Candy Cranks

Following in the footsteps of London and San Francisco, Sydney had it’s very own Tweed Ride.

I crawled out of bed for an early start, participants gathered at 8am on the steps of Sydney Town Hall for a 9am ride.  The weather was icy and it was starting to rain, “oh no!” better get the thermals on.

Riding into town hall was interesting, Tarn’s very dapper hunting style outfit and my veiled hat, black cape and knee high lace ups were catching a few confused looks. Riding along Oxford St resulted in catcalls, tourist photos and some lycra clad cyclists pulling up and asking ‘where ARE  you going?’ I was feeling excited and slightly paranoid that there was only going to be a few of us turn up, ‘oh well, it will be fun anyway’ I thought.

Turning the corner to Town Hall I couldn’t believe my eyes, almost 75 people! Wow! It was incredible, so many amazing outfits! I milled about taking snap shots and catching up with friends, this was definitely going to be fun.

After a burst of rain, we headed off towards the rocks (the oldest part of Sydney with lots of beautiful sandstone buildings, terrace houses and small lane ways), it really set the scene for all the vintage bikes and old school finery. Some snaps under the Harbour Bridge and in front of the Opera House and we were off again, 2 abreast on the road, trailing almost the length of some streets. Luckily enough the clouds dissipated and the sun burst through as we got to Observatory Hill, it turned into the most magnificent day. A short stop before we headed off to the domain, up Oxford St and onto Centennial Park where we stopped for a spot of  refreshment, and to award the prizes. There was a best dressed male and female award, best bike; a gorgeous old Harry Quinn in perfect condition and best moustache and chops. 

All up the ride took around 2 ½ hours, it was at a very leisurely pace with lots of stops along the way to take in the general atmosphere and tally-ho, chap chappiness of it all. I had a super time, it was great chatting to new people whilst riding, then you’re off or drop back to chat to someone else. Susan and her team did a fabulous job oganising the event, thanks Susan and everyone involved! I can’t wait for the next one.

See some pics here on Flickr.

This is Emily, she was hanging out at the Finders Keepers market on a super Autumn day. Emily was looking gorgeous with her lovely green vintage ladies bike that she rides to Uni every day. Her commute doesn’t involve any major roads so she has a pretty crusiy ride to and from Uni where she studies print media. How cute are those shoes!

This was my great aunt’s bicycle, I rescued it from her garage this morning where it has been lying idle for the last 20 years. It was on a sure course to the dump!

I have a bad habit of hording things and I felt terrible at the idea of her bicycle going into the dump so I thought I’d bring it home and see if I could bring it back to life.

It had two flat tires so I had to push it all the way home  – it’s a steel frame so it’s pretty heavy!

It’s a single speed Raleigh and I think its about 40/50 years old. It was my aunt’s only mode of transport and as a child I remember her cycling everywhere on it.

The basket is riddled with wood worm, it needs a new saddle, it’s pretty rusty and it needs a good clean but I couldn’t just leave it there! I think its a nice project and I’d like to think my aunt would love to see her old bike back on the road again

I took it for a quick spin (after eventually finding an old bicycle pump to pump up the tires) and found it pretty comfortable to ride, although it’s pretty heavy! I can’t wait to take it for a proper spin when its fixed up

Picked up my new Steiger from Primate today and took it for a spin, rides like a dream! Single speed set up this time, (as opposed to fixed) I forgot how nice it is zooming around corners without the niggling fear you may take yourself out with the pedal hitting the road (or is that just me?) It’s also nice going down a hill without having to pedal like a circus monkey

I bought the Gipiemme wheel set as is (“stacked at the back for a single pack” ), Sugino cranks, Dura Ace headset and brakes. The gear ratio is 46/16 although I’m used to 42/16, what a difference it makes! Great on the flat, but going uphill, what a thigh killer! I can definitely get a bit more pace up overall, and maybe I need to ride it for a while longer, but so far my fixie still feels smoother to ride.

This is my lovely new frame. It’s a beautiful old skool lugged Steiger custom built for a female racer in Switzerland circa 1982. Not only pretty, it’s also won a World Title, which is bound to make me go much faster.

It’s a tiny frame and I am a slightly concerned it will be a wee bit for small for me, but I couldn’t resist. I have a bit of an unhealthy obsession with Swiss flags, I’ll pretty much buy anything with a Swiss flag on it, army knife, watch, road frame… I can’t wait to get it built up and rolling.

Rosy and I borrowed a gorgeous old tandem bike from Lynn at Chainring Transit Authority and took it for a spin today. Slightly weird to get use to at first, particularly when being on the back. I found myself trying to steer and go for brakes that weren’t there. It’s a 6 speed and you can actually get up a pretty good pace once you start to really sync with your passenger. If you’re on the back you still get a pretty good view over the driver’s shoulder and being able to look around to the sides and behind you is pretty cool, not to mention being able to slack off on pedaling.  Definitely good value for a laugh and lots of comments from other cyclists.

A few weeks ago, we found this bike lane sign down after a very scary, windy day off Grand Army Plaza in Brooklyn. Wouldn’t want to get hit by one of these things, since it’s thick metal and pretty heavy! I posted a notice with the city’s 311 help center telling them that the sign had fallen and offering to return it, but they didn’t seem to want it back. Think I will donate to the new neighborhood bike shop as a decoration for their walls! If you see signage down in your NYC nabe, you can post an online report to 311, here. The city has half a year to fix the sign, but you have to start somewhere!

This is Jane on her vintage Apollo bike purchased from Mitchell Rd auctions. Jane was grabbing some shopping in Surry Hills on a gorgeous Autumn morning. She likes cycling around the city and Newtown.