Biking Update

For some reason all of my last three posts have been on Wednesdays. This may mean that Wednesday is the day of the blog, or it may mean that it’s just about the only day in the week that I get a hance to sit down and do some updating…

So since I’ve been away Big Dunc has decided that he has had enough of being a bike shop mechanic has handed in his notice and as they say in Manchester, has ‘done one’. It seems that he’s tarted his motorbike up too. Can you picture it?

On a motorbike theme, some bright sparks decided that the current habit of doing some fairly crazy stuff on big bikes could be taken to the next level by getting the bad boys airborne. Thing with any kind of jumping is that taking off and flying is easy. Landing is the difficult bit. I guess this probably stung a bit… This probably hurt more.

See the thing with motorbikes is that they’re inherently dangerous for the rider. Stack it and like mountai bikes you and the bike tend to part company fairly quickly ina self preservation instinctive reaction. Thing with cars and trucks is that you’ve got a great big metal box to surround you. Which is okay as long as you know how big the vehicle is and can keep control of it. Loose it and it all gets a bit nastly for anyone not protected by the cars interior. Anyway enough drivel…

Keepin’ it real in te world of bikes, Cipollini may not have such an easy road to retirement after all. Seems like he may be tied by an old contractual agreement that he will need to buy his way out of, not that it looks like this will stop him from his plans. More sprinter news here. Meanwhile Botero looks like he is going to have a cracking season.

The Euro and UK singlespeed championships are now being finalised. Looks like there is a fair bit of variety and choice open to people this year, especially with the Worlds in Pennsylvania coming up. Maybe there’ll be some Blackbox kit seen at some of the races this year…

In the US if you’ve ever tried to enjoy a National Park by mountain bike, chances are you’ve been disappointed. With some notable exceptions, America’s premier park system is closed to off-road riding, but that’s going to change with a new five-year agreement just signed by the IMBA and the National Park Service.

For the first time, National Park Service leaders in Washington, D.C., have formally recognized mountain biking as a positive activity, compatible with the values of our National Park system. The agreement offers potential opportunity for new access to hundreds of dirt roads in National Park units that have been closed to bicycling. While National Park Service rules require a lengthy process to open singletrack to bicycle use, appropriate dirt roads may be opened with a more straightforward administrative process.

“This agreement represents a true breakthrough for mountain biking,” said IMBA Executive Director Mike Van Abel. “It opens the door for individual park units to partner with mountain bikers and investigate new riding opportunities on a case-by-case basis” – More here.