RT @carltonreid: Garage smashed into. 4 bikes gone. #nefollowers look out for 2 Giant carbon bikes, one v new; small Kona MTB & a Cannondal… 2 weeks ago
Fabienne Heinzmann on the cover of Cyclepassion 2011
For those of you who are still wondering about what to get for xmas, or if you are the girlfriend of a cyclist and not sure what to get him, then look no further. The 2011 Cyclepassion calendar is by far the best cycling calendar in the time it has been around. Very tasetfully done, while showing off the top road and mountain biking women racers in a way we’ve never seen them before.
Well, here are some video trailers for the calendar, tastefully put together by Markus Neuert of Cyclefilm:
Last year I came across the Cycle Passion calendar and posted a blog on it as part of my xmas wish list. Now it seems this year that the calendar range has picked up in profile and in its fifth year of production is getting more media attention than before. I suppose a good thing, especially for the models who are helping to make the calendar what it is. And with all the publicity it is receiving, it makes me wonder if this calendar series is becoming the Pirelli calendar of the cycling world?
Let’s not forget the origins of the calendar in the first place. Anke Wilken was the wife of a frenetic, obsessed cyclist who spent any and all of his free time on a bike. Anke felt she would sooner or later become a bike widow – fast losing ground to her husband’s love affair with the sport. The calendar was a response to this, initiating the first exclusive female cycle calendar and hoping to challenge her husband’s view and at the same time spicing up the cycling world with a female touch of beauty and passion. Sadly they’ve since split up. I wonder if the calendar was the cause…
Anyway, back to the current day and the latest 2010 calendar is another impressive collection of artfully and tastefully shot women cyclists not really wearing all that much clothing. There’s the odd bicycle or component in there as well but you won’t notice that for all the smouldering pouting and suggestive looks going on.
The 2010 calendar features Sabine Spitz (Germany), Lene Byberg (Norway), Julie Krasniak (France), Monia Baccaille (Italy), Anna Sanchis (Spain), Steffi Marth (Germany), Solveig Lindgren (Sweden) and our very own Nikki Harris (UK).
And here’s a taster of what you will get when you buy the calendar:
Sabine Spitz
Monia Baccaille
And for those of you that want to see some behind the scenes footage from the 2010 calendar, here are some YouTube clips of the girls:
Thanks to the team at Bikeradar.com for their ideas on stocking fillers for xmas this year.
One item of notable mention from the online news site is the 2009 Cycle Passion Calendar. It’s a huge format calendar (40 x 60cm) featuring high-quality photos of female cycling stars including the likes of Sabine Spitz (gold medal winner at the Beijing Olympics, European mountain bike champion 2008), Hanka Kupfernagel (2008 elite women’s cyclo-cross world champion, gold medal winner at the Sydney Olympics) and Irina Kalentieva (Bronze medallist in Beijing, mountain bike world champion in 2007).
Methinks somehow this is a gift I will have to buy myself. Can’t see my wife going out of her way to get this for me.
For more ideas on xmas stocking fillers for road riders, see the list of ideas from Bikeradar.com.