Got a blog or a page, or doing something interesting? Tell us about it.

[moodymac]

Andre,

I do not have a blog.  However, I have followed some of yours the past couple of days.  After reading a reply you made on a post in this forum.  I have been checking in here for a couple of months.  I found your sites by searching the web.  Very good reads, great humor, and the way you get to the root of a problem is very impressive.

After hearing of your "drink servant" in Africa I just had to know more about you.  Also would be interest into turning my wife into one of those, if not too dangerous.

I also found a sort of hate site (on you) in which the guy only posted a self made FAQ session where he asked and answered all the questions!  That's one guy who would make Frank's (revelo) stupid people list for sure.

Frank has a website (blog?)(I don't know the diff.)  He is highly opinionated and a very entertaining writer.  The tour where he had met so many stupid people that he thought he was going stupid (vs. crazy) is a must read.

I also enjoy Il Padrone site and JimK's post.  Dan needs a site about his tours, I love his post.


Tom

[Danneaux]

Hi Tom!

Welcome to the Thorn Cycling Forums!

Dan needs a site about his tours, I love his post.

Thanks for your kind words, Tom; much appreciated. A site is on the way and hopefully will be up before too long. I just need to make my days a little longer!

Best,

Dan. (...who wishes the days were 36 hours long)

[Andre Jute]

Andre,

After hearing of your "drink servant" in Africa I just had to know more about you.  Also would be interest into turning my wife into one of those, if not too dangerous.

It may not be too dangerous for her, but have you considered that Lucretia Borgia is known to have stirred a mean martini?

A hate site, eh? Ah, well, a professional intellectual, by definition a critic of the status quo and its smug hangers-on, isn't much chop until he has a few of those.

If you haven't found it already, there's a bio page, more than even I want to know about me, on my publisher's site at http://coolmainpress.com/andrejute.html including a small bicycle site. When I'm not here, I'm usually found at ROBUST, a discussion group without rules at http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/46791

Happy to offer entertainment, Tom.

Andre Jute

[JimK]

I've been out on the west coast for about a week, so haven't been riding. Walking plenty, though! Here was my Friday route:

http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/170107868

Two bike shops and one book shop! Yesterday was one bike shop and two book shops!

Seattle is quite hilly - not quite San Francisco, but close. And not too cold, however wet. Definitely a serious biking town. Along the ship canal there is a bike path that carries surely a dozen bikes a minute most hours and quite a few more during commute hours. I have yet to see a Rohloff hub other than mine back in New York, but here I'll see one most every day. Ortlieb is everywhere! A huge range of bikes... lots of internal gear hubs. I did buy a 22 tooth sprocket here for the 8 speed hub on my Workcycles Super-Transport. That should make the range more reasonable. I'm pretty sure it's a 19 tooth sprocket on there now. I have yet to see it, beneath the chaincase! I have seen a few Workcycles bikes on the road here, but not many.

I have notice some really intense headlights on bikes here. Out on Bainbridge Island I saw a Specialized bike set up by the manufacturer for commuting. I think it is mostly for the European market - there were braze-ons for a frame lock, even though the bike shop (on Bainbridge) didn't carry the locks. Eleven-speed Alfine hub and a Gates belt. EBB to tension the belt. But it came with a Supernova dynamo hub and a Supernova headlight. I think that's the headlight I have been noticing around town. I thought those were mostly for trail riding! It is blindingly bright. I didn't think such lights were even legal on the road in Germany.

I asked the guy at the shop how low the gears were on that bike, would it work on the hills. He said it's not as low as a mountain bike. I asked about lowering the range & he said there's a torque limit on the Alfine as well as on the Rohloff. He know that Rohloff had lowered their range. Mentioned a fellow on the island who'd put a Rohloff on a Moulton! It's a biking town!

Now somehow I have to cram these books into my bag for the flight home! Bicycling Bliss by Portia Masterson and Cycling to Xian by Michael Buckley are the biking titles in the stack.

[Andre Jute]

This time of the year I'm "Gearing up for the Greatest Race on Earth", using my blog Kissing the Blarney http://coolmainpress.com/ajwriting/ as the initial nerve centre to invite my friends to join me at "the Greatest Race on Earth". This is about really tough competitors, and a really tough race.

Reserve the fortnight following Saturday 2 March. Even spectating virtually at the Iditarod, you won't have energy left for anything except a gentle restorative ride on your bike.

Andre Jute

PS If you arrive here long after the referenced article has fallen off the front page, here's a direct link, worth following for the photo even if you missed the race. (Commiserations in advance!)

[rualexander]

New video now online : https://vimeo.com/59185458
Harry Potter fan's may recognise the Glenfinnan railway viaduct.

[jags]

New video now online : https://vimeo.com/59185458
Harry Potter fan's may recognise the Glenfinnan railway viaduct.

wow that road could do with a bit of tarmac.
beautiful country your better half is an excellent cyclist.

[rualexander]

Next video instalment now online :
https://vimeo.com/60025842

[John Saxby]

Altogether brilliant!  Especially liked the sunshine -- and no traffic!  We spent several days in the Highlands & Islands in 2008, and followed the great Glen to Inverness.  Afterwards, I hiked the WHW from Glasgow to Ft William--lovely countryside, but god, it was wet!  Maybe our problem was going in June -- seemed like a good idea at the time...  Thought of cycling through that beautiful countryside, but jeez, it was wet.  Maybe I should revisit it all, going in May this time.  Have a long historical connection which commands it, my mother's family name being Burns. They told me in Ft William that if you can't see the mountains. it's raining; and if you can see the mountains, it's going to rain.

J.

[jags]

  good post john tell me about rain and i'll tell you about rain 

[Andre Jute]

I'm currently racing at the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in Alaska, toughest race in the world, fewer finishers in all its forty years than have been up Mount Everest. Bookmark the page below the moment you arrive:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Iditarod-a-novel-of-The-Greatest-Race-on-Earth/193084334057961

[Danneaux]

I'm currently racing at the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in Alaska...

Note to 'Merkins in the Lower 48...this is a bit like Fantasy football, baseball, and basketball leagues -- but far more exciting and with the potential for true life-or-death outcomes, given the severe conditions.

Once you become engaged, you won't want to miss a moment.

I heartily endorse Andre's call to join him in the fun!

Best,

Dan. (...who can almost hear the huskies' "Awoooo!" and the racer's cries of "Mush!")

[John Saxby]

Andre, this is serious bizness--first ostriches, now the Iditarod.  I mean, Plimpton pitching in the bigs for a few innings in an exhibition, or sparring vs The Old Mongoose (who I expect was pretty gentle, 'cos he saw the humour in it all) is one thing--but the Iditarod?!  Good on ya, mate!

J.

[rualexander]

Just put my latest video online.
This time its not a cycling video, but a trip I did in May 2009, where I travelled across Scotland by inflatable kayak and walked the sections in between where there was no suitable navigable water.
Part one https://vimeo.com/61301376
Part two next week hopefully.

[Danneaux]

Your videos have just been fabulous, Ru', and you've been very generous to share them with us. Thanks much for doing so!

'Can't wait for each new installment, and find myself revisiting older ones time and again.

All the best,

Dan.