https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SqUKWnk_ug0
Welcome to this week’s roundup! I had over 80 videos in my queue to watch and share this week. There aren’t 80 videos below, but it’s certainly a bumper crop for the Wednesday Video Roundup. Here’s a short snippet of rider/messenger Chas Christiansen riding a proper fixie on the streets. I’m not sure what is scarier- climbing the hills or leg-braking down them.
While we’re talking about SF, here’s some “bike parkour” (urban trials on BMX bikes?). There are some great moves- I especially like the white bike around the 1:10 mark. Too bad it’s an ad for a car company.
This Vox video discusses how the vast majority of vehicles are used by a single person (no passengers). Lyft has worked on a matching system called Lyft Line, and they are beginning to expand it outside of the Bay Area. Certainly this technology may help people change their lifestyle, but it seems like there are many other things that would also help. (h/t MA)
Passive social observations can be very interesting. This video identifies drivers who are clearly “distracted”. Using a phone isn’t against the law in Florida, but the legality doesn’t really change its level of danger.
Cycling is dangerous- but sometimes in different ways than you’d expect:
Shinola is a bike company in Detroit. They build bikes in a former car factory, which is appropriate. This video from Shinola is a nice tribute to the city. (You may remember the ‘Slow Roll’ movement in Detroit)
Mountain riding at night seems like it’d be overwhelming, but this is on a lit course and the camerawork makes it look really awesome:
The slow-mo of the pedestrian stopping and then looking at the cyclist is.. kind of freaky. The full-speed video was a normal moment, but seeing it slow-mo (at 0:33) shows her reaction. One of the things I like about being a human on a bicycle is the ability to communicate with a pedestrian- “it’s okay to go in front of me”.
This video shows Greg Herbold winning the mountain biking championship in 1990 and looks like the spoof of a 1990 retro movie. Note his board shorts and the colors. It’s a great retro-tech video.
Specialized’s Adventure Dispatch series has a video up showing sides of LA that most people don’t see. It looks like Hathaway is riding on and near Angeles Crest for the most part.
SSCX (single speed cyclocross) is more a way of life than a style of bike riding. The culture around the racing is .. entertaining. Here’s video from the European Championships. I’ve featured a lot of SSCX videos because they are consistently great to watch. Note the cowbell that is shown in the video. (see also: 24 hours of Pueblo, which is similarly strange)
https://vimeo.com/161020575
Ignoring a little bit of ‘acting’, this video shows the beauty of riding near Vancouver BC. It looks like the rider is riding rarely-used terrain, which is really pretty in a PNW way.
This video, similarly based in dirt, is titled ‘Always Moving’ and that’s a great explanation of it. The camerawork and editing is impressive.
For the last video in this section, here’s a laid-back video to enjoy. If you’re interested, click through and read the story attached to the video.
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PBOT
Our PBOT put up a series of videos this week. There are a bunch of “how-tos” about construction sidewalk closures, putting a moving pod on the street, moving trucks, lane closure permit (that hat! this video has a lot more flavor), but the highlight for BikePortland is this time-lapse video showing the application of sharrow art.
(The above video is a lot more entertaining with the Benny Hill Yakity Sax music).
Tour of Flanders
Tour of Flanders, aka De Ronde, aka Ronde van Vlaanderen, was a week and a half ago, which is over my one-week spoiler window, so spoilers are below. The Belgian Classics are full of pain this year, between cycling deaths and the terrorist attacks.
It was nice to see Peter Sagan winning the race. He’s had a ton of second-place finishes since winning the rainbow stripes last September. (skip ahead 35 seconds to avoid the advertising, skip ahead to 3:10 and 4:35 to see the winning moves)
What about the women, who ran a 141k race? Their footage is more limited but has been expanding this year. In a nice twist, Lizzie Armistead, also in rainbow stripes, won the race. (highlights for me: Emma Johansson’s interview; winning moves at 3:10, 3:50, 4:25, and finally 5:15; UCI’s tone-deaf ‘podium girls’ can be seen at 5:45)
This is a video roundup, but the photo of Sagan and Armistead together on the podium, in their rainbow stripes, is pretty cool.
Other notable Tour of Flanders videos: the Orica Greenedge backstage pass video, GCN’s on-site episode discussion.
Paris-Roubaix preview
Paris-Roubaix was a few days ago, but it’s inside the spoiler window, so previews only this week. It’s an epic race- probably one of the toughest on bikes and bodies. Here’s the official preview video:
Here’s a video bio of Tom Boonen, a very strong classics rider. He had won the Paris-Roubaix four times (through 2015- not indicating if he won P-R this year or not) and is retiring this year.
Here’s GCN’s preview of the race.
Tinkoff also posted a team recon with slightly ominous music.
Honorable mentions
This week’s honorable mentions: going on a drunk nighttime cycling adventure (warning, language), rear POV of crashes in a local crit, a look at ROTOR’s hydraulic shifting, annoying (and potentially very dangerous) left hook caught on camera, “cycling and snot production go hand-in-hand”, sample video from a skewer-mounted gopro, poor quality video showing a rider skitching in Australia (yes, skitching), GCN riding up the over-20% Muro de Aia (feels like a knockoff of Col Collective), Ride Like A Girl at WBW, and cycling in Nepal.
Inclusion criteria: If I’ve missed something, post it in the comments! I prefer videos published in the last week or so. Note if there’s a specific point in a long video that is worth highlighting. Also note if there is colorful language. I will delay videos containing pro racing spoilers by 7 days.
– Ted Timmons, @tedder42
Meh. Why start off with a pure commercial, lots of mugging and jumpy edits? I’m sure he can ride but it’s hard to tell. I’m not a hater, I have a fixie, but I’ll never buy a $100 pair of sunglasses when I can go to a construction supply store and buy the same damn thing for $12.
They’re more like 150 bucks, but if they enable you to ride top speed all around Frisco without traffic and pedestrians they’re worth it!
You mean the bike, right? Totally worth the extra $20 for a front brake.
Yuck. A flashy corporate ad highlighting and promoting irresponsible cycling.
Please change your screen name to “Buzz Killington”.
The quality of glass or polycarbonate lenses vary widely. My Ray-Bans seem muddy compared to another much more expensive pair of sunglasses I have. Same goes for camera glass and why some cinema lenses cost $100,000 each. It takes a lot of time with many steps in the process to create a really clear lens, though I know nothing about the glasses above.
Those are prescription. Probably not available at a hardware store.
LOL at Marquita Garner breaking the fourth wall in the Lane Closure Permit video.
I thought Shinola was based in Detroit?
You’re right- there are more car factories there too. Slip of the brain.
No worries! They make cool watches too.
peter sagan? really? i’m going to give y’all the benefit of the doubt and say you’re just unaware that he needs no more glorification. however, i’d sure be stoked to see his stories replaced with some coverage of marianne vos.
Definitely agree on more Vos coverage, and Lizzie, and it’s great to see women’s racing finally start to even remotely get the coverage it deserves. But Sagan has matured a lot since the ass-grabbing incident, and I was impressed at his comments calling attention to the Syrian refugees after taking the rainbow jersey (which was an impressive feat if you saw it):
“I was finding motivation in the world,” he said.
“I think it’s a big problem, with Europe and all this stuff that’s happening. I want to just say, because this was very big motivation for me. I want to win today and say this thing: the population in the world – we have to change, because in the next years, can be all different.
“And also, I think this competition, and all the sport, is very nice for the people, and we are motivation for the people, and I am hoping we can do the sport, next years and in the future, because the situation is very difficult.
“Then I want to say all the people: change this world.”
(Had to look up a source: http://www.theroar.com.au/2015/09/30/worlds-championships-sagans-class-act-and-matthews-disappointment)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Td9kXwI9_fc
love it proper fixie lol 🙂
Thanks for the weekly compilations. I always enjoy the racing and history, but often what I think is intended as advocacy and an attempt to illustrate the peril cyclists face on the road backfires.
Case in point, the video from cyclegaz and your honorable mention ‘annoying… left hook caught on camera’. I’ve got no problem with recording rides on Garmins and GoPros, but you’ll get no sympathy from me when what’s posted appears to show an interest in speed, watts, and thrills on a commute. I have much more respect for those who let pedestrians cross, even against the light, or yield to signaling drivers ahead. Just chill out – your commute is not a race.
I don’t understand what you’re talking about. There are 3 riders moving along safely, two in the bike lane and one in the main lane. The driver pulls out directly in front of them as if he didn’t see them at all, then pulls over to the curb and stops, almost taking one of them out in the process. Then he sits in the bike lane for 30 seconds for no apparent reason. Where is this “interest in speed, watts, and thrills” you speak of?