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Sharing Space well in ʼs-Hertogenbosch
June 19, 2014
Another great bldg from bicycledutch
People walking and cycling dominate Visstraat in the historic city centre of ʼs-Hertogenbosch. Until the late 1990s this was an ordinary street designed for motor traffic, but since then it has become one of the very few examples of ‘Shared Space’ in the Netherlands (that I know of) that does seem to work.
Visstraat in the late 1960s when it was still designed with ordinary carriageways and all the streets could still be used by through traffic. Note the parking lot. The big yellow building was a factory for grocery products.
The same location looks very different in 2014. All road users share the same space but motor traffic is restricted and low in volume. The grocery product factory has been replaced with an apartment building. The same goes for the church in the distance.
Visstraat and the adjacent Vismarkt (Fish Street and Fish Market) are exactly what they are…
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RIDE4REPAT 2014 DAY 1 ADELAIDE-MENINGIE 153KM
March 30, 2014
10 things I wish would happen
March 17, 2014
Who Ate All The Pies?
March 2, 2014
A couple of weeks ago, Andrew Watts put up a Facebook post, just for a giggle, about riding from the Homegrain Bakery in Aldinga, to the Homegrown Bakery in McLaren Vale. Now, most casual observers know from the easiest of observations, that cyclists like their coffee, an easy to deduce fact by the number of bikes at any decent coffee shop, but there’s also quite a number of us who just so happen to love bakeries. We don’t ride with the Fatboys, we just are fat boys!
Don’t we all?
I think Wattsy was quite surprised by the responses to this post. A number of us jumped onto it straight away, forever keen to taste test a new bakery outside of our normal riding routes. So with very minimal encouragement from the early respondents, Wattsy’s giggle of a ride became an actual event, complete with ride rules that laid end on end would have stretched possibly about as far as we rode! The final idea was that we would each donate $5.00 as an entry fee, which would be accumulated and passed on to the Mental Illness Fellowship of SA, (MIFSA)., and follow the signs that Wattsy had placed to lead us on our way.
They came from near and far to join in this ride, with Mick coming in from Ingle Farm, having left home shortly after his son arrived home from a quiet night out, to Wattsy, having pretty much just rolled out of bed and landed at the starting point. Ten of us rode out from the start, including Annabelle, who at two years old is pushing her dad Geoff up the hills from the comfort of her Weehoo.
The ride was great fun, and all who joined in, rode it as it was planned to be, a fun ride with friends on some lovely quiet roads. The main rule was that a bakery item had to be eaten at the Aldinga bakery, another item at the McLaren Vale bakery, and then a third item at the Aldinga bakery on our return. I believe Wattsy may have been the only one to follow his rules to the letter, and hats off to him for eating three pies before lunch, whilst the rest of us settled for donuts, croissants, cream cakes, sausage rolls, donut holes and of course, the mandatory consumption of coffee.
Wattsy had even gone to the extent of having a trophy made up for the day, which was easily won by Annabelle, dedicated to our great mate Robert Rau, aka Chewie (Chewy), who is not only one of the nicest guys you’ll meet who rides crazy distances every year, but is also quite the master of the fang. It was sad that Robert had to work today, or I’m sure he would have been out there with us, and helping make the days takings for these bakeries so much better!
The perfect cycling trophy.
We covered a massive 35km, consumed possibly our own body weight in baked goods, rode up some hills, rolled down some more, and had an absolute blast. We all enjoyed it so much, that we have already started to encourage Wattsy to do it again next year!
Many thanks for a fantastic ride Wattsy, and many thanks to Emma and B for being the support vehicle for our fun little adventure. Great riding with you Wattsy, Chris, Andrew, Zippy, Emma, Annabelle, Mick, Brett and Mark.
A perfect day for a ride down South.
Nice signs Wattsy!
Great work Annabelle, whilst Geoff was just free-wheeling up the front.
Another rule was no wheel sucking, hence the gap between these guys!
A quick breather to recover our heart rates after the cracking pace we were going at.
The roads were just packed this morning.
I wonder how long that third “official” route marker will last for? Will it still be there next year?
Smudgelet’s New Chariot
February 2, 2014
For those of you who know us, you know that we ride bikes because we love cycling, in all its shapes and forms, and ride with a number of the different tribes in and around Adelaide.
When we found out that Sarah was pregnant, apart from a string of expletives as we discovered this fact the day before we were departing to ride to Lorne, it was pretty obvious to us, that the baby will of course need a bike. Yes, it could be a tad early I know, but I started a bike fund for Smudgelet, as I knew it would be easier than waiting until it arrives, and then try to find the cash necessary!
So after looking at striders, trikes, tag alongs, dragon poles and all other types of bikes for kids, we decided that what we would really need first is a cargo bike. No, we’re not expecting Smudgelet to ride it, instead we would put Smudgelet into the box on the front. Immediately some might say that that is just so dangerous, especially with a baby! What you need to understand though is that the boxes on cargo bikes are made of timber, secured onto a steel frame, and that there are mountings in them for either a car seat or a baby capsule. The other positive about these, is that the baby is in front of you, not bouncing along in a trailer behind you where you can’t see them.
When you start to investigate the options available, it’s amazing how many types and brands of cargo bike there are available, sadly though, none that we could find available in Adelaide. We did quite a bit of research online, as this is an investment in our future, and also needs to be something that would keep the heir to the family bicycle collection safe. We did the customary thing too, of investigating what bikes we could import ourselves, and balanced out the risk of doing that, versus supporting “local” bike shops.
I offered the bride a lift, she said no 😦
We managed to do almost both. We went to see Sam at Treadly, knowing that he and Em had a cargo bike from one of the Dutch cycle specialists, and also had a baby that they were transporting in the cargo bike. Turns out Sam is the Adelaide supplier for psbikes, which was what we had short-listed our choice to, so we were onto a win there! Sadly though, these are rather large bikes, and a significant investment for any bike shop, so he didn’t have one for us to try. Given that there are so many varieties available even in the Christiania range supplied by psbikes, we weren’t prepared to make a decision based on internet research only, we wanted to ride them, and make a decision based upon our experience with them.
We got in touch with Peter Santos, owner of psbikes, and arranged to catch up with him the next time he was coming to Adelaide to make some bicycle deliveries. We thought that with the surname of Santos, coming during the TDU would have been awesome, but circumstances didn’t allow for that sadly. Instead, he was coming to Adelaide in the last weekend in January, which really worked out better for us, as we had no spare time during the Tour anyway!
There are already a number of Christiania bikes in Adelaide, and Peter arranged for one of the owners to bring his in for the demo too, so that we could chat with someone who actually owns and rides one, and get their opinion. So on the day of the demo, we had two two wheeler cargo bikes, two three wheeled, and a trailer to play with, test out, and generally kick the tyres on. Awesome stuff really.
They are fantastic bikes to ride. For pure speed, we found the two wheeled models with the 8 speed hubs could really get some speed up. Starting off with them though, it could be a little wobbly, and certainly with about 40kg of Mojo in the box, and not overly happy about it, I could feel the movement through the bike. It’s never going to be a bike with a tight turning circle, but it did respond well, with a rear coaster brake, and front disc brakes with a park brake. The centre stands on them are great, and provide a great balance for the bike, so much so that even with three kids climbing all over them and mucking around, it didn’t wobble at all when parked. The park brake built in is also excellent, the bike could be left on a slope with the disc brake locked on, and was going nowhere. It looked awesome in all its black glory, but given that Mojo took up pretty much the whole box, it was not going to work for us.
The all black two wheeler
The next one we tried was the tricycle version. Now this was starting to be more what we were after. The box on the one that Peter brought over fitted three kids in it with no worries. There were footsteps built into the frame to help the kids climb over and into the box. There were fold out bench seats, seat belts, and various other anchor points for securing baby capsules and seats, and any other load that you may choose to carry. These come with a seven or eight speed, and standard again with the coaster rear brake and disc brakes with parking brake on the front.
The standard box trike!
The ride on the tricycle version seemed a little unnatural at first, as you can’t lean into a corner as you would on a road bike, instead you stay upright, and feed the bar through your hands to turn. The feeling soon passed, and it felt quite comfortable to ride it, and turning was quite good too. Given that it was a tricycle, it also meant that you immediately had better balance when starting off, as the weight was all over the front axle for the box. The kids all jumped into this one together, and were taken for a ride around Rhymill Park in what seemed to be very comfortable conditions. All we got from the kids as feedback was comments such as; “go faster!”, “take us for another ride”; “we want a turn” etc etc.
The Trike and the Trailer
Even so, we kind of felt that with three kids in the front, there might not be a lot of room for other things, such as Mojo, groceries, and whatever else kids want to take with them for an outing. (Note, these are a mates three kids, we didn’t keep them, we gave them back after the bike demo was over!) So the next bike to test out was the one that was brought in by a local owner.
Now we’re talking. Again, it was a tricycle version, and he had brought along with him his two children on a bench seat, a kids car seat, picnic blanket and all sorts of stuff that the kids may want to have with them for the ride. This was the bomb. The box was massive. They use this as their second car, and it can fit the two kids, a weeks worth of groceries, and a couple of cases of frothies for Dad with no worries. It has electric power assist, 8 speed cluster of course with the power assist, disc brakes all around, and was a beautiful looking beastie.
The ride was awesome. The power assist is used to help on the climbs, not that within the general city limits we have too many cols to climb, but if you’re carrying anywhere up to 100kg in the box, you may need that little extra assistance. The disc brakes are excellent, and provide fantastic braking abilities. Again though, much like driving a car, if you load it up and take off at speed, it will require a little more braking space.
The Business Bike
This was the bike for us. We spoke with Peter about how we could spec it up, and defined for him what we wanted to use it for, and Peter had some awesome suggestions for us. Given that Mojo is getting on in years, and does not have the climbing ability of a toddler for getting into a box like this, we’re getting Peter to turn the front of the box into a hinged ramp, so that when we want to take Mojo for a ride, we can lower the ramp and she can walk on. These bikes come with all the mounts for summer and winter protection for the boxes, so that no matter what you are carrying, it can be easily protected from the elements.
We’re hoping to get it in time for Womad, as by then Sarah will be just over seven months pregnant, and possibly not all that keen to sit on the standard saddles we have on most of our fleet. Instead, we’ll load the box up with everything we will need for the day, including Sarah of course, and I’ll pedal the cargo bike there. There’s enough room in the box to even open up a fold up chair for her to sit on, so that she doesn’t have to try and get up off the floor.
We have almost an unlimited choice of colours for the bike and the box, as Peter builds these bikes up, and can arrange to have the bike powder coated any colour available, and can produce the timber box in any colour we like, and even add whatever graphics we may want to have on it. At this stage, we are still leaning towards a conventional black bike frame, with an orange box, but we still have time to change our minds on this!
We really can’t wait to get the bike now, and to start having some fun with it.
The other delivery Peter was making was a Christiania trailer. This was amazing. Instead of fixing to the rear axle of your bike, it actually has a mount for the seat post. This makes it quite easy to hitch and unhitch from your bike. The other thing that makes it rather cool, is that when you unhitch it from your bike, you can then put a handle onto the towing connection, so that it becomes a large trolley! The owner of this one has decided they don’t need a car, but they do a lot of shopping at the markets. With this trailer, they can drag it around the markets, filling it with produce as they go, and then attach it to the bike for the ride home. Very awesome indeed.
The Christiania Trailer
To see the full range of bikes from Peter, check out http://www.psbikes.com.au, and also chat to Sam from http://www.treadlybikeshop.com.au, the Adelaide distributor. (If you drop in at Treadly, check out the bespoked bike in the display window, so sexy.)
Treadly!
Keep the rubber side down,
Smudge!
Amy’s Gran Fondo 2013
September 19, 2013
Well, this is what our ride to Lorne was all about, riding in the Gran Fondo. Not that any of us entered it with any thought of actually attempting to qualify for the Masters in Slovenia in 2014, especially me with me, I keep getting distracted by the scenery! The Fondo is a timed UCI event, and if you make it into the top 25% for your age group, you qualify to race in a World event the following year.
The team eagerly awaiting the start!
Last year, Sarah, Matt, Tim and myself rode it, and we knew straight away that we would have to come back and do it again, so this year Reidy, Chris and Chewie joined in with us! The reason for wanting to do it again was pretty simple, the course is amazing. The entire course is a clsoed road event, including almost 40km of the Great Ocean Road between Lorne and the Skenes Creek Rd, then having rolling re-openings of the roads to traffic after a couple of hours. This hopefully keeps the locals happy, so that we can keep coming back for the ride! Most of them seem to be ok with having some of their roads temporarily closed, but there will always be a few unhappy ones. I am sure the shop owners love it with a sudden influx of visitors in the off season!
The ride is extremely well organised. When you register for the Fondo, you have to estimate your average speed, and you are allocated a rider number based on your estimated average speed. You are then split into groups of around 200 based on your rider number. Somehow, I was put up in the 700 series riders, whilst the rest of the team were back further, so we averaged our numbers, and started in the 2100 group, funnily enough, the same group that Carl and Miss V had estimated their average speed to be!
Here’s the type of dedication we want to see next year! Nails match the kit which match the bike. Winner.
When the event starts, riders are released in groups of 200, with 90 second intervals in between. This means that there is no mad dash for the start line, and everyone actually gets to roll out in a much more orderly and safer manner. Think Challenge Tour, Ride Like Crazy, or our own Amy’s Ride here in Adelaide, where you are jostling to get to the start. There is none of that in the Fondo. The first 1.5km are neutral also, so it gives the bunches a little bit of time to sort themselves out before they hit the start line and the timing of your ride begins.
As we rolled through to the start line, we got a great welcome from Simon Gillett and the mc’s up on the starting podium, recognising again our ride to Lorne. It was amazing just how many people came up to us as we waited at the start, and spoke to us about our ride. Even as we were riding along on the Fondo, riders were pulling up alongside us and chatting to us about our ride, or if not stopping to chat, at the very least calling out “Smudge Monkees!” This was fantastic recognition for the work that the team had done in getting to Lorne.
There is no denying that this piece of coastline is quite stunning, and having the entire road to ourselves is a bonus. The only downside for us was that we had ridden such stunning scenery up in the Otways the day before, that somehow it didn’t seem to hold it’s usual appeal. The first stage to Skenes Creek is quite gentle really, there are a few undulations, but nothing overly serious. The real climbing starts on the Skenes Creek Rd.
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This is almost 10km of climbing to the King of the Mountain, but it’s a beautiful climb, with lots of fantastic scenery. I’m the wrong one to ask about percentages and all that sort of stuff, as I don’t pay that much attention to those details, but for those that do, the average is around 5.1%, with a height gain of almost 500 meters. I hope that satisfies the data junkies, but to me, it’s just a hill we have to climb to get to the fun stuff! (That would be the descents, not the feed stations!)
Sarah dancing on the pdeals to the KoM.
From the KoM there are still a few small climbs before you reach the highest point, but again, these aren’t too serious, and once you are done with them, it’s all pretty much downhill until you reach almost the 100km mark! From there though, the climbing starts again, as you need to get back over the top to the coast again. Thankfully though, this is only maybe 200 meters of climbing over those last 10 kms, with a few little pinches thrown in.
Almost there!
The timed event finishes at the top of this last climb, and that finish sign is a welcome sight! I’d elected this year to ride with Sarah the entire way, helping out some of the others in the team along the way. To her credit, after already riding some 750km in the six days it took us to get there, Sarah rode the entire course unassisted. Every climb she rode under her own steam, and never once thought of stopping, which was awesome given she was carrying some injuries from her crash a couple of days before.
Such an awesome riding partner! I’m such a lucky man.
Sarah and I crossed the line together, and again we were announced by the mc at the finish line, and were also cheered over the line by Chewie, Chris, Carl, Miss V, and others gathered still at the finish line. After many hugs and squeals from all at having finished another Fondo, we all went to wait on the finish line to cheer Reidy across the line. It wasn’t long before the big guy came into view, having pushed through the event with a bung knee, (pre-existing condition), and a swollen ankle sustained during the event when his cleat slipped from the pedal. Hopefully Bike Snob never gets to see that cleat, as the reason it came out was it was worn out!
Reidy claiming a stage win at the Tour.
Seems the judge disagreed with him.
The last 10kms are a blast. They’re all downhill! Having ridden this section last year, we knew we had to take it fairly easy, as there are some very sharp turns with reverse camber corners that could easily upset your day! Sarah, Chewie, Chris, Carl, Miss V and myself all did the descent together, and rolled into town to catch up with Timmy and Matt who had finished a little earlier than us! Thankfully Gary was there to meet us too, like the awesome soigneur he was for the whole week, and had changes of shoes and jackets for us to change in to, which was so much better than having to tackle the 22+% climb back up to our accommodation!
Sarah, Chris, Reidy and myself still needed to stretch our legs a little, so we all went for a wander through the Fondo Village. This was a great little setup, with some fantastic bargains to be found. Again, wandering through the village we were being chatted to by so many other cyclists and their families, it was amazing. We stopped by at the presentations, and timed it just nicely to see Annabel Cox get presented with her cheque for winning her age group! As we were whooping and yelling for her, Carla Scragg saw us and came by for a chat. Carla had done amazingly well too, and had smashed out the course in under four and a half hours.
So, another awesome Amy’s Gran Fondo was over, and even as we were riding this one, we were making plans for the next one! Yes, we will be back in 2014. No, we won’t ride there next year. Instead, we will set up a base in some of the rental places for a week, and do some rides in and around the Otways and along the Great Ocean Road instead.
Why the sad face Timmy, we’ll do it again next year mate.
It really is a fantastic ride, extremely well organised, and over a sufficiently challenging course! It really should be on your list to ride if you have not done it yet, the scenery alone makes it worth the trip over!
We stopped in to Naracoorte on the way home, where it seems the local footy team won the grand final again.
smudgemonkees.com 