International Women's Day

Today is the 8th of March - International Women's Day. Our day began with reading a man praising all women on a (Swedish) bicycle forum:

"Your beauty embellish each day and each night.... You're always there, by our side, in any weather, or when we come home from a bicycle ride.... " he wrote. And ended his post with a picture of a woman in shorts straddling a fixie.

Some, both women and men, thought that this was a pretty weird way of marking the International Women's Day and posted sarcastic replies. Then some men got offended, going "You feminists are all the same, always accusing men. Not all men are bad!" completely missing the point that this it is all about a patriarchal structure, and we are all affected by it. The man posting the first comment replied "No, it's not my wife on the picture, she's indeed just as beautiful, but the problem is finding a bicycle picture of her, unfortunately she doesn't share this interest with me, but she fully supports it, there's always a cold beer, some good food and sometimes a masage (sic!) waiting when I come home from my rides....!" Some people just don't seem to get it, do they?

He got more sarcastic replies, more men felt offended. (It's epidemic how people seem to feel offended nowadays.) So the man replied "She has cooking and baking as one of her biggest interests, I have the impression that she's quite pleased with what she has achieved, and will achieve in her life, and I try to support her in her interests and goals as much as I possibly can. Furthermore she has the fantastic quality of liking to please her husband, which I like doing for her too. We have the common opinion that the difference between man and woman is something that should be preserved and taken care of" and so on. And accused a women posting one of the sarcastic remarks of being bitter. Some people really don't seem to get it, do they?

Well, fortunately, that's not all that we found today. We found three great initiatives and inspirational people that we would like to tip you about:

World Bicycle Relief. It's not an organisation specifically for women, but it is just fantastic how something as simple as a bicycle can help women go to school, start a small business or provide healthcare. More people should support this.

Charity Msendo with her sturdy Buffalo Bicycle. (We borrowed this picture from World Bicycle Relief. Hope that's OK!)

Cycles Lady. Should you feel the need to be inspired when it comes to riding bikes, this is a great place to find it. Blogger/photographer Alena Chendler is extremely talented, and seem to know a lot of cool women who ride all kinds of bicycles.

(We borrowed this picture from Cycles Lady. Hope that's OK!)

And then, when you have gotten some inspiration, there's Bago Studio, run by Kellie Mobbs. Bago Studio makes clothes that are for cycling, traveling, hiking, dancing and everyday exploring, according to herself. Kellie Mobbs is extremely talented as well, and while the weather up here in the North really doesn't match her clothes very well at the moment, there will be a summer here too, eventually.

(We borrowed this picture from Bago Studio. Hope that's OK!)

Happy International Women's Day. Ride safe!

Our road racing season 2016, part 4

Things are changing. Parts of Ensliga Bergens cykelklubb have now entered the

Göteborgsgirot, 140 km, on the 7th of May

(We borrowed this picture from Göteborgsgirot. Hope that's OK!)

instead of the 70 km long Stadsgirot. We entered a kind of contest where you got a voucher to enter a race of your choice (of all the Göteborgsgirot options) and in a fit of hubris we registered for the 140 km version. We don't recall having ever ridden more than 82 kilometres in one go, and we have never had the opportunity of having a coach, so we have absolutely no idea how it will go but... Hey, let's do this!

And then the Nationaldagsloppet race (or rather the organisers of the race) have decided to not run it this year, "for different and good reasons". They don't write what these reasons are on the homepage, but we have no choice but to believe them. Anyway it's a real pity, because we really liked this race and looked forward to entering the 104 km race this year.

Oh well. Things change, and progress is always a good thing. If you want to find what races are going on around you go here (Swedish only).

Ride safe!

Sidi - 100% Italian?

We like Sidi, they make awesome cycling shoes but... Sometimes they are just very Italian. Their shoe sizes is one example. Their size 43 is actually more like a size 42, at least if you're used to Northern sizes. Another example is their sense of style, but there we have absolutely no complaints. Sidi make really good-looking shoes, in a variety of styles (as far as bicycle shoes go) and colours. Actually, you'd be hard pressed not to find a pair of shoes that would go with your style. Also, their shoes are made in Italy, which means fair wages and working conditions for the emplyees, and made with more environmentally friendly methods. That's super cool. (When it comes to comfort and quality of their shoes, we will have to come back with a review of our Genius 5 Fit Carbon when we have thoroughly tested them.)

But then there are the ads...

 (We borrowed this picture from Italian Bicycle. Hope that's OK!)

We don't know who this girl is. But sitting on the back seat of a rusty tandem bicycle with the kick stand down, in a bikini top and cut off denim shorts, her bicycle shoe-clad foot pushing (well...) a standard pedal, draped in the Italian flag... Why would anyone in their right mind buy bicycle shoes from this company? Would Italians in their right mind do it? Anyway this catalogue cover, as well as the ad, is aimed at the North American market.

(We borrowed the picture from ProBikeKit blog. Hope that's OK!)

Then there's Filippo Pozzato. Filippo Pozzato is a professional bicyclist. But why is he naked and has got oil over his whole body? Of course Filippo Pozzato is free to walk around naked with oil all over his body if he wants to, but what has that got to do with cycling? We don't think (and we certainly don't hope) that Sidi suggests that we should ride our bikes naked (except for Sidi shoes, of course) and covered in oil.

(Actually we don't want to tell you where we found this picture, because... well, we found it on a really dodgy website. But do a search on "Tiffany Toth Sidi ad" if you're interested.)

And then there's Tiffany Toth, a Playboy model and make up artist. What has she got to do with bicycling? OK, to be correct she's wearing motorcycle boots. (Right? Our knowledge in that field is kind of limited.) So what has Tiffany Toth got to do with motorcycles? Does she ride motorcycles, when not modeling and doing make up? And why is she naked? Because "Sidi is the only protection she relies on"? For her sake, we hope that she relies on something else as well.

Lastly there's this advertising film

that we love. It makes us smile. What's not to like? We like Vincenzo Nibali, also when he's not doing Sidi ads, and even though we must confess that we don't know much about Ivan Basso he seems cool as well. We're not sure if the film would make us choose Sidi shoes (Yeah, it would!), but we hope that Sidi keeps running it nonetheless. And if Sidi ever starts making olive oil, we'll definitely buy it!

Ride safe!

Sidi Genius 5 Fit Carbon

OK, to be honest I can't really give you a review of the Sidi Genius 5 Fit Carbon road shoes, since I just bought them. (But you can read some reviews here!) But for a good price... especially for a good price, actually, they look super. They're also made in Italy, which means that the man or woman who made this pair gets a fair wage, weekends off, statutory holidays and can say what they want without risking to be punished. I e, they weren't made in a sweatshop. That's super cool.

Sidi also writes about them that they incorporate features of resistance, stability, lightness, transpirability, water-repellency and eco-friendliness. (Whatever that means in practice.) They are "manufactured using the “Water-Tech” water treatment. Lower environmental impact, less noxious emissions into the air and into the work environment and the fact that not solvents, but water-based products were used, is beneficial to the environment as well as the final user." That's super cool as well.

They will look really nice together with my bike, and I'm pretty sure I can make them look good together with the rest of my outfit as well. Oh yeah, and they are supposed to enhance my performance and function well too, right? Let's also hope that they will work together with my pedals.

Well, time will tell how they'll work, with the pedals and with my feet. If you want I'll give you a review of them. (Actually I might give you a review of them anyway.) But until then I'm just happy with my purchase, and think that these shoes will look great together with a pair of de Marchi socks. Made in Italy as well.

Ride safe!

Postgirot Open 1982 (again)

As Part 2 of our new series "Postgirot Open", here's a second post card from 1982. The photo was taken during the race and then, presumably, published afterwards. We don't know much about it, really. It says on the back of the post card that the photo was taken in Södertälje, and it definitely looks like a sprint so we guess that it shows the finishing of the fifth stage.

Frame mounted gear shifters, quill pedals with toe clips and straps, the guy to the left rides a DBS bicycle (a Norwegian brand) and though we're not sure it looks like the guy in the middle is sponsored by Nokia tyres (the logos on the shoulders)... From 1909 to 1988 tyres and wellington boots were made by the Nokia company.

Talking about Nokia, it look as if Nokia will re-emerge as a producer of mobile phones in 2016. Let's hope so! We really like Nokia mobile phones. (Our experience with Nokia phones is that they are really sturdy and super practical.) But today's topic is the Postgirot Open 1982 bicycle race. Here is the post card:

Two post cards was kind of a nice start to the most important race in Swedish history, wasn't it?

Ride safe!

Their road racing season 2016

We have written about our own road racing season 2016, which upgrades our bikes are getting, how we are preparing and which races we have already entered. We will probably enter more races, and as we do we will write about it.

But there are more races going on, that the pros are entering! (They probably don't have to enter themselves and fill in the forms online.) If you want a complete list of all the professional races during 2016 you can find it here. However, we will not follow all the races on that list. Even if we would have liked to, which to be honest is quite doubtful, there are just too many. Instead, we decided to make our own alternative list, the races that we will follow, not so much because they have high UCI race classifications, but rather because we simply like them. So here goes:

We would like to begin with mentioning Tour de Taiwan, which is held from the 6th of March to the 10th of March. It might be quite hard to follow, at least here in Sweden, and it's not one of the "bigs", but if you want to check out the beautiful country of Taiwan, or ever see an Iranian winner in a bicycle race, this is your chance. (Actually there are teams from Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Dubai, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, New Zeeland, Kazahkstan, PROC, Sweden, UK, USA and of course Taiwan too.) Their web page, which we like even though it is a bit slow, is here.

Then, on the 19th of March: Milano - Sanremo. The spring Classic. 298 kilometres, the longest professional one-day race, from the million people city Milano to the smaller town Sanremo, by the Mediterranean coast. Read more about it here. And, if you want: Write to the organisers and tell them to bring the Primavera Rosa women's professional race back, which was held the same day from 1999 to 2005.

10th of April: Paris - Roubaix. L'enfer du Nord! The cobblestone Classic. Read more about it here.

20th of April: La Flèche Wallonne and La Flèche Wallonne Féminine. Because we like Wallonia and because we think that it's cool that the women's version of the race is becoming a standard. Read more about it here and here, respectively.

24th of April: Liège - Bastogne - Liège. Also one of the Classics. Read more about it here.

6th of May to 29th of May: Giro d'Italia. The Giro d'Italia is arguably the most beautiful and important race of the year. Read more about it here.

1st of July to the 10th of July: Giro Rosa. Sort of like the women's Giro d'Italia. It's not easy to find information about it. There is an outdated web page here, with the results from 2015 and a picture of two really old guys as a background. One of them might be Ernesto Colnago, whose company Colnago will sponsor two of the jerseys of the race... But why not have a photo of the women who race instead?

2nd of July to the 24th of July: Tour de France. Inarguably the most important race of the year, regardless of what you think of the French (and we do!). Read more about it here.

24th of July: La Course by Le Tour de France. A one-day women's race, held in Paris, France, before the male cyclists of the Tour hit the city. Read more about it here.

19th of August: Crescent Women World Cup in Vårgårda, Sweden. Another women's race with quite hard-to-find information. The official web page is this one, with a little information about the 2016 edition of the race.

20th of August to the 11th of September: Vuelta a España. We rank this race as "the third race", together with Giro d'Italia and Tour de France. Read more about it here.

4th of October: Il Lombardia. Seriously, how can you not like a race named Classica delle Foglie Morte  - The Classic of the Dead Leaves? We do, and you can too. Read more about it here.

Our favourite teams for 2016 will (most probably) be Movistar Team on the male side, and Cervélo Bigla Pro Cycling Team on the female side. Movistar because we like Nairo Quintana and Alejandro Valverde, and Cervélo Bigla Pro Cycling because we like Lotta Lepistö. (Actually Lotta Lepistö seems super cool.)

We can't have a blog post without a single picture, so here is Lotta Lepistö. (We borrowed this picture from Cervélo Bigla Pro Cycling Team. Hope that's OK!)

Ride safe!

Our road racing season 2016, part 3 (Information about Kalmar Grand Prix)

We have investigated Kalmar Grand Prix Open now. We contacted the organiser of the race and asked them about the length, route, start and finish of the race, and there are some changes compared to last year:

1. The race will start from Elevatorkajen. No change here, that's the same as last year.

2. The race then takes a different route compared to last year. For those who will race 130 kilometres a change is that the race will pass outside the town of Nybro, instead of right through it, since the race is now a race for professionals as well as amateurs, so there will be a "rolling blocking", consisting of about 30 cars and 30 motorcycles. (This was probably quite difficult to organise through Nybro.) A change both for those racing 130 kilometres, as well as those racing 60 and 30 kilometres is that the route will not go through the suburban areas that it went through last year. This is a big improvement. We remember the route from last year, with all the stewards having trouble keeping the public out of the way and an abundance of 90 degree turns. That will thankfully now be gone.

3. The race is now, for those racing 60 kilometres, exactly 58.5 kilometres, according to the organiser.

4. A big change is that the finishing line will be on the Larmtorget square, "if nothing unforeseen happens". So this year we might expect finishing line sprints up the cobbled Larmgatan street! (How very Belgian!)

5. There are some changes regarding the days too. Last year the Kalmar Grand Prix Open 140 kilometre and 70 kilometre road races were during the day, and then the Kalmar Grand Prix Elit criterium race the same evening. This year there will be a race for children - Kalmar Grand Prix Kids - on Friday, during the day. They will ride the same route as the elite riders riding the criterium race, which will take place on Friday evening. Then on Saturday those riding the 60 and 30 kilometre races will start during the morning, and then the 130 kilometre race for the elite and amateur riders will take place in the afternoon.

Is this an improvement? Yes. And no. We would have preferred a 70 kilometre race - now it will be almost like an ITT race, but with an advantage for those who enter along with whole cycling clubs. But that's really the same as any other amateur road race, so... Better to start to think that it's actually a cool thing. And since we are riding the 60 kilometre version we would have thought that it would have been really cool to race with the elite riders. (At least we would have seen them at the start!) That won't happen now. But if things work out and this is done the same way again next year, we will definitely consider entering the 130 kilometre version. We also think that it is a pity that the race won't pass through the town of Nybro, but instead passing just outside the town, because it would have been really cool to ride through the centre of the town but... Well, that's just the way it is.

This is not how it will look in Kalmar in August! Kristin Amstrong racing in the Olympic games of 2012. (We borrowed this picture from Wikipedia. Hope that's OK!)

A link to Kalmar Grand Prix is here. (Sori, Swedish only.) Ride safe!