Beyond 1200

Why is it that people’s first reaction to a lot of my riding or any suggestions about riding is “you can’t do that”. There are unspoken preconceptions of what you can and cannot do on a bike, and even what is “normal” to do on a bike.
In general, riding more than 5km is not “normal” [...]

When my wife originally wanted to go riding with me and needed a new bike, the Giant Hello Kitty caught her attention.
Its first major ride was a 70km ride from Yonghe to Fulong even though she had never been a cyclist and had not done training of any kind. She threw her bag on the [...]

The best way to test a bike is to ride it for a long time and a long distance.
Small niggles and annoyances are easily overlooked on bicycles that are seldom used, or only used for short commutes.
There’s precious little time to determine just how well things work as the ride is over before any poor [...]

The morning sunlight can make anything look good and shiny.
On my way back home along the riverside path, the morning sun was shining down, piercing through the slight chill in the air.
Here’s a few shots I took of the Dahon. I had been waiting for good, strong sunlight and I got it.

Yep, that’s me below. [...]

This years show was pretty awesome with a wide scattering of bike and bike parts from big name brands down to much lesser unknown brands, and those without brands.
Although my primary focus is bikes, what I was aiming at with this show is to see just how well local companies manage to represent themselves to [...]

Well over the weekend I managed to get hold of my first real folding bike. The impression so far has been good, but many of my concerns about these small bikes are still there.
My only experience with folding bikes in the past was a sub-NTD2000 ($60) bike which was kinda fun, but so flexy and [...]

photo credit: richardmasoner
After two rides that ended up in total darkness it’s about time I took a look at lights.
Lights have become an accessory for bikes. Years ago it wasn’t like that.
When you buy a car or motorbike no-one says, “Would you like lights with that?” Somehow it has fallen out of fashion to [...]

I take a long time to learn my lesson.
There are plenty of documented times when bike maintenance should have been done, but didn’t get done, resulting in a not-so-good ride. There are other times when I’ve done some slightly crazier offroad riding and broken parts, which is to be expected, and that is all in [...]

They beat me to the ground, kicked me aside and called me a “wuss”, but inside I was warm and smiling.
As far back as I can remember there has been a stigma against certain bike parts. Bits of bicycle artillery that through poor development, genetic disposition, social stigma or just plain bad luck, have permanently [...]

While stumbling around the Internet, looking for interesting cycling stuff I stumbled upon this blog here.
The blog is about a family in the US who completely gave up their car and attempted to live with bicycles as their sole form of transport. A pretty lofty goal in a country which is not particularly designed for [...]