Wow, I did not expect it this big! I was asked some questions from one of the employees of the magazine „That’s Beijing“. They printed pictures of me on my trick bike with an interview in the April 2008 edition that you can get free of charge at many locations around Beijing. If you cannot get a copy: Click here to read the online article.
The climbing wall in Ritan Park in Beijing is always a nice place to meet up for climbing routes as well as bouldering. Even if the weather is still a bit chilly there are always some fun people around.
And we do not only come here for climbing. Last Saturday we were trying to find many difficult Yoga postures and challenging each other. It turned out that some guys are much more flexible than others…
In China it is not very common to invite your friends over to your place just for having drinks. But we do that once in a while. Some of our Foreign friends are really happy about it as they miss the house parties they used to have in their home countries.
Yesterday we had such a small house party. We had some ingredients for mixing cocktails and long drinks. That always reduced the amount of beer that is consumed. With the bottles that some guests brought we ended the party at +1 (that means having one full bottle of beer more than when we started).
Squeezing lemons can be tiring. Every party there is a different favorite drink. One year my Chinese friends were doing B52 shots the whole night. This time there were two favorites: Campari Orange and Blue Curacao with orange juice. Odd choice. I hope the last one was just because of the green color…
Yesterday I had my first flat tire on my commuter track bike. but it was not a hole in the tube. No. It was the valve that got cut off when the Kryptonite lock touched it. Well – the lock is a huge chain and actually really heavy. But I was astonished that with one touch the valve broke off where it come out of the rim. And what a clean cut:
I was carrying all the tools with me (as every day) as well as the stuff to patch an inner tube – just not any spare tubes. Lesson learned: From now on I will carry a spare tube, especially when riding longer distances.
If you are Italian or if can read Italian or if you do not mind not understanding everything, then check out this link to the April issue of the Urban Wheels Magazine showing my pictures and an interview.
The Italian elections ended tonight. A group of Italians came to the place where we juggle and met to get the results of the elections. But unfortunately they were not so happy with them.
The juggling group is becoming more popular. It was really getting crowded. I did not bring my camera so the pictures are from last week. In that week also a fixie rider from Chicago that belongs to the Chicago fixed group came for a visit and dropped by the open juggling night (as I usually have my track bike with me).
The rola bola (balancing board on a a roll) we use is just made of a board (wood) and a piece of plastic pipes for toilets. My friend took a cab to bring the rola bola last time and the cab driver asked him if he comes from a cooking class, because of the board. This time a surfer from California who trains on a similar board used it to the extreme till it fell apart.
Today was the first ride of the Beijing Fixed Group. We managed to gather all the fixed riders of Beijing that currently have a fixed gear bike. And then the same amount of bike lovers that do not have a fixed gear bike joined as well.
Pictures of 1st Beijing Fixed Group Ride
Well, if you look at those pictures you will find only two people on fixed gear bikes (me and Ben). Also you might have noticed that the route we took was maybe not what you would expect. First we wanted to ride around in one of Beijing’s famous art districts in Dashanzi called 798. We did not know that they are re-doing all paved roads in that district at the same time. While we were stanidng around we bumped into one of the guys from the Hong Kong fixed gear group that I would have rode with 10 days ago in Hong Kong if the weather had been better. And furthermore it turns out his friend has the same friends as Ben. The world is a village!
Then Tim suggested we ride in the direction out of the city. We went till North fifth ring road to a market. You can have a look at the above link to the pictures of what kind of market we went to. Getting there was a bit rough as not all paths were paved.
If you are a fixed gear rider and you are in China and drop by Beijing, then please join us. We promise that we can stay on paved roads. If you are on Facebook then please join our Beijing Fixed Group there. You can also find us in the magazine CityWeekend Beijing.
After the ride today I went to the house warming party of the famous musician Guo Jian of the Chinese reggae band Longshendao (LSD). After a few drinks they started making music. The famous Ember from Canada was also there. It was fun for a Sunday night party.
Today I got my back wheel spokes of my pink track bike tightened, changed the handlebar and put in my smaller front wheel. Then I went out to play around with my friends who were inline skating.
I uploaded some videos to youtube. Sorry but the formatting of this blog is still horrible if I try to display the videos embedded – so here are the links:
Link to Video: First try of headtube seated wheely with support of a friend
Link to Video: First try of regular seated wheely with support of a friend
Link to Video: Being interrupted while trying to do backward circles
Link to Video: 4 backward circles on my beautiful pink track bike
Link to Video: First saddle handlebar stands on real fixie
We had dinner in the Japanese lounge just to find out that everything has become incredibly expensive. Now I do not really recommend coming here for food. Maybe just for a drink and enjoying the nice view of Beijing.
After dinner we went to a listen to some live music in a small bar near the ancient Drum and Bell tower of Beijing. Tonight folk rocker Ma Tiao and his band were playing Chinese rock music. That was a good mixture of traditional Chinese sounds and hard rock music that went well with my Margaritas.
So now I know how it feels to get wet and dirty between the legs. It did not look like it would rain today. I was wearing a short skirt and high boots and riding around the city on my Corima track bike. In the evening when I was hurrying from one appointment to the next it was raining – well actually just drizzling. I have often been cycling in the rain, even in Beijing. But this was the first time I rode my Corima bike in the rain – it does not have any fenders. So yes, I knew I would get wet from the front and back wheel. I wore my messenger bag a bit more loose so that it could touch the saddle. I was hoping that the bag would protect me from all the water coming up from the back wheel. But that was not the case. Not only was my skirt soaked around the bum, but also the front of my skirt got wet. The water running down my legs ran inside my boots (not a nice feeling).
But the most shocking experience was the amount of black dirt. Sure my boots and the messenger bag were dirty. The white top that was under my jacket and tucked into the skirt was black at the back. At home I realized that also my black skirt would have been black color just from the black dirty water. I rinsed the skirt and top for quite a while till the black dirt was all gone. That must be all of Beijing’s pollution that contaminated the rain. I have never seen such black water before.
I had to shower to get the black stains even off my bum and legs. But at least we have hot water again!
I am trying to get used to the feeling of this track bike. The bullhorn handlebars are moving no matter how tight I pull them. The pegs are too big as my shoes sometimes get stuck between pedal and peg. The pedal arms are built longer than where the pedal is screwed in – it looks nice, but that then touches the small 24″ front wheel when I turn it 180 degrees. Other than that I LOVE MY PINK BIKE. But I do not like having pink ribbon in my hair…
And just a note on how small Beijing is. Today at the juggling night I lady came into the bar and said „Hi Ines“. She was just in Beijing for a visit and just walked by this newer bar and just came in to have a look how it looks like. She was only in Beijing a few days and on her way to emigrate to France. She was a good friend of my boyfriend some years ago before she moved to Guangzhou. I was amazed that she even recognized me. I told her to wait and called my boyfriend to come by to see her. What a coincidence.