The Stars were out in force for our Dashing Bike Show premiére at Bicycle Space in Washington.
The Brooks Dashing Bicycle Show rolled into Washington D.C. on Saturday, April 20th amidst the splendour of spring to find the capital city’s bicycle culture thriving. Bicycle Space, the show’s host, is at the forefront of the urban cycling boom currently in full swing.
Street geometry allied to off-road sturdiness makes at least two bikes of the Morgan Two.
The Morgan Motor Company is the last of the old band of independent British car makers still in existence. Famous in the earlier part of the 20th century for their distinctive three-wheelers, Morgan are still based in Malvern in the West Midlands, just down the road from our Smethwick works.
One of the Dashing Bicycle Show partners currently with us on our tour of North America is Finnland’s Pelago. And while it’s perhaps lazy to draw inferences from broad national stereotypes, it’s none the less tempting to reflect that countless meditative sauna visits and gallons of black coffee must surely have played a leading role in the conception and execution of these sleek, sturdy, understated steel framed bikes.
Our Titanium Team Pro is a great match for this innovative lightweight steel framed cargo bike.
We are sad to report that our John Boultbee Patented Drool-ometer took its final tour of active duty last weekend in the West Country. It sustained irreparable damage, and succumbed to its injuries shortly after Dan Titchmarsh rolled in to Brunel’s Old Station from York on his Titchmarsh Scorpion Cargo Bike.
The Drool-ometer’s fuses quickly blew and its transistors did duly melt, while the needle repeatedly pounded against the housing wall in an apparent attempt to denote a new upper limit for Drool, ultimately snapping completely from its axis.
This is all by way of saying that Dan and his bike were the unsurprising winners in one of several prize categories that Brooks sponsored at this year’s Bespoked Bristol.
Strong beer. The Retro Ronde is just one of a host of events Brooks is sponsoring this year.
As a matter of policy, at Brooks we set aside time and money each year in our dedication as enthusiastic and hands-on sponsor of a large number of cycling- and cycling-related events.
Here at the blog recently, we’ve touched on the details of a couple of the celebrations of the two-wheeled and human-powered that we plan to be involved with in 2013. Funding, prizes and publicity tend to be things that organizers need in advance of an event, and we gladly give all three when possible.
When the talking is over and the hammer goes down, however, it’s also often the case that someone from Brooks finds themselves happily manning a race checkpoint, for example, or announcing the Free Bar as officially open.
The Vélo Vintage has prizes for well turned out Monsieurs and Madameoiselles.
In the past, we have helped out where we can with events as diverse as the Bicycle Film Festival, the Intelligence Squared debate series and the inaugural Belgian Single Speed Championships, to name just a few.
We look today at some of the places you can find us in the coming months, in some cases as return visitors and in others as first-timers.
For Throwbacks who prefer their vin rouge to their vino rosso, it can only be the Anjou Vélo Vintage. The smaller cousin of Gaiole’s l’Eroica is on again this year in the west of France with a choice of three riding distances and beaucoup de surprises magnifiques. So get your retro maillot on and point that front wheel in the direction of the Loire Valley.
Pointy, mucky, cobbly, slippery, icy mayhem probably not in store for Retro Ronde riders.
The Retro Ronde is on at the end of May, and we’re as excited about our involvement in this homage to the cult of the Flemish Hard Man as anything else we have in our spring calendar. Its dates this year have been set to coincide with the hundredth anniversary of the first ever Tour of Flanders. So in that spirit, it will hopefully be very cold and wet for our Retro Ronders, and there’ll be lots of muddy pile-ups on the Koppenberg. In consolation, there’s as always a prize for the most fittingly attired racer.
Swiss winners have been the rule rather than the exception at European and World cycle courier championships over the past decade. So it’s probably fitting that Lausanne is the 2013 host of CMWC. The city whose rather, um, hilly streets have produced serial winners like Dominique Metz, Raphael Faiss, Raphaël Pfeiffer and Joséphine Reitzel is rumoured to be pulling out all the stops for a very special championships on the last weekend in July. We’re happily on board, and will also be doing something special to commemorate it. Watch this space.
Last year’s WCR Grand Tour champion Mike Hall is coordinating the Transcontinental this summer. An unsupported competitive ride between London and Istanbul will see racers tough it out in the Alps en route to Turkey under a doubtless blazing August sun. We disclosed the details of our likely involvement earlier in the year, and are happy to report that around 40 racers are already confirmed, among them Juliana Buhring, who as a WCR rider last year set the Guinness record for circumnavigation by a female.
Fancy the trip? Transcontinental racers ride London to Istanbul this August.
Rumours are also emanating from the Mill that said WCR Grand Tour will once again also happen in 2013. Our scale of involvement in 2012 went from releasing a Limited Edition commemorative saddle, to providing rolling race news reportage on the blog, to locating nearby beds and bike shops for riders. When they roll over the start line, we’ll be there to let you know how things progress.
The IG Markets Nocturne has continually proven itself to be a fantastic evening out for fans of all sorts of cycling disciplines. Under its auspices, Smithfield Market in London will again be the location for our Brooks Penny Farthing Race. As a spectacle our event is unchallenged, with High Wheelers tearing around the fast and tight Smithfield track, typically against the fine backdrop of a red sun setting slowly over the English capital.
The Brompton World Championships have taken place at Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire over the past few years, but in 2013 the event moves to become part of the Orbital Cycling Festival at Goodwood Race Track in July. The ability to “Brompt Promptly” will once be at a premium.
Available spots for the chance to ride l’Eroica have, as per usual, long since filled up. The event in Tuscany has rapidly become a global phenomenon over the past couple of years. And Team Brooks is proud to have been there or thereabouts since the event’s inception.
This time out, we’re delighted to be able already to count such luminaries from the world of cycling journalism as Maurice Tierney (USA – Bicycle Times/ Dirt Rag Chief Editor), Bill Strickland (USA – Bicycling Chief Editor) and Simon Smythe (UK – Cycling Weekly Editor) on our provisional team sheet.
Retro Ronde – May 25-26
Anjou Vélo Vintage – June 19-23
London Nocturne – June 8
Brompton Worlds July 27-28
CMWC Lausanne – July 29-Aug 4
The Transcontinental – August 2
L’Eroica – October 6
Very little rabbit was wasted in the construction of our Easter Edition Brooks Peter P13‘s.
And so, the British winter continues apace. As we find ourselves in the middle of laughably named Spring Classics season, the R&D department at Smethwick has come up with a Special Edition to commemorate the first snowbound Easter weekend in living memory in the Midlands.
In Germany, riding with no hands will cost you €5 if a member of the force wishes to pull you on it. As will allowing a friend to hitch a lift on your rack.
Berlin’s annual Berliner Fahrradschau returned to the halls of Kreuzberg’s Station venue at the weekend. Harsh, snowy conditions prevailing in the German capital proved no obstacle to thousands of cycling enthusiasts who showed up to drool over a near-infinity of fine bicycles and sundry bicycling accessories, each one of them snowflake-like in their uniqueness.
This one was there, fresh from hosting its own personal Drool-athon at the NAHBS last month.
And of course, so were we.
The comments section of the Brooks Online Shop has been bombarded for some time by incredulous (but patient) Brompton enthusiasts querying for a date when a set of 100mm Slender Grips for use with the famous M-Series handlebar will be available.
Brompting Brompton Enthusiasts, that day has come.
Party at the front, business at the back. Expert tool wielding ability is crucial to Huckleberry’s success.
We mentioned recently how Rivendell’s Grant Petersen has been invited to say a few words at the launch of our upcoming Brooks Dashing Bicycle Tour. With the show’s opening night of 8th December looming ever larger, we look today at its first stop-off, Huckleberry Bikes in San Francisco.
