On Tap - Part II

For those who can't stand watching cycling (even with the start of the Classics season) on television, here are some other bicycle related functions that you can partake in this weekend.

Handmade
For those in the cycling industry, the annual Interbike trade show is the mother of all things cycling and cycling related. But, with all due respect to those who have particpated or gone to Interbike, there's another show out there for you hardcore cyclo-philes, the North American Handmade Bicycle Show (San Jose, March 2nd -4th). It's a show where function meets form, and where form at times parallels art. The show currently is represented by 4 countries and employs some of the greatest bike crafters (big and small) like Dario Pegoretti, Seven Cycles, and Independent Fabrication.

Couch and Popcorn, or On The Roleurs
If you live in the northern part of North America and aren't exactly as motivated as your neighborhood Belgian counterpart, let me introduce you to ROLL Film. I discovered their website as part of the Chicagoland Bicycle Federation (ROLL Film can also be found as part of the IMDB). All the films that Greg Borzo (The Bicycle Guy) and Brad Strauss (The Movie Guy; leave it to a pair from Chicago to review films) review all have some sort of relation to bicycles. So if you need a break from your saddle and just want to park yourself on the sofa, or if you've decided to hop on the rollers/trainer and don't want to watch your usual training DVD, then here's the first of a series of recurring post about movies with bikes in them. Without further adieu...

"2 Seconds is bike heaven, or at least bike church. Reverence for bicycling permeates this film. Laurie, the heroine who gives up bike racing and finds refuge in being a bike messenger, loves to ride so much she often ends up in the countryside between deliveries, oblivious to her whereabouts. And when she gets home after a long day of delivering packages, she washes down her bike before attending to her own aches and pains. "I just want to ride," she wails at one point.

And ride she does, as you will want to while watching this film. Never has a movie featured more time in the saddle or more beautifully photographed bike riding scenes—from mountain trails, to country lanes, to city streets..." - more