She has a point. When driving our regular commutes, I guess we tend to see only what we expect to see, with the rest fading into the background. If only more people cycle then she would have expected, and looked for me on two wheels before turning out of the side entrance into the road. It was her fault of course, but it was also ours for not cycling enough.

So I’m taking a break. Just when the weather was getting better too.

Congrats to Irishmen Rodger Aiken (53rd) and Andrew Layhe (DNS). What happened guys?

Well put aside your Holywood fuelled perceptions for a moment and ask yourself why a city like Bogotá, Colombia can host a weekly Ciclovia event involving the closing of 70 miles of streets while Irish cities can only manage a yearly ‘car free day’ that usually involves closing Merrion Square for a few hours if we’re lucky.

Further details of Ciclovia and its non-cycling sister Recreovia are over on the Streetfilms site here

Buy their book, it will inspire you to get back on the bike. Our browse the portfolios on their site here

Italians have a passion for both cycling and fashion, but can they successfully merge the two ? And while my regular wardrobe does just fine for round town, can I still look good when on the slick wheels ?

Have you seen my bobsleigh ?

While this just looks wrong – whats with the heels ?

and these two get it just right

So next time you slip down a gear as you ease up a hill, give a thought to Tulli, a legend of cycling.

The video below seeks to challenge this, demonstrating its decent handling capabilities.

I still think the dropped hand position is unnatural and combined with the 3,500 € price tag may deter many.

So will cyclists defect to electric vehicles, will this encourage more people to leave their cars at home or will it go the way of the segway, providing a niche personal transport solution. Thoughts?

So while we wait for the big thaw, I thought I’d point you towards one of the best bike blogs, the NY bike snob, who reminds us all not to take the whole bike love affair too seriously. His favourite targets are the NYC fixie fashionistas, pro cycle teams, Liz Hatch’s ‘talents’ (below) and of course the righteous cycle advocacy groups.

This post on cycling advocacy and the cycle chic movement will give you a taster..

The NY Times interviewed him back in July.

The bike’s full history, including their revived manufacture in the 1970’s is listed here

Acting in a similar way to hybrid energy drives in cars it stores the kinetic energy generated from cycling and braking and stores it for later use when you really need it. That’s smart, but really just an adaption of existing technology.

It is covered in the NY Times here What gets less attention is what I think is the really smart bit, the telematics, which gathers environmental and ride data for display to the user, or for aggregation by city planners to build spatial maps.

I’d ditch the drivetrain and provide just the sensor part allowing the unit to be much smaller and therefore less intrusive visually. If you want a motor, get a moped.

The mayors seem to like it.

MIT Mayors

Green gimmick or something useful ?