Bike Exhibit at Peggy Noteabart

Bike Exhibit at Peggy Noteabart, a set on Flickr.

On Thursday Molly and I rode down to the Peggy Noteabart Museum here in Chicago. It's such a great place. Their big draw this summer is a temporary exhibit about the 'Bicycle'. Gotta say I have mixed feelings though admittedly it was overrun by bus loads of schoolkids.

Not sure who it's audience is. Half the exhibit is a timeline of bikes from the high wheeler to a modern track bike. So that's for the 'older kids'/enthusiasts.

The other half is kid specific and tries to be more interactive but I have to say it's pretty forgettable - ok so I am an adult but hey! I guess I just don't see it turning kids on to bikes in anyway. That said there was a fun activity where Molly turned old potato chip bags into handlebar streamers. I hope they can schedule some bike parades around Lincoln Park or combine with Kidical Mass or the Farmer's Market or something.

More at the Peggy Noteabart Museum:  Bikes! The Green Revolution


.

Keisse Hangs On!!!!

This is probably going to be everywhere - what a ride though.
So many riders would have fluffed it, or just thrown their bike over the railings - star of the day.

Steephill.tv is my place of choice for video highlights and streaming go check it out:  Steephill.tv

Our New Ride - first time riding with Molly in a trailer.

We were given this used trailer for free some time ago.  We figured this would be the year it replaced our beloved iBert as Molly is now technically too tall. 

Having grown tired of waiting for the day that we could christen the trailer as a family Molly and I spent a few minutes hooking it up yesterday and she rode in it all the way to her gym class - all 15 minutes of riding. 

I really wasn't expecting it to feel that different, but that just shows that I have never pulled anything whilst cycling before and certainly not something attached by a spring.  The main link between bike and trailer is a spring, probably to reduce strain on the bike as well as to stop both bike and trailer falling over if the other does (as we discovered).  It feels similar to riding a bike with front suspension, every extra bit of effort pushing down on the pedals gives a delayed result.  You push down but don't get the forward movement immediately.  This was particularly noticeable into a headwind, let's face it I'm already riding with a deployed drag chute.  Not a complaint though, just a surprised observation.  Definitely slower than the iBert but not necessarily a bad thing.

Work in Progress - Tri #2

Recently started this and struggling to find enough time to invest.

Loving this new 'style' as my wife called it the other day.

It's funny how things like this happen.  I was wondering about how I painted in the way that I did, how I had moved more toward inks and then this, it just happened...
Wonder what will be next.

' Tri #2'

12" x 24" - acrylic on canvas.

.

Lincoln Park Criterium by XXX Racing/Athletico - Sketches

Not my return to racing but my return to spectating at races.
Not often there are race within easy reach of the city and Montrose harbour is literally a 15 minute ride away.  Well it would have been 15 minutes if it wasn't for the incredible headwind.

Once on the lakefront the wind became a monster screaming in at 30mph from the lake.  Not fun to stand around in but thankfully I didn't have to race in it.  I had planned on sketching riders warming up in rollers, spectators leaning on their bikes etc,whatever characterizes a local race.  Due to the bloody wind and cold there wasn't much of that, had a hard time keeping the pages down too.

Still here are a few that I did manage.   Definitely something I will do again.

They called it "Cycle-skating' not me.

What needs to be said?

How the Race was Won - Amstel Gold - Cyclocosm

Cyclocosm has been putting together some pretty neat commentaries of the Spring Classics, so neat in fact that Velonews have ripped him off and copied his idea.  Nice.

Here is the Amstel Gold embedded, please head to Cyclocosm to find the rest and much more.
Thanks to Prolly is not Probably for pointing these out.


How The Race Was Won - Amstel Gold 2012 from Cosmo Catalano on Vimeo.

Awkward BBC Scotland Robert Millar interview from 1985

Awkward both interviewer and Robert himself.
Nice and nostalgic though.

Click the image to go to the page on the BBC - the video is on the left of the page halfway down.


.

Cycling on Core77 the end of the week round-up

As you know I often re-post interesting cycling related articles that I find on Core 77 which is:

'Since 1995 Core77.com has served a devoted global audience of industrial designers ranging from students through seasoned professionals. Core77 publishes articles, discussion forums, an extensive event calendar, hosts portfolios, job listings, a database of design firms, schools, vendors and services. Core77 provides a gathering point for designers and enthusiasts alike by producing design competitions, lecture series, parties, and exhibits.' - Core 77

It's a fascinating site - well worth your time.
This week instead of putting up 3 or 4 individual stories that someone else did the hard work for I have decided to put up a digest here, especially as I found 3 stories on one day.  Enjoy.


California College of the Arts Student Experience Videos.

This is a promotional video for the college in which Haley went from bike store mechanic to student to internship at Nike.

Click here for the Core 77 article and to watch the video.

Interval #3 - Finished piece

'Interval #3'

12" x 6" - Acrylics on canvas - 2012

These are quite a blast.  It's fun just using an hour here or there to go at it one more time and try to judge when enough is enough.

Next it's time to start on a submission for a show.



.

Olympic Breakfasts...

I'm sorry about this but British media is on Olympic overload pretty soon it will be what Olympic bowel movements look like, or do thy rinse dishes before putting them in a dishwasher etc

anyways:

Full Olympic Breakfast post over here:  http://uk.lifestyle.yahoo.com/what-do-olympic-champions-eat-for-breakfast-.html


.

'Gracie Goat's Big Bike Race' - by Erin Mirabella, Olympic cyclist

'Gracie Goat's Big Bike Race' was bought by myself for my wife before my daughter was born and now Molly it was discovered in a box!

It's a great little story, one of Gracie's friends is entering a kids bike race and wants all his friends to join him as a team.  Gracie is caught up in the excitement and agrees to race whilst hiding the secret that she doesn't know how to ride a bicycle.  She overcomes her fears with the help of her grandmother and finds herself able to play an important role as a team mate.
The book is more about overcoming her fear of failure.

We are about to broach this with Molly this summer.  We found a small bike and I plan on removing the cranks so she can use it like a fashionable strider bike.  It looks a little heavy though.  Hopefully she will love it and persevere.

Here it is - Hoy winning the Keirin Gold at 2012 World Track Cycling Championships.

Track World Championship videos online.

Well I managed to find some commentary free video highlights of the world championships courtesy of UCI Cycling Channel on You Tube. Day 3 is pretty cool stuff to watch and Day 4 features the men's sprinting.





Still trying to find the men's keirin final though.  Anyone know where I can watch it?


.

'Boy' - haunting and beautiful short film inspired by the Olympics and the 2012 Velodrome.

Simply wonderful.





.

 A little behind the scenes to be watched sometime later, let the film brew for a while first.

Blood doping without the injections????

The BBC has a little videographic about the race to keep up with blood doping.
Click on the image to be taken to the video.

Interval #3 - Work in progress.

Probably halfway through the third interval.

 

So much fun.

Need to pull out facial elements from central face though.

.

Pendleton speaks after winning Sprint Gold.

I have to admit I have been thinking that the Great age of British Track sprinting may be coming to a close, both Hoy and Pendleton having difficulties as a new generation emerges.  Today Victoria Pendleton equalled the feats of Russians Galina Ermolaeva and Galina Zareva as the most successful individual female sprinter in the sport's history.

Here she is interviewed after her had fought victory:

More very up to date information about this and all the events at the World Track Championships can be found at British Cycling's site here:  2012 World Track Championships.

British Cycling also have a pretty great Flickr account of the events 'down under':  http://www.flickr.com/photos/britishcyclingphotos/

.

New London Olympic Tube Map features sporting legends

...which means that 'Transport For London' have produced a version of the Tube Map that replaces all 361 tube station names with those of Olympic sporting legends.  Each underground line is dedicated to one sporting discipline. 

The Jubilee Line features 17 cyclists:  Miguel Indurain, Paolo Bettini, Fabian Cancellara, Viatcheslav Ekimov, Leontin Van Moorsel, Jeannie Longo, Connie Carpenter, Bradley Wiggins, Daniel Morelon, Felicia Ballanger, Chris Boardman, Victoria Pendleton, Rebecca Romero, Anna Meares, Paolo Pezzo, Julien Absalon and Chris Hoy.

'The Underground Olympic Legends Map was designed by Alex Trickett and David Brooks,  who say on their design: .....

 "There were heated debates and a few late changes of heart, but we are happy with the result: dozens of nations represented, all 2012 Olympic sports accounted for, and Ali and Phelps, two of the greatest Olympians of all time, guarding the Stratford gateways to the Games."

"These things always divide opinion, so we are happy to discuss (and defend!) any of our choices @alextrickett "

Alex Trickett was a sports journalist and International Editor for the BBC Sport website and David Brooks is a sports historian, journalist and author of "The All-Time World Cup'. from TFL website.

 The map can be purchased for 4.99 (GBP) from the TFL store.


.

Mark Cavendish's new ride...

If I was World Champ I would flaunt it.
Nice.

Taken from Mark Cavendish's Twitter account:  https://twitter.com/#!/MarkCavendish

I have to say I have quite enjoyed the way Mark is coming across as a slightly retro World Champion with the peak of his cap upturned etc.

Also any mentions of him being a little heavy this year can be dismissed as being too early for the Olympics and hey he is about to become a father, I ballooned nearly as much as my wife, cut him some slack.


.

Stealth Bike - Brano Meres - 'X-9 Nighthawk'

Brano has been experimenting with unusual frame materials and techniques for some time.
You may have seen his BME branded bikes before, particularly those in bamboo or carbon/titanium truss.

The 'X-9 Stealth' you definitely need to see with your own eyes as it probably won't show up on radar.

X-9 Nighthawk is an experimental frame made out of sandwich panels with aramid honeycomb as a core, covered with carbon fiber skins.

More on this and more at http://bmeres.com/index.htmhttp://bmeres.com/index.htm


.