Skip to main content

The Draisine is Back!

Barcelona Draisine
I've seen all manner of retro stuff - retrocity, to coin a word (rhymes with velocity/atrocity)- in this booming bicycle age but how wonderful to see a new Draisine! No, no... they're not pedals, they're footrests. Carl von would be so proud.

As seen in Barcelona.

And thank Odin for the spotting, 'cause I've been wondering for ages how I'd work this next bit into a blogpost.


Photo from the IVCA website.

From June 2-6, 2010 Denmark will be hosting the 30th IVCA rally on the island of Møn! (International Veteran Cycle Association... duh)

From the website:
The Danish Vintage Bicycle Club will present an engaging programme, in which you will be able to partake of Danish cuisine. [EDITOR'S NOTE - Nobody has ever come to Denmark for the cuisine.]

You will also get a taste of the island’s past in its famous cliffs, whose interesting geological formations are mingled with the remains of prehistoric wildlife. [EDITOR'S NOTE: You'll be wanting to taste the cliffs after partaking of Danish 'cuisine']

Other highlights include:
The rally will centre at the village hall of Hjertebjerg. You can look forward to taking part in a Century ride with shorter alternative routes, a picnic ride to the cliffs of Møn, a show-and-tell event at the local school, an excursion event with sightseeing divided into groups, a costume ride to the market town of Stege followed by a gala evening, in addition to traditional events such as the AGM and the flea market. There will be a flea market for those not attending the AGM. There will also be an extra surprise for all participants; disclosed at the evening "hygge-hour".

The Nordic medieval town of Stege, dating back to the thirteenth century, has bags of atmosphere in its narrow streets, not to mention the tempting regional specialities of beer, candy, pottery, art, etc.

The dinners will be served by a local Chef who is very well-known for the traditional Danish Cuisine and has been praised several times by media as well as by the customers. The same Chef will also serve the three included lunch meals. The Danish Cuisine is known for pork, calf, ox, fish and vegetables.

After registration the opening ceremony will take place and there will be a briefing for the great event of the evening – the World Championship.

The Championship will be held in three different classes:
- Hobby Horses. Replicas are eligible for participating.
- Ordinaries before 1900.
- Ordinaries after 1900.

Online registration.

Popular posts from this blog

7550 New Bike Parking Spots at Copenhagen Central Station

For all of Copenhagen's badassness as a bicycle city, there remains one thing that the City still completely sucks at. Bicycle parking at train stations. At Copenhagen Central Station there are only about 1000 bike parking spots. Danish State Railways can't even tell us how many spots they have. They're not sure. Even in Basel they have 800+. In Antwerp they have this . Don't even get me started on the Dutch. 12,500 bike parking spots are on the way in some place called Utrecht . Amsterdam has a multi-story bike parking facility, floating bicycle barges round the back and are planning 7000 more spots underwater . Even at the nation's busiest train station, Nørreport, the recent and fancy redesign failed miserably in providing parking that is adequate for the demand . Architects once again failing to respond to actual urban needs. It is time to remedy that. Here is my design for 7550 bike parking spots behind Copenhagen Central Station. Steve C. Montebello i...

The Race for Lithium for Electric Cars and Bicycles

Uyuni Salt Flats, Bolivia. Photo: Ezequiel Cabrera/Wikipedia The coming boom in batteries to electric cars and Lazy Bikes (electric-assist bicycles) means a boom in batteries with which to run them. A new race for natural resources has begun. Enter Lithium, the world's lightest metal. For 150 years it's been nickel and lead that have been used in batteries but the advent of lithium technology has allowed for a revolution. Longer battery life, lighter batteries in our laptaps and mobile phones and iPods. Lithium weighs 1/20th of what nickel and lead do. Lithium is also used in anti-depressive medicine, ceramics and nuclear power. With all this talk of electric cars and bicycles, the demand for lithium is on the verge of exploding. Lithium is the new oil. Enter Boliva. This developing country sits on at least half of the world's supply of lithium, most of it in underground salt layers beneath the world's largest salt flats in Salar de Uyuni , in south-west Boliva. Betwee...

Traffic Safety Orgs Speak for Themselves - Not the Rest of Us

Classic traffic safety organisation narrative. "Stop cycling". By Stephanie Patterson With Mikael Colville-Andersen In the diverse world of traffic planning, advocacy and various movements for liveable cities, there is an odd group of outliers who broadcast conflicting messages. While “traffic safety” organisations seem like a natural part of the gallery and of the narrative, upon closer inspection they exist in a communication vacuum populated exclusively by like-minded organisations. There is little correlation with those organisations who advocate cycling, pedestrianism or safer streets. The traffic safety crowd are in a world unto themselves, with little or no accountability for the campaigns they develop or the messaging they broadcast. They are often allied with insurance companies who clearly take comfort in working with others who embrace scaring the population at large through constructed fear . In many ways, they are a classic subculture, with strong hints...