Russell Downing Wins Tour of Ireland

Congratulations to CandiTV rider and last year's runner up Russell Downing, who won the 2009 Tour of Ireland this weekend in atrocious conditions. Over half a million spectators were expected along the route of the three day tour, many hoping to catch fleeting glimpses of Lance Armstrong and Mark Cavendish, but it was Downing who put on the best show, putting in a brilliant ride on the tough final stage. Fair play, young fella!

l'Eroica USA

You may or may not remember, but a while ago I wrote this post about l'Eroica, a race for vintage bikes (and vintage riders!) in the Chianti area of Tuscany, Italy. The ride looks amazing, and is definitely on my "list of things to do before I drop cycling and move onto the next big hipster sport, possibly biathlon." But, while I save up money for a trip to Tuscany and/or wait for cycling to die, the good news is that there will soon be a US version of the ride! The first ever l'Eroica USA will happen in Boulder, CO, on October 4th of this year. "The 30-mile route taking participants over a combination of asphalt and unpaved surfaces is the perfect balance to challenge not only the experienced rider, but to afford the non-cyclist an opportunity to display his or her heroism." Also, like in the original ride, the sustenance available at the feed stations will be unlike any cycling snack you've ever had. Gu? F that S! Instead, how about the "vintage refreshments of our ancestral heroes of the road: aged cheeses, antipasto, craft breads, fruits, traditional hams and Italian wines." Craft breads! Ancestral heroes! Aged cheeses! It sounds like they are really getting into the vintage spirit of the ride, and I'm sure it'll be a blast. Get all the details here.

Blockbuster Blast Chicago

The Blockbuster Blast is the Bicycle Film Festival alleycat in Chicago, and it is not to be missed. It's being organized by the elder statesman of alleycats, Brean. That dude has about 60 years of alleycat planning experience, which is pretty impressive for a 75 year old, so you know this race is going to kick ass. Plus, cheerleaders! Lots and lots of cheerleaders! Saturday, August 15th, 4pm, 1104 S. Wabash. Be there!

Send Nico and Christina to the CMWCs

Because the Boston NACCCs didn't charge an entry fee, they couldn't afford to buy tickets for the winners to attend the CMWCs. So, some people in Chicago are trying to raise money to send the NACCC winners, Nico and Christina, to Guatemala for the 2010 CMWCs. Get all the details and donate some cash here.

Bicycle Film Festival Scavenger Hunt

Celebrate Chicago's cinematic history with this year's BFF Scavenger Hunt!!

-All ages and experience levels welcome and encouraged! (Kids please bring an adult!)
-Point-style scavenger hunt, so being slow doesn't mean you won't win!
-Bonus points for costumes, lights, fun attitudes, singing, dancing and bribes!
-Helmets encouraged so strongly they're required!
-Teams of 3 or 4. Come as a team, find partners on this thread, or we can pair you up when you register! Yay, new friends!

Thursday, August 13th at Union Park ( at Ashland and Washington)
Registration begins at 5:30pm
Ride starts at 6:30

Details here.

All City Championship

The 2009 All City Championships - Minneapolis/St.Paul - Aug 20-22 - Details here.

Bikes Rock!

Bikes Rock! - Bicycle Film Festival Chicago Opening Night Party - Wed, Aug 12th - 7.30pm - The Metro -Details here.

Gnome Fest 6

Insane mountain bike shenanigans - Sep 11-13 - Levis-Trow Mounds, WI - Details here.

Olympic Posters

The Olymperials is an cool collection of original Olympic Games posters, housed in Annecy, France, and now available to view online. The site has been getting some press on non-cycling blogs, so I thought I'd do a post and focus on the cycling posters.

Mexico 1968

Munich 1972

Montreal 1976

Moscow 1980

Los Angeles 1984

Seoul 1988

After 1988, the posters get a bit, well, crap. Some of the designs are, frankly, feckin' woeful. But the earlier posters, like the ones above, are great. It's interesting how the variety of posters produced for each Olympics really explodes in the 1960s, from one or two per games before that, to over two hundred produced for the 2004 Athens Olympics. It really is a great collection, I recommend checking out the page here.

Cuttin' Crew Classic

This will be huge. Details soon.

Bradley Wiggins Interview

Just off the bike after an amazing performance at the Tour de France, British track legend, Olympic champion and Mod revivalist Bradley Wiggins gave a great interview to the Guardian newspaper, wherein he talked about out of body experiences on Ventoux and the spirit of Tom Simpson. As he says himself "When I reached Ventoux on the second-last day it felt as if Tom was waiting for me. As I began the climb it felt as if his spirit was riding with me. It started on the early slopes and I imagined how Tom must have been feeling, riding towards his death, and the feeling grew as I climbed." Read the rest here.

Photo by David Levene for Guardian Sport.

Chicago Messengers Killing It

Chicago messengers have been destroying the competition lately, with wins at VeloCity finals in New York and at the NACCCs in Boston.

The winners of the 2009 North American Cycle Courier Championships, both from Chicago: Nico on the left and Christina Peck from Chicago Cuttin' Crew on the right. Photos by Tyler from IndyFab.

Also, Chicago Cuttin Crew riders Al Urbanski and Molly Godlewski won themselves tickets to the Cycle Messenger World Championships in Tokyo when they beat all comers at the VeloCity finals. We may not have many barspinners, but damn, Chicago is fast!

Bicycle Film Festival Chicago Aug 12 - 16

Top is the poster for the block party, screen-printed copies of which will be available to buy at the festival, bottom is the programme. For more details and tickets go here.

Chicago Open Streets

This year's Open Streets event will cover 8 miles of some of the most beautiful boulevards in Chicago, from 8.30am to 2pm on August 1st. That means that for half the day you'll be able to ride the broad, leafy boulevards from Logan Square to Little Village with hundreds of other cyclists AND NO CARS.

There are lots of side events happening along the route, so get out there and ride your bike. It's free, and all thanks to the hard work of the people at the Active Transportation Alliance.

Details here.

Where Are You Go

This film looks amazing. Thanks to j-dot over at dispatch101 for giving me the heads up about it. You can see it at the Bicycle Film Festival Chicago, August 14th, program 1. Get your tickets here.

Coloured Hoods

For Campagnolo (shown), Shimano and SRAM. Available here and at the best bike shop in Chicago, Yojimbo's Garage.

What. A. Beast.

TnD Fun

Look like fun was had at Tricks'n'Drinks in Chicago last week. Let's keep it rolling! Photos of the Detroit crew by Tim Kainu.

Bicycle Film Festival Chicago

The programme for Chicago's Bicycle Film Festival this year is ridiculous! There's so much good stuff going on, like outdoor movies, tons of parties (including the massive block party), a scavenger hunt, GoldSprints, trick comps, and of course the full compliment of bike movies. I wish I could go! Tickets will be available soon here. More details here.

Ireland Invented Bike Polo

There was an article on bike polo in The Irish Times yesterday, and it mentioned that an Irishman, Richard J McCready, invented bike polo in 1891. Sure didn't we invent everything good? Apparently bike polo is making a bit of a comeback at home, and there's even a bike polo association now. Check out the article here and the association here.