The northeast United States has long been in need of a consumer bike show, but that will soon be remedied with Bilenky Cycle Works teaming up with the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia to bring all manner of cyclists together under the roof of the 23rd St. Armory in downtown Philly.
Aside from bicycles, of course, the main reason I choose to continue my futile search for fortune in the bicycle industry is because of the people I know and meet. There's no shortage of extremely smart and passionate people who are insanely interesting, individualistic personalities. Sure it's cool to be around famous athletes from time to time, but I much more deeply value the less publicly visible people that make the bicycle world go 'round.
When the Co-Motion Pangea came into my life back in February, the snow was knee deep. As the calendar flips to August, I find myself putting the finishing touches on the Bicycle Times #7 print review that chronicles my five-month relationship with this fine adventure touring steed. And quite the happy relationship it has been.
While the previously reported Brooks and Pashley factory tours were amazing, the highlight of the whole journey was a hour spent with a 90 year old man by the name of Alex Moulton. I really had no idea what I was getting into as we approached his modest home in Bradford-on-Avon.
It's no secret that western European countries have developed some pretty amazing bicycle infrustructure. During a recent trip to Europe, Belgium, Holland, and France in particular, I was once again blown away by the extent to which people uses bicycle as a part of their everyday life, without thinking twice about doing so. I'm sure part of that is cultural, that's just always how people have operated. Another significant part of the equation is infrastructure. To the Americans in the crowd, when was the last time you saw a traffic light for bicycles?
Sometimes you just wanna tell people about something good without getting into a full review-test-deadline-drama scenario. I have been running Ergons GP1 grips on one of my mountain bikes, on a bike here and there, but I have not gone to the trouble of putting them on all my bikes for whatever reason. But when I reunited with my Karate Monkey after leaving it in the East Bay area, it had some new Ergons on it. I was immediately pleased and thankful for this. Not only do my hands feel comfy upon first grasp, but they feel great all day.
