STUFFE

ME
Whilst STUFFE is largely about interesting things I find elsewhere, those of you who were following Mrs Monkey and I across France and Belgium last year may be interested to know that I got chance to write up Day Three of our Tiny Tour yesterday, having finally had time to sort through the pictures and tour diary. Day Three is here, Day Two here, and Day One here. Day three was our longest day in the saddle (42 miles from Brugge to Ieper) and one of my favourites. Just don't ask why I'm pulling that face.

I've also been tidying up some older posts a little (sorting out malformed tags, for the most part). Depending on how both of you read my blog, that might make posts pop up as "new" in your feedreader - apologies if that does happen.

PENCIL VS CAMERA
Lines and Colors blog features the work of Belgian painter, illustrator, caricaturist and photographer Ben Heine. His Pencil vs Camera project is a series of photographs taken with Heine's sketches of the location (often with a surreal twist) held in place in the appropriate part of the frame. It's a wonderful, fun project, consisting of 13 images so far.

(US) NATIONAL BIKE MONTH
Bike Commuters reminds US readers that May is national bike month.

There's a list of events on the site, and you're invited to add your own via the comments on this page.

DISC BRAKES FOR BEGINNERS
Disc brakes are becoming more common on road bikes and commuters. Over at BikeHacks, they've obtained their first disc brake equipped bike, a Globe Vienna. This post runs through their experience of adjusting them, using, typically enough for Bike Hacks, a steak knife.

URBAN VELO #19
Urban Velo are a regular source of bits and pieces for STUFFE - their own magazine is available now (issue 19). You can order a print copy, or read it online for free here.

Contents include: Denver’s Courier Veterans, Aiming for an Urban Cycling Mecca in Asheville, NC, Finders Keepers, I Love Riding in the City, Gallery: 2010 NAHBS, Residue, The End of Favoring Motorized Transportation, Red Hook Crit, The Lost Cyclist, Freewheel Removal, Get a Grip and Bicycle Helmet Evolution.

INFOGRAPHIC
Cosmo over at Cyclocosm has created an infographic charting 100 years of Giro Winners.

The graphic is word cloud of Giro winners in the shape of Italy, running more or less chronologically from Sicily to the Austrian border. Text sizes correspond to the number of victories, and dates are provided as well. Colors are from the Italian flag, and pink from the maglia rosa worn by the race’s GC Leader.The graphic is word cloud of Giro winners in the shape of Italy, running more or less chronologically from Sicily to the Austrian border. Text sizes correspond to the number of victories, and dates are provided as well. Colors are from the Italian flag, and pink from the maglia rosa worn by the race’s GC Leader.

The graphic is available as a poster or a T-shirt from Cyclocosm.

VIRTUAL MUSETTE TOP 50 UPDATE
Eric over at the virtual musette has updated his Top 50 riders of the modern era with points scored this season up to and including the Tour of Romandie. Commentary on the results is to follow (the post linked above is numbers only), but if you're interested to see how the landscape has changed during classics season, head over.
(See also - how the riders are scored part 1 and part 2).

IS THERE A PLACE FOR ELITISM?
This piece at Bicycling argues that riders can be "too nice".

But all that stuff worked. It weeded out those of us who didn’t belong there, and we didn’t ride there until we belonged.

I’ve always contended that, as reprehensible as roadie elitism is, it is also valuable. A pack of racers needs to be elitist because, when you’re going 37 mph bar-to-bar you want to be there only with the elite. You want to know that the racers in front of you and on either side of you understand what’s going to happen and how to react and what is fair and expected and, even, unfair but expected.

I don't really have a view - I don't ride in groups, and if I'm honest, people sitting in on me makes me nervous (I don't know them, they don't know me). It sounds like I might have the right idea too - I ride my bike for fun these days, and tbh, dealing with this sort of stuff seems a distance away from what I want to do with my spare time.

SALSA AND THE USBRS

Take a moment and think of the transportation route system that the United States has developed primarily around automobiles. Now imagine a similar route system for bikes.

Salsa has signed on as a sponsor of the new U.S.B.R.S. fundraising campaign: Build it. Bike it. Be a Part of It. We encourage you to consider donating if you are able.

US readers can learn more, and help the campaign for the USBRS at this page.
(I know it's another US specific thing, but I love the promo graphic, and it's also further proof of Salsa's COOLNESS).