Category Archives: History

De Ronde

27 February, 2014 12:59 pm ⋅ Leave a Comment ⋅

If there’s one thing I really, really want to do, it’s go back to Europe, and spend classics season doing this:

Monumental Flanders – A documentary about cycling in Flanders and the Ronde – 2013 from Cycling in Flanders on Vimeo.

Yes, riding the amateur classics routes, Paris Roubaix and De Ronde most of all, getting splendidly drunk on fantastic beer with great people afterwards, then watching the pro peloton smash the cobbles. Then doing the whole thing again.

Please? Can I do that? Please?

Posted in: History, Media, Pro Tour ⋅ Tagged: , ,

The Science Behind The Bike

27 November, 2013 1:15 pm ⋅ Leave a Comment ⋅

As promised yesterday, here’s another Open University series on cycling, The Science Behind The Bike, starting with the History of the hour record and covering technology, physiology and the physics underlying the whole thing. Enjoy!

Posted in: History, Media

The Design Behind The Bike

26 November, 2013 10:40 am ⋅ Leave a Comment ⋅

I’ve been watching this excellent series from the UK’s Open University on the subject of design in cycling. It’s a fascinating helicopter view of  bike design from several angles. Enjoy!

Continue Reading →

Posted in: Gadgetry, Gear, History, Media

The US, Liberia, Burma and Liggetsherwenistan

3 July, 2013 4:35 pm ⋅ Leave a Comment ⋅

This week, like many of you, I’m watching the Tour De France, which is wonderful, though I’m trying not to blog much about it because saturation.

Still, I have to note that I’m feeling particularly exercised during this tour, because I’m watching the SBS coverage, sitting about three metres from a 155cm television, in a country that runs on metric, watching a bike race – a sport that runs on metric – in a country that runs on metric and I still have Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwen attempting to explain stuff to me in miles.

Miles?

I mean, what the fuck even is a “mile”? And why would anyone want to do an arbitrary number of them per hour? Continue Reading →

Posted in: History, Meta, Racing ⋅ Tagged: , , , , ,

The Satchel Ride

8 March, 2013 5:11 pm ⋅ Leave a Comment ⋅

I had no idea. Really. Watch, and appreciate.

Posted in: History, Media