Sites That Didn't Make it Into the Book (and are still online as of Oct 2001 - amazing)
In the month after I sent the book to press alone, I found more than 50 new online cycling resources. I will use this page to highlight a few randomly selected sites that didn't make it into the book. We had to leave out so many wonderful Web pages that even this little postscript couldn't begin to include everyone who has played an important role online. Thanks again to you all -- you know who you are.
Stefan Micke offers a Website to complement his unique book, Biker's Barbecue. Biker's Barbecue is about two Austrian brothers who one day took into their heads to challenge the United States on bicycles. On their way from Boston to San Francisco, they experienced hospitality so overwhelming that most Americans will assume they were biking in a different country.
One of our favorite rec.bicycles.racing contributors, Roger Thomas, now has a Web page up through CompuServe. Dave Blake gives Roger a nice complement in the blurb he contributed to the book (p. 134).
The International Bike Fund is another group that I tried to squeeze in at the last minute but couldn't. In addition to information about the IBF and its publications, events, and grants, you'll find comprehensive reports about bicycles and urban planning, ecotourism, international travel with a bike, helmets and bicycle safety, cutting edge technology, and much more.
One of my favorite new sites is a very unique and useful service provided to
participants in rec.bicycles.misc by Loren and Will Hill. They've created Web
pages that summarize and rank the most frequently/recently mentioned resources
on this newsgroup. You'll find them grouped according to top 10, top 11-20, top
21-30, and contributor. They've really done a nice job organizing their Top 10 Web Resources
for rec.bicycles.misc site and deserve a hearty hand of appreciation.
Thomas Patrick Bailey announced that "The WWW bike repair shop is open for business." You'll benefit from Patrick's plain-language, user-friendly, FREE interactive repair manual (under construction, though what's there is nice) and probably also enjoy perusing his bike links, bike pictures, and instructions for making "some cool bike jewlery and a chair ot of bike rims."
Francis Cebedo has an equally useful site called the Mountain Bike Review. Francis describes this site as a place for "the exchange of opinions and experiences about many of mountain bikes and parts available today." You can browse through several categories of reviewed products (ranging from whole bikes to tires and everything between), where you'll find the basic information (picture, description, cost, etc.), a link to the company's Web site (if available), and an unpaid, down-to-earth review of the product that had been posted in one of the newsgroups or directly on this site. Seems like a great way to take advantage of the information and advice exchanged online.
Yet another off-road resource came online, aptly named Mountain Bike Resources. Doug Colbeck says you'll find "everything you need to get out of the house and into the mountains," and that about sums it up.
Leaping to the Netherlands (specifically, Wageningen), from trials riding to touring, we meet Raph de Rooij, creator of Raph's Travel-by-Cycle Pages. Everyone on rec.bicycles.rides who's been clamoring for a central touring site, THIS IS THE PLACE! Raph truly knocked himself out creating this great set of pages, and anyone interested in touring, long-distance riding, or cycling in other countries -- and anyone who enjoys reading and seeing cycling tour reports -- must visit. He organizes much of the site according to continent/country/region and includes a nice complete (but not overly long) set of touring-related links. He also keeps a list of tourists with home pages and e-mail addresses (he thoughtfully lists their home city and country). Too bad the bicycle expedition to the magnetic North Pole is in Dutch (he has links to other cycling pages in Dutch, too). The page itself is in flawless English (well, we allow everyone a typo or two) and has minimal graphics on the main page to speed connections along. Tourists and cyclists of all types will likewise enjoy Martha J. Retallick's The Bike Path (also has info about Tuscon's Bike Week and lots of other Web fun). Martha has personal comments and photos plus a succinct but practical list of links to the rec.bicycles newsgroups, FAQ and related documents, mailing lists (touring and MTB polo), the best central bike sites online, repair sites, advocacy groups, and mountain bike mania; links to magazines, racing, and Raph's site (described above) round out the page.
If your wheels need to be rebuilt or replaced, you might want to visit a pair of wheelbuilding sites. K. Nguyen has built the Wheel Building page, which is loaded with all the practical info you could need: hub and rim specs, a spoke length calculator (you can use online or request the code via e-mail) plus a few personal opinions.
For even more fun, visit Sheldon Brown's latest online project, his English/French Bicycle Dictionary (and vice versa). Never know when you'll need to ask for an expander bolt in French ... Maybe you can use Sheldon's dictionary to translate the Unofficial Shimano Cycling Stuff page. Although not affiliated with Shimano, these pages cover mountain, road, and new (yet to be released) Shimano equipment in detail. Posted anonymously on the newsgroups and sans name at the Web site ... this modest Webmaster has done a good job here.
Now that he's not breaking records anymore, you can take your time to learn more about Miguel Indurain, who now has an entire Web page (Spanish version only for now) devoted to his amazing career.
Dave's Bike Shed offers cybercyclists a place to place and read ads, submit and read product reviews, and more. Simple format -- gets the job done -- free.
MTBers interested in clipless pedals only can turn to Clipless Mountain Bike Pedals Reviewed.
The Union Cycliste
Internationale (UCI) (French & English versions available) calls itself
the hub of cycling information. And so it is.
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in Cyberspace