Gormless to Gormley: Biking the Angel of the North, and other statues

I was in Newcastle this week, with bike, obviously. I like Newcastle, and the way it makes me feel so over-dressed and under-tattooed.

More about the Toon soon, but first, the Angel of the North (right). Antony Gormley's iconic statue is three miles or so south of the Tyne bridges, a straight cycle down the A167 Durham Road through Gateshead to Low Fell.



The cycle route is barely adequate - a mishmash of on- and off-road lanes and tracks - so it's quite a bit better than the rest of Newcastletynesagegateshead or whatever the marketeers call it these days.

There's a path up to the base of the Angel (right), and a splendid thing it is too. Heavier than you think, good-looking in a lumpy kind of way, and ageing gently in the northern rain, it reminds me a lot of me.

But it's not my favourite Gormley. At least, not for its bike-interactive possibilities.



I was very fond of the temporary statues - simulacra of the artist himself - that stood naked on and around Waterloo Bridge a few years ago.

We were very excited by their potential use as cycle parking (right).



But the top Gormley statue for cyclists, or non-cyclists, has to be Another Place (right) at Crosby (just off the Trans Pennine Trail).

I think it looks rather better with a bike in hand. It helps me relate to the statue that bit more. Especially as it's standing in a puddle looking lost.

Relief from CS7: Gently amusing pics for Friday

It's easy to criticise the Cycle Superhighways. Which is why we all enjoy doing it so much.

But it's time for a rest before Monday's launch officially unleashes the Cobalt Calamities on the world. So here's four amusing, non-Superficial-Cycleway-bashing, pictures from my photographic slush pile.

Cycle parking in the City is thin on the ground, but there are some places where you can improvise. This statue of Cigarette Packet Man isn't quite as alluring as the naked ladies of the fountain near Tower Bridge, but it's handy for Shoe Lane library.


While this - which reminds me of those student graduation projects for a 'radical new design of bike' - adorns the entrance gate to Regents Canal towpath on Lisson Grove in Islington, just down from the Beatles' Abbey Road crossing.


And this is the Bicycle Magic shop in Greatorex St, near Brick Lane, in east London. We like this.



Clearly it's been inspired by real life, such as this cycle path in Greenwich.

But there are worse examples out there. As we shall find out on Monday...

London cycle parking: naked truth

We're fans of innovative and simple ways of adding cycle parking to London's crowded streets, such as the cyclehoop and the Plantlock.

So we were very pleased to find that this nude statue - part of a set stylishly adorning a courtyard fountain of Shad Thames, right by Tower Bridge - is a convenient device to lock your bike to, as you enjoy a cake or coffee in one of the court's cafes.

(It's not the first instance of naked sculpture serving as a cycle rack, as Antony Gormley's unclothed self-images proved on Waterloo Bridge in 2007.)

We'd like to see more such artistic and inventive bike parking round the capital. Well, for all those councils that turn down conventional racks because residents think it'll lower the tone, it's worth a try.