Summer Cycle Special
Top
Jules et Ji
.s. ‘ . - ln pre-WWI Paris a yOung girl falls in love With two students — one French, the other German — and together they embark on a love triangle, on bikes. FrancOis Truffaut's pastoral imagery has been much parodied since. ET: The Extra-Terrestrial The cute alien and his young friends escape government agents and the adult world by cycling over the moon. Interesting that the enduring image of Steven Spielberg’s paean to childhood includes blCYClGS.
Riding the net
Log on before you head out.
Words: Chris Hill
Bikes in Film
The Straight Story When AIVIn Straights slowcoach progress across America by lawnmower is overtaken by a gang of cyclists, the words ’turtle’ and 'hare’ come to mind, For DaVid Lynch, bicycles signify modern, fast lane America.
Bicycle Thieves Vittorio de Sica’s Italian neo- realist classic sees a young boy scouring Rome for his father’s stolen bike. Back in 1948, bicycles Symbolised the working class.
Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid Paul Newman and Katharine Ross flirt and cycle about the yard to the strains of Burt Bacharach's 'Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head’, Bicycle as vehicle for erotic pasSions.7 (fvliles Fielder)
range of rides on the web is John Brewer, He has details and descriptions of over 70 routes between Edinburgh and Newcastle www3.clear|ight.comlbikeroutes/.
Another personal site With Views on cycle routes can be found at
Brought to book
There are maps aplenty out there. Whose is the best? Words: Tim Dawson
Guides to cycle routes around Glasgow and Edinburgh are now coming otit so fast it is hard to keep tip with them. All the routes are pretty good. what differs between the books is what additional information they provide.
The 25 Routes series produced by HMSO. now taken over by Mercat Press (£7.95 each). are easily best for historical and topographical highlights along the routes. 25 Routes From Glasgow has a series of routes that start from George Square in Glasgow. It seems amazing in such a densely built- tip city. btit once you are onto the cycle routes like the one it describes to Loch Lomond. it is possible to complete the IS-mile journey almost without knowing that motorised transport has been invented.
Colins Guides (£8.99 each) are easy to digest and because of their spring bindings are a practical saddle-bag option. while the series of books that Ordnance Survey (£9.99 each) produces include by far the best maps. Ordnance Survey Land Ranger series are far the best: or if you don‘t want to carry an entire map with you all day. buy a cheap road atlas and cut otit the pages as you need them.
Edinburgh‘s own Harry Henniker also produces two useful books of routes: 101 Bike Routes In Scotland and 101 Mountain Bike Routes In Scotland (Mainstream. £9.99 and £14.99). He does not do much in the way of colour. btit his routes are some of the most interesting. His routes into liast Lothian all start with the fabulously named Innocent Railway Path that starts beside the Commonwealth Pool. From here routes to North Berwick. Haddington. Gifford and Pencaitland and Longniddry are possible all of which are little troubled by traffic.
For more ideas check out Cycling In Scotland. a free ()4 page guide available from the Scottish Tourist Board.
See page 136 to win cycling maps of Edinburgh and Glasgow
but Kinetics is a shop that speoalises in the unusual.
If you like bikes in all their varied forms and see them as a serious transport solution then don't miss. www.bikeculture.com. This site is from the publishers of a range of titles
www.5heldonbrown.com/ bicycle.html In addition to details about his personal bike hoard there is a wealth of useful technical info on a Wide range of eqUipment. Make sure you check out his humor (sic) section www.5heldonbrown.comlhumor for
I make no apologies for starting With a site that I am involved With: SPOKES the Lothian Cycle Campaign www.5pokes.org.uk/Iist. SPOKES has been around since 1977 and is Widely regarded as one of the most successful campaign groups in the UK, especially so as it has no paid staff. The site is full of useful information for anyone interested in campaigning, and has a strong section about 'Safe Routes to School’ (www.5pokes.org.uk/sr2$net). Some may find it a bit heavy gomg, so if you have ideas, maybe details of your favourite cycle ride, get in touch. One man Who has put an impressive
homepages.enterprise.net
details of the granite saddle for real
lscruss/ .- -mwmw, ,. men and edinburgh lanes.html :ii:f'.:‘l‘ "" 3‘ A“ r" if“ ,.. 1 plans for a The difference is that this ‘ W *' " I“ more highlights some of the efficient more dubious cycle Wheel 'faCilities’ in Edinburgh. lt where all Will be interesting to see the spokes how the council reacts. face the
A similar site
homepages.enterprise.net Iscruss/ crappylanes.html wasn't too popular in Glasgow.
One great American site is run by a serious bike fanatic Sheldon Brown.
.i .«i -h’~mlc-iett”--5~i~i'm m
J". Closer to home is a neat site from the Glasgow bike shop Kinetics kinetics.org.uk. This is basically an online catalogue, Which many shops have these days,
same way
highlighting the fact that bikes are more than JUSl fashion items for the back of the car,
Some of these interesting machines may well make their way to Edinburgh and Glasgow next year for the International Cycle Planning Conference velo-city2001.org.
For catalogue mail order serVice, try: edinburgh-bicycle.co.uk.
See also: scottishcyclingcom, featuring stunning shots by top snapper Andy McCandISih, and scottishcycling.co.uk, the official site of the Scottish Cyclists' Union and Scottish Cycling Development Proyect.
a) rdinariesOriginal
name for penny farthings. Replaced around l890 by ‘safety‘ bicycles that we still ride today.
punctures are. alas. still a fact
of life. (‘arry a spare inner ttibe to save yourself a red face at the roadside and then patch the tube at
22 THE lIST 8—22 J
your leisure. Rubber cement and a patch are the only sure way to fix the problem; don't be seduced by glue-free patches.
Q.
actics: watch out for sa esmen trying to sell you last year's range at this
)'c‘;it"s prices. or more. if it's last year's model you should get a discount. Don't necessarily trust the salesman: they could simply be trying to offload bikes they 're struggling to sell. Always ask for a test ride.
estionable selling
You should be allowed one without having to leave cash for the bike (though it has been known). Shop around.
Bracing bikes are at
the cutting edge of lightweight and
aerodynamic technology.
[)esirablc frame materials are titanium and carbon fibre. thouin the far cheaper steel and aluminium options are more popular. Aluminium. in particular. is a durable. lightweight. rust-proof and often cheaper.
alternative even to steel. When it comes to performance it's the wheels that really matter. Disc “heels are otit of vogue; spoked wheels are most i'idei‘s' choice. though fewer and fewer spokes are being Used in each wheel. Prices start around £200 and can rise to over £3000 for a Tour de France rider's
machine. }