Monthly Archives: March 2013

When a bike is too good to be true, it is almost certainly not true

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Replica Francesco Moser Hour Record Bike

I walked onto my host’s stand at the bike show I was visiting in Budapest this weekend and the hairs almost stood up on the back of my neck.

Right in front of their stall was one of the legendary bikes of cycle sport – the extraordinary bike ridden by Italian star Francesco Moser in 1988 to break the “the hour”, one of cycling’s most extreme records.To anybody immersed in cycle sport at the time this was the stuff of legends. It even had a photo indicating authenticity.

I couldn’t be true. I just couldn’t make out how this groundbreaking machine wasn’t in a museum or the collection of the man himself.

So I poked around on line over the weekend to see if I could authenticate the bike and I came across a fun new blog I haven’t seen before  – the Lo Pro Cycling Club, a site dedicated to the whole generation of aerodynamic bikes that became super fashionable in the racing scene of the 1980s.

I this great post the blog tells the story of how former professional track rider Kiss Ferenc from Hungary built a Moser replica for fun. I can only assume this is the beast.

The replica is a bit naughty, but what a designer – one of the bike companies should give him a job.

“This is a town that’s fallen down the back of the sofa”

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Bungay

The Guardian newspaper carries a weekly series about British towns that people might think about moving to.

It’s usually slightly tongue in cheek but this week’s article has caught those of us from the small Suffolk town of Bungay by surprise as we are portrayed as coming from somewhere distinctly odd.

“a peculiarly Suffolk version of the Bermuda Triangle” among other statements.

The Wikipedia entry is a lot more sober. And boring. I like being from somewhere different..

Spring at last – a beautiful day in Budapest

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Danube Budapest Hungary

Searing bright light, forcing me to squint, making sightseeing almost painful.

And it was absolutely wonderful. After weeks of overcast cold weather this spring day in Budapest was like a huge injection of life.

I wrote on Friday how much the Danube always impresses me. But now in the stunning sunlight with the architecture of Budapest on either side I just didn’t want to stop wandering and taking photos. Almost a shame that I had to go and talk cycling!Parliament Building Budapest Hungary Danube Budapest Hungary Church by Danube in Buda Hungary

Last time I was here was December 2008. It was freezing, overcast and we spent quite a bit of our time cycling in the dark. But even then I remember being impressed by the buildings and bridges of several eras overlooking the water, but today they were resplendent in spring sunshine.Chain Bridge and Buda castle Budapest Buda Castle, Budapest Hungary

 

As well as the riverside I had a short time to go into the centre too and I enjoyed the quiet squares just beyond the busy thoroughfares. These grand buildings and statues are typical of these central European cities that were once part of one of Europe’s greatest empires.

Budapest Hungary

Hungarians are a warm hospitable people too, with an extraordinary compulsion to fill visitors with enormous quantities of food. It doesn’t get much better for a hungry cyclist.

If you’ve not been, go.

Can anyone tell me how this is supposed to sell bikes?

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At bike shows there are rules.

Fixies must be bling.Bringaexpo

Electric motors must crop up slightly unexpectedly.Electric MTB Bringaexpo Budapest

And somewhere there must be a lovely Bianchi in celeste blue.Bringaexpo Hungary

These are given.

The company will remain nameless for discretion’s sake, but I have to say this is the very first image as you walk through the door at the Bringaexpo today in Budapest. Another rule – at every show there must be one piece of marketing that makes you go “what were they thinking?” Bringaexpo Budapest

The Danube always makes a huge impression on me

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Margit Bridge

Even  though I am stepping out on a cold misty morning today the Danube never fails to excite me.

Partly it is the huge size, partly I can look down river and catch a first glimpse of the buildings of Budapest along the banks. But it has always done this whenever I have come to it on trips.

But also I think about this amazing corridor that links so many capital cities and countries, running from Germany to the Black Sea. How much human history has been seen along these waters. Something of the exotic perhaps? As a Brit we are often far removed and sadly uneducated about much European history, but when I get the Danube I always feel I should know more.

It is a long standing ambition to cycle the eastern section. Today I will have to content myself with this first view and some cycling along its great cycle paths later.