Weird coincidence
This afternoon in the workshop I got a call from Joel, the drummer from Afrolicious and Pleasure Maker (Thursdays at the Elbo Room). I met Joel when we were on the 2-Mile Challenge tour together. He said,
“Sorry I couldn’t make it to your gig last week, I was working.”
“Doing what?”
“Moving.”
“Moving? Like for cash?
“Yeah.”
“How much they paying you?”
“18 an hour.”
“Dang, I’d offer you work at Rock the Bike, because we need help with assembly and packing and shipping right now, but we normally pay only $12.”
“That’s OK man, I’d totally work for you, because I believe in what you’re doing.”
“Really? Thanks Joel.”
“No problem. And you should come by the Elbo tonight.”
“Thanks, I’ll try to make it around 11. Can you put me on the guest list?”
Then I got home, had dinner and got a text from Julia about an event at Cellspace.
“OK I’ll swing by, but I’m going to Elbo later.”
The exhibit at Cell Space was an incredible cardboard city about 20 feet by ten feet, with a miniature helicopter floating around. There was a miniature remote control helicopter flying through the skyscrapers of the cardboard city. It’s up until April 17. Gotta go see it!
Anyway, after checking out the city, I suggested a cruise so we left. It was me, Julia, and Tyson, whose chain sounded like a chorus of crickets. We had a great ride up to Billy Goat hill, and watched the city. It was late so I had to coax them to come with me to the Elbo Room. But it was a downhill cruise awaiting us so it wasn’t that hard. Three abreast on Cesar Chavez was really nice. Julia was saying we felt like a bike gang. The Plush Red Down Glow on my my mom’s Electra was sweet. Sometimes it’s good to ride a totally simple bike. I can see the appeal of fixed gear bikes. I just love me knees. Anyway, we roll up to the Elbo Room. The woman at the door let all three of us in. Sure enough, Joel was in his element playing along on traps with Afrolicious. During a set break I got to introduce him to my friends and catch up a little. We danced until 1 or so and then cruised. I sprayed Boeshield on Tyson’s chain and said goodbye.
I headed upstairs and parked in front of the computer like I normally do when I should be sleeping. I checked the What’s Hot page on Rock the Bike. I noticed a comment on my post about JoyRider clothing, entitled bicycle fashion:
“Bravo! A clothing line that is not centered around spandex! At Velo Vogue, we also applaud cycling in normal fashionable clothing. Clothing lines such as Joyrider will help de-marginalize cycling for transportation! Looking good!”
So I clicked the link and sure enough it’s a hip little blog about San Francisco bicycle fashion, with lots of fun photos. And there at the bottom of the page, ladies and gentlemen, was Joel Elrod, riding with a companion in Golden Gate park, wearing a black hat and a cool T-shirt:
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Sheldon Brown Memorial Ride in Austin
Southwest Cycling News’ Bob Farr, a.k.a. RudeBoyRobbo, shot some beautiful images of a ride in Austin in memory of Sheldon Brown.
I think San Francisco needs to host one. I’ll send out an invite to the SF Cruisers, and put it out there on Craigslist for Friday at Sunset. Meeting point: The Rev: a cafe at 22nd & Bartlett.
Murray Neil’s combined passions: Bikes, Kites, Community
One of our Flickr friends, Murray Neil, a New Zealand bike culture head and Xtracycle rider, combines his love of photography, kites, and biking in his crystal clear aerial shots. He fabricated his own kite-based aerial photography rig and uses the photographs to document, among other things, which bike lanes he finds effective and which intersections still need work. In the photo above, Neil can be seen as a tiny dark blue figure in the sand to the left of the bridge on the far side of the river. You can even see the faint line of the kite’s string. Even cooler, the red and white object halfway across the bridge is his friend Ted, who had seen his kite line and biked over to say “hi.”
Unlike airplane based aerial photography, Neil’s is quiet, cheap, beautiful, and non-polluting. Now that’s community.
New York bike photographer seeks catharsis on Flickr after wreck
After posting the series of her wrecked Surly on Flickr, 50 or so other bike heads piped up with moral support and gratitude for her luck at emerging with only a ‘bruised ass’.
She reports that “no part is salvageable”.
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Our nation’s newspaper of record devotes serious column inches to bicycle music systems
My dad caught this one early this morning.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/29/nyregion/29bikes.html
“The bikes roar, but the booming sound has nothing to do with engines — because there are no engines. They are ordinary bicycles, not motorcycles, although these contraptions look and sound more like rolling D.J. booths. They are outfitted with elaborate stereo systems installed by the youths.” Read More »
