It’s always fun to match a fave brand to its foreign, brick and mortar store. During my recent trip to Japan, I visited Cycles Grand Bois, a venerable bicycle company known for its elegant handlebars, polished bike parts, custom frames, and 650b tires. Thanks to a rando pal who knows how to navigate Google maps in …
Tag: randonneuring
Review – Cedar Cycling Standard Jersey
In the last ten years, wool cycling jerseys have become widely available in a variety styles from classic retro reissues to microlight, itch free performance merinos. I prefer my cycling jerseys to be made from a thick wool and resemble designs which date back to the 1920s (interchangeable with shirts designed for camping, tennis or …
Archival Field Trip – London (PT 1)
Last month, I traveled to the UK to ride the 1400k randonnee, London-Edingburgh-London. I survived the ride but couldn’t really tell you what I remember. After pedaling for 4.5 days on about 8 hours of sleep (total) I recorded and erased most of the experience. I did manage to take a few snaps of the …
Shopping from ebay – Bob Jackson Musettes
Ok. I love our cotton duck, Archival Musettes. They were designed as functional, more durable iterations of the classic pro peleton musette. Though I own a lifetime supply of musettes, I still shop for novelty models on ebay. Here are some great looking, Bob Jackson & Jack Taylor branded musettes via this ebay seller. I …
Wishful Shopping – Wakouwa Deck Shoes
Wakouwas in the window at Anatomica (Paris) I’m heading to London in a week for London Edinburgh London, a 1400k randonnee. I’ve just assembled all my bike gear (which includes many non archival, ziploc packed servings of powdered nutrition). Sadly, I’m going to have very little space in my luggage for non cycling garb. At …
Archival Permanent – PDX
In Randonneuring, a perm is a permanent route you can schedule to ride at any time. On Saturday, I rode Michal Young’s scenic Alsea 200k loop with several friends from the Oregon Randonneurs. On Sunday, I dragged my friend Bruce up to Portland for what I would consider my favorite Archival shopping perm. The loop …
Shopping from Japan – Cyclo Tourist Bags
Thanks to Bill Lane at Wall Bike for reprinting this pictographic feature on front handlebar bags from the Japanese magazine Cyclo Tourist. Apart from Guu-Watanabe, Ostrich and Berthoud, many of the brands are new to me. For reference, here is my post from 2008 showing the of the range of French, US and …
Wishful Shopping – Rene Herse Randonneuse
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 …
Archival Report: Paris Brest Paris 2011
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 …
Archival Departure: Paris-Brest-Paris
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 …