Picture of the day
- Thread starter jwhc
- Start date
Bearhunter, you're very welcome. It's fun finding the more obscure stuff.
Diopter, those Swiss bikes are very nice kit. Have you ridden one? They look heavy. Not 50-pound-steel-frame-single-speed-at-the-Somme heavy, but certainly not hill climbing/homesick angel material. I could bear being proven wrong, as I really like the concept.
There was an article about a year ago in Bicycling magazine about a guy who uses a mountain bike for elk hunting in Wyoming. Has a lot of success. Very quiet way to cover far more ground than walking, smells better than a horse...
Back before my knees gave out I used a mountain bike to hunt big game in Motorized Vehicle restricted zones. I could cover a lot of ground faster and like purple mentioned it was much easier to pack out the meat/horns as well as carrying 3x as much and making fewer trips. Still, a person has to be careful when hunting in such a manner not to get to far back in. I once shot a two point bull moose about 8km from the closest point I could drive to with a Quad. I soon learned downhill was as bad as uphill when the brakes were found to be inadequate. I tried making the load lighter so that I could ride/pedal to speed things up. It was 6 of one and a half dozen of the other. In the end, it was easier to walk beside the bike.
I did however borrow that very handy device used by the Viet Cong. A bar clamped across the handle bars. It was a bit awkward at first but once you got the knack it made things much easier and kept the loaded bike upright without either me or the bike leaning. So simple/effective. Trust the Asians to come up with the idea.
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Relative close ups of Finnish Army bike.I have never seen those up close but that bike looks sturdy.Bike in those days meant something different than mountain bikes today.Very different philosophy,entirely different bike geometry.
I'm guessing the only weak parts on it are rubbers,brakes and chain.Brakes and chain can be maintained,for better rubbers one has to pay and military bike is (was) cheap mode of transportation by definition.
I'd like to find bike with geometry like that except there with roads/sidewalks we have I should better stick to mountain.
I'm guessing the only weak parts on it are rubbers,brakes and chain.Brakes and chain can be maintained,for better rubbers one has to pay and military bike is (was) cheap mode of transportation by definition.
I'd like to find bike with geometry like that except there with roads/sidewalks we have I should better stick to mountain.
fat tony
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
There is one painted nicely in Nuclear Strike Force colours in the Atlantic Canada Aviation Museum. It reminds me of a vulture sitting there. Matter and form
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Dark Alley Dan
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Darkest Edmonton
The Dutch are, of course, insane for bikes. Their military is not immune.
Most affected by the sickness is their bicycle-borne military band.
And it continues: Dutch Marines on patrol in Beautiful Scenic Afghanistan:
Most affected by the sickness is their bicycle-borne military band.
And it continues: Dutch Marines on patrol in Beautiful Scenic Afghanistan:
The Wizard
CGN Regular
- Location
- Colorado Springs, Colorado USA
25th Infantry Bicycle Corp http://www.fortmissoulamuseum.org/docs/pubs/Dirt_Rag_Mag-%27Iron_Bicycles_&_Buffalo_Soldiers%27-03.15.11.pdf
Does anyone have a "load plan" for those Swiss bicycles?
Does anyone have a "load plan" for those Swiss bicycles?
The Dutch are, of course, insane for bikes. Their military is not immune.
Most affected by the sickness is their bicycle-borne military band.
And it continues: Dutch Marines on patrol in Beautiful Scenic Afghanistan:
Bikes make sense in Holland. There's a hill somewhere in/around Arnhem, well, at least according to the locals. I looked around for this mythical hill, but was unable to verify it's existence. Otherwise, the country is flat as a pancake. Cycling around on flat terrain is pretty straightforward. But if you start adding in those whacky terrain features like "grades" and "hills" and (*gasp*) "mountains" - the value of a bicycle as a valid means of transport rapidly diminishes, especially if you've got 50-100lbs worth of crap to lug around with you everywhere.
And that doesn't even get into things like "snow and ice" - another couple of things mostly foreign to Holland.
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That brings up an interesting point. If bagpipers had to play on a bicycle, say in a musical ride, would they have to ride sidesaddle?
That's the evil Grenadier Guard in me doing a friendly dig at my Blackwatch friends.
Might have to be on tandem bikes too come to think of it.
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Dark Alley Dan
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Darkest Edmonton
Lovely vintage "canal fresh" bikes. Puts me in mind of the postwar draining of the Zuider Zee and all the aircraft they found:
http://www.zzairwar.nl/dossiers/search-menu.html
http://www.zzairwar.nl/dossiers/search-menu.html
fat tony
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Canals in Belgium are not for transportation but disposing of everything under the sun!
Great site. Thanks for posting
Dark Alley Dan
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Darkest Edmonton
If you've never read Quartered Safe Out Here by George MacDonald Fraser (author of the Flashman series) you really should. It's a great memoir of fighting in Burma, and brilliantly written.
Couldn't find any pics of the author himself, but here's some of Burma during the war. It appears to have been a rotten experience for everyone involved.
Couldn't find any pics of the author himself, but here's some of Burma during the war. It appears to have been a rotten experience for everyone involved.
Of all the theatres fought in during WWII, the jungles of Burma would be my vision of hell on earth - a green hell of snakes, bugs, swamps, jungle rot, dysentery, dengue fever, malaria, moist heat, torrential rains, etc. Did I leave anything out?
Gee, I just described the Viet Nam experience as well.
Gee, I just described the Viet Nam experience as well.
