This blog is parked up for the foreseeable future…
r:B
r:B
The religious wars continue…
The Daily Volk has been whingeing about bicycles a lot recently but their latest moan is about speed bumps to slow down bicyclists on a back alley in Islington. Apparently local pedestrians have complained about the danger posed by “speeding cyclists rampaging” down the street. Apparently.
from The Daily Mail, 25th Sept 2009
Hells teeth…! Just look at them, would you? Pedestrians and cyclists battling for space on a thronging suburban thoroughfare… LOOK! Look at those “rampaging” cyclists!
Can “throng” be used as a verb?
r:B
Cracking post (as usual) over at Crap Cycling which I urge everyone to read. It inspired me to dig further into The Bicycle Helmet Initiative Trust – which I’d never heard of either… This charitable body that glories in the acronym BHIT - bit of a sick joke for a bicycle safety charity! – is apparently leading the campaign to make bicycle helmets compulsory for under-16s in the UK.
There’s an old adage which enjoins researchers – whether investigative or academic – to “follow the money”. In this case, a quick rummage through the past few years of accounts registered at the Charities Commission reveals substantial donations from the following:
David Coulthard (ex-Formula 1 racing driver, apparently)
Silverstone Motorsport (major UK motor-racing circuit)
ConocoPhillips (Big Oil! Perhaps best known in Europe as Jet)
Nestle (Major international purveyor of processed food)
Bulmer Charitable Trust (Cider – yes, cider! – brewery’s welfare fund)
I really wish I was making this up!
Marks & Spencer (retail giant)
The taxpayer via the DfT
Jo Brand (Comedienne…no, really! )
Oh…and the Freemasons!
I can offer no explanation that wouldn’t sound like a conspiracy theory.
But to back up a bit…I really wish Crap Cycling had comments turned on!
r:B
r:B
I’ve been threatening to post a pic or two of my Raleigh 20 Stowaway for a while now, particularly after Aaron began expanding his collection…
This one is a mid-70s model with original fittings apart from the lightweight plastic pedals and seat which save around 1.5Kg. It is actually much less pink than it looks in this shot. Honest!
It could do with a longer seatpost, alloy rims, new tyres and better brakes – although it does have leather-lined blocks fitted. I’ve been on the lookout for a decent pair of narrow wheels from a BMX.
Less of a priority now that I’m finally about to order the Brompton, though! :c)
r:B
It appears it’s time to stand up and be counted.
I’m fed up listening to ill-informed pundits and self-righteous gobshites telling us how the Scots judicial system has to be run. Personally, I almost twitched with national pride – an infrequent emotion – to hear Kenny MacAskill announce the Libyan’s release the other day. There might always be doubt about the justice of al-Megrahi’s conviction but there should be no doubt over the compassion behind his release.
What disgusted – but not surprised – me was the political mileage the obscurantists and opportunists, even among the so-called “liberal” and “progressive” parties, have tried to make out of the situation. Any excuse to bring Scots back under Westminster’s heel…
The North British Conservative Club - I’m not aware of them having enough members to really be regarded as a party – could only repeat their usual whinge that, as Scots, we’re clearly incapable of governing ourselves. And New Labour’s London lackey in Holyrood, Ian Gray, appears to have developed psychic powers and believes himself somehow capable of channeling our “silent majority”. I can only hope the Scots electorate – generally not known for its silence – shows this charlatan the contempt he deserves at the next election.
As for our American critics threatening a trade boycott? Phew…you’d almost think we’d been illegally imprisoning foreign nationals in contravention of the Geneva Convention in a military facility on illegally occupied foreign soil and not even admitting habeas corpus!
I mean, if we’d done that – and hadn’t subsequently begged forgiveness from the “international community” – I would be too ashamed to show my face for a decade or two, never mind criticising others.
The world is still waiting for an apology for the US killing 300 passengers on IR655!
All we did was show compassion to a dying man.
Offended? Yes, I bloody well am!
r:B
Hmmm! Did you know that an old Baylis-Wiley bottom bracket cup will screw perfectly into an old Bayliss-Wiley freewheel?
I hadn’t even considered the possibility until my fingers just took over…
The possibilities are undoubtedly endless…but I’ll be damned if I can think of a use for this!
r:B
