The Cirque de Soleil 30th birthday party was, as you would imagine, amazing. There was amazing food, a ferris wheel, tightrope walking, and Paul McCartney giving his personal congratulations, projected 200 ft high on a wall. Good times are all about the people so I was stoked to end up talking to Maxime Poulin, a cycling artist in the circus. I wasn't quite sure what artisanal cycling was and looked forward to checking it out.

In between his international shows, Max has been stopping by my shop to fix up and trick out his circus bikes. We'd often joked about putting a bicycle wine rack on his bike while he did tricks to see if it would stay on. Last week we headed up to the top of Mount-Royal and did just that. 

What is Artisanal Cycling?

Artisanal cycling is a form of competitive indoor cycling where athletes score points by preforming tricks on fixed-gear bikes with straight forks. The first unofficial word championships where held in 1888, but it became official in 1965 for men and 1970 for women.