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SUNDAY SHOW & TELL
vol.102

Last year, cyclist Eric "The Red Baron" Barone, 54, beat his own world speed record on a mountain bike in the snow, topping out at 138.75mph. The video speaks for itself. Woah. What a rush!

MOUNTAIN BIKE SPEED WORLD RECORD (video)

Trees hold a special place throughout American history, as previously mentioned in our recommendation of the book "American Canopy" by Eric Rutkow. If you don't feel up to the task of reading an entire book about the subject, the following article might inspire you. In colonial New England, trees were a prominent feature of everyday life. A pine tree even adorned the first local currency produced, the pine tree shilling. Interested? Keep reading.

SYMBOLIC TREES OF NEW ENGLAND (article)

Artist Stephen Lund, based in Victoria, British Columbia, frequently rides 50 miles in a day to create GPS sketches using the cycling app Strava. His imagination, and legs, seemingly know no bounds. This is a really fun gallery to browse.

DRAWING WITH GPS (photo essay)

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SUNDAY SHOW & TELL
vol.71

As Saudi airstrikes in Yemen lead to continuing fuel shortages across the country, many have taken to two wheels for transportation. "Let's ride a bike" was organized by young women as a group ride across the capital, much to the chagrin of the country's most conservative element. In fact, some find the idea so incredulous they insist pictures, like the one below, must be Photoshopped. Read more about this powerful movement!

WOMEN IN YEMEN RIDING BIKES (article)

Do you use the expression "it's like riding a bike" to refer to something that is impossible to forget once learned? Have you ever considered what it takes for your mind to master that art? In this amazing thought experiment, people have to unlearn how to ride a regular bicycle in order to ride this one. Who wouldn't want to take a stab at that?

BICYCLE THOUGHT EXPERIMENT (video)

Last weekend, nearly 45,000 volunteers set a new Guinness World Record for single-day reforestation, planting 647,250 saplings in more than 220 species all across Ecuador. Go trees!

TREE PLANTING WORLD RECORD (article)

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SUNDAY SHOW & TELL
vol.47

Have you ever seen a face in the bark of a tree? One artist took things a bit farther and created an entire gallery of amazing photos using just a few simple tricks. The results are portraits of fantastic, other-worldly creatures.

Take a look at Hovenring, the world's first suspended bicycle roundabout. Located in the Netherlands, it a true architectural beauty. We would love to see more of these pop up around the world.

Philippine officials held a tree planting yesterday that broke the world record for most seedlings sown in an hour. All told, 160,000 people planted 3.2 million trees at 6 different locations on Mindanao island. Guinness is currently verifying the new record, which previously stood at 1.9 million. That record was set in India in 2011.

FACES IN THE TREES (photos)

HOVENRING, THE SUSPENDED BICYCLE ROUNDABOUT (photo essay)

WORLD TREE-PLANTING RECORD BROKEN (article)

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SUNDAY SHOW & TELL
vol.37

A few weeks ago, over 2,000 Nepalese, including children and Buddhist monks, gathered to break the world tree-hugging record. Way to go! The previous titleholder was Portland, OR. Who will hold it next?

Maya Pedal, an organization in Guatemala, builds useful machines out of bicycles and has published all of their plans online. Check out their videos and downloads.

With summer almost full in-swing, we have our minds on spending a lovely night in a treehouse, surrounded by leaves and sky. Which one do you like the best of the 20 below?

NEPALESE BREAK TREE-HUGGING RECORD

MAYA PEDAL BICYCLE MACHINES

20 AMAZING TREEHOUSE DESIGNS

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SUNDAY SHOW & TELL
vol.32

RETREET is headed to Fort Collins! Stay tuned for pictures, video, and the like for our upcoming excursion. For now, catch up on some of our great posts from the past week:

• Marvel at the lengths one Argentinian man went to in order to proclaim his love for the wife he lost 35 years ago. Pedro Martin Ureta has nurtured to life a guitar-shaped forest made up of 7,000 trees that is clearly visible from space.

• Take a gander at the fastest bicycle in the world. It barely even looks vehicular!

• Check out the Skylock, which promises to revolutionize the way you secure your bike. Bicycle sharing? Crash alerts? Theft warnings? Just a few of the features this awesome invention boasts. 

Did you ride your bike to work last week? Share a photo with us in celebration of Bike to Work Day. Also, it's not too late to help us reach our goal of planting 50 trees for those rebuilding in the wake of floods in Evans, CO!

GUITAR-SHAPED FOREST VISIBLE FROM SPACE

THE FASTEST BICYCLE IN THE WORLD

SKYLOCK - THE BIKE LOCK OF THE FUTURE

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SUNDAY SHOW & TELL
vol.24

Happy Sunday!

This week, we share some bicycle and tree entries from the Guinness Book of World Records. Think you could best any? Also, a beautiful film about Tohoku, the region in Japan hit by the 2011 tsunami, its people, and their relationship to nature. Finally, in celebration of International Day of Forests, 9 facts you should know about forests and trees. Don't forget to click the links!

 

FROM THE GUINNESS BOOK OF WORLD RECORDS:

LONGEST DISTANCE CYCLING BACKWARDS

LARGEST CYCLING RACE

MOST VERTICAL METERS RIDDEN IN 48 HOURS

MOST TREES PLANTED IN 1 HOUR

MOST TREES PLANTED IN 12 HOURS

MOST DANGEROUS TREE

FACT ABOUT FORESTS AND TREES.

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SUNDAY SHOW & TELL
vol.18

102-year-old Robert Marchand astounded the crowd that gathered in Montigny-le-Bretoneux, France, to watch him beat his own centenarian record by riding 16.7 miles in an hour. What a beast!

Speaking of 102-years-old, that's the same age as the SS Ayrfield, a transport ship used in WWII that is now home to a floating forest in Homebush Bay, Australia. Beautiful!

If you think that's cool, check out the nearly 1,400 acre forest Jadav Payeng of India planted over 34 years in his community, a few saplings every day. Now home to wild elephants, rhinos, tigers, and deer, not only is the forest named after Jadav, it has earned him the official title "Forest Man of India."

102-year-old cyclist Robert Marchand.

102-year-old Floating Forest in Australia.

Jadav Payeng, the "Forest Man of India."

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SUNDAY SHOW & TELL
vol.8

Learn how scientists are saving the oldest and largest living organism on earth, a colony of aspen trees called PANDO.  Then, take an insane downhill run through the nearly vertical streets of La Paz, Bolivia.  When you reach the bottom, park your ride in a bike tree!

And stay tuned!  This is going to be an exciting week.

PANDO, the oldest and largest known organism on earth.

Insane downhill run through La Paz, Bolivia.

Parking in a bike tree.