GPS For Cyclists

Traveling is not only about exploring new horizons, it's also a way of leaving your normal daily routines at home. Perhaps that's why some people use GPS devices to get as quickly as possible from one point to another. One of the advantages of traveling on a bicycle is that the process of getting away from daily worries into relaxing vacation mode goes on a slower pace then any other travelling method, except walking. Luckily enough for some people there are good cycling GPS-devices to help them finding their way. I don't have one, because I like to use maps. They give me a better sense of where I am instead of being lead by GPS to any place without knowing where it's situated.

The Bee Keepers Garden

Last week we've had a little vacation in Mayrhofen, Austria. We didn't do much: the children mostly wanted to swim in the nearby swimming pool. The wife and I mostly read books, magazines and the latest news on our smartphones.
Mayrhofen is a very quiet place after the snow has disappeared. Also a very neat place. I found it difficult to find interesting points of view for sketching. When everything looks so well organized it tends to be boring. The houses all look very tidy. Luckily enough I found an interesting view from one of the balconies of our appartement into the backyard of the neighbours' house. The neighbour turns out to be a bee keeper and I've tried to capture some bees in flight.
Black ink sketch with Visconti pen on Moleskine.

King Of The Road

Yesterday we had the Royal Inauguration of our new King. We also had fancy fairs throughout the country and on the one held in our village I came across a model of a car we really like: a Volkswagen Microbus.
This one is a scalemodel of the 1962 model and we are hoping to buy a real one, in the future. There are not so many good ones left over the years and the ones still riding are all a bit above our current budget. So I'm not sure we can get our hands on a model like this. But a more recent model will be quite welcome also.
Sketch made with my Visconti-pen this morning, right after breakfast.

Something To Think About

About a year ago I was cycling in Germany. It was an organised cyclingweekend, meant to keep in shape for the season to come. The weather was friendly, although a bit cold in the mornings, but temperatures were during the day comfortable enough to ride in cyclingshorts.
Our guide, having many years of cycling experience, told us that particarly these weatherconditions are the cause of many knee-problems racing cyclists suffer from. Because you think it's warm enough to ride in shorts, the knees are remaining too cold during the day which may cause rheumatic complaints in the years to come.
Keeping this in mind I actually bought a pair of knee-pieces, just to wear them while cycling in this time of the year when Spring just peeks around the corner.

Easter Morning

This year everything seems to be different at Eastern. First of all we had snow this morning. I can't remember I'd ever see it snowing on Easter. At least not where I come from.
Secondly my wife and I were the first this morning at the breakfast table. Normally our kids get up early on sunday's. We didn't really know what to do with the situation. We allready hidden the Eastern eggs last night so there was not very much to do after baking the buns. We sat there, looked at each other and didn't even had a subject for a nice conversation without the kids...

Spring will arrive soon, they say

When Winter has left, Spring will arrive. That happens every year... But when it exactly will happen is uncertain. Perhaps next week the temperature are reaching normal standards for this time of year. That'll be the day I finally can wear my usual bandana instead the winter hats I mentioned in previous posts.
I usually can cycle with the bandana at the end of February or at the beginning of March. I never had the 'pleasure' to go out cycling without wintergloves and winterhats at the beginning of April. It'll be a historic day, that's for sure.

Functional and Warm

During the winter this is my loyal companion when I'm cycling. Earlier this week it looked like Spring had finally arrived, but it seems that we still be having cold and wet conditions for the next two weeks.
So it's not yet time to stow the warm hats and gloves away. We have to be patient and sit this out. Well, it's not the end of the world.

Woolen Hat

My daughter and I went to the library a couple of days ago. The visit became a typical case of: "Wherever I Lay My Hat, Then It's Gone".
Nobody had seen my cool hat, extra warm in winters because of the double layer. Why should they? It's just a hat.
But not every hat is just a hat. It becomes almost a part of your head when it feels comfortable to wear. Anyway, we had to buy another one and my daughter's choice won: a woolen hat. Nice, cosy, warm and cool, all for the price of... too much, in my opinion.
Pen and ink with Visconti.

Gloves

Cycling in winter demands good gloves. This weekend I bought a new pair. As you can see the padding should be sufficient enough for nice long touring.
My old pair of wintergloves didn't give much protection against the cold anymore. My wintergloves last about three seasons. I use them on my racing bike and trekking bike. It's important to take good notice that you have to look for windstoppers instead of, for instance, gloves that you use for skiing. Those get much too warm when cycling and gives you wet hands. That's not a nice feeling while cycling. That's why I always buy gloves with good protection against the wind. So my ride at cold days to, for instance, my work and back home will be much more fun than working on the office.
Come to think of it: cycling will allways be more fun than working.
Pendrawing made with my Visconti.

Handle bars

There are numerous types of handle bars. Made from rubber, foam, leather, cork, you name it. The choice is yours. But what is most important is how they actually feel. So it pays out to go to a bikeshop where you can test several types.
When testing it's important how they feel. Ask yourself the question: "Will I have sour hands after a day's use? Will my hands getting tired quickly? Can I chance my hands in several positions during cycling?"
Last, but not least, the handle bars have to look good. Solid. Thorough. Reliable. Logical. Giving good grip.

Steering Bar

For riding a bike properly it's important to have a good steering bar. Above I've drawn the steering bar of my trekking bike. Originally the bike came with a so-called Butterfly steering bar, but that wasn't strong enough to hold for long. After about 3.000 km cycling it broke. It gave me the opportunity to look for a better alternative. I choose the flat bar of Bontrager, in combination with Ergon GP3 handle bars. They're just great. Although it's said that you have many positions to place your hands on a Butterfly steering bar, I don't miss that at all. These handle bars support your hands where necessary and when you want to change position you can use the soft grip bar ends. I recommend them to everyone who ask my opinion on this subject. You can cycle long distances without getting sour hands or tired wrists.
Pen and ink.

Maps and Books

Throughout the years I've collected lots of maps and roadbooks. I also like to read stories written by travelling writers, mostly cyclists. In books or on blogs.
As much I like to read the stories and enjoy exploring the maps, best is to travel for yourself. But the usual obligations prevent that: job, kids attending school, lack of good travel gear.
Perhaps it's time to start first by orientating what you might need for travelling, for instance: a good bike.

The Road Ahead

Knowing what to expect behind the horizon is many people's wish. Only few people can predict what will cross our paths. Mostly they make a guess to keep the customer satisfied. Maybe it's best to follow your own path heading towards the year to come.
With this thought in mind I made this sketch. May your trip be safe!

The Cloud

There's a big fuzz about 'The Cloud'. It's not exactly clear how it looks like, all I know it's a way to storage your documents. Not on your own computer, but somewhere remote. Maybe on a deserted island, with beautiful beaches, a nice climate and friendly people. In that case I'd rather bring my documents on a usb-stick to them for storage reasons. And when I'm zipping my cocktail lying in the shade of a big palmtree I know that these people take good care of my documents, instead of some unknown "cloud". I read an article about the work of Murray Tinkelman lately on the internet. I took the challenge of drawing with my Visconti-pen in that way. Drawing the sky with some clouds seemed on forehand a safe subject to draw. The final result doesn't come close to the work of Tinkelman, of course, but it was fun to do. And that's the whole purpose of drawing, I think.

Porsche

Today I started a black and white drawing of my most favourable Porsche: the 356 Speedster. It will be quite a challenge, so it might take a few days before I can show you the result. Until then I made a quick drawing of the Porsche badge for you.
I found out that the horse in the middle isn't a link to that other car manufacturer with a horse in his badge, but instead it's a link to the city of Stuttgart. That's where the factory is. The first Porsche was made in Austria, but that is just a little sidenote in the history of this manufacturer of iconic cars.
Black and white drawing, made with my Visconti pen, 6 x 10 cm.

Bugatti

Currently I'm working on a black and white drawing of a Bugatti T59. This wasn't a very successful racer in Bugatti's racing history. It won only a few Grand Prix in 1934 and 1935.

It was quite an effort to find enough pictures with good views on the details of this car. Always important when drawing a "technically inspired" piece.

During my research I also found some pictures of old Bugatti logo's. This is one from the early 1930's. I made a pen drawing of it with my Visconti-pen, also from Italy.