Frame Art

Here is a photo from the blog of Matt W Moore, current choice of Wired Magazine, Nike and Addidas etc. He has a show at Chorus Gallery (part of Open Bicycle) in Somerville, MA.
Matt has applied his signature art stylings to the frames of 5 'Traitor' frames as well as a cap, t-shirts and some recent canvasses etc. Definitely worth visiting if you can.
'Momentum', the show, opens on August 15th with a party at 8pm till midnight.

Also on the subject of arty frames.


This is the frame Lance rode on the last day of this year's Tour after snubbing his own teammates at the celebratory dinner he didn't attend the night before. The artwork was created by Damien Hirst of pickled shark fame.

It is claimed that the butterfly wings on this frame are real and were pulled from the twitching torsos of butterflies bred specially for this memorial to the butterfly world. Apparently Mr Hirst said that he wanted to use real wings because of the way they shimmer in the light. Maybe so, but surely that effect is lost once they are covered in shimmering varnish.

I think it could be some lovely little marketing ploy in which case it just worked.
I almost like it - except for the rims. More Lance art soon.

'Contador' - Unveiled yesterday at the Chicago Criterium

'Contador'

2009 - Acrylic on canvas - 36" x 18"

Quite a few people single out a painting I did of my racing guru Keith Knight as their favourite and have asked why I haven't done more in that style. Well it's because I am playing around trying to find other styles or methods to painting. But I decided to revisit that style and came up with this. In fact whilst doing this I took some in progress photographs of moments in it's creation that will be used as jumping off points for other paintings.

Hope you like this painting and will check back later for an update on my show at the Chicago Criterium and a few choice photographs I took of the racing.

Schweeb!

At the Agroventures amusement park in New Zealand they have the Schweeb. It is recumbent monorail rollercoaster racing. 3 laps of a 200m track with slight gradients and crossovers inside a plexiglass cocoon. The inventors of the Schweeb also believe that Schweeb monorail tracks across cities would be Schweebtastic. Schweeb! See them in action here.

Original article at www.io9.com

That's Entertainment - The Jam

Oh my word.

Great interview with Wiggins obviously before he has had time to catch his breath.
What is he expected to say - lol!

Seriously though - and to see him then go on the attack near the summit and drop big names!
Wonderful stuff.
He's right though - as far as we know he is in uncharted territory.
Right now though he has given me something to root for in this year's Tour.

His next Tweet should be interesting: http://twitter.com/BradWiggins

I mentioned David Millar's diary entries on Team Garmin Slipstream's site the other day - his latest entry is great: http://www.slipstreamsports.com/2009/07/19/the-millar-diaries-them-are-the-breaks#more-8123

My Neu bike arrived yesterday

I may have to get all Neu post modern German with the arrival of my Neuvation frame.
I hven't had much time to play with it yet - but boy is it light.

It also set me thinking about my personal history of bikes owned.
Sounds like a good blog post - stay tuned.

"That's what I'm talking about!" - Bradley Wiggins

I was surprised as anyone to see Bradley Wiggins hanging in at the front of the pack on the Pyrenean stages. I even thought it looks like he is finding it easy, actually I thought 'My god he looks skinny'. So he may have lost 20kg since his track success of last year and before - but he may actually be becoming a good all around roadie - able to climb more than just the banks of a velodrome. Note: - there is sometimes $20 for anyone who can climb the banking at Calshot Velodrome in their cleats.

Great news. I don;t expect him to suddenly be the UK's next Tour hopeful - just great to see him racing with the big guns and according to the NY Times - really enjoying himself. All we need to complete the image is to have a mod bullseye painted on the helmet.


Images from the Team Garmin Slipstream site - definitely worth following their race blog, especially Millar's entries. They also have a charity ebay auction right now for a jersey signed by VDV.

Etape Du Tour Preparation with Cyclefit.

'Cyclefit' is a great store and importantly one of the finest cycling fit studios anywhere.

I believe they are in fact one of the first studios of its kind, opening in 2002, and one of the first to be trained by the Serrota Academy. Indeed the reduced my stem length from 12 to 6 and introduced me to Lemond Wedges - 6 years on new bikes and cleats mean it's all been undone alas.

They have put together a booklet in pdf form in order to help prepare riders take part in the Etape Du Tour on the Ventoux this year. It's actually helpful for anyone riding 'long'.

Take a look at their homepage where it can be downloaded.

Velopaint at the Chicago Criterium!

I have been keeping this one under my belt for some time but finally the time has come.
On July 26th professional racing returns to Grant Park for the Chicago Criterium and Velopaint will be there. I have been invited to display my work on race day in the Hospitality tent, this is a great opportunity to see my painting whilst immersed in a race atmosphere. Who knows you may be gazing at one of my paintings shoulder to shoulder with Alison Powers, Tom Zirbel, Chris Horner or maybe even Luke Seeman!

I am currently finishing up a painting of a certain Tour favourite, no not that one, and by that day we should know if he is the winner or not. I also hope to have something a little more ‘domestic’ to show as well. I will also use this show as a gauge as to the viability of selling prints of some pieces via my site.


Racing starts at 7am with the Juniors and then the showcase events of the Women's 1/2/3 at 1pm, the Big Wheel Race (upto 200 entrants!) at 2pm and the Pro Men 1/2 at 2:15pm. This cycle sport festival also includes a Sports Expo, 312 Beer Garden, Live Bands, Kids Fun Zone, DK Bicycle Stunt Show and Jumbo-tron screens around the course.


I will be around the Hospitality Tent most of the day, so please come down and introduce yourself and watch some great racing in this dramatic downtown setting.

Please Note this is July 26th - not August as I stated in an email!

The White Kit Argument

I rest my case!

The Yellow Jersey, Madison, Wisconsin

Sarah, Molly and I recently visited some of my wife’s family in Wisconsin a week or so ago. I discovered that the hills are about 90 miles from Chicago, maybe I’ll get to take my bike next time. Actually I think I will just ride there and back next year probably when I start on the UMCA again. We spent a couple of hours in Madison primarily to eat, visit the Chazen Art Museum, pretty good but wait for the 2011 expansion to open, and get Molly to a playground. So walking through the city which is obviously so bike friendly, due to the university I guess, we came across ‘The Yellow Jersey’.

Really felt like a traditional bike shop, frames hanging from the ceiling, a huge assortment of bike types, obscure dated boxes and posters and even a great book rack.

Any book rack holding copies of ‘Personal Best: The Autobiography of Beryl Burton’ and ‘Wonder Wheels: The Autobiography of Eileen Sheridan’ has to be a ‘great’ book rack.

Seriously if you love reading bike books read these. These two women were amongst the strongest riders in the UK in their times. Beryl Burton whilst passing one of her male competitors in a 12hr TT she offered him a liquorice allsort and he set a new national record of 276.52 miles. Beryl set a national women’s record of 277.25 miles!! She also worked full time as a farm laborer, mother and rode to her races. I’ll admit I haven’t read about Eileen yet, but I will. As a member of Addiscombe CC, I had heard many stories of these two due to their battles with Joyce Smith and Chris Watts who are the elder states-ladies of the club.

‘The Yellow Jersey’ seemed like a true bike enthusiasts shop, the staff are friendly and we weren’t there long but it made a good impression. The website is as haphazard as the shop seemed but really worth browsing for some gems, like original frames by Panasonic, Nagasawa and Waterford.

'A Ride with George Hincapie'

Soon to be available as a DVD.

Read more about this here at Plan A Films.

And can you believe today's Tour. Maybe everyone is making a bigger deal about it than will become apparent. Maybe if the race is won by less than 30 seconds because they were in that split they also gained 30 seconds somewhere else. Maybe. But it was so damned romantic. It captured what cycling is about. It's a team event. It's about split second decisions. It's about luck. It's about being smart enough to prepare for what may happen around the next corner. Columbia just need to do a good ride tomorrow to put today's move into cycling's archive.

How to win the Tour De France...

read a book.

Yep - 'Born To Read' written by Judy Sierra and illustrated by Marc Brown is about a boy called Sam. From an early age Sam is introduced to and enjoys reading. One day he passes the Pizza Place and.....

"....Sam read books on motivation, concentration, muscle action, getting traction, good nutrition, grand ambition, playing fair and bike repair...."

What is next for Sam, saving a town from a giant, baseball stardom, politics or astro-vet?

Buy it here: 'Born to Read' at Amazon.

Who exactly does Lance ride for....

He said his return to cycling was to bring attention and aid to the fight against cancer.
He is contracted to ride for Astana.

But he seems to be doing more advertising for a bike shop in Texas and seemingly disassociating himself from his team.

I am confused by the signals he is sending.
His message is muddied.

It's obvious he is building his own team for the future - but right now he is acting more like Ronaldo last year at Man Utd. (Oh my God I think I made a decent soccer reference!)

Oh picture borrowed from Pezcyclingnews - which thanks to Cyclingnews' atrocious redesign is now my fave cycling site.

Blood Sweat and Gears

Good old Leonard Lopate on WNYC.
Yesterday he interviewed Nick Davis about his new documentary 'Blood, Sweat and Gears' which follows Team Slipstream's journey to their first Tour De France in 2008. It's a short interview but touches on some interesting points re sponsorship, doping and rider attitudes, Nick certainly found cycling to be one of the toughest and more mentally challenging sports.



The show is on the Sundance channel through July 25th and I have just realised that is one channel we do have!

Blood, Sweat + Gears: Racing Clean to the Tour de France from Team Garmin-Slipstream on Vimeo.

Man, I just love the trailer. Just made me realise that even though I haven't really seen any of the buildup for the Tour (at least because I don't watch TV or buy the magazines) that I haven't been sure of who I might support. Well now maybe I know:

Cavendish in the sprints and the Brits and Garmin Slipstream - oh and anyone but Astana for the overall.