The Bike Show from Resonance FM

Jack talks with founding father of the mountain bike Gary Fisher about his life in cycling, the subject of his new book “Being Gary Fisher”, published by Blue Train Publishing. After talking with Gary, Jack chats with Guy Andrews and … Continue reading →

The post No Cops, No Cars, No Concrete: Gary Fisher’s Life on Two Wheels first appeared on The Bike Show .

As a bike racer Isla Rowntree took on almost every discipline in cycling, rode professionally for the Raleigh MTB team and won the British national championships in cyclocross on multiple occasions. But it is as a bike designer and entrepreneur that she's made the biggest impact, transforming the market for children’s bikes. The high quality kids bikes she designs have given a generation of children the best possible start to a life of cycling. Jack visits Islabikes HQ just outside Ludlow, Shropshire to find out about how Isla got into cycling, how she got where she is now, and where she's going in the future.

Bonus material available at http://thebikeshow.net/isla-rowntree Continue reading →

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Tom Isitt has spent the past few years cycling around the battlefields of the first world war. He talks about his experiences on the Western Front and the mountainous border between Italy, Austria and Slovenia and tells the story of the extraordinary bike race that was held in spring 1919 across the devastated lands of Northern France and Belgium. The Rough Stuff Fellowship is the oldest off road cycling club in the world and club archivist Mark Hudson talks about unearthing a photographic treasure trove of inspirational adventure cycling from the 1950s to the present day.

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The post So you want to go cycling in… WW1 battlefields? first appeared on The Bike Show .

Jack takes on his longest ever ride, as part of a weekend of audax events in memory and celebration of the late, great Mike Hall. Mike was the leading light in the current revival of self-supported long distance bike racing, twice winner of the Tour Divide, winner of the TransAm Bike Race and founder and organiser of the pan-European Transcontinental Race. In March 2017 Mike was killed by a driver while competing in a bike race across Australia Continue reading →

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This year’s Tour de France starts on the island of Noirmoutier, on the Atlantic coast of western France. Jack rides the route of Stage one, in a touring style, taking in the rich landscape of sand dunes, beaches, tidal lagoons and salt marsh and sampling the gastronomic delights of the region.

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The return of The Bike Show sees Jack chewing the fat with Max Leonard, author of Higher Calling: Road Cycling’s Obsession with the Mountains. They talk a lot about climbing, about the evolution of cycling towards exploring and traveling to new places, about cycling in France, and about Max’s Kickstarter project to republish a long-lost cycling guide to the off-road paths and gravel tracks of the Alps. Continue reading →

The post Higher, Faster, Rougher, Wilder with Max Leonard first appeared on The Bike Show .

Peter Walker is a political reporter at the Guardian newspaper. He set up the Guardian's bike blog and his new book puts the case for a healthier, safer and more people-friendly nation. In short, a Bike Nation. In conversation with Jack Thurston, Peter talks about his past life as bike messenger, how his views on cycling have evolved and why he believes now is a critical tipping point in Britain's long and chequered history of cycling. Continue reading →

The post Can Cycling Save the World? with The Guardian’s Peter Walker first appeared on The Bike Show .

This year marks 200 years since Karl Drais invented a two wheeled 'running machine'. Since then all sorts of people have ridden all sorts of bicycles for all sorts of reasons. Looking back at two centuries of cycling and cyclists is Dr Michael Hutchinson, former professional bike racer and author of several books about cycling. His latest is "Re:Cyclists - 200 years on two wheels" is an engaging and affectionate look back at the cyclists of the past two hundred years and has just been published by Bloomsbury.

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The Indian Pacific Wheel Race is a gruelling 5,500 km coast-to-coast bicycle race across Australia. The race features the two leading long distance bike racers in the world as well as dozens of other cyclists determined to push themselves to the very limits of physical and mental endurance. Jack is joined by Australian cycling journalist Craig Fry and long distance cycling expert Chris White to discuss what it takes to win the race, or even to get to the finishing line in Sydney, plus the long history of overlanding in Australia and the possibilities of making the journey in a more leisurely cycle touring style. Continue reading →

The post The Indian Pacific Wheel Race: Overlanders of the 21st Century first appeared on The Bike Show .

Mike Parker is the author of the best-selling Map Addict, an affectionate history of Ordnance Survey maps and the people who can’t get enough of their beautiful maps. He’s an accomplished guidebook writer, a former stand up comedian and has presented TV and radio programmes about Wales, his adopted homeland. In 2015 he stood for Parliament for Plaid Cymru, the party of Wales and has written a book, the Greasy Poll, about the experience. We go for a spin from Castle Meadows in Abergavenny, as it hosted the National Eisteddfod, a huge annual festival of Welsh language, culture, music and song. Continue reading →

The post Under Monmouthshire Skies: Riding with Mike Parker first appeared on The Bike Show .

Every weekend many tens if not hundreds of thousands of people ride their bikes in the British countryside. But are we taking the time to really understand and appreciate the things we see and places we ride through? Or is it all day dreaming about the next cake stop or going hard for that next personal best on Strava?

Mary Ann Ochota has made it her mission to help people discover the history of the landscape by looking out for signs and clues that are often hidden in plain sight. She’s appeared on television presenting documentaries and archeology shows including Time Team and Britain’s Secret Treasures and is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society.

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The post Decoding the Landscape with Mary-Ann Ochota first appeared on The Bike Show .

fter the big victories for London cycle campaigners and the construction of two new fully segregated bike lanes in the centre of the city, the bikelash has begun. Lead by newspapers like the Daily Mail as well as a raft of celebrity commentators, taxi drivers and disgruntled business owners, the reaction to progress in cycle infrastructure has been vociferous.

What is bikelash, why is it happening and what can we do about it? Joining Jack Thurston are Clare Rogers of the Enfield Cycling Campaign and Robert Wright of the Financial Times. Continue reading →

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The Cyclist Who Went Out in the Cold is comic travel writer Tim Moore's third bicycle-based escapade, and perhaps his craziest. He attempts to ride the length of the Cold War's Iron Curtain, from the north of Finland to the Black Sea coast. It's near enough ten thousand kilometres, a challenge for any cyclist, and not least a slightly unfit middle aged man riding a secondhand East German shopping bike with small wheels and only two gears. Before a live audience at a book event in Monmouth, organised by Rossiters bookshop, Moore explains how he dreamed up the idea and how he got on. Continue reading →

The post Riding the Iron Curtain, with Tim Moore first appeared on The Bike Show .

Wrapping up The Bike Show's coverage of this year's Transcontinental Race, Jack Thurston talks to race organiser Mike Hall and women's race winner Emily Chappell. Mike also tells the story of his record-breaking ride in the Tour Divide race earlier in the year and reflects on the growth of bikepacking, as a sport and a pastime. Continue reading →

The post Transcontinental Race Wrap-Up first appeared on The Bike Show .

Three days and three nights since setting out from Belgium, riders in the Transcontinental Race are deep in the Swiss Alps, en route for the finish in Turkey. The Transcontinental is one of the world's most extraordinary and compelling bicycle races. Jack Thurston is joined by two time Transcontinental finisher Gareth Baines for an update on this year's race and a discussion of the demands of a 4000 km non-stop bicycle race across Europe. Continue reading →

The post Transcontinental Race Update Special first appeared on The Bike Show .

The Transcontinental Race is a test of body, mind and spirit. The format is simple. It’s a single stage race that begins on one side of the European continent (in Belgium) and ends on the other (in Turkey). Riders must plan their own routes and navigate themselves without any support. Jack hears from four riders readying themselves for the 2016 race. But not everyone is ready to race 4000km across Europe, and that's why Transcontinental organisers Mike Hall and Anna Haslock dreamed up a shorter, more accessible format, called the Valleycat. Jack spends a weekend in deepest mid-Wales to find out more. Continue reading →

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The Devon Coast to Coast is a 99 mile long route across England's third largest county, from the Bristol Channel in the north to the English Channel in the south. It is 70 per cent traffic free and passes through the dramatic upland landscape of Dartmoor National Park, following the course of three old railway lines. It's an ideal route for family cycling tour and Jack and Sarah and Adam and Sarah discuss riding the route with a 3 year old, a 2 year old and an 11 month old. In addition Jack talks to some of the key players at Devon County Council who have worked to build the county's enviable network of traffic-free walking and cycling trails. Continue reading →

The post All Aboard! Cycle-touring with kids on the Devon Coast to Coast first appeared on The Bike Show .

Acclaimed historian, biographer and lifelong cyclist Graham Robb joins Jack Thurston by phone to talk about his latest book, a comprehensive catalogue of the 2002 cols and passes of the British Isles. They also talk about Robb's earlier books The Discovery of France, The Ancient Paths and why the bicycle is the perfect vehicle for the historian in the field. Continue reading →

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Chris Boardman has done it all. Born into a cycling family he became a domestic time trial demon and won an Olympic Gold Medal in 1992. He set world records for the Hour on the track and raced on the continent as a professional, wearing the yellow jersey in the Tour de France. His R&D team helped British Cycling to world domination on the track and he founded Boardman Bikes, now the best selling brand of bikes in Britain. He has thrown himself into campaigning for everyday cycling with passion and is one of the most effective advocates for cycling, whether in the media or lobbying politicians. He has just written a new biography and is in conversation with the author Rob Penn, in front of a live audience in Monmouth, organised by Rossiter Books. Continue reading →

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Is bikepacking the most exciting new thing in cycling since the invention of the mountain bike or a much needed rebranding of the venerable pastime of cycle touring? Or is just another cynical ruse to get us to buy more stuff, an attempt to commercialise that wonderful thing called adventure. Jack heads to mid-Wales for the Bear Bones Winter Event to find out, and meets up with Beth Barrington of WildCat Gear to hear about the homespun beginnings of a small company that makes some of the best bikepacking gear available.

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Tim Dawson has the lowdown on a major new exhibition of bicycles at London's Design Museum, including cargo bikes, city bikes and the bikes used by Merckx, Moser and Wiggins to break the Hour Record. He speaks with the shows curator Donna Loveday and consider the show's strengths and weaknesses. Tim and host Jack Thurston then wonder if it's right and proper to fall in love with a bicycle and discuss other great cycle collections in the UK and overseas. Continue reading →

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In the first ever rolling bike test on The Bike Show, Jack Thurston takes the Pinnacle Arkose 2 for a spin around the hills above Abergavenny and Blaenavon. The Pinnacle Arkose 2 is an 'adventure road' bike featuring a 1x10 drivechain, hyraulic disc brakes and 40mm tyres. Continue reading →

The post Bike Test: Crossover Fun with the Pinnacle Arkose 2 first appeared on The Bike Show .

Bespoked, the UK's Handmade Bicycle Show is Britain's biggest annual showcase for custom bike builders. It's full to the rafters of beautiful bikes but Jack Thurston went in search of the most useful bikes at the show, from an off-road porteur to a separable road bike to a childback tandem in titanium.

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The post Really Useful Bikes at the Bespoked Handmade Bicycle Show first appeared on The Bike Show .

Bike sales are up, cycling is all over newspapers and magazines. We in Britain are in the middle of a bonafide bike boom. So says veteran cycling journalist Carlton Reid, who's writing a book about the bike boom, that's called, imaginatively, "Bike Boom". But fellow long-in-the-tooth cycling journalist John Stevenson of Road.CC disagrees. Cycling in Britain is far from booming, it's flat-lining. The pair lock horns on air, joining host Jack Thurston to debate the bike boom. Continue reading →

The post Bike Boom? What Bike Boom? first appeared on The Bike Show .

With the recent reawakening of interest in the Hour Record, host Jack Thurston is joined by Michael Hutchinson, a professional bike racer who has dominated the UK time trialling scene for more than a decade, setting national records for distances from 10 miles to 100 miles. He's also an accomplished writer and his latest book Faster: The Obsession, Science and Luck Behind the World's Fastest Cyclists documents with forensic detail and wry humour his career-long quest to ride his bicycle very, very fast.

Jack and Michael also reveal the Listeners' Hour Challenge. Continue reading →

The post How to Ride Your Bike Faster first appeared on The Bike Show .

Historians often regard the defining events of the 1930s as the Great Depression and the march towards the second world war. Yet the decade also saw something of a consumer boom, at least among well-to-do inhabiting the suburbs of London and the south east. Historian Dr John Law of the University of Westminster joins Jack Thurston to share his research into the a new suburban lifestyles of the interwar years, including the dramatic increase in private, personal mobility though the use of cars, motorcycles and bicycles. They discuss how these new transport technologies shaped London and Londoners and how drivers and cyclists fought for the right to the road.

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It's the toughest and longest standing record in cycling. Only a handful of people have attempted to break the record Tommy Godwin set in 1939 for the greatest distance ridden on a bike in one year. But this year two extraordinary cyclists are having a crack at it. In an in-depth interview with British long distance legend Steve Abraham, who is already almost six weeks into his record attempt, Jack Thurston finds out what kind of person takes on the challenge of riding an average of 205 miles for 365 days in a row. Author Dave Barter is on hand to put the year record in historical and sporting context. Continue reading →

The post A Year on Two Wheels first appeared on The Bike Show .

Jack Thurston’s guest this week is self-confessed angry young man, Julian Sayarer, who, five years ago, set a new record for cycling around the world. Having taken a strong dislike to Mark Beaumont, the previous record-holder, whose record attempt was backed by big business and, according to Sayarer, represented everything that was wrong with the world. He wanted to beat Beaumont and take the record back ‘for the people’.

They meet on on the banks of the River Wye a few miles downstream from the city of Hereford. Julian Sayarer’s book Life Cycles is published by John Blake and available in paperback and on the Kindle. Continue reading →

The post The Politics of Adventure first appeared on The Bike Show .

Statistics tell us that for the same distance travelled you're more likely to come to physical harm on a bike than on most other modes of transport. But even so, crashes are quite rare. Much more common yet much less studied and understood, are the almost crashes, the near misses, that are so much a part of the experience of cycling in Britain. The Near Miss Project is an academic-led study that seeks to find out more about the experience of near misses.

Joining host Jack Thurston to look more deeply at near misses and perceptions of road safety among cyclists are Dr Rachel Aldred, of University of Westminster, Dr Kat Jungnickel of Goldsmiths College and John Dales, a leading UK traffic engineer and transport planner.

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Jack Thurston is joined by a galaxy of stars from the world of cycling literature to pick over the cream of this year's crop of bike books. Nominating their cycling book of the year are Feargal McKay, Ned Boulting, Herbie Sykes, Daniel Friebe, Tom Southam, Richard Moore, Max Leonard and Emma O'Reilly. Guy Andrews, founding editor of Rouleur magazine, is on hand with his crystal ball to look at what cycling books we might expect in 2015 and years to come. Continue reading →

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The Bike Show and the cycle clothing company Rapha share a birthday, and while The Bike Show keeps on keeping on, Rapha has grown into a global brand and is toasting its success on the Champs-Élysées as suppliers of clothing to the Sky Pro Cycling Team. Jack checks in with Laura Bower and James Fairbank at Rapha to talk about Chris Froome's fishnets and what the company is doing to encourage more women to ride bikes. Summer is festival time and Jack chews over the Rapha Tempest and the Eroica Britannia with Howard Smith, author of The Jersey Pocket cycling blog. Continue reading →

The post Rapha at 10 and L’Eroica comes to Britain first appeared on The Bike Show .

Klaus Bondam, Director of the Danish Cyclists Federation and former deputy mayor in charge of cycling in Copenhagen rides with 'Buffalo' Bill Chidley to the Hackney Cycling Conference. En route they try to find out how London's roads compare with cycling cities like Copenhagen. Then Bill joins Kieron Yates and Jack Thurston to discuss what happened at the conference, and where things are with the Mayor of London's much heralded cycling revolution. Continue reading →

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Enjoying nature has always been one of the pleasures of cycling. This week we hear from two organisations working to protect and improve Britain's natural places. Andy Byfield of the charity Plantlife explains his charity's new campaign about road verges while Garfield Kennedy of the Woodland Trust, which manages hundreds of woods and forests across the country, explains why mountain-bikers and other cyclists are welcome in their woods. Continue reading →

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In what may well be the biggest electoral campaign ever mounted by a cycle campaign group in Britain, Space for Cycling makes a very clear series of demands on candidates for local councils. To talk about Space for Cyclingand about the changing landscape of cycle campaigning is Ashok Sinha, chief executive of the London Cycling Campaign. Continue reading →

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Cycling in the countryside can be an unparalleled joy. But too often fast, hostile roads and make it worse than cycling in Britain’s urban streets. What’s gone wrong? And more importantly, what can be done about it? Ralph Smyth, transport campaigner at the Campaign for the Protection of Rural England, explains what the problems are and what his organisation is doing to improve conditions for cycling in the countryside. Continue reading →

The post Cycling and the Countryside first appeared on The Bike Show .

New York Times reporter Juliet Macur has covered the Lance Armstrong doping story for almost a decade. Her bestselling new book Cycle of Lies, reveals how he won a record seven Tour de France victories and how the truth about his team's doping finally came out. We discuss whether cycling is cleaning up its act and the risks of sports journalists becoming over-invested in the success of the stars they report on. Continue reading →

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Mary Erskine of the band Me for Queen talks about their forthcoming album 'Iron Horse', inspired by cycling. And Grant Young, MD of London's Condor Cycles explains why steel bikes are selling like hotcakes, and how the London firm is helping breathe new life into the Italian bicycle manufacturing scene. Continue reading →

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What makes a 40-year-old man take up bike racing? Jack Thurston talks with Bill Strickland, American cycling journalist, author of a clutch of cycling books including a memoir, Ten Points, which tells of how his quest to make a mark on his local amateur bike racing scene helped him come to terms with his own inner demons caused by the torture he suffered as a child at the hands of an abusive father. Bill also talks about the fallout from the disgrace of Lance Armstrong, the state of doping in today's pro peloton and his #CapsNotHats campaign. Plus Jon Spencer tells of his journey to become a Super Randonneur. Continue reading →

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In the middle of possibly the worst week for cycling fatalities in London Mike Cavenett of the London Cycling Campaign talks about what his organisation is doing to change things in the city and how an effective cycling campaign requires a single, simple message clearly and imaginatively presented, mass mobilisation and relentless pressure on political decision-makers Continue reading →

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For many cyclists, breaking through the 100 mile barrier opens up a whole new world of long distance cycling. Kieron Yates, a two time finisher of 1200km Paris-Brest-Paris, joins Jack Thurston to talk about the allure of going the distance, with advice from a handful of members of the global randonneuring scene. Continue reading →

The post Going the Distance first appeared on The Bike Show .

Since the very earliest years of the bicycle, adventurous cyclists have been unable to resist the allure of the mountains - the challenge of riding up and the thrill of freewheeling down the other side. Mountains are also the crucible of many of the most dramatic moments in professional bike racing. Daniel Friebe and Pete Goding, the authors of 'Mountain Higher: Europe's Extreme, Undiscovered and Unforgettable Cycle Climbs' join host Jack Thurston to talk about the quest for ever more exhilarating climbs and breathtakingly beautiful places. In a podcast-only extra, Bill Chidley reports back from the Annual General Meeting of the London Cycling Campaign, where important details of the Space 4 Cycling campaign were agreed. Continue reading →

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In the last show of the summer season, Jack goes for a leisurely spin around the Welsh borders with local cyclist Owen Davies as his guide, from Abergavenny to Monmouth and back, past Raglan Castle, Rockfield recording studios and the unlikely Welsh residence of the notorious Nazi politician Rudolf Hess.

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This year's Tour de France was the hundredth edition of the world's biggest and best bicycle race - and it proved to be a race to remember. Jack Thurston talks with 'Buffalo' Bill Chidley about three weeks of outstanding bike racing. Next year the Tour will begin in Yorkshire and cycling journalist Peter Cossins is already excited about the race passing right by his house in Ilkley, West Yorkshire.

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Cyclists have a strange fascination with riding up hills and it's definitely a pleasure/pain thing. Jack goes in search of the hill climb junkies, first at the Catford Hill Climb on Kent's North Downs, the oldest continuously held bicycle race in the world, and then to Abergavenny where a new course has revived the local cycling club's flagging hill climb event. Continue reading →

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In the first show of the new season, Jack takes a leisurely ride in the Welsh Borders with Ned Boulting, one of the faces of ITV's coverage of the Tour de France. They discuss Ned's new book "On the Road Bike: the Search for a Nation's Cycling Soul", an engaging and ideosyncratic history of British bike racing. Continue reading →

The post How Britain Stopped Worrying and Learned to Love Bike Racing first appeared on The Bike Show .

It's just a few days until the start of the hundredth edition of the world’s greatest bike race, the Tour de France. Book publishers have taken this historic milestone as their cue to commission and produce an enormous quantity of books about the race, its history and legend.

To help sort the wheat from the chaff is Feargal McKay, a man who’s read more books about professional bike racing than there are hairpin bends in the Pyrenees. As the resident book reviewer at the Podium Cafe website, Feargal Mckay has built a reputation for outstanding book reviews that are both thorough and thought provoking. Continue reading →

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The spoked wheel is the unsung hero of the bicycle. Jack Thurston embarks on a journey of discovery, to understand how a bicycle wheel works with the help of engineer and materials scientist Professor Mark Miodownik, and then tries to learn how to build one, taking a class at London's Cycle Systems Academy. Continue reading →

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Land's End to John O'Groats is a classic cycle touring route. But it was also the blue riband distance among the long distance record-breaking heyday of the 1930s to the 1960s. In 1954 Eileen Sheridan, a diminutive cyclist from Coventry sponsored by the huge Hercules Bicycle Company, set a new record that stood for decades. Now 89, Eileen recounts a truly epic journey and tells the story of how she became one of the best-known, and best-paid, cyclists in Britain. Continue reading →

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To many UK cycling campaigners, David Hembrow is a Moses-type figure, handing down tablets of smooth, car-free red asphalt from the streets of Assen in the Netherlands where he lives and writes the blog A View from the Cycle Path. He's also a controversial figure, arguing that separation of cars and bikes is essential for mass cycling and that many UK campaigners are either on the wrong track or suffering from hopelessly low expectations. In an extended interview David explains why he moved from England to the Netherlands in search of cycling nirvana and what the Dutch have got to teach the rest of the world when it comes to making cycling friendly towns and cities. Continue reading →

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Contemporary bike culture is blossoming into a mesmerising kaleidoscope of bicycle-related art, craft and graphic design. Small artisans are leading the way while big brands try to cash in on the action. Alice Marsh of Bike V Design leads a discussion recorded in front of a live audience at the Victoria and Albert Museum, bringing together a panel that includes Tom Donhou, a former product designer turned bicycle frame-builder, the founders of The Ride Journal and Boneshaker magazine and James Greig, a graphic designer and bike blogger. Continue reading →

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London Mayor Boris Johnson's new Vision for Cycling has won widespread praise for its ambition of making London streets more inviting for people on bikes, following the successes of cities like Amsterdam and Copenhagen. Jack Thurston is joined by three cycling activists for a look at the details and to share their views on what really needs to be done to make London a safer and more pleasant place to ride a bike. Featuring Trevor Parsons, coordinator of Hackney Cyclists, blogger Mark Treasure and ex-London bike messenger Buffalo Bill Chidley Continue reading →

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As another cyclist is killed by a lorry in central London, Jack Thurston asks whether it's time to take a harder line to make the city's streets safer. Featuring Cynthia Barlow of RoadPeace, former bike messenger Bill Chidley and Mike Cavenett of the London Cycling Campaign, which has recently proposed a new design for lorries working in London.

Plus news of Jack's new book, Lost Lanes: 36 Glorious Bike Rides in Southern England. Continue reading →

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On the eve of Kraftwerk's eight night residency at the Tate Modern, Jack is joined by David Buckley, music writer and author of a new biography of the German electronic pop pioneers. Among the revelations in his book is evidence that a serious obsession with cycling contributed to the slowing of the band's musical output in the 1980s and, ultimately, the break-up of the group's classic line-up. Jack and David talk about Kraftwerk's journey from experimental music-making to the pinnacle of influence over pop, rock, hip-hop and dance music as well as their love affair with riding their bikes. Continue reading →

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In a seasonal podcast special, Jack heads to Balham, Gateway to the South, for the Christmas Fête organised by Vulpine, the London-based cycle clothing company. Featuring The Ride Journal, Artcrank, Michaux Club, Pannier.cc, Marsh-Mallows Cycling Holidays, Fresh Tripe and Nick Hussey of Vulpine. Continue reading →

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Grant Petersen thinks most cyclists need to 'unrace themselves', that is to say, stop following what professional racing cyclists do. Instead we should all ride more comfortable bikes in more comfortable clothes and be more relaxed about the whole experience. He's written a book called Just Ride and, in an extended interview, he tells Jack Thurston exactly what he means. Grant Petersen is a highly regarded bicycle designer, formerly of Bridgestone USA and founder and owner of Rivendell Bicycle Works in northern California. Continue reading →

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Pete Gostelow rode twenty thousand miles across Africa and passed through dozens of countries. In doing so he showed that the bicycle is the best way to travel. In this episode we continue our ride to Battersea Park and talk along the way about where he slept, what he ate, what his motivations were for making the journey and what it’s like to be back home after such a long trip. Pete also explains the inspiration he thinks ordinary cyclists can take from his long African adventure. Continue reading →

The post Across Africa by Bike (part two) first appeared on The Bike Show .

As November brings cold, dark cycling conditions to Britain, there's no better time to get out the maps and start dreaming up adventures for next year. How about 20,000 miles across Africa? That's a journey recently completed by Pete Gostelow. After crossing the Sahara, the Congo and the Namibian badlands, will Pete survive the mean streets of south London in a rolling interview? This is the first of a two-part feature.

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The post Across Africa by Bike (part one) first appeared on The Bike Show .

In the third and final instalment of the Raleigh mini-season, listeners to The Bike Show share their recollections of Raleigh bicycles they have loved - and loathed. Jack Thurston is joined by broadcaster and artist Ruby Wright and London man-about-town and Raleigh Twenty owner Jean-Marie Orhan. In a podcast-only bonus feature, Tony Hadland shares his thoughts on restoring old, neglected Raleigh bicycles.

Apologies to 'Fun Run' Robbie who is of course not 'Fun Boy' Robbie at all (or maybe he is?!) and yes, the town of Hawick in the Scottish Borders is pronounced like this. Continue reading →

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In the second of a two-part feature on the Raleigh Bicycle Company, historian Tony Hadland and Jack Thurston look at Raleigh's post-war success as the world's biggest bicycle manufacturing company and its long decline to a point where it was sold off to overseas investors and abandoned manufacturing in its home town of Nottingham. The Raleigh name lives on as a brand owned by Accell, a larger Dutch company. Continue reading →

The post Raleigh (part two): The Fall first appeared on The Bike Show .

In the first of a two-part feature on the Raleigh Bicycle Company, historian Tony Hadland and Jack Thurston chart the rise of the company from a small backstreet workshop in Nottingham in the mid-1880s to the mid-1950s when it was seemingly unassailable as the world's biggest bicycle manufacturer.

Tony Hadland is the author of Raleigh: Past and Presence of an Iconic Bicycle Brand. Continue reading →

The post Raleigh (part one): The Rise first appeared on The Bike Show .

Nick Larsen is founder and creative director at Charge Bikes of Frome in the west of England. Charge is a fairly new company, remarkable for many things and not least the fact that all its products are named after something you would normally find in the kitchen. There’s the Juicer (a road bike), the Spoon (a saddle), the Bowl (a pair of handlebars) and of course The Plug, a simple single speed bicycle that launched the company into the big time a few years ago.

Nick talks candidly about the bike industry, his own motivations and inspirations, where future trends are coming from and the potential of the exciting new technology of ‘3D printing’.

This conversation was recorded live at last month’s Bike V Design night at the Design Museum. Continue reading →

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On the eve of the summer edition of the People's Grand Tour, Jack goes for a spin around the back lanes of rural Hertfordshire with cycling journalist Lionel Birnie, a regular guest on The Bike Show, who writes about professional bike racing for the Sunday Times and Cycle Sport magazine. The People's Grand Tour is open to anyone willing to commit to riding at least ten days over a 23 day period, starting this Saturday 11 August. It's free to enter and a great way of increasing the amount of riding you're doing.

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The post Podcast special: Lionel Birnie’s People’s Grand Tour first appeared on The Bike Show .

In a live broadcast from Belgium House, a temporary Olympic Village and 'cycling paradise' in London's Middle Temple, Jack finds out about Flandrien cycling culture from Rik Vanwalleghem, director of the Tour of Flanders centre in Belgium. At the launch of the Rapha Cycle Club in Soho, Rapha founder Simon Mottram reflects on the eight years since the company was launched in 2004. London cyclist Nick Hussey of the recently launched Vulpine clothing brand talks about designing and making top quality, stylish apparel for the discerning cyclist. And Resonance FM engineer Chris Dixon rides up a virtual Koppenberg.

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The post Live from Belgium House first appeared on The Bike Show .

Tim Dawson and Jack Thurston talk about Albert Winstanley, the Lancashire writer, broadcaster and cycletourist who died earlier this year aged 95. Winstanley was a top notch nature writer and had the rare talent to convey in his writing the pleasures of a simple bicycle ride. One of Winstanley's articles features in the first edition of the Bicycle Reader, a new collection of quality writing about riding, co-edited by Jack Thurston and Tim Dawson, and available for Kindle and other e-book readers for the very modest price of £1.53. Continue reading →

The post Remembering Albert Winstanley and announcing the Bicycle Reader first appeared on The Bike Show .

Today is the last rest day in the Tour before the race heads into the Pyrenees for tomorrow's frighteningly gruelling mountain stage around the Circle of Death. The rest gave Jack Thurston time to catch up with Lionel Birnie, The Bike Show's favourite cycling journalist. Lionel writes for Cycle Sport Magazine and the Sunday Times. You can follow him on twitter at lioneljbirnie and read his articles in Cycle Sport Magazine and in the Sunday Times. Continue reading →

The post Tour de France Rest Day Chit-Chat with Lionel Birnie first appeared on The Bike Show .

This year's Tour de France is the 99th edition of a bicycle race that is rich in meaning and symbolism for the French nation. Christopher Thompson is professor of history at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana and author of a widely acclaimed cultural history of the Tour de France. He discusses how the race came about in an era of rising nationalism and how the route itself was loaded with political meaning. Professor Thompson argues the race projected carefully constructed role models and entrenched traditional gender archetypes. More recently, controversies over doping in cycle sport can be linked to concerns about recreational drug use in wider society. Continue reading →

The post Taking the Long View of The Tour de France first appeared on The Bike Show .

It's July, that means it's the Tour de France. Jack Thurston talks with Ned Boulting, a sports reporter who has been covering the Tour for ITV since 2003. He talks about the rise in popularity of cycle sport and everyday cycling over the past decade and the high jinks he's got up to while covering the last nine Tours de France Ned's book, How I Won the Yellow Jumper, is out now, published by Yellow Jersey Press. Continue reading →

The post How Ned Boulting Stopped Worrying and Learned to Love the Tour de France first appeared on The Bike Show .

1987 was an annus mirabilis for Stephen Roche, one of a wave of world class Irish athletes that rose to fame that decade. He won the Giro d'Italia, the Tour de France and the World Championship road race. The only other rider to have accomplished this feat, know as the 'triple crown', is Eddy Merckx. Roche has a new book out called 'Born To Ride' and talks about his life in cycling, winning the triple crown, as well as his thoughts on today's peloton, the scourge of doping and his own implication in an EPO doping conspiracy.

His new autobiography, Born to Ride, is out now, published by Yellow Jersey Press. Continue reading →

The post Stephen Roche, twenty five years later first appeared on The Bike Show .

Superficially, multitools are very attractive. They’re small, light and there’s definitely a Swiss Army Knife wow factor as you unfold the various blades, revealing one handy function after another. And this… for removing a stone from a horse’s hoof! But … Continue reading →

The post Touring tip #5: Resist the multitool first appeared on The Bike Show .

When you’re heading off on a cycle camping trip, you’ll need some kind of cup to drink from. Unless, of course, you prefer the rugged Bear Ghrylls drinking-from-waterfall-with-cupped-hands look or you take your inspiration from Ray Mears and prefer to … Continue reading →

The post Touring tip #2: the Lifeventure insulated mug first appeared on The Bike Show .

Coventry has a very good claim to be the birthplace of the modern bicycle, the "Rover Safety" invented in the 1880s by John Kemp Starley, one of the city's many bicycle makers. Someone very happy to make that claim is Steve Bagley, Head of Collections at the Coventry Transport Museum. We go for a ride around the city and a trip back in time. Continue reading →

The post To Coventry: Birthplace of the Bicycle first appeared on The Bike Show .

The British Isles are blessed with the world’s best maps for travel and adventure, made by the expert cartographers of the Ordnance Survey. There’s nothing like stopping by the side of the road, leaning your bicycle up against a dry … Continue reading →

The post Touring tip #1: Why Ordnance Survey maps are best and how to get them for free first appeared on The Bike Show .

A trip to the Danish capital of Copenhagen, city of stylish cyclists, where Jack Thurston meets Mikael Colville-Andersen, the force behind Cycle Chic and Copenhagenize. We talk about how a single street photograph set him on a new path of bicycle advocacy, fashion and city planning consulting. And lots and lots of blogging.

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The post To Copenhagen, City of Cyclists first appeared on The Bike Show .