NEWS

EVENTS UPDATE

Cycle Vision 2009 dates announced The dates have been announced for the Netherlands recumbent event Cycle Vision 2009 – 3rd, 4th and 5th of July. Brief details (in Dutch or German only as we go to press) can be found at www.cyclevision.nl

Cycling History Conference The 20th International Cycling History Conference will be taking place in Freehold, New Jersey, USA, from July 30th to August 1st, 2009. Details of the conference, including registration forms, can be found at www.cycling-history.org

New recumbent hour record Congratulations to Gert Jan Wijers, who recently completed 50.4 km in the hour on an unfaired M5 High Racer recumbent (as reviewed in Issue 30), setting a new world record. Keen to highlight that this was on a standard model which some people might ride to the shops, M5 are challenging all comers to do better on their own shopping bikes. More details and pictures at: www.m5-ligfietsen.nl

Bike Shorts Film Festival Dustin Anderson writes to say that he is seeking any new short films for next year’s Bike Shorts Film Festival in Canada. Contact him through the website or on dustin@purplepirate.com if you have something to show!

Bike Right at Longridge The next Bike Right social cycling event is to be held at Longridge Towers School, near Berwick-upon-Tweed, from the 10 th to 13 th April. Prices include 3 nights accommodation, 3 breakfasts, 3 evening meals and 4 days of cycling. Prices range from £65 for campervans to £130 in a twin en suite room. Contact Jason Patient for more details on 01890 883408 or patientjason@gmail.com

6

VELOVISION ISSUE 32 DECEMBER 2008

Bikes at Work trailer revamp

Challenge launch 24" Furai The latest model from Netherlands recumbent makers Challenge is the Furai, the second in their line-up to use 24" wheels, after the Seiran 24 which we reviewed in Issue 30. They’re recently discovered that the smaller wheels make it suitable (without pedal-front wheel interference problems) for female riders down to around 1.58 m (5' 2") tall with just some minor modifications. Ladies have longer legs in proportion to body height, so male riders may need to be a little bit taller. The lady pictured below is exactly that height.

The definitive large load-carrying trailers from Bikes at Work in the USA have had a redesign. The new system uses custom-extruded aluminium sections which lock together to create a modular system: extensions can be added to create a trailer as long as is necessary. Load capacity is set at 135 kg, and all trailers flat pack for shipping. Hitch options are available for most types of bike and trike. Bikes at Work: Tel +1 515 233 6120 or see www.bikesatwork.com

Challenge: Tel +31 55 521 2405 or see www.challengebikes.com

The Velo Vision SPEZI trip takes a double-decker coach, driven by Velo Vision reader Chop Rossiter, from London direct to Germersheim, Germany for this unique cycle show.

One possible destination for the Bike Right event is Dunstanburgh Castle: this photo was taken on a day-ride out from this year’s October Bike Right based in Wooler Youth Hostel. NEWS

VELO VISION NEWS

Digital developments: Subscribers to the magazine’s digital edition via Exact Editions can now download entire issues as PDF files. And given that your £20 digital subscription (or just £10 on top of a print subscription) gains you access to the entire back catalogue, it can’t be anything but a bargain! PDF versions of all issues up to about a year ago (Issues 1 to 26 currently) are also now available via the online shop at www.velovision.com, for just 99p each.

SPEZI trip 2009 After last year’s successful coach trip to the SPEZI show in Germany, we’ve booked the bus once again and are hoping that 14 readers will be joining us for the ride! The show is a unique festival of interesting bikes, and the coach trip (with pickups at Stansted Airport and King’s Cross, London) is a very low-stress and time-saving way to visit. The coach, which usually transports rock bands around Europe, has built-in bunks so there’s no worry about accommodation at the other end, and we sleep through most of the overnight drive to Bellheim, Germany, which is just a short bike ride from the show venue in Germersheim. There’s plenty of room to carry folding bikes with us in the coach. The dates are Friday 24 th to Monday 27 th April, and cost will be £275 per person. Several places have already been taken by participants from last year, and the rest will be allocated on a first-come first-served basis! Full details and booking instructions are available on www.velovision.com, or call us on 01904 438 224 to be sent an info pack by post.

OBITUARIES

Norman Fay South Shields bike shop veteran and committed cyclist Norman Fay died in June this year, after a collision with a car as he and his friend John Stephenson (also seriously injured) were riding to the York Cycle Show. He was 72. I met Norman Fay first at one of the Bike Right events. I didn’t know then that he was a true lifelong cyclist, and something of an elder statesman of the Tyneside cycling community. He was just there with his wife Marion as another friendly and enthusiastic cyclist, eager to cover some gentle miles in the quiet lanes of Northumberland and to enjoy the company of friends. But his cycling life was more than just riding. He started working in the bike trade in the ’50s, and in 1964 opened his own bike shop and successful framebuilding enterprise in South Shields, Norman Cycles. His lightweight, enamelled frames were

widely respected, and some were exported to the USA. The shop is a South Shields institution and continued after his death in the hands of his son Norman Junior. It has recently been announced that the shop is, sadly, to close – although the business may continue to offer specialist parts by mail order. Norman had made a business out of his lifelong passion: his normal form of transport was always the bike, and he and Marion took a keen interest in cycle history and restoration. They were also among the founding members of South Tyneside Friends of the Earth, and were central to the struggle for cycle facilities in Tyneside. Norman was a true gentleman, with quiet passion and huge knowledge of all things cycling, and he will be sadly missed.

Peter Eland

Mike Allen Mike Allen, creator of the Redmount Roller recumbent trike, passed away in October this year, aged 74. We reviewed the Roller in Issue 2 of Velo Vision, and several readers reported on their trikes in subsequent issues. One of Mike’s customers, Bert Santilly, remembers how he first met Mike Allen and rode the Roller. Part of me is still half expecting to see Mike emerge from his little garage bearing the latest mod that he has dreamed up. Once it was strengthened brackets for the chain tube – although I could see nothing wrong with the existing ones! Another time it was the now famous arm rests which, as I ease my way along making small adjustments to the steering with my fingers, define for me the notion of riding in comfort. But to start at the beginning: my first meeting with Mike was to try out the Roller and see if one really could enjoy comfortable riding without suspension. As someone who hadn’t cycled more than about a mile in the last ten years I was secretly horrified when he suggested that as it was a nice day we

might as well go to Sandringham. Well, we got there (and back!), and I subsequently placed an order for my Roller. That was the start of a lovely friendship with Mike and, of course Ann, his wife. I would pop up to Kings Lynn whenever I could get there, and have one of Ann’s amazing soups before going for a ride with Mike and occasionally with his friends as well. The rides often necessitated stopping somewhere to drop off or pick up parts from a machinist and would usually culminate in a stop at a cafe or pub for refuelling. Over the next few months I realised that Mike Allen must have memorised the location of every possible watering hole in the region! I have had my trike for about four years now, but it seems as though I have known Mike and Ann Allen forever. I could go on telling more stories, but I guess that what I’m really trying to say is that the cycling world has lost, not just the creator of a really good trike, but a lovely man as well. Rest in peace Mike.

Bert Santilly

ISSUE 32 DECEMBER 2008 VELOVISION

7