Bike Bags, Brit-style

Carradice bags have arrived at Urbane! Have a bike that can't fit a rack but want to actually carry a little something with you? Maybe want to do a little light touring, or perhaps a lengthy day trip? A classic British saddlebag might be the answer. Carradice of Nelson have been handcrafting saddlebags at their workshop in Lancashire for almost 80 years. The bags are made of tough and waterproof waxed cotton duck. As the bag ages it is possible to reproof the cotton to make it waterproof again. It is not unusual to get decades of use out of your Carradice.

To see the bags in action check out these neat vintage videos of old-school touring, UK-style.

The Cyclists' Special - 1955 - Part 1 and Part 2

I'm A Kind Of Mechanised Tramp - 1971 - Part 1 and Part 2

Bike Traveling

Good article about traveling with your bicycle from the New York Times.

Read it here.

Tragedy

Tragedy. Whenever someone dies on the street, whether it be a motorist, pedestrian or cyclist it's a tragedy. Too many times has this happened and is forgotten by the next day. Perhaps not this time. Not when the former Attorney General of Ontario is at the centre of it all. We'll wait and see.

Vive le Tour!

At Urbane, we've done the best job we can to help people get to and from where they need to go, for the most part on basic commuter-friendly city bikes fitted out with racks, fenders, bells and lights. A very different machine than the ultra light weight, speedy racing bikes pro racers use.

Plenty of us who work here are also huge fans of this beautiful sport. Bike racing is one of the oldest organized sports in the world and also one of the most beloved. This year there were over 500,000 people cheering on the slopes of Mount Ventoux! Crazy. And hard. A race like the Tour is well over 3000km long, takes 3 weeks to complete, goes up and down AND THEN back up mountains. The result is often 20% of the starting field drops out due to crashes, disease, fatigue and sometimes even death. It requires a special athlete to even complete this event, let alone win it.

For anyone who saw it, the 2009 Tour was a very exciting race, with lots of drama and suspense. Lance Armstrong, at 37 years old made his return to the event he dominated for 7 straight years. This year he came in 3rd, a position he had to defend by countering numerous attacks from riders itching to get on the most prestigious podium in the sport. In the end it was the wiry Spanish climber, Alberto Contador, who proved he is the top stage-racing cyclist in the world. Can't wait to see what happens next year.

Since cycling is only on TV once a year in Canada, we'll have to wait until July 2010 to watch the story unfold again. I highly recommend following it. Even if you're not into racing bicycles, give it a chance, and watch a stage or two. You might even think about these guys the next time you ride your bike to work.


2009 PODIUM: Andy Schleck (2nd), Alberto Contador (1st) and Lance Armstrong (3rd)