Category: CATALYST
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Guilty Pleasures: After Laughter (Comes Tears)
Click or not: Guilty Pleasures: After Laughter (Comes Tears) Holding the fort in a train station sushi restaurant, keeping an eye on six bike boxes and associated luggage while my travelling companions sourced food for our next leg from Brussels, I was amusing myself by playing wasabi suicide when I heard something drift across from the laptop on the next table. Straining to… …
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Bad Year For The Beasts: Vale Spencer And Brian
Click or not: Bad Year For The Beasts: Vale Spencer And BrianIt’s been a bad year for the Beasts Of Bourbon with two of its core members leaving the stage for the last time. Bassist Brian Hooper succumbed to lung cancer in March, and guitarist Spencer P Jones this week lost his own battle with liver cancer. Hard drinking, hard smoking and hard rocking were the… …
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The Sound Of Belgium
Click or not: The Sound Of BelgiumOf course when we think of cycling we think of Belgium. The kassien, the climbs, the drunken fans and the hardest bike racers are all quintessentially linked to the motherland of road racing. Go to any Classic in April or any time a race rolls through and there’s a good chance you’ll hear some pretty… …
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Gil Scott-Heron: New York Is Killing Me
Click or not: Gil Scott-Heron: New York Is Killing MeGil Scott-Heron represents a backward step that took me so far forward in the musical journey along the hip-hop route. But so much more. Although awake to many that came after him, for whom he had paved the way, that he wasn’t on the radar despite his longtime standing was a source of disappointment, almost… …
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From The Doorstep
Click or not: From The DoorstepThe term “urban bikerafting adventure” isn’t one I’d ever expect to hear, but hey, what do I know? It’s real and evidenced here. Now I’m not one to go and mess around with water, I believe that the human being is primarily a land creature, and I’ve learnt to stay away from where things you… …
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Iconic Style: Campagnolo Group 4 Wheels
Click or not: Iconic Style: Campagnolo Group 4 WheelsThe Italians do most forms of style better than most, especially when it comes to cars. Sometimes at the cost of efficiency and reliability, sure, but that’s what gives them their originality too. I always pined for an Alfa Romeo in my teens, and when I finally acquired one I was smitten by the style,… …
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Style Icons: Phil Anderson
Click or not: Style Icons: Phil AndersonNot only was Phil Anderson a multiple Tour and Giro stage winner and Classics monster, he was without question an unassuming style icon. That majestic mane and the Oakley eyeshades will forever be a signature of classic 80s fashion. ‘Skippy’ wasn’t afraid to throw as many tones of fluoro as existed back in the age… …
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A Lesson In History
Click or not: A Lesson In HistoryIf you’re of a ‘certain vintage’ like Kathy Sessler, you probably did the kind of things with a bicycle that were unlabelled, unmarketed and unfettered by hype. We rode bikes, whatever we had, wherever we could. BMX, trail riding, downhill, dirt jumps, call it what you will, it all was included in any given ride.… …