About a year ago when we were really struggling to find a logo that we were happy to represent the club, and appear on the t-shirts, website, membership cards etc, I approached Miles – a friend of my sister – who I knew was studying Graphic Design (and had done work experience with Howies) to help. Fortunately for us he agreed, and we were all saved from my logo ideas that mainly just looked like cucumbers. Below is a short (e-mail generated) interview with him.
Name: Miles Gould
School / Course: BA (Hons) Graphic Design at Brighton University
Website: www.milesgould.com
Favourite Colour: Green
Favourite Typeface: At the moment, Berthold Akzidenz Grotesk condensed or Meta.
Favourite Logo / Brand? My favourite logo would have to be that of Penguin books. Designed by the studio junior Edward Young (1935), and inspired by the penguins at London Zoo. The design is coherent, timeless and fun. I will always stay loyal to howies as a brand. I respect their honesty, high quality products made with care and love, good product performance, functionality and they are conscious about the world we live in.
Favourite Advert? The adverts for Sony BRAVIA. The colours were rich, ideas fresh and looked great fun to be apart of. Particularly the Sony Cyber-shot advert entitled ‘Foam city’ which involved flooding downtown Miama into a giant bubblebath achieved using the worlds largest foam machine. The project was then documented by asking the local residents of Miami to photograph the event. Brilliant.
When and Why did you choose to pursue Graphic Design as a career? I was massively inspired by a placement I underwent at Radio design in Bath when I was 15. Pete Whitehead who was the company Director, had a lot of energy and passion for design which was really inspiring. I suppose he opened my mind to the potential of design and the endless possibilities that come with it. Ever-since I have been obsessed with function, form and play.
What are your career aspirations? My current aspirations are to continue learning and gaining as much experience as possible whilst at University from everyone around me and work placements. After I graduate I will look to work in the industry for a year and then complete an MA at the Royal College of Art. After that, maybe run my own studio or work for a company who inspires me. I also want to travel as much as possible. The Northern Lights are at the top of my list at the moment.
Who are your heroes? I have too many heroes to name, a few who are involved in the arts world include Chris Cunningham, Charlie Kaufman, Why not associates, Josef Müller-Brockmann, and of course Alan Fletcher.
Hobbies? I skateboard not as frequently as I would like mainly due to the recent weather but it is something I really enjoy doing. My main hobby I’m most passionate about is drumming.
What was the inspiration behind the Black Canon Collective logo? My intention with the BCC logo, was to refine and simplify whilst still capturing momentum and creating impact. The chosen font ‘Variable’ is a sans-serif typeface family that can be used in a variety of typographic environments. The font was designed by Matt Desmond in 2004 and published by MADtype. The font echos the angles of a bike frame and its curved lines convey a friendliness, which I think is essential when designing an identity.
How do you go about developing an idea once you have one? My working process varies from various projects. With the logo I went through various stages of refining and simplifying until I get to the stage where i believed the design is describable, effective in black and white as well as in colour, scalable to fit all needs, works well in print as well as web and most importantly is memorable and appropriate. I work using both the computer and hand drawing. I always like to submerse myself in a project by doing as much research and development work (play) as possible.
Coined the Whistler of England by our very own Mr Smith (see above) Frome, pronounced /ˈfruːm/, is a medium sized Somerset market town that boasts more than most:
Release your bike back into its natural habitat.
You, of course, should follow its lead.
Imagine a place where you can give it your all and the riding options are endless. Imagine an incredible variety of terrain to explore (Vicky park, Vallis, the urban DH and best of all ….st Johns steps), from epic climbs (Caherine hill), high alpine single-track (Shepherds woods) to arguably the world’s best mountain bike park (the Allotment). This rider’s paradise features bike-friendly accommodations (Frome YMCA) with secure storage areas (down town by the library), and rental shops that stock the sweetest rides (live2ride). Best of all, this place isn’t imaginary. It’s Frome – and your epic ride is waiting.
Now I know what you’re thinking; that bit of woodland behind Welshmill park used to be mint, well you’re right, but it’s just not the same now and so doesn’t deserve a place in the blurb.
All joking aside, we are pretty lucky to have so much right on our doorstep, and with riders like Chris Smith, Petra wiltshire and Steve Geall all having served time, well it can’t be all bad…
The guys at Cycle World in Salisbury wrote to us recently to offer our members 10% discount on parts and labour and 5% discount on new bikes! These very generous discounts are available to current members with a valid BCC membership card. Please click here for a link to the Cycle World website.
Check out their twitter feed too for great offers (like 20% off of everything before the end of the day tomorrow!) and shop updates: http://twitter.com/Cycle_World
With three
Last night a group of 8 of us huddled around a table at the Horse and Groom to thrash out some ideas of how we can all get to Alpe d’Huez to race “The Mega”.
For those of you who didn’t manage to get there, or are still waiting to be convinced that it’s a good idea, this is a summary of our estimated costs and arrangements thanks largely to the past experience of 4 time Mega veteran, Simon ‘Big Burd’ Truelove:
£75-100 per person
We’re planning to take a number of cars and vans over the channel and drive the 787 miles from Somerset to Alpe d’Huez. This will cost approximately £300-400 per car (including fuel, tolls and ferry/tunnel),vans may cost a bit more, but the total travel costs will to be shared between everyone. Flying was considered but this is typically far more expensive (~£200 per person) and would also include the faff of organising transfers, hire cars and a sedative laced burger to get Ben Irons onto a plane.
We have 2 vans lined up for sure (taking up to 5 people and ~10/12 bikes), but we’ll obviously need some cars too. Driving will be shared so that no one person is left having to do a non stop death-grip challenge the whole way.
£15-20 per night
Based upon 4 sharing a small self catering apartment. Some may prefer to stay in slightly more swanky surroundings, and this will certainly be possible, but the std accommodation need not be very expensive. Once we’ve got a firm idea of numbers, and lengths of stay, we’ll be able to book this up (April ish).
During “Mega week” there are actually 3 events:
The program for the week is as follows:
Monday July 5
Avalanche Enduro Vaujany (Seeding run)
Tuesday July 6
Avalanche Enduro Vaujany (Race)
Avalanche Cup Oz en Oisans (Practice)
Wednesday July 7
Avalanche Cup Oz en Oisans (Race)
Thursday July 8
‘Bike Speed’ (we don’t know what that is either, but it sounds very french!)
Megavalanche (Free practice)
Friday July 9
Megavalanche (Qualifying races)
Saturday July 10
Megavalanche (Mega Ladies – Mega Challengers – Mega Amateurs – Mega Affinity)
Sunday July 11
Megavalanche (Mega Affinity)
Some people are keen to take part in the full weeks program of events while others are more focused on the Mega but are keen to go and have a taste of the Les Gets and Morzine trails too. So, we may go out in two groups, some going from Saturday 3rd July to Monday 12th July and others going from Wednesday 7th July to Wednesday 14th July (including travel).
£64-119
This is obviously dependant on how many of the events you choose to enter (prices converted from Euro’s and are subject to currency fluctuation).
We’ll add to this as and when we get any more information, but the Mega discussion will be on the club forum here: http://www.southerndownhill.com/forum/index.php/topic,201995.0.html so do check it out if you want to get involved.
ONE IS BETTER THAN NONE
No hubby and no girls to ride with, just me and myself. It was a prime day to ride with lush weather and a relaxed trail. There were no excuses; I was riding. From my home in Warmy, I headed to Center Parcs where I found myself among friendly walkers and ample wildlife. Not one deer but four were within 10mtres of me, sooo awesome!! An hour just blew by so I took a moment to take a picture of my day. Sorry but you have a picture of my face; my arm only has a 1 yard reach! Then I spotted two lady riders. “Oooo a possible recruitment moment.” We greeted and I bragged about Black Canon and our Ladies group. Sadly they were from up North vacationing at Center Parcs, it was worth a try!!
Ok, enough of the chitchat and photo ops, it was time for a little skill building and heart pumping riding, off to the allotment. I welcomed the tree roots and muddy descent down the side of the allotment raising my concentration from mellow to perky! However, my skill did not match that of the guys practicing their down hilling abilities. I stopped to watch for just a moment and then looped down and back up the allotment. On my ascent, I passed four other bikers; great to see so much action on the trails. After many months of practice, the allotment ascent never deters me from accomplishing its’ sumit, while panting my poor little heart out! But this time, I only made it to the first plateau before taking a breather and then on to the next climb. I stopped at the Longleat monument. Another stop! ok ok, but the great weather, awesome people, and gorgeous scenery had to be savoured. I wanted to go down into Shearwater; however, my butt begged for time-out on the saddle. Time off the saddle = sore butt!! So listening to the voice of my behind, I made my way home.
Girls, the ride was not the same without you. With some company, I would have looked a little less crazy talking to myself. Still jazzed from the ride, I decided to wash my bike!!!
This year we’re planing to go over to France and do the Megavalanche, there’s already 14 of us who’ve signed up (that’s a lie, we haven’t actually entered yet, but will be doing so really soon) and hopefully some others who’ll join in along the way.
Those who’ve done it before will know it as being epic; a race that puts you through almost every emotion and spits you out felling like you’ve been chased by (french) vikings down a mountain (starting somewhere nr the sun) over the course of some sort of weird 1hr period where the world has gone through all 4 seasons. Oddly, when you do get to the bottom you want to hug/high 5 everyone in sight (even those french people) because you’ve shared the same traumatising ordeal. That said, it’s amazing and will leave you smiling and talking about it for ages afterwards.
We’ll be traveling and staying together so its bound to be a good crack , if you fancy getting involved check out the forum thread here: http://www.southerndownhill.com/forum/index.php/topic,201995.45.html
For any further information see the official website: http://www.avalanchecup.com/mega-avalanche.html
Here’s a pic from the 2008 (or is it 2007?) race, you can see Neil in the red circle (riding his old red V10 with white Boxxers), you’ll notice that just like at this years SPAM Winter Challenge, he’s about to take a wrong right turn.
Tuesday Night Riders!
We are planning to ride for the first time in 2010 as normal at 7pm from the Horse & Groom in East Woodlands. However, more heavy snow is predicted so I will post something here before 6pm in case we have to cancel, please do check back…
The first ever Tickertape Triple Crown event at the Allotment saw great success with the legendary BB King making a return to Wiltshire’s famous grounds to provide a performance that left many people in aw. There was no soothing blues to be heard, but the fluid sound of an orange Marin being ridden by one very chirpy chappy, my good friend Ben Batt (whom I now call BB King for becoming the King of the freelap TickerTape hill).
All hail the King, prostrate at his feet for where do thy conquered challengers compare to thy Tickertape King?
Well I’ll tell you, I used “maths” to work out peoples performances at the TickerTape triple Crown in terms of a percentage of the Kings speed over the 3 taped courses. Ben Batt’s time was 166.17 seconds, my time was 174.01 seconds. 166.17 / 174.01 gives a ratio of how fast I was against Ben Batt’s time, which is 0.9549, “multiplying” this by 100 gives a percentage of how fast I was against BB King (Ben Batt, we’ve covered that…); 95.5 %.
So, for all the people who completed all three legs of the Tickertape triple crown, these are you’re ratings in the order of the “alphabet”;
Bart – 98.8%
Ben Batt – 100%
Ben Irons – 95.5%
Ben Lovell – 82%
Burd – 90.7%
Burv – 90.8%
Charles – 64.8%
Charlie. E – 85.5%
Curtis – 79.6%
Denham – 95.4%
Keith – 83.3%
Nigel – 81.9%
[rob] – 99.9%
Robin – 89.5%
The Chedgy – 85.7%
Stacey – 45.9%
Take from it what you will, perhaps try to improve on your rating for the following TickerTape events, I know I will be…
So who’d up for it again this year? (PLEASE NOTE THAT THE SPAM SITE IS SHOWING SOME INCORRECT INFO AT THE MOMENT REGARDING DISTANCES)
Our friends SPAM Biking have made this one of THE enduro events on the Enduro race calendar, and we can’t wait to take part again…
last year we had a cracking time, came 8th/33 Male team, and 2nd/5 and 5th/5 in the mixed team category: https://www.blackcanoncollective.co.uk/2009/05/27/endurance/
With a team pit that was bigger than even the Charge Team (and their media crew) the atmosphere was great, especially when Marjory started setting fire to stuff and the keg had settled.
Check out the forum here: http://www.southerndownhill.com/forum/index.php/topic,215978.0.html to get involved and be part of one of our teams (or even go solo).
