If it comes to the topic of climate change, one is being confronted with a long list of things that aren´t allowed anymore. However, to speed up the necessary change in our society, we don´t need prohibitions, but examples, dreams and social experiments.
The DJ is only going to be able to play, if there´s enough people (minimum of 4 at a time) producing power by cycling. Which means the DJ can only give you something - music - as long as you´re giving him something - energy. Pretty simple.
The Green Music Fahrrad Disko has it´s premiere on thursday, 19. August 2010 in Berlin. The event starts with a bike tour from Bar 25 at 5pm, which is gonna lead to a secret location. There, DJs of Bar 25 will play as long as enough power is being produced.
If you wanna get involved, RSVP here. More info here.
Cyclo tyres are switched on using a motion sensor within the tyre, high powered, tough and durable LED bulbs are built into the tread or wall of the tyre and can either flash or be permanently on, so when the wheel turns at any speed, a perfect ring of light is formed whilst continually and perpetually creating it’s own power.
Copenhagen Parts have come up with a very clever thing - an integrated handlebar and basket.
It’s made from heat-treated alloy tubing and rod, making it lightweight and robust. It can be installed just like any normal handlebar by attaching it to the bicycle using a two part stem (A-head stem).
The bike porter has been nominated as Best Bicycle Accessory 2010 by the Munich Bike Expo and also goes very well with veloheld bikes.
Yesterday morning I received the following email from a friend:
Hi,
So we were on our way home after pedaling the new pedal powered parade float through the big gay parade, when the master link on the drive chain from the back three pedalers broke.
So the float is parked in a 24-hour parking garage and we are putting together a new crew to pedal home when Colin replaces the master link today. Pedalers will get a Central Co-op gift card and love, in addition to slack-jawed stares and whoops from astonished passers-by.
BUT! i’m trapped in jury duty right now. i expect to be kicked out once they realize what a crackpot i am but who knows?
Please reply to me if you want to get on board and i will communicate soon.
Sounds like an adventure, right?! So of course I said “I’m IN!” The rest of the day at work was spent excitedly bouncing around the office and grinning, waiting for the adventure to begin. I’d seen some of Colin’s creations at various other events like the Dead Baby Downhill, but I wasn’t sure what to expect from the pedal-powered float.
After getting a cup of my favorite mango tea at Trabant, I set off for the parking garage at 3rd & Stewart. Upon arrival, I sighted the pedal-powered float on the 2nd story of the parking garage, but I couldn’t figure out how to gain egress without encountering a lot of very mindless drivers streaming up and down the narrow corkscrew ramps of the garage. Thankfully, the attendant gave me directions to the elevator around the corner, and my puzzle was solved.
My co-pedalers and I hung around, laughing and talking while waiting for Haulin Colin to arrive with a new Master Link to replace the broken one. He brought three, “just in case!” Finally, the broken link was replaced and we were ready to roll.
We loaded up our bikes on the back and secured them, tucked bags in, set up the cd player on full volume, and took our places. As the shortest pedalers, Kashina and I took the outer two front seats, and our co-pedalers filled in around us. Colin at the wheel: “It’s just like driving a regular manual transmission, but only 3 speeds, and the clutch is a little different.” I laughed hardest at this–I’ve never had a driver’s license, and I find myself very clumsy at the task of steering anything remotely car-like!
Each seat on the float is nicely set-up with toe clips/straps, a water bottle holder (or two!) and within an arms reach of a nice loud bell. Joe and I rang ours with impunity at first, then only when we were changing lanes, or to catch the attention of pedestrians, or just to celebrate…okay, we rang the bell a lot, it was fun!
After coasting down the corkscrew ramp, we paid the parking garage attendant and we were off. Pedestrians stopped in the middle of crosswalks to take pictures, giggle, and point. Other cyclists passed us, shouting encouragement and laughing. As we made our way up the hill, people were walking faster than we were inching along, so some folks would walk a few blocks up the hill in order to get a better picture.
One cyclist couldn’t believe his eyes, I thought he was going to crash as he looked over his shoulder at us again and again. Finally, he pulled off and took a picture without plowing his pretty grey and orange SS commuter into a line of parked cars.
I expected to get a lot of angry honks from cars, but people mostly just gave us waves and smiles and shouted nice things out their windows: “You’re awesome! You can do it! You’re almost there!” and gave us a wide berth, despite the fact that we were crawling through downtown/Capitol Hill at rush hour.
We passed two police officers and Web explained that we were just taking a Pride parade float home from downtown. They just waved us on, which was good–Seattle PD has been under fire recently for their use of unnecessaryforce, as well as overt racism, but I digress.
After getting over I-5, we started to get hot and tired, but we were only a third of the way there. We started imploring passersby, “bring us beer! cupcakes! ice cream! custard!” whatever we passed. Finally, someone heard our cry and brought us refreshment as we pedaled thru the tree-filled triangle park at Pike & Madison, nearly to the crest of the hill.
Coasting down the hill to the Union Street Farm we hit top speed, >30 MPH–that’s ~50 kilometres an hour! Colin deftly maneuvered us to landing without bumping into anything, and our exhausted and sweaty arrival was met with applause and shouts of congratulations.
All in all, an exhilarating and fun way to spend a Monday evening, and I giggled the whole exhausted ride home–tho Cheasty Boulevard has never seemed quite so long or steep. Much thanks to Web and Colin for the opportunity to wheel their amazing collaborative contraption! I’m already looking forwards to future pedal-float events. Sadly, my camera was at home charging its constantly-drained battery, but Byron over at Bikehugger was kind enough to upload a video. Maybe some other Seattle cyclists caught some pics? I’ll add them to the post if you leave a link in the comments!
I love Bike Snob NYC, I’ve been reading his blog for a couple of years and I’m always amazed at how he manages to write such consistently funny anecdotes, not just occasionally, but on a daily basis. I’m looking forward to getting my hands on a copy of his new book, and not just because there’s a Candy Cranks chainring on the cover!!
My Love for You and Christopher Koelle (the illustrator for Bike Snob’s book) are having a giveaway that could win you a BSNYC book, a zine and your choice of the lovely illustrations he did for the book, below is a couple you could choose from. More of Chris’s artwork here,and you can purchase Bike Snob’s book at a 20% discount via here.
I always think about getting my knitting needles out around this time of year, being Autumn in Australia. Thought I’d get some inspiration for some new projects and came across these beauties. Amazing stuff!
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