Are you kidding me? Is this some kind of a joke?

I was just cruising the website of Curbside Cycles, one of my favorite Toronto bike stores, when I came across this lovely Pashley handlebar bag. It is beautiful, isn’t it? How much would you pay for it? I was thinking…well, it is pretty nice, the next time I’m in Toronto maybe I’ll pick one up if it’s reasonably priced. I guess reasonably priced is all relative…I still have sticker shock. I mean really…I know things are expensive these days but $519.99 CA ($466.99 US) seems a little steep. That kind of money can buy a lot of bungee cords. Hell, you could purchase a pretty good bike for that price.

>Are you kidding me? Is this some kind of a joke?

>I was just cruising the website of Curbside Cycles, one of my favorite Toronto bike stores, when I came across this lovely Pashley handlebar bag. It is beautiful, isn’t it? How much would you pay for it? I was thinking…well, it is pretty nice, the next time I’m in Toronto maybe I’ll pick one up if it’s reasonably priced. I guess reasonably priced is all relative…I still have sticker shock. I mean really…I know things are expensive these days but $519.99 CA ($466.99 US) seems a little steep. That kind of money can buy a lot of bungee cords. Hell, you could purchase a pretty good bike for that price.

Those Wacky Food and Bike Loving French

I love this photo and thought it appropriate to post it with the current Tour de France going on (is the race still going, or is it over yet?). It’s a photo of Georges Grillot and Roger Coiffier, tandem riders in the Brest–Menton race in 1930. It’s just one of the annual bike races in France. This is a race that cuts diagonally across the country. Brest is in the far north-west, and Menton is in the lower eastern portion of the country, bordering Italy. But look at those dudes…tough or what? They probably smoked and drank wine while they rode. If you look closely (click the image) you can see that the guy on the left (the one steering, presumably) actually has the stub of a cigarette in his mouth. And are those wool coats they’re wearing? What I also find interesting about the photo is that it looks like the bike has a derailleur…I didn’t know that these were in use in 1930 until I read this. I’m not sure if they won the race or not but they sure have the right attitude. If you want to read more about them click here (it’s in French).

When I was in culinary school (some years ago) I became enamoured with French cuisine, and to a certain extent still am. And I’ll never forget being in pastry class when the instructor told us the dessert we were making was shaped like the wheel of a bicycle and named after a race (they even name food after bike races, I thought to myself). The chef, of course, was referring to the Paris-Brest-Paris bicycle race, which is the precursor to all the others (I believe). Anyhow, here’s a picture of the dessert. If you’d like a recipe with a little historical info, click here. If you’d like to read a short piece on a Canadian’s view (Torontonian) of the current Paris bike culture, click here.

>Those Wacky Food and Bike Loving French

>I love this photo and thought it appropriate to post it with the current Tour de France going on (is the race still going, or is it over yet?). It’s a photo of Georges Grillot and Roger Coiffier, tandem riders in the Brest–Menton race in 1930. It’s just one of the annual bike races in France. This is a race that cuts diagonally across the country. Brest is in the far north-west, and Menton is in the lower eastern portion of the country, bordering Italy. But look at those dudes…tough or what? They probably smoked and drank wine while they rode. If you look closely (click the image) you can see that the guy on the left (the one steering, presumably) actually has the stub of a cigarette in his mouth. And are those wool coats they’re wearing? What I also find interesting about the photo is that it looks like the bike has a derailleur…I didn’t know that these were in use in 1930 until I read this. I’m not sure if they won the race or not but they sure have the right attitude. If you want to read more about them click here (it’s in French).

When I was in culinary school (some years ago) I became enamoured with French cuisine, and to a certain extent still am. And I’ll never forget being in pastry class when the instructor told us the dessert we were making was shaped like the wheel of a bicycle and named after a race (they even name food after bike races, I thought to myself). The chef, of course, was referring to the Paris-Brest-Paris bicycle race, which is the precursor to all the others (I believe). Anyhow, here’s a picture of the dessert. If you’d like a recipe with a little historical info, click here. If you’d like to read a short piece on a Canadian’s view (Torontonian) of the current Paris bike culture, click here.

Annie Londonderry and Columbia Bikes

I’ve been meaning to read this book about Annie Londonderry for a while, but haven’t gotten around to it yet. I was browsing through it at a book store recently…it looks like an interesting book and she certainly seems like an incredible woman. She bicycled around the world on a heavy single speed bike by herself…and I’m still trying to get the courage up to ride from Buffalo to NYC. Here’s an excerpt from the website devoted to her:

On June 25, 1894, Annie Cohen Kopchovsky, a young mother of three small children, stood before a crowd of 500 friends, family, suffragists and curious onlookers at the Massachusetts State House. Then, declaring she would circle the world, she climbed onto a 42-pound Columbia bicycle and “sailed away like a kite down Beacon Street.”

To learn more about her and her travels click here and here.

The Columbia Company’s website (the brand bike Annie rode) claims the are the oldest bicycle company in the United States…hmmm. Maybe, but like most companies that are old, they all seem to claim they are the first. The Pierce Arrow car company, which was based here in Buffalo, originally made bikes in the 1890’s. Anyhow, here’s a poster advertising a Columbia bike in 1901…just a few years after Annie began her journey. It’s interesting that the bike in the advert below is a chainless, so was another advertisement for a Pierce Arrow I came across from the same time…must have been the fad at the time. (Click it if you want to read the text of the ad.)

>Annie Londonderry and Columbia Bikes

>I’ve been meaning to read this book about Annie Londonderry for a while, but haven’t gotten around to it yet. I was browsing through it at a book store recently…it looks like an interesting book and she certainly seems like an incredible woman. She bicycled around the world on a heavy single speed bike by herself…and I’m still trying to get the courage up to ride from Buffalo to NYC. Here’s an excerpt from the website devoted to her:

On June 25, 1894, Annie Cohen Kopchovsky, a young mother of three small children, stood before a crowd of 500 friends, family, suffragists and curious onlookers at the Massachusetts State House. Then, declaring she would circle the world, she climbed onto a 42-pound Columbia bicycle and “sailed away like a kite down Beacon Street.”

To learn more about her and her travels click here and here.

The Columbia Company’s website (the brand bike Annie rode) claims the are the oldest bicycle company in the United States…hmmm. Maybe, but like most companies that are old, they all seem to claim they are the first. The Pierce Arrow car company, which was based here in Buffalo, originally made bikes in the 1890’s. Anyhow, here’s a poster advertising a Columbia bike in 1901…just a few years after Annie began her journey. It’s interesting that the bike in the advert below is a chainless, so was another advertisement for a Pierce Arrow I came across from the same time…must have been the fad at the time. (Click it if you want to read the text of the ad.)

Mystical Candle

I took this short video about a year ago and forgot about it. Then tonight while looking for something else on my hard-drive I came across it again and thought I’d share it. I was writing one night and had a candle and incense burning (yes, I burn candles and incense sometimes) and the heat of the flame drew in the smoke of the incense…it’s sort of mesmerizing. It’s only a minute or so long and worth the time…you’ll probably want to watch it more than once. It’s even better if you turn off the radio, tv, or other background noise and watch it in silence (though you can hear one of my pugs sniffing around in the background).

>Mystical Candle

>I took this short video about a year ago and forgot about it. Then tonight while looking for something else on my hard-drive I came across it again and thought I’d share it. I was writing one night and had a candle and incense burning (yes, I burn candles and incense sometimes) and the heat of the flame drew in the smoke of the incense…it’s sort of mesmerizing. It’s only a minute or so long and worth the time…you’ll probably want to watch it more than once. It’s even better if you turn off the radio, tv, or other background noise and watch it in silence (though you can hear one of my pugs sniffing around in the background).

3rd Generation Sunflower


I planted a sunflower close to my front porch two years ago. Last year a few feet in front of the original location another grew without me planting it…seeds fell and it replanted itself. This year a few feet further the same thing happened. Nature takes care of itself if we let it. Beautiful. I keep thinking there should be a smiley face in the middle of it…it surely makes me smile (click it for a larger view).

>3rd Generation Sunflower

>
I planted a sunflower close to my front porch two years ago. Last year a few feet in front of the original location another grew without me planting it…seeds fell and it replanted itself. This year a few feet further the same thing happened. Nature takes care of itself if we let it. Beautiful. I keep thinking there should be a smiley face in the middle of it…it surely makes me smile (click it for a larger view).