STUFFE

WOMEN & THE BIKE INDUSTRY
An interesting piece on Bikehugger today;

"For all the “women-specific” bikes (which are nothing more than men’s bikes with shorter stems and short-reach levers) there just isn’t enough of an understanding of a women’s cycling needs in the biz. Take any new-to-cycling woman or even an advanced amateur and throw them into a bike shop that carries a few women-specific frames and generally they come out more confused than satisfied."

I'm not entirely sure that this is too different to "a new cyclist" walking into a bike shop, full stop, a conclusion the author seems to come to as well;

"I’d like to suggest the idea that shops dedicate a person to be a custom fit guru, regardless of the gender of the client. Think of it like the Genius Bar, but about fit."

It's a great idea, but would push costs, I imagine. My own bikes have been (and in some cases still are being) tweaked to find the "perfect" combination of parts for me. Getting the "feel" of a new bike is easier now, but that only came with a lot of experience and trial and error. The "Fit Genius" might cost you more up front, but it seems to me that a bunch of money would be saved in the long term.

CHAPEAU!
67 Year old Man rides 1,600 miles to his high school reunion. (Story found at Urban Velo).

"It's a great way to see the country," said Goldman, 67. "You get to see the best and worst of America at 13 miles an hour."

Or, indeed, of any place. That's the beauty of the bicycle, quick enough to make good progress, slow enough for you to feel involved in what's around you. I can't think of anyone from my old school that I'd ride 1,600 miles to catch up with though.

LANDIS
A good round up of the story so far at Bicycling Magazine here.

GIRO D'ITALIA
Another astonishing, punishing stage yesterday for the riders with a frankly bonkers time trial - not only astonishing gradients (up to 24% in parts), but a final 5km on dirt roads. As I said on twitter, I think Zomegnan, the course director, must stroke a fluffy white cat and cackle as he plans the course.


Video Preview of the Stage - Not sure about the techno, but gives an idea of how tough the stage was.

In further Giro commentary, Cosmo over at cyclocosm examines the home court advantage afforded to Italian riders for the race - the accompanying picture is a great spot.

OVERBOARD WATERPROOF BACKPACKS
Bike Commuters has a review of this, a waterproof backpack (along the roll top closure model that will be familiar to most of you). I don't like backpacks on the bike, they're not as nice a solution as a saddlebag, or panniers (and will make you sweat in all but the chilliest conditions). The clincher for the Overboard pack is the price though, nearly half that of the very cheapest waterproof panniers. I'm not sure where these are available (if at all) outside the US, but as a budget option they seem like a good bet for short journeys.

STUFFE &c
I'm about to start a particularly busy week or so at work and home, so it's likely that this will be the last "Stuffe" for a little while - I'll be around less elsewhere too.

STUFFE

POSTER CABARET BICYCLE PRINTS
From Urban Velo, these lovely bicycle prints, produced by the Poster Cabaret company to celebrate Bike Month (May, in the USA).

RAPHA FOR LADIES
Gem at Bianchista has reviewed some of the new range from the big R.

Whatever you think of Rapha, they do little details extremely well - this should be how women's kit works, attention to stuff that matters rather than producing pink flowery versions of mens kit.

COME AS YOU ARE
A good piece for new commuters on the Bike Commuters blog, boiling down pretty much to not worrying too much about bikes, kit &c - just ride!

So, what should a potential new commuter do to give this thing a try? Here it is in a nutshell: find a reliable bike (it doesn’t need to be anything special), take a look at some maps to find an enjoyable route and GO FOR IT.

There's links in the piece to articles about changes to make if you need to carry things, and considerations like rainwear &c too. They also tackle one of my personal bugbears, the notion of the "perfect" commuting bike as a heavy, changuarded internally geared tank.

GIRO D'ITALIA
Yesterday's stage on the Zoncolan was a fantastic day's racing for fans, and Cyclingnews has rounded up some of the rider reaction in this piece here. Cadel Evans seemed to ride so far beyond the pain barrier that I began to wonder if he might just keel over - the World Champion's jersey seems to weigh heavy on him at times, although he's ridden a champion's race every time it's asked of him in this Giro. My favourite piece of commentary came from from the Velocast's John Galloway on twitter;

[J] I don't care if he looks like he's trying to strangle his bike, @CadelOfficial is a GREAT world champion.

I was also pleased to see Sastre put in an amazing ride to recover from being distanced at the bottom of the climb.

STUFFE

SUPPORT MACMILLAN, WIN STUFF
Cyclist, triathlete and all round good egg Karl on Sea is spoiling a 112 mile bike ride by doing a 2.4 mile swim before it, and a 26.2 mile run after it, by way of competing in an Ironman triathlon. He's doing this in aid of Macmillan cancer support, a great charity that works to improve the lives of people affected by cancer.

You can sponsor Karl at his "justgiving" page here, but if you like, you can also enter his competition to win four "money can't buy" prizes from his sponsors. You can find details of the competition and how to enter at Karl's blog here.

REAL CYCLISTS
Cozy Beehive Blog has been musing on the question of the "Real" cyclist;

Among our available dose of cliches, one you'll hear many say is that real cyclists are the ones who race. Or that real cyclists are the one's who ride fast, break bones, lose skin and come back to bite the tough again. Or that real cyclists have so many well-defined muscle groups. And so on...

He invites your comments on what makes a "real" cyclist, and indeed, whether there's any such thing.

YEHUDA MOON
A lovely comic today dedicated to the "Ride of Silence" in memory of cyclists killed in traffic collisions. Also proof that there's no comic too classy that commenters won't ruin it with a pointless discussion on helmets. Or what type of bike you should ride for commuting.

GIRO D'ITALIA
The most interesting stage of a race that's already been pretty damned interesting unfolded yesterday. Cycling Weekly has an account of Stage 11 here. I can't remember a grand tour stage that has changed the complexion of the race in such a dramatic way. Essentially, the people we'd thought of as being beyond the reach of the two main GC contenders, are all back in the game again, with the GC turned on its head.

Whilst I'm disappointed for Evans, who's ridden a champion's season (particularly so in this race, with his victory on the gruesome, mud drenched Stage 7) for the fans the race has become all kinds of interesting once again, with Sastre and Wiggins among monkey favourites now back in serious contention. Also having an amazing first grand tour is Richie Porte, holder of the best young rider jersey, and now in the Maglia Rosa leader's jersey - superb stuff.

Incidentally, a commenter on Simon Lamb's "La Gazzetta Della Bici" has heard a rumour that the weather had interfered with radio at the giro, and that could be why the break got away. If this isn't proof that a radio ban is a good thing for exciting racing, I don't know what is.

Salsa's Enabler Fork, pic from Salsa Website.

THE THIN LINE BETWEEN GENIUS AND MADNESS
So it's a front fork that runs rear wheels, yeah? Hmm.

This is another really interesting product from Salsa cycles, well worth a look. I can't decide if it's fantastic, or the most barmy thing I've ever seen, personally.

TERPSICHOREAN HIPPACOTORA
More lovely stuff from Lost Myths, "The Dance of the Hippacotora".

STUFFE

SKATEBOARDING

Cannonball from California is a place. on Vimeo.

From the "Good" blog;

"The short film "Cannonball" artfully follows a group of skaters in search of newly empty pools behind foreclosed homes in and around the arid sprawl of Fresno other inland California suburbs that have been blighted by the housing collapse and ensuing recession. It has some NSFW language, but it's undeniably powerful—and a poignant meditation on greed, materialism, and an enduring kind of joy."

A lot of the images remind me of Glenn E. Friedman's work from the '70s and '80s - (collected in the book "F*** You Heroes").

FANCY DAN
Gem at Bianchista has pics of a new Rapha cap, the "Maharam". Whilst it does look very nice, I question the point of a cycling cap that's lined with silk and costs £115. I'm not against expensive gear per se, but bike clothes that are evidently not made to sweat and suffer in seem to stray a bit far from the original purpose for my taste.

The direction Rapha sometimes take can be summed up in two experiences for me. The first being a chap I met on a train once, who reckoned to have paid for a lot of his gear by buying limited Rapha clothing, and then selling it on a year or so later (usually at a profit, he claimed) and another chap who was (unironically) wearing a Rapha cycling cap at Alton Towers. (He'd not ridden there, and was evidently making a statement of some sort). With that said, my winter cap from the big R is superb, and very few other people do properly warm winter caps with a peak and ear covering.

The Maharam cap screams "COLLECTORS ITEM" a little too loudly for my ears. If you have more money than sense are convinced of the performance qualities of silk as a fabric, you can buy the cap here.

THE DOPER NEXT DOOR
Bicycling looks at doping in amateur racing.

"And statistics, as usual, don't tell the whole story. According to former journeyman pro and admitted doper Joe Papp, who recently pleaded guilty to dealing human growth hormone and EPO acquired from China to an estimated 187 customers, older athletes comprise the bulk of amateur drug use. "Based on my experiences, in the U.S. the majority of athletes seeking doping products on the black market are amateurs, and believe it or not, they're masters athletes," says Papp."

BSNYC BOOK REVIEW
An excellent review of the Bike Snob's book from Cycling Inquisition;

"Still, as the 49th most influential cycling blogger on the internet, I thought I would be neglecting my duties as a tastemaker if I didn't share my views regarding his book with you."

The article features some good stuff on the Giro D'Italia at the end too.

GIRO D'ITALIA
There's a great round up of pictures from yesterday's foggy stage of the Giro at Pezcycling.

Carlos Sastre rules himself out of contention for the overall (cyclingnews).

BANANA BIKE

A Yuba Mundo, and nearly a half ton of bananas. From Utility Cycling.

STUFFE

FIRST THINGS FIRST
A somewhat redundant bit here, as if you know about The Velocast, you already know about their new team kit. But on the offchance that you don't, John and Scott have teamed up with Shutt Velo Rapide and Rocket Fuel Style to offer a sportwool jersey and hand made cycling cap respectively.

Quite a lot of shows and forums do kit, and it tends to be nice, but usually fairly run of the mill synthetic jerseys. I'm quite excited to see Velocast going for something as nice as the Shutt jerseys - sportwool is a really practical fabric for cycling. Merino (its main constituent) doesn't stink the way synthetics do, and manages your temperature much better. (Sometimes riding in synthetic jerseys you'll be forever donning & removing gilets &c to try & stay comfortable - that just doesn't seem necessary with merino). It's pricey (although Shutt's prices tend not to be that much more than a decent quality polyester team jersey) but nothing else is quite like it. If you've never owned a merino / sportwool jersey, this offer is a good opportunity to pick one up & give it a whirl. If you have owned one, you'll know already of course.

The other thing you should be excited about is the people they're using - I've spoken about Shutt before, they're good at what they do, and take a pride in it (they also source and manufacture here in Britain). Rocket Fuel have a similar attitude to their work, and have done really nice bespoke caps for cycling teams, as well as offering a range "pret a porter".

There's a page showing the proposed designs, and information on how to express your interest here.

(Oh, and if you don't know about the Velocast, and have the slightest interest in cycling, you can find the podcast, which will make you happier than a cyclist with a garage full of bicycles, here).

THE BIKESHOW PODCAST
Another Monkey favourite returns this week, Resonance FM's "The Bike Show", presented by Jack Thurston. OwenP (whose blog you should be following, it's better than this one) reviewed The Bike Show as part of his round up of cycling podcasts. For me, the joy of the Bike Show is its coverage of different topics within cycling, from bike jumbles, to camping out to follow the Tour of Flanders, to pressing issues like LGV safety in the capital. Jack's a great presenter and interviewer, and his show is well worth listening to.

GIRO D'ITALIA
Cosmo has an interesting take on the action so far, in this piece "Maybe all Grand Tours Should Start in the Netherlands";

"in real-world wind tunnels, cycling’s as much about Spider Sense as anything else. Finding your way onto the right wheel; anticipating nervous moments and getting a good position before the battle starts; knowing which splits will take care of themselves and which you should bury yourself closing—these are the elements that get Grand Tour champions through the first week."

Time will tell, I guess, but my personal take is that the Giro's organisers have made these first stages a little too chaotic. Whilst I'm no fan of the sort of "freeway" racing we sometimes see, there has to be some kind of middle ground that leaves the riders less susceptible to caprice than stage 2 and 3 seemed to.

Cyclingnews has this round up of the favourites' performances, from the Gazzetta Dello Sport. I can't help thinking that they're fundamentally underestimating Sastre. One of his qualities is the way he creeps up the GC seemingly without anyone noticing - added to which, he seems a thoroughly nice bloke. Whilst that latter quality isn't something that matters too much in racing, it's a quality that's endeared him to this monkey - I hope to see him do well once the race hits the mountains.

I was also gutted for Christian VandeVelde, who's out of this year's Giro following a crash (fortunately not as nasty as last year's). There's more detail over at Team Garmin-Transitions' site. I can't help thinking that I should stop picking VdV for my fantasy Giro team, as I seem to be jinxing him.

Whilst there's been a degree of outrage about a certain Mr. Vinokourov getting into the Maglia Rosa, he has, at least, served the full ban he was given, and no one's made any exceptions to get him a pro-tour ride ahead of time. I'm not sure it's reasonable of us as fans to expect the returning rider to be repentant and penitent as a condition of allowing them to race.

Which isn't to say that I wouldn't rather have seen someone else in pink, but the way people have been talking, you'd think Vino had an EPO drip attached to his bike, or something.

Sort of on the topic of the Giro, I'm finding it very difficult to become enthused abotut he Tour of California, in this first year that it runs at the same time as the Giro. Maybe it's different for folk in the 'States, but it looks a bit second string compared to a race with as long a history as the Corsa Rosa - hopefully I can get into the swing of things once racing starts.

REMEMBER THE CLASSICS
Pavé blog has a nice round up of stuff that they didn't have chance to post in the spring.

Not sure I agree with him about the new "trend" in cycling photography - personally, I'd call that underexposed, although it's of a piece with the "hipstamatic" iPhone app in that it fetishises the limitations of poor lenses and expired film stock. The irony of the B&W shot is that black and white film is so forgiving of hamfistedness that you'd have to try hard to underexpose as far as the example pic seems to. Ilford's HP5+, a monkey favourite, has to be seriously mishandled, or poorly scanned to lose so much shadow detail - knowing that makes the new style seem terribly affected, somehow.

FLORIDIANS!
Bike Commuter blog has a worrying piece about some local legislation being proposed, HB971 into which a provision has been inserted;

"Unbeknownst to Florida Bicycle Association, a mandatory bike lane use provision was included in the Highway Safety & Motor Vehicles bill. The bill also allows local governments to permit mopeds, golf-carts and other motorized vehicles on sidewalks and trails."

the thought of being forced by law to use some of the poorly thought out, even more poorly maintained and downright dangerous strips of green paint that pass for cycle infrastructure in the UK fills me with dread - unless that in Florida bucks this trend, this is a worrying development. The article provides a link for concerned Florida cyclists to contact their governor on the issue.

STUFFE

THE MOUSTACHE BRACKET
home of "The System", Roscott Inc. brings this bit of typographic fun (and an ampersand eye test chart into the bargain). Those of you doing this year's "Mo'vember" may want to combine your love of facial hair and love of typography...

ASK RITTE
Pavé blog brings you an new feature, the advice column "Ask Ritte".

"If you can’t win the race, at least win the party. I heard that once from a guy in a San Diego bar, but I think he was talking about NASCAR."

You can mail your questions to paveblog@gmail.com - remember to put "Ask Ritte" in the subject line.

VELO ORANGE
Some new product listed on their website, including an interesting looking dynamo light from Shimano. In this light, a secondary bulb flashes as the dynamo turns, with the main light switching on as ambient light falls below a certain level. Looks like a good solution for commuting. Also in the post is a nice looking front rack, and a cleverly designed rear brake hanger.

GIRO D'ITALIA
Close now - Podium Café has a team round up here.

And you can try your own hand at being a director sportif at these fantasy pro-cycing games;
NRToone
Velogames

"TWO STEPS FORWARD, ONE STEP BACK"
Cosmo comments on the recent bio-passport bans on Cyclocosm.

"From the horrific press release, which seems to have been optimized to avoid search engine results, to the lack of specific data on what makes these riders’ information abnormal, the UCI has created a massive information vacuum..."

I'm in full agreement with him in that the values placing these riders' passports outside the tolerances of the system need to be discussed in detail, otherwise we'll just have endless claim and counter claim.

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).