The Folding Bike Comes of Age

Suits on wheels
The Smithfield Nocturne winessed the coming of age of the folding bike

Flickr and Emily Thornberry

Flickr has to be one of the most fantastic social networking sites. A couple of Bromdinium's shots have ended up on other sites as a result, and now the cycling MP, and chair of the all party cycling group has asked to have a shot of her at the Smithfield Nocture. Happy to oblige.

Perhaps B. should upgrade from a Sony K800i cameraphone to something else?

Fakengers

The pseudo-couriers strike back!

As fakengers, we have become a rolling laughing-stock. If once we dared to go the The Duke on a Friday night - albeit feeling slightly awkward at the lack of dirt on our bikes or damage to our bags or to our bodies and consciously out of place amongst the guys and girls we so keenly emulate, we can no longer patronise this wonderful establishment for fear of mockery. 'Why don't they dress up as milkmen?' is now a familiar cry on Vine Hill. So bad have things become that fakengers have been seen taking a lengthy detour via High Holborn or even Camden Town in order to reach their beloved Hackney without fear of recrimination. To paraphrase Orwell, it would seem that whilst 'all cyclists are equal, messengers are more equal than others'. But no longer must we suffer in silence. The LBFA is here to represent all London fakengers, wannabees, look-a-likes, try-hards and floppy-haired media-types, whose only crime is their passion for 'pinion fixe'. I think it was Wilde who said 'immitation is the sincerest form of flattery' although I don't think he had the Bianchi pista in mind when he wrote that, but you get my point. So come one, come all. If you've never been a messenger but love riding your bike and wish that you only had the balls to jack in the office job and just do it but know you never will - the LBFA awaits you. Faking as one.

Rapha Girls

And what was with the bored Rapha 'girls' at the Nocturne? Is this 1975. Besides, given the Rapha marketing materials, at least 1 rugged looking fella would have gone down better.

See what Candace thinks.

And didn't Howies start of with a similar stance?

Smithfield Nocturne - After the Deluge

Glastonbury always seems to herald rain, even in London. B. headed over to Smithfield for the Smithfield Nocturne, Rapha and Condor's contribution to the warm up for the Tour de France. The 1 km course was given a top coat of 1 cm of rain, and the folders headed out after the confused courier race (liked their beer-can spoke additions, btw). B. managed to impale himself on his Brooks, and limped home in the latter half of the group, and almost became intimately acquainted with the crash barriers. Managed to beat the Strida up the hill, and haven't had so much fun in a long time. Although did get a bit annoyed with Robert Elms calling us all 'City Gents' all evening. Still, he looked good in his Rapha outfit.

Photo from Blech.

More on Flickr.

And more photos here.

The proper race stuff from London Cycle Sport.

And some videos from YouTube.

Smithfield Nocturne

- Sean the Butcher, Alex the Commuter, Scott the courier and Jimmy the pro, lined up for the official launch of the Smithfield Nocturne.

Rather worryingly, Bromdinium has a place on the folding bike race. B's rather concerned by the sado-masochistic prose of the Rapha/Nocturne website, with its talk of barging, cheating and fierce competition. Nonetheless, B. will try and get round in one piece. Should be a great evening out.

Bike Week

It's Bike Week, and Camden Cycling Campaign kindly laid on some muffins, juice and coffee next to the British Library. Bromdinium lost the battle with a couple of Speckled Hens last night, so was rather late on his way out the door this morning, so sadly most of the muffins had gone... But lots of interest from passers by.

The Hipster Issue

Official: cycling to work is still cool (TimeOut NY).