Not a 'specialized' week for cycling

I ride my bicycle every day. I wave and say hello to each cyclist I see, from the Lycra-clad racer with his head down to the bearded guy at the shops riding an old clunker with plastic bags for panniers. I�m sure many people view me as a few spokes short of a complete wheel, but when I�m on a bike, the world is a beautiful place. I want to hug everyone. 

Last week, the cycling world did its best to rid me of this beatific serenity. 

In Melbourne, the Total Rush bicycle store held a party to celebrate a million dollar refit of its Punt Road premises. The owner chose to hire young topless women dressed in pink body paint, lace panties and high heels. When photos were posted on social media, the paint hit the fan. 

Comments ranged from the outraged to vows to never shop at the store again. Many people took to the store�s Facebook page to express disappointment and anger. These comments appear to have been removed from the site, with only a smattering of �supportive� remarks remaining. 

Does the owner need reminding that women ride bikes and they make up half of his potential clients? It beggars belief that when we should all be doing everything in our power to encourage everyone onto bicycles, a member of our community does something as stupid and crass as this. 

The store owner, Simon Coffin, hammered another nail into his surname, by releasing a statement which claimed that the women were �body artists� and being topless was part of �their artistic presentation.� Be that as it may, the photos on twitter showed semi-naked women photographed with men in suits. In one, a man points at the body artist he has his arm wrapped around as if he�s just discovered something better than an Ultegra Di2 groupset.

Yes, the evening raised money for charity and yes, the store sponsors a women�s cycling team in the National Road Series. This only makes the original decision more mystifying and demeaning. 

Cycling should be inclusive and welcoming. It�s a sport in which both sexes can equally participate and enjoy. Dear Simon, women are our ride partners, not decoration.

Total Rush is a leading stockist of the American bike manufacturer, Specialized. 

While semi-naked women were photographed with the bike brand in Melbourne, in Canada lawyers for the company were forcing a small bicycle shop to change its name. Dan Richter is a Canadian war veteran who owns the Cafe Roubaix Bicycle Studio. He named it after a town that hosts one of the most iconic bike races on the cycling calender, the Paris-Roubaix classic. Roubaix is also the name Specialized use to market a particular bike. They apparently own the trademark to the name. 

You�ve heard this a hundred times before. Big corporation versus the little guy. Lawyers issuing demands, threatening legal action. The small business can�t afford the legal fees and is forced to buckle. 

�I understand the need for the protection of intellectual property, but this is named after a city known worldwide for this race,� Dan Richter told the Calgary Herald journalist, Tom Babin who broke the story.

There is a crowd-funding site to raise money for the store�s legal fees. While that�s a good idea, I�d prefer to see lawyers for the French town of Roubaix approach Specialized with a �cease and desist� order for improper use of the town name. 

It�s been a bad week for Specialized. Perhaps they could try damage control by not persisting with this ludicrous overkill in Calgary. And, in Melbourne? Maybe a quiet word to one of their dealers. If that doesn�t work, I suggest a smack around the head with the frame of an S-Works.

You see, I�ve lost my serenity. 

The only way to regain it is to focus on the good news story of the week. Anna Meares became the first woman to clock under 33 seconds to break her own world record in a World Cup time trial in Mexico. Power, grace and performance. It�s what women can do, Simon.

I've written three travel ebooks on my cycling adventures across Europe. They sell for between $2.99 and $3.99, depending on which currency you use. You can visit my Amazon page here for the USA; here for the UK and here for Australia