Posted by Meredith on Wednesday, Sep 7, 2016
Gear up for September’s Telenet UCI Cyclo-Cross World Cup by learning more about bicycle design and fabrication.
Join University of Iowa Professor Steve McGuire, creator of the University of Iowa’s School of Art & Art History handmade bicycle curriculum, for How to Build a Bike from 7 to 8 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 14, in Meeting Room A.
UI’s Hand Built Bicycle Program is comprised equally of art and engineering majors. Since the program’s inception, more than 70 students have built bicycles, with some going on to be engineers and craftspeople in the bicycle industry. UI was the first academic institution to be selected to exhibit the work of students at the North American Hand Built Bicycle Show, the most prestigious venue of its kind internationally. In 2014, five engineering students and five art students traveled to the North American Hand Built Bike Show in Charlotte, NC, to exhibit the bicycles they’d built, garnering national recognition in the process.
McGuire’s current project is The Poetics of Endurance: Design It, Build It, Ride It, a traveling exhibition of handmade bikes built for specific ultra races. With off-road courses that encompass everything from grass and dirt to mud and gravel, cyclocross fits the definition of ultra bike racing.
Iowa City has played host to the Jingle Cross Cyclo-Cross every winter since 2004. This year, the annual race will move to September to coincide with the World Cup on September 24. Called the sport’s Super Bowl, the World Cup features a series of races in countries across the globe. Iowa City is one of two North American host sites.
McGuire’s presentation is part of the ICPL’s Gear Up for Bikes, Bikes, Bikes; a series of programs designed to inform and educate the public about cyclocross. The program is free and open to the public.
For more information, visit icpl.org or call the Library at 319-356-5200.