Antoine de Saint-Exupery stated,
Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add,
but when there is nothing left to take away.
Sadly, he did not write this concerning tracklocross, even though he should have. There is nothing we can take away from your standard tracklocross beast without it not now being up to the task; by default, tracklocross bikes are then the closest bikes to perfection.
Continue reading Simplicity is PerfectionAlbert Camus suggested that being condemned to an eternity of fruitless labour was a hideous punishment to be bestowed upon Sisyphus; he had obviously never raced tracklocross. Sisyphus, in case you have forgotten, was punished with having to push a rock up a hill, and the rock would roll back down the hill every time he reached the summit.
Continue reading Tracklocross Is the Sisyphus of CyclingI used to write a blog about goings on in the bike trade and being salty about it, which is pretty easy as the bike trade is a horrible place. I got bored after a couple of years, as essentially, it is like shooting fish in a barrel. It was too easy; a trade that thinks adding another cog is progress is probably still in nursery school education, which is not to bad-mouth toddlers.
Continue reading Being Salty About the Bike TradeToday, we will carry on our look at tracklocross thinkers with a name that people in the UK have huge issues pronouncing. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe is an inspirational person. A man who accomplished more in his life than many of us would accomplish in ten lives. Geothe was a true polymath, and today we will look at his poem, “Faust”, a work which is considered the magnum opus of German literature.
Continue reading Cycling, a Faustian Pact With MarketingLife has been a confusing, chaotic mix of ideas for as long as I can remember. On the surface, I may appear calm, but deep down, there is a convoluted mess of ideas and structures I have attempted to build to appear normal. These structures are not gleaming skyscrapers or monuments that attest to man’s great powers. You need to think more of a lean-to built in a wild forest, only standing due to its creator’s strength of will and not because of some superior knowledge of architecture.
Continue reading Tracklocross Riding Saved My LifeIn 1875, The Russian Messenger brought us a serialised version of one of the greatest novels ever, or so The Guardian tells me. They brought us Leo Tolstoy’s “Анна Каренина”. The novel is famous for dealing with the many issues of human existence, and it focuses on the affair between Anna Karenina and Count Alexei Kirillovich Vronsky. Due to the scandal of their affair, they had to leave St Petersburg and live in Italy, which sounds awful if you ask me. Eventually, they returned to Russia, which was an appalling idea. Apologies for any spoilers here.
Continue reading Anna Karenina – Tracklocross LoveWe are rapidly heading towards the best time of year for tracklocross, at least in the northern hemisphere. Trails will get muddy, much sliding will happen, people will discuss pumpkin spice, and Danzig will come out of hibernation. Scarfs will be back, woolly hats will be on, and a lovely thick jumper will make sense. Let us then look at the tyres that will best help your tracklocross riding.
Before we begin, as usual, none of the links to tyres below are affiliate links; these are my opinion.
Continue reading The 5 Best Tracklocross Tyres of 2023The other day we looked at the start of the Western tradition of philosophy. In it, we discovered how Socrates was highly influenced by riding fixed gear bikes offroad. A pastime he called tracklocrossος. Now we are going to jump a few years and land in the continental philosophy years. As someone living in Britain, I feel worried about discussing continental ideas. If I vanish mid-article, please know the Brexit police have taken me away for re-education.
Continue reading The Philosophy of Tracklocross – Part 2Many of us know the story of Archimedes and water displacement. Archimedes used water displacement in the tales to determine if traders had replaced gold with silver. The story here is a slight fabrication; the real reason was that Archimedes was the first true weight weenie in cycling. He had studied under Conan of Sanos; the first steel is real guy (not Arnold Schwarzenegger, like the movies make out). Archimedes wanted to design a lighter bike than Conan.
Continue reading The Philosophy of TracklocrossOn Sunday, 4th June, at 1 pm, we will have our first-ever Fiefdom Tracklocross popup event at Allez Allez Allez.
Continue reading The First Fiefdom Pop-Up Shop
Fiefdom Tracklocross 