I just found this blog entry about my day in San Francisco in April 2009. And I also do remember the balancing a track stand on the edge of the pier outside of the railing high above the water level on a fixed gear bicycle. It did cost me some concentration to stand still and not think about what would happen if I were to fall down accidentally. Here is the picture that Edsel Dilag took.
I still could not watch the movie clip by Justin Gallagher.
Just in case anybody is wondering about my sense of small that I lost in a bicycle accident in August of this year. It still has not returned. I am seeing a traditional Chinese doctor treating me with acupuncture. I still have hope that it will return within the next few months. And I can only suggest other urban cyclists to wear helmets even when just going for grocery shopping.
Zack Jiang started making bamboo bicycle frames in Beijing. Bamboo agriculture and craftsmanship exists at a level in China that exceeds other countries but its use of bamboo in industry should be recognized. He wants to rewire the cultural acceptance of bamboo from historic uses (brooms, clothing poles and scaffolding) to new forms of product design. He wants to inspires others to rethink about the use of bamboo in design. That is why he made this single speed commuter bike. This bike was designed for urban city commuting on flat roads giving comfort, stability and shock absorption. At a green event in November this bike was up for auction and Wesley was the lucky purchaser. He brought it back to my shop and we converted it to fixed gear with new and better components. It was dark when I took the pictures of the final bike so colors do not come out as nice as they actually are.
The golden rims and cranks go well with the bamboo frame, the yellow chain goes well with the yellow grips and the dark green velvet seat cover goes well with the matching drank green hubs.
Here is a short video clip of me doing some stationary bike tricks in the Radio Beijing studio before the radio show where I was interviewed.
Jim came to my bike shop and we changed the chainring of his fixed gear bike to a complete white one matching his rear rim.
I met my good friend for dinner. I have not seen her for a long time, especially not with some time to talk. So it was really nice. But we did not have so much time as I was wanting to see the theater performance in Penghao theater. I heard that it was very suitable for children and I assumed it would be very funny. It turned out to be 3 different monologues. First the „Wind in the Willows“ by Kenneth Grahame, then „The Massacre of the Innocents“ by W.H. Auden and last „The Sea and the Mirror“ also by Auden. All three were played by Ian Reed. He is a good actor but they were difficult monologues, especially after a day out cycling in the cold fresh air.
After quite a few weeks I am finally arranging fixed gear rides in Beijing again. Yeah! And that despite the cold weather. I was happy to see new people come out and ride with us even though none of our Chinese riders showed up. So our small group of winter cyclists headed out through the hutongs towards Changan Boulevard and then westwards.
I am always amazed by the size of the bicycle lanes here in Beijing, especially on the streets heading East-West. And of course the most impressive bicycle lane is near Tiananmen Square on the Changan Boulevard. It seems like 5 car lanes wide only for cyclists. Are there are hardly any!
We had lunch near the Laoshan velodrome and had a huge variety of food. The whole meal cost 15.-RMB per person.
On our ride further West I stopped to look at the birds in the trees and take a picture of them.
Well it was actually workers cutting the branches of the trees along the bike path. They just climbed up into the trees and without any secruity device were leaning out one branch and cutting the one next to it.
And as it is winter the farmers from outside of Beijing province are selling radish and cabbage.
Then we continued on till we arrived at the huge steel factory. Everybody was cycling in so we also cycled in. They did not mind the first people of our group, but maybe I should have put my golden floating hair inside my jacket because once I crossed the gate they started screaming at us and soon we were surrounded by guards saying they we are not allowed to be inside.We did not understand why everybody else was allowed just us not but that was probably because the others were all Chinese. So we cycled back out and were looking for a different way in as we just wanted to take some cool urban bike pictures.
From where we were trying we could not find another entrance. Even outside Beijing in this area there are still the street bike repair guys with all the tools. Nico was still having problems with his cheap Chinese open bearing bottom bracket. He asked if he could use the hammer of the bike repair guy and did it himself with the Chinese watching.
By then it was getting even colder and already getting darker so we decided just to head back to the city center.It was a great ride despite my cold feet and fingers. I uploaded my pictures to a webalbum. And Nico and Katiushka uploaded their pictures to flickr.
The traffic is increasing in Beijing daily – every day 1800 more cars are registered in Beijing. The estimation says that Beijing has 4 million cars at the moment. That is 4 times more than 10 years ago. The streets are overfilled with cars. The cars often now use the bicycle lanes to cut through congested streets without looking out for the last few remaining cyclists. Even on Saturday afternoons the main roads are jammed like on this picture of East second ring road. If only more people would start cycling again. It is definitely the fastest way to get around the city. And for sure also the most fun 🙂
My friend Shannon had stripped down his old road bike and had it repainted in Australia. He brought it to China and came to my shop to get a fixed gear back wheel and new chain and convert it into a fixie. He did a good job. I think it looks great now. I especially like his choice of brake cable matching the back rim.
There was an article on sina.com under the Style section about my and my bike and juggling shop called Natooke. This is the copy of the article:
Natooke店老板伊泉(图) http://www.sina.com.cn 2009年12月04日 17:04 《风尚志》
Natooke店老板伊泉
告诉你：
“如果你还是一个新手，玩儿死飞自行车(FIXED GEAR)时一定要注意控制时速。”
姓名：伊泉
身份：Natooke店老板，资深死飞党
出没场所：五道营胡同，Natooke死飞自行车商店
依泉来自法国，是一个倍儿精神的人，酷爱“死飞自行车”运动的她能讲一口流利的中文。作为玩儿“死飞”20多年的资深人士，她如今在五道营胡同开起来自己的小店，经营死飞自行车的原配件，包括：车轴、轮子、把手等，你可以在她这里DIY出个性“死飞”自行车。在将来，依泉打算办一些培训，帮助“ 死飞”运动在北京的发展。