If Katherina was to ever get out on a bike and do some recreational riding in France, I decided a great way to get her started would be to build her a bike in Dublin and start getting her acquainted with being on two wheels. Having done pretty much all I wanted to the Colnago
Upon seeing an ad for a Colnago with Campagnolo components for sale in another country, with a very reasonable shipping price and a “make me an offer” request, I had a beer. After another beer, I threw out an offer that I thought was a bit ridiculous… the seller obviously didn’t think it was so
UPDATE 25 FEB 2021: SOLD. Another instance of “this bike is not getting ridden at all”, I decided to break it down and move it on, allowing someone else to enjoy the process of building this frame as they saw fit. I needed a winter project, and I wanted to build a bike. And I
BÉDARIEUX, FRANCE — A quick beer won’t help you go uphill faster, but it really tastes nice in the late afternoon after a long ride. Simon “Crusher” Coulshaw, complaining of allergies and not being out on the bike for two weeks, dutifully led me up and down the hills west of Faugères. With more
FAUGÈRES, FRANCE — Having been on the Bianchi only one time since arriving – and that one time getting walloped by the new-to-me heat of southern France on a “gentle” 42km spin (as described by Simon “Crusher” Coulshaw of Domaine des Trinites) – I decided to inflict just a small amount of pain upon myself
Part of being in France for an extended period meant putting the old Bianchi back into service. It’s such a beautiful piece of cycling equipment, it’s a crying shame for it to be stuck in the cave collecting dust. I’ve had this bike for quite some time, brought from the US when I moved to
After sitting idle for too long, I was looking forward to getting a full service and any other work done so that I could enjoy the SV again on the beautiful roads of the south of France. Unfortunately, things didn’t work out exactly as hoped. A scheduled six weeks seemed like an eternity, but of
With the 2002 Honda CBR900RR2 Fireblade gone, there was an empty place in my heart and my shed, and in my mind there was one bike capable of filling it. The big ZRX1200R ticked all the boxes: loads of torque, heaps of style, comfortable for two, and seemingly undervalued in the current market. There aren’t too many
I really wish I had pictures of the bicycles I’ve had! Now that I consider them, I had quite a few. My bicycle history is, I hope, interesting: the first half-decent bike (and I mean that truly, it was only half-decent) was an old (and I mean old!) second-hand Cannondale that I bought off a