but he has to ride his bike up the mountain (granted, rather slowly), so that brings it back to more like 40/60. Remember, you’ve also got flat bits in which you need to pedal.

Okay then, our chart works like this:

1) weight up your priorities as a ratio
2) find which category you sit in
3) research the MTBs in that category
4) research some more
5) spoil yourself & grin wildly

Full Suspension Experience Chart as a PDF.

The new Giant gets around

A happy customer - I wonder if the brewery has got anything to do with it? :-)

Hello Tredz

Thank-you for such a good service, very much appreciated. The Giant SCR 2 is great fun and I am clocking up the miles like never before.

All the best,

Mark

Attached picture; me with bike at Hook Norton brewery. Bliss.

This is cycling

I'm in Center Parcs this week and that means life is very good. This is what riding a bike is all about - the fact that my daughter chuckles and kicks her legs wildly (adult translation: 'cool, another bike ride') when she knows we're going for a spin tells me so.

All cyclists have left their egos (and snobbery) at the front gate. No SRAM or Shimano debates. No SPDs or flats. No 26" or 29". No road or MTB. No lycra or baggies. No XC or all-mountain... Just pure cycling for cycling's sake.

As I will have the opportunity this week for some 'extensive trialling', I'll be posting some Center Parcs trail reviews on my return.