Stolen: PUCH "Super sprint"
Like in the photo but with Charge saddle instead of the Brooks.
If you see it let us know! Stolen from East London - a gorgeous red bike converted to single speed / fixed (blue halo sprockett) for my friend Wallis! Please help to return Ruby the Puch Bike back to her!
x
Rollapaluza at the Levi's store for The Sprint King of London:
500 metre sprint on a static bicycle. If you are the fastest of the day you get a pair of jeans free.
My time was 30.94 seconds and my second attempt a few tenths of a second worse (i blame the champagne drinking). No free jeans for me due to being one tenth of a second too slow *insert tantrum here*
My advice for a betterRollapaluza performance:
1) do not eat a whole plate of cakes right before you have a go
2) be.ruthless. go go go go go go!
Cycle rides, with Monthly Cycles Dublin: from Smithfield to St Stephens Green to the quays and back to Smithfield for mulled wine, wooly jumpers, Christmas markets, Guinness and chats. New Dublin discovery: Rothar Cafe
"ARTCRANK is a show of bicycle-inspired poster artwork that introduces people to talented local artists and sends them home with affordable, original works of art. Since its 2007 debut in Minneapolis, ARTCRANK has expanded to eight bike-friendly cities in the US and UK, including Portland, San Francisco, Denver and London. ARTCRANK uses creativity to change how people look at and think about bicycles, and grow the cycling community."
We started with some beer (just because the drawing reminded us of Luda)
Mark Duggan, a Tottenham local, was shot a week ago in Ferry Lane as police officers attempted to make an arrest. At the moment, there is no evidence of Mark Duggan shooting at the police, and the post-mortem tests found that he died from a single bullet wound to the chest, shot by the police. There are mixed stories about who Mark Duggan was: some stories portrait him as a crack-dealer gangster and other stories as a father of four who wanted to stay out of trouble.
Following this, London had days and nights of riots. Riots, that looked different from the usual protests of marching and banners, and from the riots that our fellow Athenians have made us accustomed to.
The London riots mostly consisted of teens and younger adults breaking windows of shops and stealing what they found inside: Chain stores like JD sports, Currys, and PoundShop (!) were targeted. We also saw videos of teens mugging teens, and an "accusation" from the public that these riots were based on greed and not politics. And yes, in a sense, these London riots felt different: we did not see the politically minded activists targeting police stations as a protest against the police killing a man and authoritarianism; and the targets were not simply against the big capitalist chain shops. But one, thing we cannot deny is that these London riots are political in their own way; they show us the poverty, the gaps within our society, the result of endless prejudice, of not fitting in. These, will result in gangs, in looting, in riots of this kind - because it makes you feel in control, it makes you be part of something, it brings results, and it brings a sense of achievement and revenge against what excluded you in the first place. And this is political.
"There is nothing more dangerous than to build a society with a large segment of people in that society who feel that they have no stake in it; who feel that that have nothing to lose. People who have stake in their society, protect that society, but when they don't have it, they unconsciously want to destroy it."— Martin Luther King Jr.
'When you cut facilities, slash jobs, abuse power, discriminate, drive people into deeper poverty and shoot people dead whilst refusing to provide answers or justice, the people will rise up and express their anger and frustration if you refuse to hear their cries. A riot is the language of the unheard.'
Now the interesting thing, to me, was people's reactions to the riots. I have heard friends saying bring back the curfews and bring the army in. Now, this is just a dumbass idea:
WHY CURFEWS AND RUBBER BULLETS ARE A DUMBASS IDEA:
If a local council introduces a curfew, then the police has powers to break up groups of kids and take anyone under 16 back to their homes or a safe place. Curfews can be introduced in areas where the police and the council agree that gangs have been hanging around and starting trouble or threatening people. Local councils can authorise the police to do this using powers from the 2003 Anti-Social Behaviour Act. The powers can last up to six months. After that, councils have to re-apply.
What makes me disagree with curfews is the power they can have over me and other "innocent" people - who gives anyone the right to tell me not to go to a place at a specific time. We have experienced the police abusing the Stop and Search power, quite a few times, already! Anti-war demonstrators have been filmed and searched by the police numerous times, unfairly and with no obvious reason - these searches felt to simply be a statement of police power; The last thing I really want is to be controlled with a curfew; No sir! i want to cycle to see my friends any time i want; i want to sit in a park and talk rubbish with them. This is not a crime. And curfews simply criminalize our existence of being in certain places at a certain time.
As for bringing in the army, the rubber/plastic bullets... well... No, thanks. Fighting violence with violence is just like fucking for virginity.
Besides, armies and curfews just oppress people. They will not solve the real issue.
THE FEAR
The other reaction was people cancelling plans and being fearful: Just like curfews, the fear becomes a barrier to doing what we usually do, and i found that annoying. So, i made the decision to continue doing what i usually do. The police nor the rioters can control me. No, sir!
THE UGLINESS OF THE WHOLE STORY
The thing that really worried me and upset me was the suffering that the whole situation brought to our cycling community. I mean, i don't care that much about a stolen pair of trainers from JD sports - these big unethical chains can certainly afford it and have already spread alot of evilness (sweat shop products and all the rest, so go on and fight them!), but it does break my heart hearing that one of the nicest bicycle stores was also attacked. Micycle, a friendly bicycle shop and cafe in Islington lost most of their stock:
A youtube video of the Looting at Micycle:
News also traveled fast, that cyclists were targeted in London Fields. Apparently cyclists were pushed off their bikes and mugged. An Evans bicycle shop was also broken into in Chalk Farm.
Unfortunately, the cycling communities were not the only "innocent" ones to suffer. The burning of PIAS distribution centre brought damages to indie music and film labels.
So, just to finish off, dear Rioters, please choose your targets wisely. Smash the system, Shut the City down, Mindfully Rebel.
Let the religious get religion, let consumers get a clue
Let scientists get perspective, let activists get their due
Let industry get a conscience, let the earth inherit the meek
Let the divinity of nature speak
- Ani Difranco
and for the final thought:
"I love the way that we call people who break into chainstores 'looters', yet the rest of us law abiding citizens get to loot the entire planet and are deemed peaceful. Instead of H&M, read rainforests. Instead of JD Sports, read oceans. Instead of Tesco, read soil. If you want to see a looter, look within, we're all looters. Just some are culturally normalised" ~ Mark Boyle
The London Cycling Campaign is focusing some of its efforts in making Blackfriars Bridge safer for cyclists and paedestrians by making it a 20mph zone. They have launched a photo petition, asking cyclists to post a photo of them to support their 20mph petition.
So show your support by sending your photo to the LCC in a blank email (blackfriars-photo@lcc.org.uk), with your caption in the subject line.
"This is your big chance to tell the Mayor ‘face to face’ that he must grant Londoners the freedom to cycle and walk by making our streets safer
This freedom starts with keeping Blackfriars Bridge 20mph, and means the Mayor taking on the traffic-management bureaucrats who sacrifice our safety to keep more cars moving faster."
On the 12th June, my buddies Dal and Simon and I hopped on our bikes to join Artsadmin’s Two Degrees festival: a fusion of art and activism, performance and protest, focusing on climate change and cuts.
The festival included artist-led bicycle events like bike bingo, a graffiti tour of East London, a game of Capture the Flag and a mass community Tour de Dalston. As we were late (and that was all my fault) we were not able to join all the events; nevertheless we managed to customize our bikes with some wheel covers and join the "Legs 11: A Rolling Observational Bingo"
The House of Hot Breath led our journey of discovery with the help of transistor radios and bingo dabbers while we were directed to the clues within the journey itself: while cycling passed the canal, a man fished out a gigantic wooden number 4; outside a shop a man wrote a number 5 with soap on the window; from a warehouse window a woman shook a carpet (or was it a sheet) with the number 69; Our ride through and around Dalston lasted about an hour, and although we were in continuous rain we had a great time. The ride ended at the The Arcola Theatre with a cup of hot chocolate!
Transistors and bingo cards mounted on the bikes
"The aim is to illustrate what we gain by traveling by bicycle and how it is not only a healthier,
greener alternative, but it also opens our eyes to our environment and how we take on information
and inspiration from our surroundings." The House of Hot Breath
This is how it feels when i cycle in the rain, early morning hours after seeing my best of friends; that enormous intense feeling of... well i am not quite sure what it is...maybe excitement but at the same time calmness, happiness, pure love, gratitude, not wanting it to end, soulful kind of emotion. I guess it has a touch of freedom and catharsis - to just be, listen, fool around, ride, sweat, laugh, hug, accept.
A series of spontaneous rides and general hanging out:
1st June: Not much convincing was needed from my gorgeous bicycle friends, to take the day off and ride around London city; with stops determined by art, good coffee and...a break to dry their clothes off after running into the fountain at Southbank. 1st June 2011 was the best Wednesday of my life.
30th May: our ride home at 3am after a wonderful party in Pimlico. Good times.
28th May: a ride in Hackney: London Fields, South Millfields, Victoria Park; with a stop at the pop up bar for Japanese beer andお好み焼き (Okonomiyaki).
A few days ago, my facebook inbox revealed an exciting invite from Cycletta: a unique series of women-only, mass participation events, created to inspire more women to take up cycling. As Cycletta is being launched by Olympic Gold medalist Victoria Pendleton, my enthusiasm was hard to hide, especially as the invite included the words "you and a friend can have a media place on a 40 km bike ride and to prepare for it you can have advice from the Olympic Gold medalist!" The people who know me, know how much respect i have for athletes and also how excited i can be at everything bicycle related! So, i replied at once saying i was up to the challenge!
Today there was the first blogger's conference with Victoria Pendleton, which i missed due to work in the day time and due to meeting friends in the evening; no regrets though, as the evening was filled with tons and tons of love and bike talk. Although, not an Olympic medalist, my buddy Luda made me giggle with her passionate description of how she feels when she rides a bike, in order to encourage our other friend, Sule, who has just started to ride:
"you have to let your bike become part of your body. it feels like you are free, like you are flying."
The night continued with more talking about this amazing feeling of riding, being one with the bike; an extension of your body. I laughed until my face hurt at the "Just feel it between your legs" comment and i loved how much my buddies love the amazingness of cycling.
To get back to Cycletta, (the bike rides for women launched by Victoria Pendleton), there is one thing that makes me uncomfortable and i must admit has disappointed me: the attempt to encourage women to cycle by feme-ing it up, with talk about make-up, lipsticks and hair dos and the “helmet hair remedy centres (these facilities may come at an additional charge)” that the Cycletta rides promise...we are girls too but right now we do not care about helmet hair - we are proud of our helmet hair, our chain-oil marks that the bike leaves on our legs at clumsy moments; because what we love is the feeling of freedom and the feeling of unity, urban cycling has given us. I really wish Victoria Pendleton did not feel the need that the way to promote cycling was to focus on the stereotype of "feminine" or the stereotype of "beauty" and tapped in the uniqueness of that cycling feeling instead.
I still have respect for women athletes, whether they feme it up(not so much respect when they become tools of sexism) but i find my friend's words on why she loves cycling much more inspiring. So, my dear readers, whoever you are, whether you are a tomboy or a lipstick feme, give cycling a go, and lets try to not create barriers between us with silly stereotypes or being part of sexist magazines. Just remember the cycling feeling of freedom and that strong sense of community that urban cycling has given us.
Happy cycling! (Luda, do not forget your bike lights. And Sule, just remember: think of the bike as part of you and enjoy the feeling of freedom. Nes, keep on the bike love and standing up for feminism - you 3 are my top cyclists, especially Sule)
And... LET'S GO ON A BIKE RIDE AND LEAVE GENDER STEREOTYPES ASIDE...
Last year ten of us formed a team for the Cycle Challenge, a competition to see which team can cycle the most miles in a month. We reached the 3rd place, with 2926.38 points.
Our team, Velocity, was:
- Sandra who finished first with 423.51 points, followed by
- Io with 404.35 points
- KElliot with 369.96 points
- Sefeen with 360 points
- Mordecai with 348 points
- Maryanne who reached the Elite badge
- Mmetracyt who reached the Cycle Champion badge
- MizFitz also with Cycle Champion Badge
- Helen with Cycle Champion Badge
- Daritius who reached the Cycle Star Badge
This year, registration has already started at https://cyclechallenge.tfl.gov.uk/ and we are of course competing by logging our cycling miles between 18th June and 15th July ; any excuse for friendly rides, and general hanging out in a bike gang! Sandra is back on the bike and already has registered, same goes for KElliot, Mordecai, Helen and Daritius. Join us! The team is called VeloCity
