If you've searched for anything about bikes on the net, you'll know there are maybe a million bicycle-related websites: so many it can be a nuisance when you're looking for something, but it's awesome when you realise this is just a reflection of how many people - worldwide - love their bikes and want to share that love.
You've probably got your favourites, but for an all-round, quality range of cycles in cyberspace, here's a suggested list (in no particular order) of 10 of the biggest, most informative, interesting, funny, and best bicycle websites.
1. FUNNY BICYCLES
http://www.funnybicycles.50webs.com/
Pictures of bikes with square wheels; smart bamboo bikes; stunningly logical three-wheel push-me-pull-you bikes: tall and even taller bikes; scarecrow bikes and shopping bikes; tiny bikes and tied-up bikes; glitzy bikes and glam bikes. I especially like the one of the astronaut on the moon - with a bike: one giant pedal for mankind that I didn't until now even realise had been taken.
At the bottom of each page there's a video clip to watch. Some of these are frightening bike stacks, but there are also some cool stunts and the famous Dalmatian dog pedaller, with training wheels of course.
2. BIKE FORUMS
http://www.bikeforums.net/
The biggest forum for cyclists on the internet, with over 250,000 threads and four million posts, there's plenty to read and join in with.
If you want to get to grips with anyone who disagrees with your fundamental bicycling beliefs (and believe me they're out there), then you can search by subject, view regional discussions or just pick from pages of lists. "Negative motorist encounter" might spark your interest; you might get hotheaded over "Helmets cramp my style"; or for something really contentious step into "Sidewalk bicycling".
3. TRAILFLIX
http://www.trailflix.com.au/
"Trailflix. Watch it. Ride it." If you've been spending too much time on the road lately and have forgotten the thrills of off-road mountain biking then sit back, hold on and relearn the fun. Twenty-nine bush trails outside Sydney have got directions, maps, descriptions and best of all - videos.
Follow the action with fast-paced MTB riders hurtling through woods, battling up hills and showing what a fantastic time you can have with your bike in the bush.
4. BICYCLE SOURCE
http://www.bicyclesource.com/
This is a big site in three parts: You, Body and Bike. The Bike part is all about buying, fitting, fixing - clothes, bikes and accessories. The Body part is all about training, fitness, nutrition, injuries and safety.
The You part is the most unique, with detailed riding tips, plenty of humorous articles (including cycling and sex) and the largest glossary of bike terms and slang on the net. The glossary will tell you why if you've ridden over baby heads while bagging a peak you're likely to have bacon on your elbows.
5. BIKELY
http://www.bikely.com/
Bikely hasn't been around all that long, but it's already enormous and getting bigger. On this site you can find a route from the end of your street into town or a path over just about any mountain all over the world. You can zoom in to street index level - and then switch to satellite, or hybrid, images if you wish. Some routes are posted by sensible commuters, some by underground anarchists - and you can draw as many as you like yourself. The whole thing has just been swallowed up by Bike Radar, which has reviews, forums, etc.
6. JIM LANGLEY
http://www.jimlangley.net/
Jim is a bike fanatic. Easy to follow articles on fixing bikes, riding techniques and safety are decorated with superb examples of antique bicycle advertisements. Jim loves to tell stories and his Spin page leads you to some extraordinary tales.
There are photos of his collection of bicycle nameplates and the imagination and style that went into these make it a true treasure trove. His Ride page - bikes Jim has known - has some stunners. The futuristic 1986 Modolo Kronotech concept bike had me gazing the longest. Jim's Stupid Bike Tricks page is an absolute must.
7. BICYCLE PAINTINGS BY TALIAH LEMPERT
http://www.bicyclepaintings.com/
Taliah Lempert is a New York painter and bicyclist. She says bikes are structurally beautiful and symbolically positive, and she loves the form of, and the relationship between, the bike and its rider. "The bicycles that catch my eye open a door to new communities, people and experiences," she says. There are hundreds of paintings and drawings on the website - all of bicycles - and you can spend hours letting your eyes wander over her creative delivery of the lines, shapes and colours of many different bikes. You can also buy her work, quite cheaply, online.
8. SHECYCLES
http://www.shecycles.com/
"The online magazine for women cyclists" is a thoroughly British, but very positive website. There's plenty to read here, with a long list of archive articles on health (cycling while menstruating, hyponatremia, all the good stuff) and masses of advice and reviews of women-specific things.
The gallery has hundreds of pictures of women cyclists doing amazing things in the UK and all over the world.
9. BICYCLE FIXATION
http://www.bicyclefixation.com/
With many articles on bikes and sustainability, this is one of those sites with plenty of good ideas about how communities should be built and how we should live for the future - but with a direct and down-toearth bicycle focus. Cars certainly cop it, but there are also some very human stories: everything from coping with riding in the rain to shopping and the wisdom of the ancient Presta valves.
There are bike photo essays; pictures submitted by cyclists from all over (lots of fixies); and links to some of the hippest bike sites around the world.
10. ULTRA MARATHON CYCLING ASSOCIATION
http://www.ultracycling.com/
The good lube on the real tough stuff. Some of these cyclists really do have to be dragged down from the mountains to share their ultra-hard-earned knowledge with the rest of us. There are hundreds of pages of event results and articles on training, nutrition and gear. Many are written by the legends themselves, including Lon Haldeman (who has cycled across the United States over 50 times) and Pete Penseyres (who set the unbroken RAAM speed record over 20 years ago). Make your bedtime reading the Death Valley double, muscle cramps, lactate thresholds and managing pain - and rest assured you'll be ready for anything.
Got your own favourite site? Send it to us and we'll pass it on to the rest of the world.