Cyclotourism in Paris

Alex Singer founded his bicycle brand and workshop in 1938. The shop still exists in same place and  everything is still live and well. They still use epic Reynolds tubing to build up their custom road, cyclocross and randonneur frames. Gruppos are Dura Ace, Campagnolo Record and Sram Red. "Columbus changes everything every year, measurement, thickness, shapes etc. We do not want any hassle and that's why we don't use it". Alex Singer sells road frames separately but cyclotourist aka randonneur they do not, because the challenging build and frame adjustments. Thanks to shop people to let me see where steel work magic happens. I got nice pair of Grand Bois 650B tires to help my future projects. Rando Boutique is worth visiting too.

20 000 pieces of Velib city bikes are spreaded around the Paris to be used easily as rental transportation. As said in earlier postings, in metro you see city tunnels but with bicycle you see the city outdoors. System is cleaver and easy to use. Btw. these bikes needs to be serviced and repaired occasionally and they use very cleaver space to make bigger repair jobs possible. In Paris they use a bigger boat or barges, sailing in Seine river to do these jobs. Velib is nice and easy way to investigate Paris more deeply. I had really nice ride from Bastille via Quai de Valmy to Paris science center and Pompidou center.

Narrow streets and big traffic jams has developed Paris personal transportation systems towards two wheels. During our three night visit we saw lots of mopeds and motorcycles or motos as they say in France. Bicycle amount has growing too since last visit which is nice but comparing really bicycle friendly cities in Holland and Danmark they still love they cars in Paris.

Paris is great city for for food, wine, antiques, fashion and art.

Card

Father's day card done and given by my daughter. :)

Bicycle Repairmen

Bicycles are build, repaired and serviced. Here are some nice samples of this kind of businesses.

Anvil Bikeworks are doing great looking jigs for frame building.

Bike service is done by Velofixer in Brussels.

Monty Python's superhero is doing repairs.

Bikebulance

Some of us are by nature Florence Nightingale's or Mother Teresa's, we take care of other people life and health. Other ones, just do not care. It is a big difference in healthcare between modern western countries and countries where western world people used colonialism and imperialism to grow their prosperity by submitting locals.

Good invention to help healthcare is bicycle ambulance, a trailer pulled by normal bicycle. It is effective, cheap and really practical. Type bicycle ambulance in your favorite search engine and you get several projects in results.

BTW.   In Daniel Defoe's book Robinson Crusoe, the main character named native friend, which he just set free from cannibals hands, as Friday. It is funny detail but is it really a rough example of colonialism?

"I dont belive in your bicicles"

People are mostly nice and some street names are unbelievable short. Pikk, Aia and Uus, just to mention some.

City of Tallinn is living very interesting era.

Soviet time "environmental disasters", very modern and hip buildings and old classical, european style architectual golden nuggets. Soviet/western "hybrids" can be seen in mental attitude and architecture as well. I guess estonians want to break free some of their history by doing this.

If believed from internet, cycling is very popular in Tallinn, well, during our three day trip I did not see  much of it. Instead I saw a lot's of massive SUV's, steamy trams and buses, quite a lot of pedestrians too. Traffic planning is for sure under development, I guess safe tram stops are coming after they have managed the SUV parking problems. 

"A developed country is not a place where the poor have cars. It's where the rich use public transport". -Mayor of Bogota

Still I found marks from cycling scene: Velonaut, Mystic BMX, City Bike Tallinn and I still believe cycling has big potential in Tallinn.

Mystic BMX

City Bike, bicycle rental shop

great quotes

"The bicycle has done more for the emancipation of women than anything else in the world."

—Susan B. Anthony 1896

"When I was a kid I used to pray every night for a new bicycle. Then I realized that the Lord doesn't work that way so I stole one and asked Him to forgive me."

—Emo Philips

"Give a man a fish and feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and feed him for a lifetime. Teach a man to cycle and he will realize fishing is stupid and boring."

—Desmond Tutu

"Sometimes when I tell people I ride around town on a bike, they think I'm crazy. Well, once you get used to it, riding in the city gives you a nice jolt of energy."
—David Byrne

"I stay tough, I stay cool, and I leave the road rage to less experienced traveler"
—Sonny Barger

Here is exellent song about necessity of bicycle done by M.A. Numminen, finnish underground artist.

Ancient Japan

"Ancient Japan was a pretty strange place." This quote is from brilliant Jim Jarmush movie Ghost Dog. Louise says this to protagonist of the film about the book on the floor.

 TRICIA VESSEY

Forest Whitaker

After checking this following bicycle related film, Japan seems still a bit strange place.