Candy Cranks

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 unnecessary force, 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!

Keep the rubber side down,

Nova*

A couple of weekends ago, when it was hot and sunny (seems like eons ago), I ventured out to the Trout Lake Farmer’s Market at its new location in the north parking lot of John Hendry Park. The move from it’s former location by the community centre on the south side of the park means no parking for customer vehicles.

The group that organizes the market, Your Local Farmers Market Society, has taken this lack of parking as an opportunity to promote cycling, transit and walking as viable ways to get to and from the market. Pedestrians and transit-users are encouraged to bring along rolling carts to wheel around their purchases, and cyclists have it easy, with unofficial parking along the fence of the adjacent alley. Plus there are a couple bike routes that run to the park from different areas of town.

I did keep my eyes out for valet bike parking, a more and more common service at community events, however I only saw a tent that was promoting a specific brand of bikes and allowing test rides. Perhaps I missed the valet parking station?

At any rate, more people seem to be choosing sustainable and healthy means of transportation to support the choices they are making by purchasing local, organic and delicious farmers market fare.

Car-free alley behind the market is flanked by bikes ridden by market-goers.

Masses of Vancouverites scouting out produce, baked goods, cheese, meat, ready-to-eat to-go meals, plants, crafts and more at the market.

Delicious sunflower sprouts grown at the University of British Columbia and transported to the market by bike.

Nicest tractor I’ve seen in a long time.

My friend Natalie, who like myself is big into bikes was interviewed for an article in our national newspaper The Irish Times. The article was written following the introduction of the Dublin Bike Scheme, 10 cyclists throughout the city were interviewed about their bikes and their experiences of cycling in Dublin.

Natalie Keville, Designer for Exhibit Design Group
“I built this myself last year – it took me six months and I got most of the parts from the US, in places such as Ben Cycles in Milwaukee. I love fixies because they are really suitable for city cycling. You gain greater efficiency and power because there is no coasting, which is great for keeping control in heavy traffic. I love the light weight, simplicity and low maintenance, but the best part is the sense of fun and achievement of the actual build. It all started just after I left college, when I had a bit of money. Mine cost €1,400 and it’s a black Pake Track frame, with Nitto Jaguar stem, straight chrome Conago forks, deep Vs, Sugino messenger cranks, a Brooks team pro saddle and custom-made wooden handlebars (wild cherry strips laminated to a five degree curve). The only downside is the frequent near death experiences. I have been hit by two taxis this year! Cars need to be more aware of cyclists.”
Extract from article “Heels on Wheels” by Deirdre McQuillan

Pictured above is a great shot Natalie and her lovely bike taken for the article.

Via Christian Vivanco

I was in New York last week on holidays and this bike caught my eye outside the American Museum of Natural History – I love the green wheels and patterned saddle.

I really like Affinity bike frames which are based in Brooklyn so while in New York I headed out to their shop for a look and managed to get a spin around the block on one of their new frame, unfortunately it was too small for me and there is a waiting list of a few months for new frames!   Better luck next time! I’ll have to go back soon so

http://affinitycycles.simple-helix.net/stop/ (although their site was down for maintenance last time I checked!)

Below is the Marta frame by Affinity. I just love the mean angle of the frame and most importantly it is a really nice bike to cycle too.

Richie's Bike

I’m part of a group called the B:C:Clettes. We are an all-lady bicycle-inspired performance collective based in wonderful Vancouver.

Every week, throughout the year, we get together to dance, talk, dream, and have a great time together. Over the winter we choreograph new performance pieces and refine our collective process, by assessing our goals and making new plans. In the summer we are either preparing, participating or recovering from performing on tour or at a slew of shows around town.

We have traveled our show to LA and back, run a cabaret featuring the B:C:Clettes and other amazing local acts, filmed a music video/public service announcement, presented workshops and talks, and completed two bike-powered summer performance tours. And all while dressed in red, black and shiny!

As a way of highlighting not just our performances, but our process and the wonderful people involved, I thought it worthwhile, and perhaps even interesting to do a few posts about the group. For a more fleshed-out description and history of the group, plus links to photos, videos and press coverage, please visit the B:C:Clettes website.

I recently photo-documented an average winter practice for the B:C:Clettes. On Thursday nights we trickle in to our winter practice space, chat while we peel off layers of rain and bike gear, and then get right into the fun. Each week a different B:C:Clette acts as the facilitator to keep us on track, take notes during our discussions and ensure that we have a great time. As far as moving around, we do a warm-up followed by dancing in the form of learning new choreography, reviewing old numbers and brainstorming new moves.

Pre-practice meeting of our website team.

Deep into one of our discussion sessions.

Our beautiful indoor winter practice space. The B:C:Clettes practice outside over the spring, summer and fall.

Dance-off to warm up those leg muscles.

Working in pairs to go over the moves for one of our numbers

Mini-rims makes great props!

Working in front of the mirror to perfect our moves.

Blocking our starting pose for our robot-inspired bike dance.

Experimenting with new choreography.

Gliding across the floor in pairs.

Learning choreography for a new dance for the 2010 season.

I just got new grips for my samson. These are glow in the dark! Cool!!

(under the light. not glowing yet.)

In the dark, glowing!!

MIT’s SENSEable City Laboratory has brought technology used on the racetrack to your bike. The project is called the Copenhagen Wheel and features a back hub that captures kinetic energy generated when you brake. The energy is stored in batteries in the hub until you need it – like when you’re pushing up that last hill. When hooked up to your iPhone, the Copenhagen Wheel does even more:

By using a series of sensors and a Bluetooth connection to the user’s iPhone, which can be mounted on the handlebars, the wheel can monitor the bicycle’s speed, direction and distance traveled, as well as collect data on air pollution and even the proximity of the rider’s friends.

The team also added an anti-theft system that can text message you to location of your bike if it ever gets stolen. So smart!

What do you think? Would you ride the Copenhagen wheel?

The Sunday night ride crew had a BBQ last Sunday and I went down to say hi. I’ve never met them before and was so impressed by how friendly, open and chilled they all were. Their bikes are totally bling and they love pulling out tricks, cruising and chatting about bikes! Nice to meet you all, see you again soon!

They meet on Sundays at Martin Place from 5.30pm.

Viva Candy Cranks! I can’t thank you enough for sharing this. I have received lots of wonderful comments through this awesome blog. It is amazing and impressive! I hope everyone of you enjoy our 1st virgin stage here…

Konnichiwa! I’m a leader of Gacharinco! – the 1st fixed gear bicycle dance team in Japan. We just wanted to have fun with dancing and bicycle together!

Music + Bikes + Dancing = three of my favorite things!

All you need it. Ride on★