A few weeks ago, I stumbled upon Ed Pratt’s Youtube channel. I watched a few of his videos from various countries around the world before finally realizing I needed to watch the whole adventure from start to finish. The videos are just so well done and Ed’s personality is so endearing that I became engrossed in his travels. I’m sure you will too.
Blog
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Treadmill Bike inspires Blondie comic
In the early 2000’s I made a goofy bike and a mock promotional video for it. On August 5, 2017 the Blondie comic seemed to be referencing it. Where’s my royalty cheque?
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Zenga Bros Tall Bike Video Series
Dating back to the days of the Winking Circle in Uxbridge, Ontario, I’ve always been intrigued and inspired by the Zenga Bros. So it kind of blew my mind that after moving to Vancouver in 2016, I’d find myself living around the block from some of these brothers and their wild collection of art bikes and their eccentrified RV.
Here’s a neat film by the Zenga Bros called Tall Bikes Will Save The World.
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The Adventure Sports Podcast
I recently had the pleasure of speaking with Travis Parsons of The Adventure Sports Podcast. Tune in to the August 25 podcast to hear some reminiscing about the Maritime Couchbike Adventure and the Bow River Canoe/Bike trip.
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This or That? 4
I apologize if I’m contributing to the deteriorating quality of children’s educational materials, but I’m getting a kick out of seeing the Treadmill Bike featured in this National Geographic KiDS book. Available in stores now!
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Go Georgia Go!
With the Olympics coming up, I’m excited to watch the Canadian athletes compete in Rio. Since recently moving to Vancouver, I’m particularly interested to learn about the athletes with whom I share this lovely city. Coincidentally, Eric Chocron from the new Vancouver based cycling bag company Two Wheeled Gear, just wrote to let me know about their support for local Olympian Georgia Simmerling. Georgia is the first Canadian to compete in three different sports in three different Olympics. Here’s a video about Georgia by Two Wheeled Gear.
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Riderless Bikes
A nice one from CBC’s This is That where every day is April 1st.
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London Edinburgh London Documentary
Richard Oldfield from MadeGood.films has just announced the release of the new documentary London Edinburgh London about the cycling event which challenges cyclists to ride the length of Britain, from London to Edinburgh and back, in under five days. That’s a distance of over 1400km!
If you enjoyed the trailer, you can claim a 10% discount on the full film using the discount code: lelpresale at: Vimeo.com.
I was happy to learn about MadeGood.films, not only because of their latest documentary, but also because of the interesting subjects they’ve profiled in their earlier work. They’ve covered London’s Bikefix, the London Bike Kitchen, and the Bicycle Academy. I have a soft spot for the Bicycle Academy as they use BikeCAD Pro in their frame building classes.
If you’re still looking for more from MadeGood.films, you can check out their other site: MadeGood.bikes, their resource for bicycle maintenance and repair videos.
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Sam Whittingham on Stan Lee’s Superhumans
This segment came out three years ago. Since then, Sam’s record has been eclipsed twice. First by Sebastiaan Bowier of the Netherlands and then by fellow Canadian Todd Reichert. Nevertheless, this was a fun piece to watch. Sam truly is superhuman.
The Superhuman video has been removed, so here’s another video of one of Sam’s record setting runs:
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Pro the Movie
Last night I had the privilege of viewing the new HD release of Pro the feature documentary by retired pro cyclist turned filmmaker Jamie Paolinetti. The film covers a week of racing including the Wachovia Invitational in Lancaster, Pa., the Wachovia Classic in Trenton, N.J. and culminates in the 2004 US Pro Road Cycling Championships at the Philadelphia Cycling Classic.
While I don’t usually care for watching sports, I do have a weakness for documentaries that give insights into the personalities and lifestyles of those involved in sport. For this reason, I really enjoyed Pro. Through a series of interviews with riders from several of the teams contesting the championship, we learn a lot about the strategies each team employs going into each of the three races and how those strategies panned out on the day. Because the focus was not on any single team or rider, the viewer is free to choose their own favourites. I found all the riders to be pretty likeable characters with interesting points of view.