Bicycle calenders for a good start in the new year

Last year I ordered a calender from Copenhagen Cycle Chic. This year there are even more options available. Let's start with the classical one -- the Cycle Chic 2010 Calender:

This time Mikael Colville-Andersen also started another project and produced the Copenhagenize Bicycle Infrastructure Fetish Calender which probably suits someone like me better:

My favorite bike-related calender, however, is homemade :). It's this year's Bike Messenger Calender produced by Andreas Stückl (photographer and messenger from Graz):

On his website botenkalender.meinblog.at he also has other nice things, e.g. a bike messenger memory game (simply click on the picture, print, cut out, laminate and play :)):


For ordering any of these calenders, simply click on the respective pictures. If you know and/or prefer any other calenders then let us know too!

Cycling makes you more intelligent!

Well, this isn't something I have cooked up. I read it in the news today: "Sich bewegen bringt doppelt Segen" (to take exercise is a double blessing). The article is based on a scientific study carried out in Sweden and claims that sport increases intelligence and slows down aging.

by Kevin Saunders

For more details see the article "Cardiovascular fitness is associated with cognition in young adulthood" (2009, abstract, full text). I just copied some of the results:

"During early adulthood, a phase in which the central nervous system displays considerable plasticity and in which important cognitive traits are shaped, the effects of exercise on cognition remain poorly understood. We performed a cohort study of all Swedish men born in 1950 through 1976 who were enlisted for military service at age 18 (N = 1,221,727). [...] Physical fitness and intelligence performance data were collected during conscription examinations and linked with other national databases for information on school achievement, socioeconomic status, and sibship. [...] Cardiovascular fitness, as measured by ergometer cycling, positively associated with intelligence after adjusting for relevant confounders [...] In contrast, muscle strength was not associated with cognitive performance. Cross-twin cross-trait analyses showed that the associations were primarily explained by individual specific, non-shared environmental influences (≥80%), whereas heritability explained less than 15% of covariation. Cardiovascular fitness changes between age 15 and 18 y predicted cognitive performance at 18 y. Cox proportional-hazards models showed that cardiovascular fitness at age 18 y predicted educational achievements later in life. These data substantiate that physical exercise could be an important instrument for public health initiatives to optimize educational achievements, cognitive performance, as well as disease prevention at the society level."

So let our young people cycle (to school)!

A mind game for the curious cycle enthusiast

Sometimes bikes leave me wondering who they belong to. Like this one:

A rather uncommon Dutch-style bike in Vienna

For months I walked past it every day on my lunch break. And finally, after a long time of curiousness I saw this guy riding it:

He was on his way to work, his briefcase was sitting on the front rack.

Ever had a similar experience? I find it really fun to look at bikes and imagine what kind of people are riding them :).

If you are, on the other hand, interested in a computer game for cyclists, check out Bicicla't.

Is there something called 'bike fashion'?

A difficult topic. Of course, some people would say, we even own 'cycling clothes'. However, when I say 'bike fashion' I certainly don't mean that:

Weekend warriors on their bikes (and a bad example of a two-way bike path in Vienna)

So what kind of 'bike fashion' am I talking of then? Let's say there are two different types, not necessarily disjunct:

1. Comfy clothes one can easily cycle in:

That includes of course almost all types of clothes. You name it: trousers, skirts, dresses, suits etc. Just open your closet!

Bike fashion

However, there might be some designer clothes or shoes that are neither constructed for walking, sitting nor cycling, but only for gracefully standing around. Like this:

In case the dress is stackable, cycling is still an option :)

2. Clothes with bike-related imprints:

Although I have seen a lot of such clothes I don't own any myself. But I can provide you with a picture from the lovely musu shop in Budapest:

Simply adorable

No matter what, most of use are aware of the fact that cycling is fashionable anyhow. And that it is particularly fashionable if one rides a lovely bicycle. Indeed, riding pretty is easy. Especially girls and bicycles go together quite well. If you're not convinced consult Vélo Vogue for some fashion advice. So come on, let's go for a ride!

Keep it up, fellow cycling friends. We will too :). If you're keen on spying you can see what we wear in blog posts marked with the clothes label.

Men cycling in work clothes

Well, cycling to work in work clothes is the obvious thing to do, isn't it? Not many people in Austria would bother to change clothes or demand a shower at the work place. Well, there might be the occasional guy who decides to change his T-shirt or leaves his jacket at work in the summer. But after all we're just cycling to work and not speeding in a race. No need for a complete transformation or to show off.

Note that the gardener in the upper left picture rides a company bicycle (company being the City of Vienna). This is really untypical and the first time I have seen something like that, so I tried to find out more about it -- and voilà, I found an old article (from May 1999) that mentions such efforts by the city council to try to make their employees set their cars aside. Ten years later, however, I would like to know if they are still at it and if it has made an impact on peoples' choice of transport.

Low rider or what men really want

Yesterday in the city center I've seen a guy with a gorgeous low rider or -- as I also like to call it -- a chopper. Unfortunately I didn't have my camera with me, but I was just overwhelmed by that bike (not the man). It was painted in a beautiful metallic red color, the guy wore a strange blue suit. They just matched up perfectly!

Check out these 14 pimped bikes (cool stuff, trust me) to get more ideas on the topic and maybe some ideas of how you could pimp your own bike.

This is really some kind of a new cult and I certainly wouldn't mind if the cars as status symbol would be replaced by some fantastic low riders. These bikes certainly have a lot of potential -- a recently published marvelous German rap video by Skero ft. Kamp proves that too. They sing about cruising around Vienna. Even if you don't understand German it's worth watching because of all the cool bikes involved and the lovely scenery :-). The title "Fuß vom Gas" simply means "Foot off gas [pedal]". Enjoy!

Why are only losers riding a bicycle?

Well, obviously I don't talk about real life. It's about stereotypes though.

For example, in many movies (especially American mainstream movies) it's generally the warm-hearted loser that rides a bicycle. The bicycle there stands for low intelligence, no money and not being able to manage one's life. The successful business guy drives a big SUV, has a huge house in the suburbs and a beautiful wife. And yes, it's guys. Women are mostly just by-products.

Owen Wilson in "You, Me and Dupree"

Ok, this is also cliché and certainly not true for all movies including bicycles. But it's symptomatic and many people absorb these clichés automatically without even trying to get to the bottom of it. Is it that what keeps them from riding a bicycle? I think it's at least part of the truth.

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UPDATE
I just found a blog that deals with exactly this subject -- the bicycle in popular culture. Interesting, how other people draw similar conclusions. Well, form an opinion yourself and let me know what you think.

By the way, a similar concept is used in "The 40 Year-Old Virgin" staring Steve Carell. There's even the line "Everybody rides a bicycle ... until they are 6 years old".

Guys on bikes

In Vienna there are many guys on bikes, but unfortunately most of them are rather unfashionable. Well, there are also exceptions. Here are some:

Left: guy with cool hat, Middle: guy in suit and newspaper on the carrier (very rare), Right: not so fashionable guys, but ok

Who wouldn't want to wait behind them at a red light? ;-)

Sadly, I have say that most of these guys here didn't respect some traffic laws. Except the one in the left picture they all don't mind riding in the wrong direction of one-way bike paths/lanes. The men in the right picture even directly waited on the arrow pointing in the opposite direction (although I have to admit, that the only other option to get from that point to the other side of the ring road is to carry the bike down and up the stairs of a pedestrian underpass).