Bikes and Bees in one Weekend

See this list below? In 1912, Odiel Defraeye started a run of Belgians winning 'Le Tour'.

From wikipedia, List of Tour de France winners

At the age of 21, he was the first Belgian winner of the Tour de France.

Odiel set up a velodrome in Rumbeke, which is being renovated. My dad and I went to have a look, since its just down the road.

The 'wielerpiste' is small and the sides so steep!

Some cool pictures taken before the renovations started, and while in use are here: Clicky

Next year will be 100 years since Odiele's win, and Roeselare (of which Rumbeke is a subsidiary) is bidding to have Le Tour visiting. Fingers crossed!

What about the bees? Have a look at this stash. Not gold, but as good as for me!

This is wax foundation for the bees, I stocked up for the year.

Bikes and Bees in One Holiday!

On the way from Christchurch to Nelson - not my bike!

Where is this? Takaka

Hinewai Reserve

Remnants of honeycomb (double click to enlarge)

Retro rata honey jar

Reading materials.

Also read a Louise Sutherland book (cycling) - About her: Clicky

Also read Piers Moor Ede (bees) - Honey and Dust

Where is this?

FNRttC November 2010

I was supping Madeira wine in Madeira when I looked up and saw this:

A full moon

A full moon now sparks one thought: FNRttC.

I could have done it you know, I could have done it. I could have dropped off my luggage at friends in Brighton beforehand, done the last FNRttC of the season and celebrated Simon getting a London Cycling Campaign award. Then I could have gone round to the friends, swapped bike for luggage and made my way to Gatwick to catch a 1PM flight to Madeira. Plenty of time!!

But of course that would run the risk of a FNRttC ban 2011-2013. Imagine, a holiday, postponed multiple times because of an 'imminent' knee op and several consultations, a vacation you both desperately need, and especially together, you come in from work on a Friday evening and you tell your partner: "I'm off for a night ride and I'll meet you at the airport tomorrow. Don't worry, I can sleep on the plane." No, that would not be right.

Anyway, this gave me an opportunity to be an armchair FNRttC'er.

So, we were sitting on a terrace on the Saturday evening, when I noticed the outdoor wifi hotspots everywhere. The sight of the moon had already made me wonder how it would have gone this time: rain? not too cold? many punctures? any severe mechanicals? how did the newbies get on? would Simon's health and safety routine have been the best ever? did StuAff come off his bike? any pictures up? .... I was quietly going to do a little browsing.

It didn't take long for Sarah to cotton on: "Are you reading about FNRttC or something?". Darn, I shouldn't have pointed out the moon! "Oh, just checking, 5 mins ...." Sarah would carry on chatting on and off. And I would make sure I gave her all my attention. Wasn't good enough though, she still ended up saying: "Am I disturbing you?".

Then I nearly fell off my chair when I realised how I had missed a trick!! The Madeira Cafe!! What a lovely tenuous link! Me raising a glass in Madeira while the FNRttC'ers would have raised a glass in the Madeira Cafe, and that under the same full moon. Now I can feel part of it.

I love tenuous links. I was reading Rob Penn's book: "It's all about the bike". Rob's dream bike needed only one compromise. He could not get a 32-spoke rear cassette hub from Royce and had to settle for a 28-spoke hub. The reason? The maker, Cliff Polton, was on a beekeeping course and therefore no hubs would be made for several weeks. Marvellous!! Sounds like an intensive commercial beekeeping course abroad to me.

And here comes the next tenuous link: from bees back to Madeira

Funchal coat of arms includes four skeps

At Mercades dos Lavradoros

At front of concert hall

At back of concert hall

Happy New Audax Year!

Today is the last day of the 2010 Audax season. Tomorrow is the start of PBP year! Happy New Year to all Audaxers and followers!!

Its been a fantastic year with a few new achievements for me.

First Randonneur Round the Year: ie a 200km ride every month.

First Audax abroad: Brussels Paris Brussels 600.

First DIY abroad: Dieppe to Beitem 200.

Here is the year's summary which makes it all look too easy!

(BPB in June not listed)

The PBP early registration rides lead to another super randonneur award.

Tomorrow it will be PBP year!

Phillips Bike

Third time in a year! A photo of Sarah on a bike. You'd think she cycles more than I do.

Thank you to CyclesOfYesteryear for restoring the bike to fully functional order. Paul is an amazing bike guru. Its just a way of life for him. He doesn't talk brands or trends, he talks bikes and fixing bikes so that people can use them for whatever purpose at whatever budget. As I was leaving with a vintage bike, someone else came in with a top Pinarello. The shop was busy, but Paul still helped me get the bike in the car and tie the back door down. It was an absolute pleasure, nothing is a problem. Even, he even replaced the freewheel on a wheel I had taken in at the same time, no charge.

This is now my local bike shop ... its only 10 miles away as the biker rides.

After

Before

Can't spot the difference? Good!

Bicycle Film Festival

Really, really enjoyed the Bicycle Film Festival at the Barbican last Saturday.

If you have never heard of Lucas Brunelle, watch this trailer (this is only the trailer!!):

"Honey-tasting parties will be the new alleycat"

Would you Adam and Eve it, Bike Snob NYC integrated beekeeping in his cycling blog (Bike Snob NYC - half way down the post):

"I do think that beekeeping is going to be the next fixed-gear. In fact, it's following exactly the same trajectory as the fixed-gear trend--it's slightly obscure, it has an element of danger, and now it has that all-important catalyst, a trend piece in the New York Times"

On a serious note, the profile of beekeeper 'David', mentions that his favourite honey is from the Linden tree, or lime tree. At the last FNRttC to Whitstable, I was telling Aperitif how lime tree honey is my absolute favourite. It is sublime. The honey I extract in August is a very good blend, but once I kept a frame out because I could see a defined area in the comb that looked very different from the rest. I decided to extract it separately, and it turned out to be lime honey. It was beautiful. It is also an unusual honey for an urban beekeeper to obtain, because the conditions have to be just right for the bees to go to the lime trees - and that time doesn't last long. Neither do the bees favour the lime tree, if there are other sources around. But once they are on it, you'd think there is a swarm going on. So, I watch out for this. There are lime trees in the area and when they are flowering, I watch to see if the bees are on it. Then I'll look in the hive for signs of lime honey. Alas, it has only happened once in the last 8 years. I must say also, of course, that no bought lime honey has every tasted as good at the 1/2lb I once extracted. If I could get hold of the same, I would pay as much as £50 for a jar.

Bikes and Bees in One Day!

Bike without chain

And look at that light

Was thinking of Andy Allsopp here.

These pictures were taken at the bike museum in my birth town of Roeselare. My dad and I visited after attending a bee congress. Bikes and bees in one day!

After going round the museum and watching the videos you get a good feel of the excitement around local cycling heros, from Odiel Defraeye (first Belgian to win the Tour de France), Merckx, de Vlaminck, Maertens, Boonen... Barry Hoban gets a mention.

For the Flemisch Bee Congress, three speakers had been invited to talk about why they choose to work with a certain subspecies of bees: the Buckfast bee, the black bee or carnica.

A difficult question being answered by the Prof.

My dad was given an award for his 50 years in beekeeping.

As we left the congress building I spotted this - the notice in the window translates as: "Forbidden to park bikes". I guess they'll get around removing the bike stands sometime.

"Verboden fietsen te plaatsen"

Phillips Bike

The stars must be aligned. I learned about Phillips bikes via Clare Baldings Britain by Bike programs. A few weeks later I come into the possession of one.

I'm quite chuffed with this. Not that I need another bike, especially not one which I'll only use a couple of times a year. I do have visions of offering Hanwell Honey from the bike, at the next Hanwell Carnival. But first, there is the restoration ....

Any advice? Sure I don't have to go to India to pick up a few replacement mudguards?

Sarah does it again!

Camp Bestival brings the cyclist out of Sarah.

2008

I remarked that she doesn't do the distances I do.

2010

I'm not looking too comfortable myself!

Bicycle Tax Discs

Came across this bike when I was last home, and it brought back childhood memories to see an old tax disc still attached. Its dated 1987, could well have been the last year this was in existence. Every year a new shape and colour was introduced and they became collectable.

A collection from Antwerp: