Sir Chris Hoy is in tip top form and ready to face the challenges awaiting him in 2011’s qualifying tournaments. The London Olympic Velodrome opens this year and with the return of Sydney Olympic champion Jason Queally, Hoy is thrilled by the prospect of competing.

Craig Maclean, Jason Queally and Chris Hoy celebrating Silver victory at the Olympic Velodrome in Sydney for the Men’s Sprint Final.

Photo source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/index.html

...But ski bikes are becoming ever more delightful in this white and wintery weather. It is possible to construct your own ski bike, but they are also available commercially for purchase. As to whether or not they are efficient, I cannot say, but they probably go further through the snow than a regular road bike would! The contraption is basically the marriage of a bike frame and skis. Unfortunately, ski bikes are as easily available as normal bikes, the latter of which you can buy at an increasingly popular online bike store called www.bikester.co.uk. They have tyres for bad weather conditions though...


Photo source: http://www.travelgadgets.org/page/8/

Photo source: http://www.designboom.com/contemporary/more_strange_bikes.html

Coming from London I never saw sense in using a bike to cycle anywhere, firstly because the city is a rife with cars, and secondly, I am not that apt a cyclist to weave my way through the traffic without panicking and probably getting hit. In Germany, however, cycling is taken to a whole other level.  Whereas I attempt to walk everywhere (or take the bus/train if I must), my German boyfriend (and his entire family, too) are attached to their bikes by the hip – or the saddle, if you will. Germany produces around 3 million top bicycles each year, the top-selling models being trekking bikes (at 33%)and the least popular models being kiddybikes (at 3%). That trekking bikes are the most coveted comes as no surprise since Germany offers 200 cycle routes which cover most of the country.  Because the cycle paths have undergone vast improvement and extensions, the routes are well sign-posted and good interactive bike path maps can be found at www.germany-tourism.de. Germany’s online bike shop, fahrrad.de, is the first point of reference for all cycling enthusiasts in Germany, and is developing its partner websites in the UK, France and the Netherlands. For the British website, visit www.bikester.co.uk.