new link!

i was in a shop today picking up some duds for a holiday coming up and (if they get worn in nicely) they'll make some nice additions to my africycle wardrobe. anyhow, i got to talking with the guy running the shop and the subject of cycling came up - turns out he has relatives cycling from alaska to chile. so he gave me their bloggy link and if you look sideways you'll see that if you click on the image of two little people with bikes standing in front of a honking great cactus you'll be transported into their incredible journey face first!!!

go quickly and plan on spending some time because it is a really beautiful, rich blog filled with great stories and photographs!

start here.

beer and bikes

bringing together the two disconnected but mutually supporting worlds of beer and bikes is the dream of many a cyclist pedalling his sorry behind up what he or she imagines is the last hill before home. it's in that the most vulnerable part of any ride that dreams are born, wishes are made, curses are flung and hitherto unimagined possibilities rear their ugly or beautiful heads.

the beer bike must have come about during such a moment (or so i'd like to think) because there are issues with pedalling quantities of any liquid anywhere that beg to be discussed,

but for now let's just focus on this beautiful if unlikely marriage.

here's a beautiful contraption that can be found on the streets of amsterdam.

here's some action footage!

i'm just imagining the end of a long hard africycle day - a hundred and something clicks on the odometer, the thirstometer registering well into the red and this beautiful beast glides up alongside!!!

a long way west of here in portland, the bike bar has made a splash of sorts.

here's some really cool footage that explains the origins of the bike bar.

by the way, put your hand up if you've had to ride with a box of beer balanced on the handlebars any distance. that's how this machine was born. see what i mean about great ideas being born out of adversity!!!

while probably a bit of a challenge to propel over long distances, the beer bike has in my eyes bridged the gap that exists unnecessarily between beer and bikes.

portlandia by linda sue

my bloggy chum linda sue just got in from portland with some tasty pics and words from a town that truly gets bikes. the video clip is too good. go here

boy and bicycle (part two)

maybe you were so intrigued by part one that you've been back here a handful of times yearning for part two?!!!!

well yearn no more. additional satiating and tantalizing footage of the boy and his bicycle has arrived in the digital post!!!

the plot so far:

a teenage boy skips school, and spends the day riding around the town and the deserted beach on his bicycle, letting his mind wander as he imagines he is the only person in the world.

boy and bicycle (part one)

the film bladerunner has long stuck in my consciousness as an example of what is possible when visual and audio artists team up with someone who has an extraordinary insight. the filmaker ridley scott had relatively humble and obscure origins that began apparently with this film which i'm going to share here in two parts.

the film is entitled "boy and bicycle" and was filmed while scott was

a photography student in art college in 1962.

while not carrying the weight of presence of my favourite bicycle film "the bicycle thief", it still conveys images of an england long past through the eyes of a boy entering young adulthood.

the plot: a teenage boy skips school, and spends the day riding around the town and the deserted beach on his bicycle, letting his mind wander as he imagines he is the only person in the world.