Ahhh, roller racing, the sport of kings… I’m currently riding the legs-like-a-blender-followed-by-5-minutes-of-nausea expressway that is roller racing each week as part of the south London roller league. It’s only 2 x 750m sprints, but is among the more painful experiences one can have on a bike. But afterwards Zoe makes you fine tea, coffee, cakes and pastries and all is well again with the world.
In Gent, there’s a curious mix of bikes at both ends of the ‘cared-for’ spectrum. You either rock a sumptuously coloured and vibrant new thing, or a dilapidated butchers bike with flat tyres, rusted spokes and rod brakes. There’s almost nothing in between. But what all these bikes share is the fact that they’re built for comfort and a chilled out ride. They’re built for rolling over the cobblestones and tramlines that criss-cross the entire city.
I love these bikes – spotted in Gent during the Six Day. They contrasted well with the taught, tight angles of the race bikes the pros were riding at het Kuipke velodrome. We were Krooozing by day, racing at night.
We’re in Gent. Enjoying the bikes, the beer and the Belgian broodjes. Off to see the 6-day later in the week for some full-on track racing combined – between races – with a smattering of cheesy cabaret like only the Belgians know how. Gent is jammed with bikes – heavy 28 inch wheeled behemoths that everyone rides. And i mean everyone.
Carsten Höller’s slides are at the Tate Modern, london, until April 2007. The best bikeless fun you’ll have all day. Weeeeeeee!!!!
London, long weekend. We visited the Richard Kern exhibition at Hotel on the Old Bethnal Green road – tiny gallery on the unfinished ground floor of an old shop, but provided a suitably raw/seedy place for the exhibition. Saw lots of bright young Hoxton hipsters – the graffiti in Shoreditch exudes a kind of world weary Mac-toting ennui just like some of its inhabitants.
…is our spiritual home
Nothing like the smooth, steep banking and tight turns of the UKs smallest velodrome. 143m small infact. And bloody cold in the winter, but the compression you feel coming out of the banking at speed makes it all worthwhile.
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