Mike Rubbo's exhibition, Pat's spinning tops

Mike Rubbo recently sent us one of his wonderful artworks. It shows a view of Peter and myself disappearing into the distance in our Mangos. It was drawn from a photo made by Paul Martin during the Cycling Dutch Style tour by an Australian group earlier in the year.

Mike's got an exhibition at the Tap Gallery in Sydney called "Nothing But Bikes". The exhibition opens on Monday, the 4th of July, and runs until the 17th. Sixty one items of "Bike Art" will be on display. Worth a trip. Especially good as somewhere to cycle to. However, Australia is unfortunately a bit too far away for us to go. We've got just the one picture here, it's wonderful, and we feel honoured to have it.

Please visit Mike's blog to see more examples of his work, and more details of the exhibition. Mike also has a website selling his artworks.

We were also lucky enough to receive a second gift this week, also unique and different. Pat Franz from Terracycle in Portland came to Assen with his daughter on a cycling holiday organised by Judy.

Before leaving Assen, they gave us four spinning tops (one for each of the family), each of which they'd made of a US quarter dollar with a very nicely machined piece of metal as the axis. These are themselves a great example of the quality of Terracycle products. They're beautifully made and work really well, spinning as freely as their famous idlers:


If the name Mike Rubbo rings a bell, it's perhaps because he's not only an accomplished artist but also a famous filmmaker. It's quite likely you'll have seen his work before, either on the small or large screen.