Byke
Kultuur
Never

Issue 13, June 2002
Last updated 8th July 2002

This page created and maintained (badly & infrequently) by Séamus D. King.
Comments & queries to seamustuff@yahoo.co.uk. Mind you, no-one's sent me any emails yet.

This issue seems to have become the Flemish issue though I'm damned if I know how that happened. Dutch and Belgian piccies. Recumbent shops in the Netherlands. Who was Peer Gynt? OK so that bit's Norwegian.
If I post this before the York Rally I'll add summat about the rally and stick in some piccies before the summer holiday rather than having a whole new issue.

Cycling Sculptures in Belgium and the Netherlands

Bronze girl.
Seen by a roadside in the Netherlands.
From a distance I thought she was lost. 		Bloke with a bike.
Seen in a Belgian border village, Adinkerke, just off the coast road, 100m from France.



Any visitor to the Belgian city of Brugge(Bruges) is sure to have seen this finely sculpted fountain, one section which features cyclists.
There's also a rude section which I neglected to photograph.


Recumbent Racing at Herne Hill.

During May, Bikefix and London Recumbents have been staging a series of races at Herne Hill, here's a report from Stuart....

The Herne Hill series is now over, we had a good turn out; between 12 and 22 riders. The 3rd one was rained off, but they didn't charge us for the track so we did another one last night. Everyone had a good time and we plan to do more soon.

Dave Moreno (Bikefix) dominated, followeed by Ben Sherratt (Lifecycles Brighton) and Dave Larrington (Beer but no Fags). Prizes were given.

We are going to do another series in three weeks time for three weeks, that is 25th June, 2nd and 9th July. Same deal, £5 to race. We are also able to use the track on Tuesdays even if we don't book it, so a few people are going down there to ride around next week.

Please help us publicise the next series, the more people turn up the more we can do it. We hope to have some flyers and posters next week.

Stuart

Some nice recumbent shops in the Netherlands
with some quite excellent second-hand bargains....

"They're too expensive," is just another one of the often heard complaints made against recumbent cycles but how true is it?

A few years back there was little choice for the potential recumbent cyclist with not much beyond the Windcheetah trike, Peer Gynt, Ryan Vanguard and the Kingcycle and they were all very costly. Of these the Speedy is the only one still available and it costs from over 2000 pounds for the most basic version.

Looking around today there are several manufactures producing recumbents at the sub-1000 pound level. The Flevo Oke-Ja was possibly the bike which started the trend for affordable entry-level recumbents. The Oke-Ja was a simple CLWB bike with above seat steering, cheap and cheerful but it dissapeared from the market with the return of the BikeE which had, ironically, previously been priced out of the market by the Oke-Ja which it has now supplanted.
BikeE's have been around for a while but it wasn't until production moved to the Far East that they have become more affordable. The bottom of range CT is an excellent value CLWB for 500 pounds if you can find one. Sadly, in August, BikeE ceased trading.

Also at 500 pounds is the Wavey from respected German manufacturer HP Velotechnik.

The Wavey is an odd looking SWB with a very high bottom bracket better suited to taller riders but is fitted with a very restrictive pair of handlebars which gets in the way of the knees of anyone over 5'10" (test in Cycling Plus). The Wavey is also available with front suspension for 650 pounds.

For a more sporty ride, Dutch company Challenge produce two bicycles worth a look;


the Focus Comfort and Focus Sport. Both are SWB with steel frames and rear suspension. The Sport has under seat steering whereas the Comfort has above seat steering and looks a little like the Kingcycle. Both cost from just under 800 pounds.

A few years ago British company Pashley acquired the manufacturing rights to the successful SWB Counterpoint Presto and they have been selling it for the past few years as the PDQ, damn pretty and quick and costs around 900 pounds.


There are several other recumbents available for less than a thousand pounds, there's even a recumbent tricycle - the Stein Roadshark from £900, so using the costliness of them is a very poor excuse for not owning a recumbent especially when you have to hear this from a whining roadie on a far costlier rather conventional looking diamond frame cycle.

So where can I buy one?
Bicycle Signposts

On the wall of a bar on the edge of Brugge(Bruges) in Belgium. A small farm campsite in Denmark.



The Peer Gynt Story...

Poverty-stricken Aase despairs of her son Peer Gynt - he's lazy, he tells lies, he's a womaniser, and he's been drunkenly brawling with Aslak the Smith again. His only chance to please her would have been to marry Ingrid, but now she's engaged to weak, immature Matt Moen.

Determined to win her back, Peer goes to the wedding, where he's enchanted by the beautiful Solveig, there with parents and little sister Helga. Unfortunately for him, Solveig's heard all about his reputation. Plus Aslak the Smith is still after his blood. Peer needs to get out of there.. but will he take the bride with him?

The whole parish is out hunting Peer with sticks and guns, while Aase too searches desperately, fearing that the trolls have got her son. Hiding out in the mountains, Peer encounters the three herdsgirls, who are looking for trolls to sleep with, and takes them back to his hut.. In fact, it all seems to be going pretty well for him (despite occasional memories of Solveig) until he meets the mysterious Woman in Green. She claims to be a king's daughter, but who is she really? Or, more to the point, what is she?

Deep in the heart of the mountains, Peer discovers that the Woman in Green is really the daughter of the Dovre-Master, the King of the Trolls. Keen to turn Peer into one of them, the trolls fetch him a tail, and feed him manure. When they try to blind him so he cannot see what they are really like, he comes to his senses and tries to run. But they all run after him, and the monstrous Boyg is also blocking his path.

Ibsen intended his troll kingdom to be a satire on Norwegian society. The scenes are accompanied by Grieg's famous piece 'In The Hall Of The Mountain King'.


Whilst I'm at it, here's some other non-cycling Peer Gynt sites....
Cycling and Alcohol really don't mix...

Biere des Cyclistes-Wielrijders Bier.
From Belgium. Jolly tasty. 		Yellow Jersey.
A not entirely satisfactory red wine from France.


Drinking,cycling & the law

 Coming Events...
Letters, emails, threats.
Seamus,
You claim to have not received any emails from anybody... but I don't believe that for a minute.
BKN13: "They're too expensive" You've forgotten to mention the rather quirky Kevin in your recumbent dealer list, hey he has no website... but does 1 year recumbent hire (did last time I was there anyway). No excuse to have a recumbent now surely?
I also have a photo (in the local free rag) of Roger the HD on a tandem trike taking a local dignitary (him with the gold chains) on what could be possibly a squirrel hunt... do you want to scan for BKN?
Planning on going to Cyclevision in Lelystad? See you at Spokesfest?
Steve Brandist
Hi Steve. Thanks for the email. That brings the total up to 10, ever!
In a bit of late editing Kevin's shop has now been added to the list of recumbent dealers (see above, somewhere).
Sadly I won't be attending Roger the Hilldodger's Birthday Bash in Lelystad but Spokesfest is a dead cert.
ta-ta, Séamus.
Important Notice for Potential Litigants...

(a) I have no money!!!!

(b) If you find something so offensive that litigation crosses your mind, let me know and I will remove the item and publish a retraction, scaredy-cat that I am.
This page was created and maintained by Séamus D. King.

Contributions from me and others who prefer to remain anonymous.
Views expressed here are not necessarily those of the editorial staff even when they are.
Comments to seamustuff@yahoo.co.uk
This mail link only works right some of the time. Mind you, no-one ever emails me so it's not really a problem.

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