Category Archives: Everything Else

The Death of Tom Simpson

Posted on November 14, 2012 by josh| 1 Comment

Tom Simpson is a British cycling legend. He was the first Brit to wear the yellow jersey in the Tour de France, first to win the World Championship rode race, and won several Spring Classics and Vuelta a España stages. He died in 1967 on the 13th stage of the Tour de France, while climbing the Mont Ventoux. A potent combination of amphetamines and alcohol in his system allowed him to literally ride himself to death.

In 2010, BBC produced an hour long documentary about Simpson called Death on the Mountain. It not only looks at the fateful 1967 tour, but Simpson’s escape from poverty through cycling, his rise to fame, and the circumstances that lead to his unfortunate death. The program is filled with interviews with Simpson’s teammates and competitors and excellent footage of professional races from that era.

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Posted in Everything Else, History, Racing

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Graeme Obree’s Landspeed Record

Posted on November 8, 2012 by josh| 1 Comment

Graeme Obree likely needs no introduction among cyclists who’ve been involved in the sport for any length of time. The Scotsman is famous for his world hour records and the unorthodox “superman” position he used on his custom built track bike, Old Faithful. Nearly two decades after beating the UCI hour record, Obree is chasing a new world record, the human powered vehicle land speed record. Given that the only rule for the HPV record is that the vehicle must not have an engine, Obree is free to play to his creative strengths and build any wild bike he can dream up.

Humans Invent–a British website focused on inventions, design, and innovation–produced a series of video interviews with Obree as he built his bike and prepares for the speed record. They’re well done and provide terrific insight into Obree’s unique way of thinking about bikes, design, passion, and more.

Return of the Flying Scotsman: inside the mind of Graeme Obree from Humans Invent on Vimeo.

Graeme Obree: Hand-building the fastest bicycle in the world from Humans Invent on Vimeo.

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Posted in Art, Cycling Media, Everything Else, History, Racing

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A Look Inside the Hampsten Cycles Workshop

Posted on November 2, 2012 by josh| Leave a comment

Last week, I rode up to the Hampsten Cycles workshop in north Seattle to interview Max Kullaway, owner of 333Fabrications and one of two Hampsten frame builders. The shop is built in a detached two-car garage at Steve Hampsten’s home. The space is relatively small and packed tight with all the machines, torches, and tools needed to weld and braze, but it’s far from claustrophobic. I wouldn’t call myself a photographer, but I brought a camera with me and took some photos to show the Hampsten work space.

Lots more photos after the jump.
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Posted in Everything Else, Frame Builders

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Rising From the Ashes, the Team Rwanda Documentary

Posted on October 16, 2012 by josh| Leave a comment

Team Rwanda’s story is fascinating. Many of its founding members were young boys during their country’s horrific 1994 genocide. They’ve found redemption and success as professional cyclists competing on an international level. The team’s founder, Jock Boyer, was the first American to race in the Tour de France. He too found a form of redemption in the team after his life in the United States fell apart following his professional cycling career. The team, its stars, and its founder were the subject of a terrific New Yorker article that stands out as one of the best pieces of cycling-related writing out there.

Team Rwanda is now the subject of a new feature-length documentary, Rising From the Ashes. The film has been in the works for six years and brings to it the star-power of Forest Whitaker as Executive Producer and narrator. Like the New Yorker article, the film looks at the foundation of the Team, its standout riders, Jock Boyer, and, according to the film’s synopsis, uses them as a catalyst to explore the larger issues of Rwanda’s genocide and its aftermath. The trailer is excellent and I look forward to seeing the film.

Rising From Ashes from T.C. Johnstone on Vimeo.

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Chicago’s Original Freak-Bike Club; Cooler Than You

Posted on October 12, 2012 by josh| 2 Comments

Though far from mainstream, freak-bike gangs have become a fairly ubiquitous part of American bike culture. Black Label Bike Club, C.H.U.N.K. 666, Dead Baby, most major cities seem to have their own version of tall-bike riding, vest wearing, bike clubs. But long before crusty punks were bike jousting under bridges, the clean-cut Chicago chapter of the National Bicycle Dealer’s Association was building amazing freak bikes in their bike repair shop.

Life Magazine published photos of the artsy creations in a December 1948 issue. From the magazine:

To Webster a bicycle is ‘a light vehicle having two wheels, one behind the other.’ Such a definition theoretically describes the contraptions [seen in the article], but fails to do justice to the imagination of the Chicago chapter of the National Bicycle Dealers’ Association.

By artfully applying welders’ torches to metal tubing, the chapter’s members transform ordinary, utilitarian bicycles into traveling monstrosities. By far the most outlandish ideas have come from the Steinlauf family, who produced from their bicycle repair shop most of the oddities [shown in the article]. They are hazardous; generally at least one member of the clan is to be found in the hospital.

Here are a few more of the photos from Life. Click to see the full gallery on Time Magazine’s Life archive.

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