Bike Porn

The lovely Farah Fawcett & bicycle

The wind blows hard on my face as I pedal my new Cervelo R3 along the Coastal Trail around Anchorage. The cadence of my legs clicking off the miles, the slight burn in my thighs going up the short steep hills, and the trees flitting by my side combine to give me an intense rush that never ends, but continues to propel me forward. Only 35 miles to go; I know the route and can see the next turn, feel the bump of a tree root, watch for other cyclists, hikers, and runners.

The Cervelo R3

This has been one of my two aerobic exercises all my life, and I love every second in the saddle. I've been riding a bike since I was a small boy. As a young man in Finland I rode a bike every day, summer or winter for years. BTS, some think (Better than sex!). I'm not sure about that, but it's a rush. The biking world is huge: here in the U.S. it is growing, but still a sub-culture. In just about every other country, biking is a way of life. My last trip to Switzerland saw folks of every age cruising the roads on expensive carbon-fiber bikes in brilliant hot-colored lycra bike clothing. In Europe bike racing is big business - think of Lance Armstrong, the Tour de France, the Giro d'Italia, the Tour de Suisse, Paris-Roubaix.

For years I rode my hand-built beautiful Italian 'Legnano bike' with the full-Campagnolo components. I pedaled it everywhere through Maryland while in graduate school, through the Tetons, and around Alaska. It never wore out...lots of sew-up tires, but the bike is a beauty.

The 1970 Legnano

And every month I read 'Velo News', the only newspaper dedicated to bike racing. It was printed on folded newsprint with grainy B&W images of Eddy Merckx and the great racers of the period. Over the years it became a huge folio of glossy photos and high quality ads for premier bikes.

As the internet took off I googled 'cycling' and a world of wonders were unveiled. As the years passed, hundreds of sites appeared. Even 'Velo News' is there; 'Bicycling.com', and a zillion others. I could see the results of races within minutes; I could see video clips of the riders, the finishes, the new gear.

And then I clicked on http://www.Copenhagencyclechic.com and discovered bike porn!

Copenhagencyclechic.com

Well, when I first clicked on the site it was called Copenhagengirlsonbikes.com A fellow named Mikael Colville-Andersen was posting a blog about copenhagen's bike culture, filled with images of cool bikes and cool folks: lots of them women. I remembered back when I was a young man living in Finland watching all the women riding bicycles everywhere, riding in skirts...short skirts, riding in high heels, riding with flowing scarves, riding plain bikes with little baskets on the bars. They had the most beautiful legs in the world. I said then and still believe that every woman in Finland and Denmark is beautiful.

Copenhagen Cycle Chic's banner is a woman riding a red bike, gorgeous legs, and high heel shoes. It had my attention immediately. Clicking through the photos on the site I saw hundreds, thousands of folks on bikes. And just as I remembered from my youth, the women were awesome. The men were cool. Everyone had on great clothes. It was a site for us all.

Even the bikes are beautiful, normal street bicycles. Some have beautiful paint jobs, some are black and simple, some have huge baskets, others have carts attached. Drool drips from the lips as I check out the photos. I'm in love! In love with the women, in love with the bikes.

The sidebar lists an ever growing number of links to similar sites from virtually every city in the world. Some of my personal favorites are:
http://ridingpretty.blogspot.com/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cicloeleganza/favorites/show/

And check out all the bike manufacturers; for starters try Velorbis:
http://www.velorbis.co.uk/

The blogs inspired me to sit on a bench in downtown Anchorage, Alaska, and photograph the fine folks in my local burg bustling past. In a few minutes I saw everything from kids to king size; from race bikes to trikes:

Future dirt biker with mud!

Mountain biker at Westchester lagoon

Red hair on recumbent