Wheel Skates... the next big thing?

How do you fancy these in your awkwardly wrapped & somewhat misshapen Christmas stocking then folks?! These are wheelskates, "a pair of large wheels that have the skater's feet suspended below the axles enabling a smoother, more fluid skating experience that crosses boundaries into skiing and cycling". The large wheel & pneumatic tyre of Wheel-skates allow you to:

• gain and maintain momentum with less effort,
• greater stability and more manoeuvrability
• skate over rougher terrain or ski down grassy slopes
  or commute like a bicycle free of seat & handle bars

With the snow we've got currently, it could make for an interesting commute to & from work. And as for the journey home from the Christmas party...!!

Outstanding Landboarding vid...

This vid kind of makes skateboarding look a little bit tame... Enjoy!



Don't try this at home folks, at least not without the appropriate safety gear & training. Take it from one who's done enough face-plants in the mud (& never really learnt to fall with style, Buzz Lightyear fashion!) to know that landboarding really is as hard as it looks... ;0)

Happy weekend everyone!

**

F1 in Schools - 1 month to the UK finals...

With just under one month to go now until the UK National finals of the F1 in Schools competition, we're pleased to bring you the latest update from the lovely Mach1 team at Lutterworth College, Leicester, who we are proud to be sponsoring in this year's event.

They've attached a preview picture of the new car for us,

"The shape has been decided on but I may have to reshuffle some decals" Elliot of Mach1 team advises.

This car has a few new tricks up its sleeve, which we have promised not to reveal just yet, in case the competition is having a sneak preview too! We'll keep you up to date as we hear more from the development team at Mach1.

Cycling & festive cheer!

Real Cycling's blog post

http://realcycling.blogspot.com/2009/12/nice-lights-but-wheres-fairy.html

has this week filled us with festive cheer & we thought we'd share it with you!

Admittedly, Real Cycling's message was less festive cheer & more safety first (very importantly) but, if we're being honest we just like the twinkly lights!

Please send us more twinkly pictures & we will post them. Red Bikes has very kindly sent us the image below (you need to check out Red Bike's Christmas tree vs cat video, it's very funny - http://redbikes.blogspot.com/2009/12/lauras-christmas-tree-wont-last-long.html )

****

Has anyone actually got a tree on their bike yet?!!

Coolest Cycle track... ever!

Berlin's Cycle show last weekend featured possibly the best bike track ever invented in the world... ever! Check this out:

Cyclists power little Playmobil figures round a track in a race against the clock & each other. It may be impractical & a tad on the large side, but I WANT ONE!

Happy Birthday Schaeffer!

We're really excited to be able to bring you Schaeffer Mclean's latest skate vid today. It is his sixth birthday on Monday, so we'd all like to say

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SCHAEFFER!!!

Since we last told you about his exploits, Schaeffer has been very busy - his Mum Eve tells us more:

"We went to Milan at half term and some of the footage is in the vid. We aren't doing King of the Groms this year, we will probably wait until he's a bit older, but meanwhile we have been skating all over. He just did a little rippers competion at the Boardroom, Leicester, last Sunday and he did really well, and won 3 prizes!"

Well done Schaeffer, we're really proud of you. We hope that you enjoy wearing your new SMB skate gear, which is winging its way to you very soon...

***

We just have to give a quick mention to this post:
Blackbird Blog: GIFT IDEA #4: GOT YOUR SKATE PUNK LITTLE BROTHER COVERED

Whether you want to buy anything or not, this is funny! I love the " brother who just turned fifteen - so bored and world-weary that you wonder if he's into anything at all. Invariably you'll find out that the grumpy, sarcastic little blank starer actually does enjoy a handful of things: skating, hanging out, listening to music, etc" bit!!

Have a great weekend everyone!

***

Cycling in England is dangerous...

Well we all knew that really, but today it has been declared officially! ON THE BBC!! THEREFORE IT MUST BE TRUE!!! A long-term study made by researchers from the University of Surrey has revealed how dangerous UK roads are for cyclists, with a disproportionately high number of cyclists injured on the road, compared to car drivers and passengers, as reported by The Independent newspaper.





For those of us who can't move to Holland tomorrow (apparently much safer) or don't actually give a monkeys & cycle anyway, we thought we'd share a few of our favourite cycling blogs & sites...

• http://www.cycling-inform.com/ - bike maintenance, training help, viewer videos & much more.
• http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/ - the ever-informative magazine's website.
• http://www.atob.org.uk/ - for those who want/need a folding or electric bike
• http://www.fatcyclist.com/ - I am sure we need no introduction here!
• http://kimbofo.typepad.com/londoncyclingdiary/ - London, cycling, diary... you get the idea!
• http://minxcompendium.blogspot.com/ - Girls' Cycling -yeay!
• http://ernestonbike.blogspot.com/ - this guy's exploits are LEGEND...
• http://realcycling.blogspot.com/ - we love Real Cycling - they're brilliant at sarcasm and drinking it seems ;0)
• http://crapwalthamforest.blogspot.com/ - cycling news, views & opinion
• http://redbikes.blogspot.com/ - we love you Red Bikes, you cycle lots, you are funny & don't mind admitting that it's too cold to cycle & you'd rather play games indoors. In short, you're our hero!

For those of you who no longer feel safe cycling out of doors, may we introduce you to the exotic world of indoor trick cycling - here some very clever German ladies in leotards show you how it is done...

****

Glen Pointon fishing the Wye

We've enjoyed watching Glen Pointon's exploits for a year now & he's just posted his first underwater fishing video, showing his release of a Grayling that he caught fishing the River Wye. What we love about Glen (other than his amazing blog, beautiful photos & dashing good looks!!) is that he catches all the subtleties of fishing, down to the fact that Grayling are a different colour on the Wye than they are on the River Dove.

See more of his posts at http://glenpointon.blogspot.com/

The other thing you have to love about Glen is that, doubtless through years of experience & tough times, he makes it all look smooth, effortless & verging on the elegant, unlike the poor gents pictured below who just make you think "WHY?!!!" ;0)