One of the things I love about doing this blog is I get to share what makes me happy.
Many things make me happy, for example:
- Riding bikes.
- Exploring the places we live and work.
- Making new friends and building community.
- Sharing smiles and positive vibes.
- Rocking tunes.
Combining all these elements into one event and it’s a dang good time!
That is why I loooovvveee bike raves!
If you don’t know what a bike rave is, check out the Melburn Pink Flamingo Bike Rave (2018) – which I attended in full costume while riding our BioBike Art Bike (a massive hit!) – and the Melbourne GOLD! Bike Rave (2019).
While COVID keeps many of us restricted, I’ve been getting my bike rave-ish fix from Dom Whiting’s Youtube channel Drum & Bass on the bike.
Dom is a (former) mechanic and (go)karter who lives in the UK.
Five months ago, Dom posted his first Drum & Bass on the bike video.
Dom has a DJ deck set up over the handlebars of his bike, then he turns on his speakers, streams his live set (including him talking on a mic), and cruises around his local surroundings.
He has ridden Cambridge, Uxbridge, Manchester, Marlos, Windsor, Cardiff, Brighton, and several other English cities.
And each time, he is being joined by more and more people for the party ride-along.
Events like this make me happy.
In a world that is increasingly divisive and exclusionary, having free, public events that people of all ages and stages can enjoy is critical.
While I acknowledge initiatives like this are not perfect and come with issues, I also appreciate the effort and work that goes into making these rides happen.
I love the grassroots, quasi-critical mass, flash mob, bicycle-focused, positive vibe of Dom’s rides.
Kids, families, dogs, and all kinds of people going for a ride together.
Yup – big smiles.
One of my favs is his start of the London Hyde Park Special.
This is one of his earlier ones. Just Dom…. going for a cruise.
I like the gentle lead-in (see video above) where he starts out by himself. He takes his time setting up his gear, he has a chat to a passer-by and then pushes off for an ‘off-the cuff’ roll around London.
A little further on, he chats to people in nearby cars while they are all waiting for the lights – such a contrast to other urban riders we are used to seeing, like teams of well-coordinated, weekend MAMILS or the dangerous antics of Terry Barensten’s hotliners.
I love the whole premise and appreciate the effort Dom has put into his bike.
And while history has shown that popular community bike events that start out organically invariably morph and change as demands, numbers, and challenges change – regardless of what or how this project changes in(to) in the future… I am just happy that at least just now… Dom and his DJ bike are somewhere out there spreading the happy community vibes on two wheels.
Ride on!
