Hot Dog cycles + Pedal Project + Okolo = Headquarters

For those who don’t know, there’s a new bike shop in town. Hot Dog cycles (the 2 man tiny bike shop that was building bikes in Namesti Republiky), Pedal Project (designers, bike enthusiasts and magazine producers) and OKOLO (designers, bike enthusiasts and magazine producers) joined forces to create HEADQUARTERS. The new shop is now open for service and sales. Eventually, there will be a cycle cafe (coffee, beer and snacks) and a studio space / art gallery.
For more info, check out: www.headquarters.cz and www.hotdog-cycles.com

UAC Dráhový pohár 2011 / UAC Track Cup 2011

Velodrom Třebešín, © PedalProject

Po ročnej pauze, keď sa organizátori z UAC (Unie Amaterských Cyklistů) nedohodli so správcami Třebešínskeho velodrómu na podmienkach prenájmu, je tu v roku 2011 opäť dráhový pohár, nazvaný ČMSS a.s. velodrom Cup, a pretekári sa môžu tešiť na 6 dielov. Dva z nich sa uskutočnia na velodróme v Lounech (dĺžka 440m), a tieto podujatia sú určené aj pre cestné bicykle. Zvyšné 4 diely sa budú konať v Prahe na Třebešíne (dĺžka 333m) a sú určené iba pre dráhové bicykle s pevným prevodom, bez bŕzd.

Na každý diel su pripravené rôzne dráhové disciplíny, zoradené do tematických celkov, napr. sprint omnium (200m s letmým štartom, časovka na 1km, šprinty). Všetky preteky sú vypísané aj pre príchodzích, nielen pre členov UAC. Štartovné je 70 Kč a začína sa neskoré popoludnia. Ak si chceš vyskúšať aké to je pretekať na dráhe, teraz máš možnosť!

Kalendár celého seriálu vyzerá nasledovne:

• 25. máj (st), Louny, 500m šprint + časovka na 3km
• 8. jún (st), Třebešín, Sprint Omnium (200m s letmým štartom, časovka na 1km, šprinty)
• 29. jún (st), Třebešín, Omnium (200m, časovka na 3km, hladký pretek, vyraďovací pretek)
• 13. júl (st), Třebešín, časovka jednotlivcov na 3km
• 25. aug (št), Louny, 500m šprint + časovka na 3km
• 07. sep (st), Třebešín, Omnium (200m, časovka na 3km, hladký pretek, vyraďovací pretek)

Ďalšie informácie nájdete na stránkach UAC.

– — –

After a quiet last year due to disagreement between the organizers from UAC (Union of Amateur Cyclists) and managers of the Třebešín velodrome about reasonable rent, the track cup, called ČMSS a.s. velodrom Cup is back in 2011 with 6 sessions. Two of them take place at the velodrome in Louny (440m), which are open for people on road bikes, too, due to milder sloping of the track there. The remaining 4 are planned to happen in Prague at Třebešín (333m) and only track bikes with fixed gear and no brakes are allowed on the track.

A different set of track disciplines are scheduled for each session, with a common theme, e.g., sprint omnium (200m with flying start, kilo, sprints). All the races are open for everybody, not just UAC members, with a starting fee of 70 CZK and start in late afternoons. If you always wanted to try racing on the track, this is a great opportunity!

The full schedule of the track cup is as follows:

• May 25 (Wed) at Louny, 500m sprint + 3km TT
• Jun 08 (Wed) at Třebešín, Sprint Omnium (200m flying start, kilo, match sprints)
• Jun 29 (Wed) at Třebešín, Omnium (200m, 3km TT, scratch, elimination)
• Jul 13 (Wed) at Třebešín, 3km individual pursuit
• Aug 25 (Thu) at Louny, 500m sprint + 3km TT
• Sep 07 (Wed) at Třebešín, Omnium (200m, 3km TT, scratch, elimination)

More details at the UAC website.

Volvo = douche bag

News update:
a new study conducted by scientists (A.S.W.H.O.L.E), shows that Volvo has now surpassed Audi as the car of choice for assholes. a comprehensive, long-term examination of the social status of over 4,500 assholes(a.k.a douche bags) from across the EU, indicates that assholes are now upgrading their burnt orange A4s to the new C70 cabriolet.

“In 2010, in Prague’s city center, there were only a handful of assholes driving Volvos,” said Patrik Arslanian, from Hot Dog cycles. “In the past six months, however, i’ve been in ten fist fights with assholes driving Volvos as compared to only one driving an Audi.”

because of this alarming new information, many cyclists have added Volvo to their list of cars (that normally consists of Mercedes, Audi and Maserati) to look out for while cycling.

-beware my friends…. beware.

 

UPDATE!!

This disturbing trend has been independently corroborated by peer review. Even more disturbing is the fact that, while Audi drivers display predictable signs of aggression consistent with male impotence, Volvo drivers may actually be physically and mentally too feeble to operate their vehicles correctly.

Bastogne nad Vltavou

It’s been said many time, many ways, but still:

 

Makes me giggle.

Salo noted the fact that it is face-freezing cold, and I’d just like to take a few pixels to point out that I agree. What he OUGHT to do about it is to post some pictures of his luxurious tour de Marin County here so we can all dream up novel curses to share with him next time we see him. Not to worry, though, spring is on the way… Right? I’ve actually seen more and more commuters out these days despite the cold. Even the messenger with the cargo bike is back on the streets. It gets to feeling as though Prague is warming to cyclists, until I get home and find the “no bicycles” sign the fat bastard owner installed in the lift especially for me.

One little thing that I do in cold like this is to loosen each spoke a quarter turn, then draw it back in again. It lets me know which ones are stressed and where to expect problems.  That and keeping the chain clean. I’m not sure if it helps anything, but it makes me feel better 🙂

Boldog karácsonyt, ty vole…

As some of you might have noticed in the comments of our “Buy/Sell” section, the Herce-Hurca guys in Budapest have opened up a shop! They have a nice online assortment of bits and pieces and the prices are reasonable, so leave your wives/girlfriends/husbands/boyfriends/parents/dogsandcats a nice, subtle hint to check it out Christmas style 😉 It’s about as close to local as fixie shops get!

 

Momentary Lapses

Must have been something in the rohliky today, because I saw no less than 9 bike commuters on the way to work! Not couriers, hurrying to their lurking stair in front of the CSOB on Na Prikope, but actual, in the flesh cycle commuters with feral looks, fenders, ear warmers and big, bulky bags!

Nothing really to say, I was just sort of excited! Probably I missed something? Is everyone who cycles to work meant to get a half-day off?

Polo tomorrow?

Canada Goes the Way of the USA

It’s sort of a blog-crime to repost things that Bike Snob already pointed out, given that all 6 readers here read the Bike Snob first, but this video of some fat douchebag politician from Toronto is too sick to let go. I know it’s all stereotyping, but I really had this closely guarded illusion that, as weird as Canadians are, they are at least “progressive” in that that they aren’t generally outright evil. Wrong, I guess. This fat bastard was recently elected Mayor of Toronto, but could just as easily be mayor of Vysočany. Thank God for the triple bypass.

Speckled Green Map

The Auto*Mat guys, always adept at polishing up the edges of thunderclouds until they look something like chrome, have published this “Green Map”, which includes cycling-friendly spots in the center of Prague. It’s a vaguely situationist undertaking, and pretty cool to see. These folks really are trying to put a brave face on and start changing perceptions a bit. The map has some unique features, one of the most interesting of which is a time legend – a legend which shows how long it would take an average walker or cyclist to cover a certain distance. You can also use it to locate a bike rack in the center of Prague – the first person to photograph all five and post them here wins a super prize!

Auto*Mat are looking for partners and advertisers to help bring the map online. Given the stated mission of the undertaking, it sort of begs the question: why didn’t they save the paper and just put the thing online in the first place? Will another free throwaway map really help convert the great “over-washed” masses or just create more backpack lint and white space for Americans to scribble “eshtay yeden peevo proseem”? Either way, it’s got to be more effective than the graffito scrawled on the construction barrier at the ongoing experiment in urban vomit that is the Narodni trida metro plaza. “We Love the Auto*Mat” writ large in red spraypaint beside “Fuck Police Ganga Anarchist!” or whatever, only reaffirms to the Tesco-shopping public that anyone who cares about their environment is a young white twat with greasy dreadlocks, an underfed dog and too much free time.

Auto*Mat ought to organize a “rychla akce” down there this weekend to repaint a nice hippy mural on the construction barrier and weld some bike racks onto it as well.

 

In the meantime, “mainstream” Prague has responded:

Prague polo team takes Pardubice by storm

The Golden Boys, Poločas Rozpadu: Smrťák, salo, Pavel

As we mentioned previously, this past weekend our friends in Pardubice hosted a polo tournament. Unfortunately, it so happened that it coincided with the Czech National Single Speed Championships, which swiftly reduced the ranks of potential players from Prague in half.

On Saturday morning, three of us who either lacked the necessary equipment or interest to partake in the single-speed MTB race, gathered and set course for Pardubice. As a tribute to the lack of enthusiasm for bike polo exhibited by the other members of our less than numerous group and the general trend in the past months, we decided to aptly call our team Poločas Rozpadu (Half-life).

However, what we lacked in quantity we supplemented with quality and sailed through the first part of the tournament without letting a single goal against, winning all three games 5:0. We continued in this style through the play-off games, where we won 5:0 against Bussy Pussy in semifinals and finally 2:0 in the game for gold against Deer Hunters. Pussy Reggae lost in the battle for bronze medal to Bussy Pussy (yes, we see the naming pattern but we don’t know any details, it might be some Pardubice thing..). As a final bonus, we played one exhibition game against the best players Pardubice had to offer and after a much tougher match we prevailed once again and won 5:3.

All in all, we had a great time (even the weather was favorable, which can’t be said about the poor sods racing in the single-speed championships in rain and mud!) and we are looking forward to the spring tournament the Pardubice guys plan to organize.

More pictures at http://www.bikepolo.ic.cz/BikePolo/Photos.html

Cats and Dogs or Polo, This Wednesday

Weather permitting (meaning it’s not pouring cats and dogs), we are playing tomorrow, from 8:30 PM in Malešice. Clearly, we aren’t into water polo but if you are unsure about the weather, remember that as we say around here, you aren’t made of sugar and take advice from the Aussie Chopper Reid.