Street artist from the Pilsen neighborhood in Chicago had a show on at the Elmhurst Art Museum. His street graffiti style depicts a youth with bird mask, a person who is able to find or escape to their freedom by placing them in a different reality. Here’s a canvas of him cruising on a low rider.
– Made in Nottingham these were on every boys list in the Seventies. They were ridden as if they had an engine like this smart example.
– it’s nearly the time of year to get the warm clothing out. Tonight the temperatures drop from a record high of the mid seventies to the low thirties. Wrap-up folks! Photo taken in DuKalb IL.
– Actor Robert Shaw taking a spin around the fishing village of Meneshma on Martha’s Vineyard which stood in for the salty fictional island location. He’s probably got a couple of bottles of scotch in the handlebar basket for an evening booze session with the locals.
I finally said farewell to my old road bike today. It had been gathering dust in the basement and I reckon someone else should get some use out of it. All built up from parts off EBay, scavenged in bins at cycle shops, and sales of components. The unnamed steel frame was given an orange powedercoat coloring to enliven the look and a smorgasbord of older Shimano components gave life to pedal powered conveyance.
He’s Spartacus! One of the legends from the golden age of movies, Kirk Douglas, died today at the grand age of 103. His memorable roles were always played with gusto and energy. My favorite film of his growing up was The Vikings.
The Future Was Here | The imaginative illustrations of Syd Mead spoke of a streamlined and slick world of cool architecture and knife-sharp cars. This Honda 3000 has hints of Kaneda’s bike from ’89 Manga animation Akira. Mead developed the feel of dystopian Blade Runner and the computer integration of Tron. Syd passed away yesterday at the age of 86.
Bicycle Balance | We can all remember the moment equilibrium was achieved on two wheels. Calvin on the other hand…
“You must submit to supreme suffering in order to discover the completion of joy.” John Calvin
The City on the Lake | a selection of the fantastic images captured by my pillion Ali as we sped around the triathlon course. The skyline is a marvelous backdrop to such an event.
Big Top Boy – here’s one from the memory banks. My early adventures in unicycling. I was keen on juggling and added this skill to my circus repertoire. In later years I added fire breathing to it too. It came in handy in making my early curriculum vitae noteworthy…
I want to ride my bicycle- So goes the Queen song from their ’78 LP Jazz. Well, about that time riding your bike was the best thing to do! I had a couple of Raleigh’s, a chopper, a racer and friends who had BMX’s and other kinds of two-wheeled fun. Top Left is the king of kid cool: The Chopper, long seat, ape bars, three speed gear changing with central stick. Wobbly to ride by who cares! Top Center: The Grifter, heavy off road looking monster, precursor to the Bicycle Moto X of a later date. It’s rear hub made a distinctive clickety sound. Top Right: The Bomber, another weighty dreadnaught of a bike. It’s lines were driven from the US stumpjumpers being ridden in the Rockies and copied by youth sticking cow horn handlebars on their roadsters. Lower Left: The Arena, a road bike for speed, with true derailleur gearing, narrow seat and drop bars. Lower Center: BMX Burner, a true BMX offering for dirt tracks where knee and elbow padded racers could swoop berms, hit whoop-de-woos, and soar across tabletops. Lower Right The Maverick: an early iteration of the Mountain Bike craze that we’re still in to this day. It’s knobbly tires were good for muddy roads, cantilever brakes to stop on a dime, 15 gears for any adventure laden trail.
Two Wheels Good!
TE Lawrence – born on this day in 1888.
“All men dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds, wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act on their dreams with open eyes, to make them possible.”
I want to ride my bicycle- This 1903 Triumph safety bike has such an elegant shape. With a sinuous open frame to allow women to pedal in their skirts. These old human powered machines just look so perfect in their functional purpose. The advert to the left is a mid-Century model promoting the bike as a form of exercise; though the dropped cross bar seems a tad dated.
And it’s goodnight from him – Ronnie Barker is captain of this endless tandem passengers by other bowler hatted riders as well as Blue Peter favorites John Noakes and Lesley Judd. The front end is definitely motorcycle rated and the structural truss frame very engineered. This was October 5th 1972. The Vigintipede (21) was used by Littlehampton Rotary Club to raise money for the RNLI and the Blue Peter lifeboat.
geordiebiker.com 