The spoked wheel is the unsung hero of the bicycle. Jack Thurston embarks on a journey of discovery, to understand how a bicycle wheel works with the help of engineer and materials scientist Professor Mark Miodownik, and then trying to learn how to build one, taking a class at London’s Cycle Systems Academy.
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Land’s End to John O’Groats is a classic cycle touring route. But it was also the blue riband distance among the long distance record-breaking heyday of the 1930s to the 1960s. In 1954 Eileen Sheridan, a diminutive cyclist from Coventry sponsored by the huge Hercules Bicycle Company, set a new record that stood for decades. Now over 90, Eileen recounts a truly epic journey and tells the story of how she became one of the best-known, and best-paid, cyclists in Britain.
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To many UK cycling campaigners, David Hembrow is a Moses-type figure, handing down tablets of smooth, car-free red asphalt from the streets of Assen in the Netherlands where he lives and writes the blog A View from the Cycle Path. He’s also a controversial figure, arguing that separation of cars and bikes is essential for mass cycling and that many UK campaigners are either on the wrong track or suffering from hopelessly low expectations. In an extended interview David explains why he moved from England to the Netherlands in search of cycling nirvana and what the Dutch have got to teach the rest of the world when it comes to making cycling friendly towns and cities.
Image credit: David Hembrow
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Contemporary bike culture is blossoming into a mesmerising kaleidoscope of bicycle-related art, craft and graphic design. Small artisans are leading the way while big brands try to cash in on the action. Alice Marsh of Bike V Design leads a discussion recorded in front of a live audience at the Victoria and Albert Museum, bringing together a panel that includes Tom Donhou, a former product designer turned bicycle frame-builder, the founders of The Ride Journal and Boneshaker magazine and James Greig, a graphic designer and author of the Cycle Love blog.
Photo credit: V&A Friday Late
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London Mayor Boris Johnson’s new Vision for Cycling has won widespread praise for its ambition of making London streets more inviting for people on bikes, following the successes of cities like Amsterdam and Copenhagen. Jack Thurston is joined by three cycling activists for a look at the details and to share their views on what really needs to be done to make London a safer and more pleasant place to ride a bike. Featuring Trevor Parsons, coordinator of Hackney Cyclists, blogger Mark Treasure and bike poloist, blogger and former bike messenger Buffalo Bill Chidley
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As another cyclist is killed by a lorry in central London, Jack Thurston asks whether it’s time to take a harder line to make the city’s streets safer. Featuring Cynthia Barlow of RoadPeace, former bike messenger Bill Chidley and Mike Cavenett of the London Cycling Campaign, which has recently proposed a new design for lorries working in London.
Find out what – if anything – your borough is doing to make roads safer for cyclists.
Plus news of Jack’s new book, Lost Lanes: 36 Glorious Bike Rides in Southern England.
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Somewhat later than planned, the second issue of the Bicycle Reader is out, and available for Kindle, Kobo and other ebook readers. It can be read on Apple and Android tablets and phones using the free Kindle app.
Apart from the excellent writing and the breadth of subject, the best thing about the Bicycle Reader? It costs less than a cup of coffee, just £1.53 in the UK and $2.31 in the USA and elsewhere.
Bicycle Reader #2 at Amazon.co.uk
Bicycle Reader #2 at Amazon.com
In this issue:
Alone
Solitaire is the only game in town for Tim Dawson
Crossing the Caucasus
John Foster Fraser recalls one of the early circumnavigations crossing from Europe to Asia
Cycling is a (very fun) political process
If we ride with élan, cyclists will soon rule the roads, says Patrick Field
Moving On
Christine Peterson reaps dividends from her long-planned investment
Raleigh Recollections
Listeners to The Bike Show share fond reminiscences of cycling lives shaped by Nottingham’s finest
Class and Competition: The Gentrification of Sport Cycling
Cycling can’t unhitch itself from the social pecking order, says Peter Cox
The Pharisees
Only after touring in adversity will you know the real please to be had from a bicycle, according to Kuklos
Anger Management
Paul Lamarra pedals hard to avoid a Glasgow kiss in his home city
The Bicycle Menace
William L. Alden says that the streets are already too choked with cyclists
Fear of Cycling
Dave Horton says that imagined danger deters would-be cyclists
Together
When the chips are down, Jack Thurston prefers not to be alone on the road