Two wheels good

It's the last Friday of the month tomorrow, meaning it's Bike Friday and Critical Mass, more about which you can read in this previous post.

To get you in the mood for a day on two wheels, I thought I'd share some cool cycling sites I've had the pleasure of acquainting myself with in recent months, plus this photo taken on a recent trip to Belfast.


First is Mancunion bicycle-based art project Papergirl Manchester (@PapergirlMCR) that's been bubbling away over the summer and building up to a special exhibition at Soup Kitchen starting on 1 October. Also on a creative tip is Messenger Town, which describes itself as "the journal of cyclogeography" and has loads of interesting snaps by bike couriers all over the shop (recently featuring our very own Rainy City along with our equivalent across the Pond, Seattle).

And it's not all about getting down and dirty with the grease monkeys, my fashionista friends, or kitting yourself out top to toe in nasty hi-vis. If you happen to be in the Big Smoke, VeLo Loves The City has some damn handy links, from bike shops and cafes, to other bike bloggers and handy bag stockists (you can also follow them on Twitter at @VeLoLovesCity). For more on cycling with style, check out the likes of London Cycle Chic (@LondonCycleChic) and US-based Chic Cyclists.

Now, this is brilliant. You never know when it's going to happen, or where, or indeed why, but every cyclist knows that at some point (and usually quite often), they will get grief from a motorist or be pissed off by a pedestrian. Dawn (@dawnhfoster) at A Hundred And One Wankers feels your pain, and is encouraging everyone to name and shame the worst offenders through the medium of the Worldwide Wankers map. I feel this might come in handy at some point...

...in the meantime, why not join the Contemporary Cartography Bicycle Tour, which coincides with the publication of the new art map of Manchester and Manchester Weekender. It sets off from Whitworth Art Gallery next Saturday at 11am. Art and cycling: we like.

A downwards glance

I've been into maps for a long time; probably since knocking around the great Wirral sprawl where I was brought up. I got a map of the area from an estate agent and carried it about in my bike basket as I cycled around the sweeping streets of the vast 60s estates exploring as far as the edge of alien green fields.

I like the hidden details maps reveal and the fact that they are so quickly rendered out of date by urban development, change of usage or land reclamation. Topography offers a glimpse into the past: OS Explorers often show Iron Age settlements in the remotest of places while urban A-Zs magic up historic rail and road networks.


At sea, maps are called charts: refer to them otherwise and expect to be scowled at. There's stacks of interesting features you get on charts that you don't get on maps, like submerged wrecks and underwater cables and submarine training areas. Nautical charts also show water depths and drying heights, so mariners can work out if they'll be beached when the tide goes out.

Back on dry land, and I'd heartily recommend the fantastic, free Mapping Manchester exhibition at John Rylands Library on Deansgate - it's even been extended until 28 March by popular demand! The show includes plans of the redevelopment of Hulme, sketches of the proposed route of the Ship Canal, diagrams of the Belle Vue Zoological Gardens; even a drinking map of the city. There are photos from a bygone era, artists' impressions of a future transport system, and a Soviet facsimile for possible invasion forces. It's so absorbing, I've been back for seconds.