Quintessential music know-how
Brought to you by GTVeloce.com, theSPIEL.com and KlausenRussell.com

You must know the basics of musicology. I promise you it's worth it!

The classics consist of The Who, The Yardbirds, The Stones and Led Zeppelin. Oh, and Mozart and Beethoven...

• Check out The Who.net. The Who is/was a sixties British mod/rock band that took what the Stones and the Beatles had done to a new level of noisy and aggressive art pop. Based on Rhythm and Blues, the music is intelligent yet angry - like a precursor to the punk era of the mid-70s. The Who pushed the boundaries of pop with a stage presence that ranged from screeching feedback and smashed instruments to laser lightshows. They created artistically acclaimed songs and rock 'operas' such as Tommy and Quadrophenia as well as power pop such as Substitute and I Can See For Miles. Spirtual leader of The Who is Pete Townshend, guitarist and song writer for the band.
• The Rolling Stones are contemporaries of The Beatles and hit the charts before The Who. With roots in African-American Blues they were the perfect foil to the sometimes too sunny Beatles. Check out the Stones fan club. The original stuff - prior to Brian's death - was arguably the sharpest, most original work and despite some line up changes song-smiths Jagger and Richards have kept on mining the same style. They have more recently come back to better form.
• You must know about the Yardbirds. A classic 60s blues/rock band, the band enjoyed the talents of 3 of the greatest, most influential British guitarists: Clapton, Beck and Page. The songs are an intelligent, well crafted mix from blues to pop. When the Yardbirds fell apart, the New Yardbirds morphed into that classic of bombastic yet blues-rooted heavy rock, Led Zeppelin. 2 of the original Yardbirds have since reformed the band and are touring.
• Rolling Stone magazine has been around for yonks and is noted for its gritty journalism. It's not just pop, it delves deeper.
• Let's not ignore the ultimate punk of Beethoven and Tschaikovsky or the stunning ability of Mozart.

If you like what we do at this site please show your support by buying a t-shirt, postcard or coffee mug, or perhaps an image. Or even simply search for a book from Amazon! They are good quality items from excellent providers that I use myself. Cheers, Rob.

A great time to listen to music is when you are bike riding - just keep one ear open to hear what the traffic is doing!

• When you race you sign up with a global body, the UCI. Locally you join clubs affiliated with UCI-linked bodies like the NSW (Australia) bicycle racing association, Cycling NSW.
• Whether you win or not, you'll check out the bike racing results and info at Cyclingnews.com
• Several Sydney, Australia based clubs race at Heffron Park. This is the Randwick-Botany club.
• Club bike racing is also held at Calga or Ourimbah, near Gosford, NSW.
• If you want to read about race craft try Rob Russell's guide to 'from E grade to A grade and back again'
• And Rob's 'part 2' gets further into the topic.
• A good overview of bike mechanicals can come in handy.
• Sheldon Brown's excellent site - well worth a visit.
• A hardware overview can be found in Rob Russell's guide to 'from E grade to A grade and back again'.
• And of course check out the repair help at Park Tools.
• Interesting US bicycle museum
• The Major Taylor Association
• Images from Heffron Park, Ourimbah and Camperdown velodrome