Category: Other cycling

Ed Pavelka retires from bicycling journalism

You roadies out there probably know the name Ed Pavelka.

If memory serves me, I first ran across his byline on some entertaining and informative bicycle reviews he wrote for Bicycling magazine many years ago as he discovered the limits of bicycles he tested on the rolling Pennsylvania countryside.

He has served as editor of VeloNews and Bicycling magazine, and his name has appeared as author on more than a dozen books still available at Amazon.com.

Now he has announced the sale of RoadBikeReview.com, a website he launched in 2001 that focused on helping sport-recreational bicyclists improve their conditioning and riding skills to get the most out of bicycling ….

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2010/12/16/ed-pavelka-retires-from-bicycling-journalism/

Artist creates pedal-powered drawing machine

Is it art or the byproduct of a training ride on a stationary bicycle?

Joseph L. Griffiths would argue that it's definitely art.

The Australian artist created the pedal-powered drawing machine in Melbourne as part of his mission to examine the relationship between man and machine.

In this case, the bicycle is outfitted with pulleys, belts and wheels to enable the operator to create crayon drawings on a wall. If the person works up a sweat while creating, then it's all the better.

The drawing machine was unveiled last year ….

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2010/12/04/artist-creates-pedal-powered-drawing-machine/

Update: Watch “Man Zou: Beijing to Shanghai” bicycle-tour film for free

Update: Dec. 3, 2010 — The documentary about four Americans and a Chinese guide who take a 1,000-mile bike tour across China is available for free online viewing through Jan. 2.

The 1-1/2-hour film, “Man Zou: Beijing to Shanghai,” made its television premier Thursday night on Seattle's local PBS outlet, KCTS (Channel 9).

Watching the broadcast, I was reminded time and again how bicycle travel is the best way to learn about an area and its people.

The four Americans saw first-hand the contrasts of big-city wealth and rural poverty in the country. They also experienced the side effects of a growing economy …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2010/12/03/update-watch-man-zou-beijing-to-shanghai-bicycle-tour-film-for-free/

The pain of the climb in Pittburgh's Dirty Dozen bike ride

The Pittsburgh Dirty Dozen bicycle ride speaks to many, and it says “Granny Gears.”

The annual bike ride takes place the day after Thanksgiving and tackles 13 of the steepest climbs in the city over a 50-mile course.

While many of the slopes are rated at a 25% grade, the steepest is the cobblestoned Canton Avenue. It's only a tenth of a mile long, but it rises at a 37% grade in that distance.

Aren't you sorry that you missed that? Now you can see all the pain and suffering of cyclists struggling uphill in a newly released DVD entitled “Pittsburgh Dirty Dozen.” …..

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2010/12/02/the-pain-of-the-climb-in-pittburghs-dirty-dozen-bike-ride/

Recycled-bicycle Christmas tree

If you're looking for the best bicycle-themed holiday display this year you might need to go to Australia.

A shopping area in Sydney has created a 23-foot Christmas tree fashioned out of 100 recycled bicycles.

Built by the Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority, the tree was assembled from bicycles collected by the CMA Recycling. It took about eight weeks to design and build.

Sydney's tree has been made from recycled chairs in 2008 and green bottles in 2009. This year, the bicycle frames were painted a bright green, while the wheel rims got splashed …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2010/11/27/recycled-bicycle-christmas-tree/

Danny MacAskill is at it again; freestyle bike stunts from Scotland

The new Danny MacAskill bike freestyle film looks like your typical Scotland tourism video until the 34-second mark when he does an aerial front flip off a wall at Edinburgh Castle.

Yikes!

After MacAskill's original video went ballistic on YouTube about two years ago (it currently has 21.5 million views), his new sponsors at Red Bull asked him to make another video around his hometown of Dunvegan on the Isle of Skye.

The video, released Tuesday, already had over 200,000 views by Wednesday night ….

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2010/11/18/danny-macaskill-is-at-it-again-freestyle-bike-stunts-from-scotland/

11 bicycle wall calendars for 2011 that run from erotic to exotic

It's time to start thinking hard about replacing that hanging bicycle calendar before it becomes seriously obsolete and you're left with a big old blank spot on the wall.

Here are a handful of cycling calendars, from the erotic to the exotic to the epiodic, that I've stumbled across over the past few weeks. I'm sure one of them might suit your needs.

CyclePassion returns with its 2011 wall calendar that is famous for featuring female cycling athletes in more relaxed poses than hunched over the handlebars splattering mud on a singletrack course.

You might not recognize her without her helmet, jersey and spandex, but that's the US's Willow Koerber, who won a bronze at the Mountain Bike World Championships in Quebec this year.

Also pictured in 2011 …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2010/11/14/11-bicycle-wall-calendars-for-2011-that-run-from-erotic-to-exotic/

California cyclist promotes blood drives on cross-country bicycle tours

Larry Frederick always expresses his gratitude to blood donors:

“Thank you, it was someone like you who saved my life.”

The 60-year-old California cyclist says he wouldn't be alive today if it weren't for people who donate blood.

Rehabilitating his broken body on a stationary bicycle, Frederick became a cycling enthusiast and decided to use his love of bicycling as a way to promote blood donations ….

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2010/11/10/california-cyclist-promotes-blood-drives-on-cross-country-bicycle-tours/

Cranksgiving: upcoming Thanksgiving rides for bicyclists

More than 800 cyclists used their bicycles to go grocery shopping in St. Louis on Sunday to help fill the pantry at Food Outreach for Thanksgiving.

The bicycling food drives in St. Louis, Milwaukee, and Mason City, Iowa, were the earliest Cranksgiving events this year. Others are planned for the next couple of weekends in cities across the US.

In St. Louis, the bicyclists were given a list of items needed by Food Outreach and a map of grocery stores located along a 10- or 25-mile route. The event was free, but buying 5 to 10 items each set the participants back $10 to $20.

The pilgrims at the first Cranksgiving were a bunch of bike messengers in New York City back in 1999. Still going strong, that Cranksgiving — like many of the events — is an Alleycat race ….

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2010/11/08/cranksgiving-upcoming-thanksgiving-rides-for-bicyclists/

Is this the winter for amphibious bicycles in the Pacific Northwest?

Whenever I read a long-range forecast for the upcoming winter in the Pacific Northwest, each one says wetter than normal — expect streams and rivers to overflow their banks for widespread flooding.

Must be time to look into the amphibious bicycle. Just ride along down your favorite road, deploy the floaties when you hit deep standing water, and pedal on.

Floating bicycles are not unheard of. I easily found a patent for one dating to 1981. Forbes.com touts an inventor from India who put one together over a three-day period during the monsoon season in his region. At the opposite end of the spectrum is the high-tech amphibious bike created by students at the University of Southampton …..

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2010/11/06/is-this-the-winter-for-amphibious-bicycles-in-the-pacific-northwest/