The Politics of Adventure

Posted on February 7, 2015 by Jack Thurston

Jack Thurston’s guest this week is self-confessed angry young man, Julian Sayarer (pictured, above), who, five years ago, set a new record for cycling around the world. Having taken a strong dislike to Mark Beaumont, the previous record-holder, whose record attempt was backed by big business and, thought Sayarer, represented everything that was wrong with the world. He wanted to beat Beaumont and take the record back ‘for the people’.

They meet on on the banks of the River Wye a few miles downstream from the city of Hereford. Julian Sayarer’s book Life Cycles is published by John Blake and available in paperback and on the Kindle.

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The Near Miss Project

Posted on January 26, 2015 by Jack Thurston

Statistics tell us that for the same distance travelled we’re more likely to come to physical harm riding a bike in Britain than using most other modes of transport. But even so, crashes are quite rare. Much more common yet much less studied and understood, are the almost crashes, the near misses, that are so much a part of the experience of cycling in Britain. The Near Miss Project is an academic-led study that seeks to find out more about the experience of near misses.

Joining host Jack Thurston to look more deeply at near misses and perceptions of road safety among cyclists are Dr Rachel Aldred, of the University of Westminster, Dr Kat Jungnickel of Goldsmiths College and John Dales, a leading UK traffic engineer and transport planner and director of Urban Movement consultancy.

Record your own near miss audio stories here

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Your Near Miss Audio Stories

Posted on January 12, 2015 by Jack Thurston

As part of a partnership between The Bike Show and the University of Westminster’s Near Miss Project, we want to hear your audio stories of near misses you’ve experienced while out riding. We’ll play them on an upcoming edition of the show.

You can record your audio using the free recording widget below – just click record and speak into your computer. Or you can do it using a smartphone with the free Audioboom phone app (remember to use the tag ‘nearmiss’ when you hit save).

1. What happened?

2. How did it make you feel?

3. Were there any lasting consequences?

Christmas Books Special

Posted on December 16, 2014 by Jack Thurston

Jack Thurston is joined by a galaxy of stars from the world of cycling literature to pick over the cream of this year’s crop of bike books. Nominating their cycling book of the year are Feargal McKay, Ned Boulting, Herbie Sykes, Daniel Friebe, Tom Southam, Richard Moore, Max Leonard and Emma O’Reilly. Guy Andrews, founding editor of Rouleur magazine, is on hand with his crystal ball to look at what cycling books we might expect in 2015 and years to come.

Image credit: Sharkey / Flickr – Creative Commons

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Come the E-Bike Revolution?

Posted on December 2, 2014 by Jack Thurston

Electric bikes are a rapidly growing area of the bicycle industry, offering the promise of effortless two-wheeled travel. Professor Mark Miodownik of University College London tests a Smart E-bike (pictured, above) as part of an in-depth look at e-bike technologies, for both utility and recreational riding.

Plus Dr Rachel Aldred explains the Near Miss Project. As part of the project that’s a partnership with The Bike Show, we want your audio stories of near misses. You can record your audio account of a near miss using the free recording widget below – just click record and speak into your computer – or, using a smartphone with the free Audioboom phone app (remember to use the tag ‘nearmiss’). Those three questions again:

1. What happened?
2. How did it make you feel?
3. Were there any lasting consequences?

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Severn Serenade

Posted on September 16, 2014 by Jack Thurston

Jack rides with singer-songwriter and cycle-tourist Jet McDonald (pictured, above), setting out from Bristol on a summer evening, riding along the banks of the River Avon, through the industrial landscape of Avonmouth to the banks of the River Severn and beyond. Along the way they talk about Jet’s ride from Bristol to India, a journey that inspired an album, Soft Soft Soft the Sparrow Sings.

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Rapha at 10 and L’Eroica comes to Britain

Posted on July 12, 2014 by Jack Thurston

The Bike Show and the cycle clothing company Rapha share a birthday, and while The Bike Show keeps on keeping on, Rapha has grown into a global brand and is toasting its success on the Champs-Élysées as suppliers of clothing to the Sky Pro Cycling Team. Jack checks in with Laura Bower and James Fairbank at Rapha to talk about Chris Froome’s fishnets and what the company is doing to encourage more women to ride bikes. Summer is festival time and Jack chews over the Rapha Tempest and the Eroica Britannia with Howard Smith, author of The Jersey Pocket cycling blog.

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