You go Grrrrrl!

Lionel Evans and Yvette Smith outside Esquires Coffee House in Suva (photo: Shazia Nashreen Ali)

Wai Tui Cycles, Esquires Coffee Houses 

(Not) Fiji Games Race Series

This an excerpt from the press release from Velocity Cycling


Yvette Smith and Lionel Evans won the Women's and Men's Velocity Cycling Club 30km Road Race Friday morning. Smith recently took up cycling and this was the first time she had entered a race. "It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be" said an elated Smith "All you need to do is keep a steady pace". It's great fun and I'm really enjoying cycling."

Evans was favourite to take out the men's race but had to fight off spririted attempts from experienced cyclists Shane Palipane and Rupeni Seasea and only won by 8 seconds. Evans is the National Triathlon Champion and one of Fiji's top cyclists. "It was a good race and there were some pretty good newcomers. The whole bunch stayed together until the last kilometre when I tried to break away. But, the other kept up with me and I had to use everything I had to keep ahead" said Evans.

The Velocity Cycling Club is holding a cycling race competition to help keep up interest as there is no cycling at the Fiji Games.

Velocity Cycling president, Dom Sansom said that Velocity Cycling Club is trying too raise the profile of cycling by holding races at the same time as the Fiji Games. "We contacted the Fiji Games organisers but unfortunately we were told that there would not be any official cycling events this year, so we decided to hold our own competition. We had the Wai Tui Cycles 30km Road Race on Friday, the Wai Tui Cycles 200 metre and 1 kilometre sprints on Saturday and the Esquires 5 kilometre Hill Climb on Sunday." Sansom said the turn out was good with half the competitors competing for the first time. "We will continue to hold our club competitions throughout the year and hope to have National and International events soon" he said.

More racing news and pics to come.

Some people are REALLY nuts!

This guy fitted a jet engine on his old-style cruiser... got up to around 80kmph... CRAZZZZZY!

Chuck it my way David!

You often see the pros toss their drink bottles when they're finished with them. David Millar snapped his chain in a final sprint... I just wish I was standing there to catch... if he throws it away and you catch it... you keep it, right?

First Scrapper Bikes. What next... Hibiscus bikes?

A couple of months ago I posted a video of a US hip-hop craze called Scrapper Bikes. Well it seems decorating your bike is becoming an international trend... what next... Hibicsus Bikes??? You can find the Scrapper Bike post here.

AFP have a story about the most amazing bikes from Vietnam. As it's probably copyrighted I'd prefer if you click on the link and read it.

This bike decoration craze is driven by Vietnamese teens who cover their bike with tinsel, faux flowers, teddy bears, speakers hooked up to iPods and flashing lights... could be fun to do this for Hibiscus... speaking of which... years ago there used to be a Hibiscus Festival Bike Race. I've contacted the Hibscus Committee to look at the possibility of resurrecting this tradition. If you're interested in taking part or helping out let me know.

Bring The Thing

I don't know who makes The Thing. I do know it's name is The Thing because there a VERY short video of The Thing on YouTube. I think The Thing is great. The Thing pictured is a single speed so you'd probably need a geared The Thing for Fiji.



Every BARA boy and shoeshine boy should be given The Thing. Imagine the mayhem of 100 The Things zooming around Suva. I'm starting a Bring The Thing campaign to rid central Suva of motorised transport (cars, trucks, busses and taxis). Bikes will be permitted, of course. All traffic will have to park at the town boundry and there will be a fleet of The Things at each Suva entry to transport you and yours to town and back with your shopping. We could have a Discovery Channel reality show called "Bling My Thing", sponsored by Tuckers Ice Cream of course.

Who's in for The Thing?

Tokyo bike rack

Whoever said japanese inventors just take good ideas and make them smaller should watch this video of an automated underground bike garage at a Tokyo commuter train station. They've taken the simple bike rack and turned it into a high-tech bike parking robot. It costs 100 yen (about FJ$1.40) a day or 1,800 yen (FJ$25) for a month, customers roll their bikes onto a platform and use a control panel to have them whisked away to a rack within the 9,400 spot facility. The video shows that it takes the system 23 seconds to retrieve the reporter's bike.

I love this pic!

"If you rode a bike you'd be home by now"

Here's a short video of a group of guys cycling on the the LA freeways at peak hour, which is illegal BTW. Their slogan: "If you rode a bike you'd be home by now", is a statement on sustainable living and fuel dependency.

Here's the description attached to the video:

The Freeway Traffic Jam Ride took place on a Friday at 5:30 p.m. when freeway traffic reaches a critical mass on two of Los Angeles' busiest freeways. The time and day were carefully chosen after considerable research and scouting was made over a two week period prior the ride taking place. Based on unverified data and rider speculation, it was assumed that vehicles moved at a speed between 10 and 15 mph, when moving. There was no plan/strategy on what to do when actually on the freeway, as no rider in the group had ever ridden their bicycle on a freeway in this fashion. Riders agreed to a "every rider for themselves " approach regarding police involvement and a "no rider left behind" mentality pertaining to injuries or mechanical failure.

Starting in Santa Monica, 15 bicyclists boarded the Cloverfield on-ramp (Santa Monica Fwy/I-10) and rode 0.87 miles to the Centinela off-ramp. They re-entered the 1-10 Fwy at Bundy and rode 0.44 miles to the I-405 N on-ramp and rode another 1.56 miles to the Santa Monica Blvd. exit. The ramp to the I-405 N was a steep grade and 0.65 miles in length. Riders rode a total of 2.65 freeway miles.

The ride's political stance and agenda(s) was neutral, yet many participants shared common views. When asked WHY, riders refer to the ride's tagline and collective motto: "If you rode a bicycle, you'd be home by now!" This statement encompasses views on oil dependency, sustainable living, and critique of the Los Angeles' transportation infrastructure.

Love, Hate Gloves

Australian bike accessory manufacturer Knog, the guys that make the cute little Frog Light, introduced a range of cycling gloves. While most of the range is a dull battleship grey but their red and white leather LOVE/HATE gloves are sooooooo sexy.

The marketing imagery on the Knog is also pretty racy... it may take a little while to load but it's worth a visit.