The Triplets of Belleville

Another bicycle classic that you could watch on a cold winter’s day is the 2003 animated comity The Triplets of Belleville.  Written and directed by Sylvain Chomet, this film was nominated for two Academy Awards, Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song, but could have won in the categories of Best Grandmother Ever, Ugliest Portrayal of French Women on Film or Best Rider's Legs… I am pretty sure those are all active categories.

The movie starts out in 1920/30’s France with the concert of title Triplets of Belleville, who share the stage with a correctly three fingered Django Reinhardt, a hard dancing Fred Astaire, and a risqué Josephine Baker (oh, this movie is PG-13 by the way), but quickly moves onto the central characters who are a grandson and his grandmother. This grandmother does her darndest to find something to interest her lonely grandson. After many tries, the saving grace ends up being cycling (well tricycling, but he is a kid)

  The movie progresses to the 1960’s (per a de Gaulle like French President) where this grandson eventually becomes a Tour de France cyclist, under the coaching and doting of his grandmother. Without giving too much away, let’s just say craziness ensues. This includes bikes, possible cycling addiction, the mob, a fat dog, and the love only a grandmother can have for her grandson.

 

Now though this is a comedy, don’t look for a lot of big jokes. This movie thrives on subtle cultural and historic references, running gags like comparing the cyclists to horses, and little things you catch in the background (for example a butcher shop that has a pig riding a bike made of pork, or the Triplets watching Jour de Fete).  I think cyclists at any level will love the jokes about hill climbing, history buffs the cultural references, and music lovers the sound track.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

 Bermondsey Square in London

Medina County Fairgrounds

Happy Hanukkah!

Some sweet Bicycle Menorahs for your Hanukkah!

Bicycle Sports to Consider

[Don’t Try This At Home]

Think of all the things that you could do next spring on your bike; you have long rides like races or tours, or short fun rides like our Tweed Rides, or you could start a sweet bicycle sport.  

For example there is Bicycle Polo; think of rich dudes riding around on expensive ponies trying to hit a little ball… except switch out the pony for a bike, and you don’t need the cash flow to feed the steel steed so anyone can take part.

Started in Ireland in 1891 and even exhibited in the 1908 Olympics, this is hardly a new sport. While in its most popular incarnation today is played on hard courts instead of the traditional grass, it is still basically people riding around trying to hit a little ball.

 

Often played on low geared  single or fixed geared bikes by people who don’t mind taking a tumble off their ride; All you really need are some great bike handling skills, a mallet and a street hockey ball. It is reportedly pretty addictive, so you might want to think twice about starting the habit.

 

Another bike sport that you might not want to let your mom know you want to try is bicycle jousting!

Whether you participate in something like The Chap Olympiad and use umbrellas to try to pull each other off the bike or ride a Tall Bike and hit each other with lances, the general idea is to duplicate the shenanigans of Medieval Knights and put your opponent on the ground while you ride away.

Here is a starter set for your kids!

Then I ran across this photo and came up with my own idea!

Sadly after doing a quick internet search I found I was not the first to think of it, but still imagine the possibilities of BICYCLE CHARIOT RACING!

You could have straight up Ben Hur races (think of one to four “horses”) or maybe archery where the charioteer shoots at a target as they ride by, or even a modified type of jousting.  The possibilities are endless!

Bike Chariot

Chariot Race

While we don’t recommend the average rider take up any of these sports, we do suggest thinking about other things your bike can do besides riding in a straight line.

Men's Patterns

Again, this is not an endorsement for these companies, but to be fair we thought we would pass along some patterns that we have found for men's fashion (and really, we know that the ladies could probably pull them off as well).

Reconstructing History  makes a cool pattern for a Norfolk Jacket which was a common article for men's sporting wear for many decades.

Patterns of History from the Wisconsin Historical Society makes a pattern for a men's Sack Suit. I love the idea that a Sate Historical Society sells patterns for clothing in their collections.

These sites have many other patterns that may interest you.

Harper House Patterns

Some of our readers have bemoaned the lack of riding cloths for the gentler sex. Well if you happen to be among the sewing inclined here may be a tip to help you out. Though the Alpena Tweed and Bike Club has never done business (that's our little disclaimer) with them, Harper House Patterns does carry some great looking outfits.

Harper House Women's Sports Patterns

We would love to hear from anyone who has had any, be it good or bad experience with them. For that matter, do you know of anyone else who is selling patterns that would work for a Tweed Ride outfit?

Wish List...

Just a thought... if you have been a good little boy or girl you may want to ask for a new bike this holiday season!