BFF NYC10 Press Preview

Juni 15th, 2010

BFF NYC10 Press Preview Party

Today was the press party with a sneak preview of some selected bicycle movies at the New York City bicycle film festival (BFF). It was at the Rogan design store.

Rogan Store BFF Party

Designer Rogan Gregory has made the former Bouwerie Lane Theatre that was built in 1874 into the new flagship store for his label. There were quite a lot of people in this small shop. Some were people that I know from the past years in NY and Tokyo.

BFF Friends and Press

Bicycle Film Festival NYC10

BFF Press Party At Rogan Design Store

This is the 10th year that Brendt Barbur is putting on this festival in New York. And of course he held a short speech.

BFF Brendt Speech

Cycling Through New York on Fixed Gear

Juni 15th, 2010

What a beautiful day! I took the subway up to West Harlem to meet my friend Jacob.

NYC West Harlem

He gave me his Mission Bicycle fixed gear bike to use during my entire stay.

Mission Bicycle Track Bike

We rode towards the Hudson river to have lunch together at the river shore.

Jacon riding towards the Hudson

We could see the George Washington Bridge and New Jersey on the other side of the Hudson.

George Washington Bridge and Hudson

Then I started cycling South along the nice Hudson bicycle greenway cycling path.

Hudson bicycle greenway cycling path

Cycling along the Hudson in the sunshine

Then I went to the new museum of arts and design (MAD) on the South West corner of Central Park.

museum of arts and design

They were currently curating a bicycle exhibition. They had hand built bicycles displayed.

Bicycle Exhibition

But as it is a museum of design I was expecting some very creative designs like at see at the bicycle trade shows that get design awards. But in the museum they had regular bicycles that were beautifully made.

MAD Bike Exhibition

After that I cycled through Manhattan to the BFF headquarter.

Cycling Through Manhattan

New York city has improved its cycling infrastructure. There are special bicycle lanes painted in green color on many avenues and streets. Like even on Broadway heading down to Times Square.

Bicycle Lane on Broadway

But Brendt and the others from BFF were quite busy with last minute preparations. So I went to a meet an artistic cycling friend at her design studio karlssonwilker. We probably had last seen and spoken over 12 years ago because that is when she had stopped cycling. I did not even know she was living in New York. That is the great thing about social media like facebook.

Flight to New Yok City

Juni 14th, 2010

I am heading out the bicycle film festival in New York. As I am taking my trick bike along to perform I knew I cannot take the subway in Beijing. So I decided to take a taxi. That was not a good idea. There was again so much traffic jam in Beijing due to the upcoming Dragon Boat Festival and most peopel being off work for 3 days.The signs said that the airport expressway was completely jammed until outside 5th ring road. So my driver decided to first drive South and then head East to the 2nd airport expressway. That was what m any other were also thinking of doing. So were again just standing in traffic. But my driver was quite good. he knew some illegal short cuts and I actually made it to teh airport just on time for check in. When I got to the gate I realized that the flight was 1.5 hours delayed. But when teh airline started handing out free lunch and drinks I was getting worried it could be a longer delay.  It was only 2 hours and we could board the plane. And I had great luck: I was upgraded to business class which si terrific for a 13 hour flight. I had great food and a long comfortable sleep. Just our plane did some artistic loops before landing in New York.

Airplane Path

I took the subway to downtown and was happy to see a poster for promoting cycling in NYC.

Bicycle Promotion in NYC

I am staying in lower Manhattan between Greenwich Village and West Village.

New York City Map

The first thing I saw coming out of teh subway with all my luggage was 3 cyclists of which the last one was Brendt Barbur (the director of the BFF) on his BMX pass by. I was too surprised to say anything, what a coincidence.

My friend has a nice old apartment with some antique furniture.

Antique School Chair

Antique Sewing Machine

Flying Banana Fixed Gear Bikes

Juni 13th, 2010

This is the last day before my trip to New York and of course it was very busy. We had to take some bike parts to the international post office and because that included rims we decided to take the taxi. What a stupid way to get around in Beijing. Because it is mostly traffic jams. It took the taxi 20 minutes to get from my shop to where I live. By bike it only takes me 8 minutes. And then we found out that the customs office was already closed because tomorrow is the start of the 3 day holiday. So we had to take the taxi back too.

Traffic Jam on North Second Ring Road in Beijing

And I had some fixed gear friends drop by the shop to change a saddle and cog. Will had bought an Aerospoke front wheel for his Natooke bike.

Will’s Natooke Bike

This is a beautiful Flying Banana track bike with chrome front fork.

Flying Banana track bike with chrome front fork

And this Flying Banana has a nice color.

Light Blue Flying Banana Track Bike

And with 2 customer ordering very special Flying Banana’s at Natooke store I hardly had time to finish the bike for Thomas. So he had to help me put it together. I like his choice of the lugged steel Flying Banana in black with a BMX style front fork and fixed gear.

Lugged steel Flying Banana in black

Thomas Flying Banana from Natooke

The special Natooke brand „Flying Banana“ track bicycle.

The Flying Banana by Ines Brunn

At night there were huge thunderstorms that seemed to never end. So Fede who was trying to fly back from Inner Mongolia got delayed until very late. And when it stopped raining there were huge puddles everywhere.

Wudaoying Hutong making Zongzi

Juni 12th, 2010

Today I was surprised by a „you have to come to a meeting a 2:30pm“ by our friend of Wudaoying Hutong, the small alley that has been selected as one of the special streets of Beijing and its development is being pushed by the local government. I was alone in the shop today so I had to throw out customers to make it to the nearby community center. Even though I was there at 2:40 I was still early because the „meeting“ did not start until 3pm. I was one of the 6 foreigners that had been asked to come. We also had some elderly people, local worker as well as disabled to participate.

On May 5th of the moon calendar which this year is on June 16th of the sun calendar is Dragon Boat festival. Last year the Chinese government decided this to be again a public holiday after many years of not being so. If companies decide that Saturday and Sunday is a work day then the employees get Monday to Wednesday off. And most local companies do it that way.

And following a legend there is special food which =will be prepared and eaten on this holiday. It is Zongzi. So the local Wudaoying Hutong community ladies taught us how to make Zongzi using a special rice that gets sticky when cooked and dates folded in bamboo leaves.

Community Ladies teaching how to make Zongzi

Foreigners Making Zongzi

Then we all received a package of already finished Zongzi to take back home. And of course there was the obligatory group photo with us foreigners and the disabled.

The shop was not too busy. A Chinese guy that had only bought wheelsets, cog and lockring and cranks at my shop came by to show me his built up fixed gear bicycle.

Fixed Gear Bicycle in Beijing

Brendan at Natooke

Juni 11th, 2010

Brendan came back to give back the bike he was loaning from Natooke. We took a picture of him with the bike polo mallot he made yesterday.

Brendan Allen at Natooke in Beijing

Later Max dropped by with his new handlebar on his Flying Banana track bike.The track drop bars were too narrow so he switched to road bike drop bars.

Flying Banana With Road Drop Bars

Work that Pigu

Juni 11th, 2010

Today there was an article in the Global Times. They had interviewed Fede and Shannon while I was in Germany. The full article is here.

The title is „Work that Pigu“. Pigu mean ass. They had different sports sections, one of them being cycling. Here an excert of the original article:

Cycling

For those who prefer to pedal, the city is always open for biking. Bicycles are available in a variety of colors, styles, and price ranges on practically every street in Beijing. Cyclists have unlimited control over pacing and routes. And bike rides are free!

Federico Moro is the director of Natooke, a bike shop that specializes in fixed gear bikes and juggling. Moro praises Beijing as a city designed for bikes: completely flat, dry, and loaded with big bike lanes. He said of course there are individual health benefits for riding a bike, but, really, „everyone benefits: more bikes means less cars, less traffic.“ And, of course, less traffic means less pollution for us all to breathe while we’re outside exercising.

Moro urges beginners to „get a bike and start to pedal. And get a helmet and a mask.“

Moro’s friend, Shannon Bufton, runs Smarter Than Car, a platform for promoting biking in the city. On the last Friday of every month, the group of about 50 riders hit the streets for a social ride set at a relaxing pace. Bufton agrees that biking is good for the environment, but also good for health. He said, simply, „It keeps you fit and keeps your weight down.“

Bikers looking for a challenge beyond the Dongzhimen interchange could head to the Laoshan Mountain Bike Course in west Beijing’s Shijingshan District. The 4.6 km Olympic course was made available to the public post-Games.

For serious mountain bikers, the thrill of riding in the paths of Olympians should outweigh the potential anxieties of getting a bike to west Beijing. And, for less serious cyclists, the trip to and from the course could be considered a full work-out in its own right.

Beijing Bike Polo

Juni 10th, 2010

Back in Beijing I first need to get used to cycling in Beijing traffic. And the traffic jams are getting worse. And there are more cars in the bike lanes. Like this black BMW without license plate. He thinks he is the king of the road and does not need to follow any traffic rules.

Black BMW without license plate

A cycling friend from Oakland is visiting Beijing. Brendan loves playing Bike Polo and came to the shop to make two more bike polo mallots. Then we headed out to the Beijing CBD to an open space in midst modern office buildings together with some Chinese Fixed Gear riders. It took us a while to start a real game as most of us were playing for the first or second time and we were missing a mallot, then a guy fell and when we finally had 6 mallots it was already dark. It was still fun to hit the ball in the dark. And we had most people on fixed gear, Brendan on a freewheel, and later a guy on a fancy Flying Pigeon.

Beijing Bike Polo

Playing Bicycle Polo in Modern Beijing

Bike Polo at Night in China’s Capital

Natooke Fixed Gear Bikes

Juni 9th, 2010

During my travel in Germany Fede and Samantha took care of the Natooke shop and actually built up many fixed gear bikes for customers. Until now we have never built up to identical bikes. Every bicycle is unique and reflects the customers personality. That is one thing that makes fixed gear bikes so attractive around the world. It is not just a bicycle. It is special. Here are some pictures.

Duncan’s stylish black Flying Banana with green hubs and retro tires.

Duncan’s Fixed Gear Bike

He even wrote some blog entries about his first ride from our shop at Lama Temple to Wudaokou as well as a 50km ride he did on the second day. It is great to see people enjoying cycling through the city. Beijing is perfect for that.

Black Flying Banana and Duncan

Charles decided for a cheap aluminum frame a nice rims matching the hubs.

Charles Aluminum Fixed Gear Bike

Mark also chose the aluminum frame and choose nice Velocity rims and expensive but classy seat post, stem and handlebar.

Mark’s Urban Bike

James wanted to stay with the black and white on this aluminum frame, even though he came back to change his tires to the full color DURO tires in red to match his grips. Here is the picture before that change.

James Fixie from Natooke

This is a nice lugged chromoly Flying Banana frame and crown fork in a very light blue color with Halo tires and Modolo stem and handlebar.

Lugged Chromoly Flying Banana Fixie

Happy Fixed Gear Rider

Goodbye in Germany

Juni 8th, 2010

Today I had to do again some lawn mowing and carrying the last things for my parents. Then I could pack my bags. After a very delicious lunch we headed to the train station. It was time to say goodbye again. We asked a lady that was passing by to take a picture of the 3 of us, but she seemed to not know how to take pictures so we tried to explain to her and then the picture looked like this:

The Brunn Family

So then we decided to take separate pictures. First with my mom.

Ines and her mother

And then with my dad.

Ines and her dad

Then I boarded the train and then the plane and flew back to Beijing.