Making Your Ride More Pleasurable

Almost any cyclist will tell you that one of the great pleasures in life is being massaged after a long, hard ride.  In fact, professional racing cyclists--as well as others--regard it as a necessity.

Of course, racers are usually rubbed on their legs, shoulders and other areas that bear the brunt of their rides.  I would assume that the same is true for those who aren't racers--depending, of course, on who is giving the massage!

If you wanted a massage while riding--especially in those areas that touch your saddle (and aren't touched by someone who's not intimate with you), you were out of luck--unless, perhaps, you were riding with someone on a tandem.

(I've ridden a tandem twice in my life, both times as the "captain".  Neither time was I or my "stoker" even thinking about massages--to my knowledge, anyway-- so I cannot say for certain whether it's possible for one tandem partner to stroke the other while riding!)

Well, now it looks like someone is going to fill a market niche I never knew existed.  SexShop 365, an online sex-toy retailer in the UK, is now offering "Happy Ride", a battery-operated vibrating seat cover.  The intensity of the vibrations can be controlled and, as Daily Mail correspondent Katy Winter says, it will "make journeys by bicycle that bit more exciting".

(Don't you just love that dry British wit?)

 It seems that the device is designed to cash in on two things:  a resurgence of popularity for cycling in Britain and the mania surrounding Fifty Shades of Grey and the movie based on it that is scheduled to be released next year.

Oh, it costs 28 GBP (about 45 USD at current exchange rates). Delivery is free in the UK.

Dans Le Soleil Couchant

Twice I have been in Paris for the end of the Tour de France.  

Now, I didn't go specifically to see the riders whisk down le Boulevard des Champs-Elysees:  I just happened to be in Paris so, of course, I squeezed my way into as good a viewing position as I could find.  Both times, I felt the effort was more than worthwhile, even though the race's overall winner had already been more or less decided.

Even though Chris Froome had pretty much wrapped up this year's General Classification title before the final stage began, I would have loved to have been in Paris to see this:

From Cycling Art Blog

I witnessed more than a few spectacular sunsets through the Arc de Triomphe:  If one stands at any point on the Champs-Elysees, one has to face west in order to see the Arc.  But I never saw anything quite like the show the sky and the Tour riders offered the other night!

Convincing Me Otherwise

Every once in a while, I think about repainting Vera. The finish is pretty scraped up, though actually not bad for a bike its age.  Also, I think about having shifter bosses brazed on and having the cable tunnels near the top of the down tube removed, as I use a down tube shifter.

Of course, one thing that deters me from doing so is money: It hasn't been abundant for me lately.  But seeing this bike may also keep me from altering and refinishing Vera:

It's a Holdsworth from, I'd guess the 1970's.  At least, the style of the lugs and paint as well as the Campagnolo Record gruppo (with a Nuovo Record rear derailleur) lead me to believe it's from that era.

All of the Campagnolo equipment--including the large-flange hubs--seems to be original.  About the only deviations I could see were the replacement brake blocks (Mathauser Kool Stop) and a non-Campagnolo headset I could not identify.  The latter component might have been a British-made TDC headset, which was often supplied with English frames.

Even though the paint was worn away on some parts of the frame, I didn't feel that it was battered or decrepit.  Of course, the fact that someone is using it makes it seem contemporary and relevant. But there's just something about high-quality lugged steel bikes--particularly the British ones, in my opinion--that seems to age well.

Of course, they also give sweet rides!