a guide to heritage clothing, canvas bags, steel bicycles, and Japanese web shops
I will be offline for a few weeks while I’m away participating in Paris-Brest-Paris for the second time. And randomly, NPR included a sound bite of me during a random report onthe sport of randonneuring. If you are curious about randonnering, a form of ultra distance cycling w/roots in France, here’s an NPR report on …
While I don’t need another bicycle I’ve been air shopping for Alex Singers and Rene Herse randonnee frames via ebay. Here’s a beautiful 1975 randonneuring bike from the Rene Herse workshop. If you’re a pure road cyclist and you’ve never seen a Rene Herse, check out all the bike’s unique, rando specific features: custom front …
I’ve admired handbuilt, all steel, Jack Taylor bicycles for years. Fellow Oregon Randonneur Joel Metz rides a stunning yellow JT and friend Jack Fortune owns the prettiest bicycle in my flickr photostream. If you live in the UK, here’s a chance to bid on your own Jack Taylor – a handsome, fully outfitted touring machine …
Thanks to flickr contact Paris-Roubaix for posting these photos of Nancy Neiman, the U.S. National Cycling Champion in 1953, 1954, 1956 and 1957. Neiman was the first American woman to ride a stage race in Europe. I don’t follow contemporary cycling because the athletic garb and bikes are so alien to me. I much prefer …
PBP spectators in Villaines, France I just got back from the 17th edition of Paris Brest Paris, an ultra distance cycling event held every four years in France. I always say that I record and erase my memory of rides longer than 600k. I can confirm via official records that I successfully covered the 1200k …
OK, if you want to really learn the Carhartt ropes you should be over at 10engines right now (above image lifted from there). James has an almost worrisomely complete Optic. Just got a few lovely deadstock lids, see above, from another Carhartt wunderkind, Jason of Wilderness Workshop. Reminded me to put up a couple of …
Tomorrow, I (Lesli) leave for France for Paris-Brest-Paris,”the most famous long-distance randonnée.” During the ride (which covers 12oo kilometers in 90 hours), I will be off the grid and out of communication with Archival readers. In lieu of a live broadcast, I’m providing some placeholder photographs documenting my experience. Arrival at Brest On the train …
As prep for the night start of Paris-Brest-Paris, a small group of Oregon Randonneurs decided to do an all-night 200k on Friday. Friends Susan, Theo, Marcello, Bill and I headed out from Hillsboro, Oregon at 9 p.m. for a sub 24 hour brevet. Our route would take us out to Dallas, Oregon (about 65 miles …
by Tom Bonamici Of course we’re all about shopping from the past, but the magic happens when an opportunity comes around to shop successfully from the present. Somewhere in between Danny, Champion of the World, Lady Chatterley’s Lover and The Rules of the Game, I became entranced with the conflict of the gamekeeper and the …
On Sunday, I participated in the second Eugene Tweed ride of 2009 (disclosure: I was not present for Tweed Ride #1 which took place, according to this blog report, in slanting rain). By comparison with the original London Tweed Run, the Eugene version lacked eccentric Brits in matching plus fours and cycling brogues. However, our …