Candy Cranks

I celebrated the coming of 2010 at the Peats Ridge Music Festival with great food, beats, entertainment and bikecitment! Here are some of the snaps I managed to pick up over a crazy 4 days.

Above: Felix and his unicycle checking out the message wall at the festival.

Above: is taken from the ‘Trash Temple’ an interactive space that used performance and street theatre to spread awareness about the impacts of fuel used for our vehicles. This was a perfect spot for festival goers to lock their bikes.

Above: At the Bohemian Love Theate. Amazing costumes, energy and bikes! 

Above: I had to have a try! 

Above: My mate smashing the unicycle seriously well for ther first attempt.

Although we share the same bedroom I sadly feel that i have lost some bondage with my bike. I am to blame for this relationship crisis because this is all due to my lack of peddling over the silly season. Honestly I actually felt like my bike was going to bite me when I took him out for a spin yesterday. You know that kind of soppy resentful attitude pets get when you come home from vacation? It was like that but in actuality this is just an excuse for how rusty I felt. I’ve heard that once you learn to ride a bike you can for life. I’m not sure this saying comes with warranty though. I’m not as toned in the areas needed for motoring up and down hills as when I rode everyday in early 2009. The smoking has taken its toll on me too. I wouldn’t be so boring as to announce a new years resolution right now but maybe it is time to throw away the smokes. Unless of course I have a beer in my hand, when everyone knows those moments don’t count. Perhaps you’re wondering why I called this girls loaded? Today I spotted countless new chicks on fixies riding in Sydney. It got me missing my riding with other riders days. I call these chicks new because I haven’t ever seen them before but who knows how long they’ve been on. It’s been ages since I’ve checked out any of the hot spots known for fixies. I remembered back when there was seriously like 4 girls in Sydney and we jumped up and down with excitement when a new girl turned up for a ride. I wonder where these girls I saw today came from? Does this mean the ‘sausage fest’ is being slaughtered by hot chicks on fixies with loaded ammunition? Suddenly I feel very up lifted and might even spin on down one night to investigate. That is if my bike will forgive me but usually a bit of oil fixes that one up. 

It turned out that losing my lock was the best thing to happen to me. If we re-wind back a few months I used to ride my bike to work, to the shops, on errands and to the café or pub with mates. This made me more of a commuter rider I guess. I used to ride as a means of getting from A to B. Now don’t get me wrong I enjoyed my choice of transport. It gave me some great benefits of not having to keep with the time schedule or pay for public transport, I didn’t have to be stuck in traffic and I had an excuse for always wearing pants and a tee shirt.  However since losing my lock riding became more of a let’s go for a ride just for the sake of it. I would come home from work and grab my bike not knowing the destination of my travels. It became a means of meditation and a time to just enjoy being on my bike. But today a new lock arrived in the mail box. And today I grabbed my bike for the convenient sake of transport to go buy xmas presents. It was annoying having to dodge traffic to keep on route and I was wondering why my mood had suddenly fallen sour. I decided to leave the shopping and just go for a ride. I went straight across to a park and embraced another ride for the sake of riding. 

I’m loving the return of the famous BMX pedal (with Hutch Bear Trap). These babies were introduced in 1983 for BMX racing. Oh and they are the same price as 1983. Pedals are manufactured with show-quality chrome-plated die-cast aluminum bodies, die-stamped 6061 aluminum cages that are 10% thicker for added strength, and 9/16″ threaded spindles in heat-treated 4140 chromoly or 6al4v titanium inside two double-sealed bearings. Replacement cages in various colors sold separately.

Hutchbmx.com

As the crowd chanted “Coal Coal. Coal must go. To make our emissions Low Low Low!” I took in the sites. There was the Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd bathing in coal. There was a Kevin Rudd Santa with a sack of coal for Xmas. And there was a Bicycle Pixie, fighting the crowd of people to deliver a slay full of coal to the little kiddies.

Yep.. I rocked up last minute to strut some protest for climate change and I was amazed at how many people brought their bikes as their partner in crime. Mostly people were just walking with them as if their bikes were another limb but still this took effort to avoid crashes in a congested crowd. But they did! And I thought that was rad.

I do wonder however when bikes become a protest tool for raging at the government? Apparently they send a message by themselves. I mean I know bicycles have had an “eco” tag for a long time but has anyone else notice just how much they have become an icon recently?

It seems everyone around me is dropping down with back issues. Yesterday I joined them. Now having had 15 hours sleep as a result of passing out from being doped up on meds – I have some serious energy! I’m staring at my bike and it is teasing me for a ride. I’m dreaming of one of my favorite swimming spots in Sydney.  But of course I can’t. I need to rest and the thought of being hunched over a bike makes me cringe. Injuries are seriously a pain in the backside! And although it sucks that I can’t ride now I’m also concerned about aggravating it  when I hop back on the pushy. I have been researching tips to prevent this and interestingly I found that it’s actually bad to have your spine in an upright position on a bike! In fact having a straight back can make your vertebrae jam together as it doesn’t allow any give when you hit bumps. Therefore ensure your handlebars are not raised too high and watch out if you are often riding a lady bike! 

Single speed championships are on this weekend in Australia. In the name of aussie spirit the event appears to be a fairly relaxed one. There will be riding, camping, eating and of course drinking beer. Some  local messengers here in sydney were telling me how the event will catered for the party goers. For example some races will include points earned for either hard-core riding or the choice of a pit stop to drink beer. Sounds heaps cool! I hope there are some more weekends away for riding during the summer, silly, season.

FIRE: Meg surprised me at my doorstep. My world turned hazy as it took me longer than usual to grasp something. To release that she was indeed holding only one thing that would send me burning…my new CANDY CRANKS bike!
WATER: I let the shock run into the distance as I checked it out. My mouth watered and I felt sleazy as I ran my hand over the bike and soaked in the beautiful craftsmanship of Primate Frames.
EARTH: Leonardo De Vinci claimed, “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication” and this guided my bikes understated colour scheme and wood finish rims.
WIND: Light as an eagles feather this chief of transport flew me. My heart truly beating like a jungle drum.…In life I strive to find balance between the beauty of the natural world and the man-made world. The photos above where taken around my neighborhood as I tried to combine both elements of natural and man-made beauty through colour, line and texture. This was the influence behind the creation of my bike.

It’s been a while. I haven’t had a chance to do my laundry let alone ride my bike. Today I finally had a night to myself without commitments. I walked in put on a load of laundry and grabbed my bike. I wasn’t sure where I would be riding but I had a vision in mind. I wanted to find a spot where I could see the Centre Point Tower and a pond. I went to my local park where I knew at least I could see the Tower. Unfortunately it was packed of loud kids playing soccer. So I rode on by. Riding along I saw the Tower and it hit me. I knew of a pond near by in Moore Park. I got off my bike and lit up a smoke to marvel in my success. After the smoke I got back on the bike. I thought about the Bicycle film festival coming up. I thought about the cool tricks I’ll see that have been performed all over the globe.  I laughed at the sterotypical mentality behind some of these crews. “I can do this trick, I can do it better than you”. I decided if anyone asked me what trick I can do I will say the “Buddha meditating trick”. So then I decided I would practice this. Two legs crossed over the handlebars I speed down a hill and managed to put my hands in position to sing the universal sound of “AUMMM”. Following my attempt at tricks I left for Centennial Park. Helmet off and wind through my hair, I smirked at the disapproving faces of others. I brushed off these looks and took on some of my own as I watched the roadies tearing up the park. It was raining men with tight lycra up their arse. I found this funny. Singing aloud I rode on home. I love riding my bike – it’s a really great high

I know this is a silly post but why not share ones reverie? You see, I knew I had a computer face but I didn’t realize I had a bike face. Actually I didn’t even know it existed until today. But I caught myself out. Not once. Not twice but ALL the time. I have different faces you see. I have a bike face for waiting at the lights. A bike face for deep thinking (about silly things like this). A bike face for hills. And so on. These faces differ from your usual facial expressions because they are utterly more exaggerated. Why are they more exaggerated? because there is a certain freedom to be yourself on your bike no matter how daggy it may appear. Speeding past people makes you relax about your out of tune singing or your mistakes whilst reciting French nursery rhymes.