Personalities Archives

05/08/202020/10/2020

Nourishing Young Minds and Bodies in Lunsar

This post is a shout out to the community I did my bike PhD fieldwork with – and a call to action to help them when they need it most.

Regular readers of this blog know that earlier this year I went to Sierra Leone, West African to do my fieldwork. My research partners with bicycle NGO Village Bicycle Project and I worked alongside Karim ‘Stylish’ Kamara (VBP Country Manager).

I returned a week before COVID lock down and quarantine was made mandatory (phew!!). Since then I have kept in close contact with Stylish and many of the amazing people I met in Lunsar.

Since my return, I have been worried about Stylish and my Lunsar friends – dreading the arrival of August because of that is when the seasonal torrential rains come.

As well as being an incredible bicycle advocate and business man, Stylish is also very active supporting his community in a number of roles and ventures. Some of these ventures are bicycle-related, others are not.

Stylish’s VBP bike shop supplies COVID precautions for all riders, customers, visitors and staff.

This post looks at one of Stylish’s most significant community program that occurs outside of his role as ‘The bike king of Sierra Leone’ – yet one that is arguably just as important – his annual August Nourishing Young Minds and Bodies in Lunsar.

August is the most difficult month in Sierra Leone

The rainy season in Sierra Leone runs June – September. August is always the most difficult month. Every August, there are devastating rains, storms, flooding and landslides and thousands of the most vulnerable lose their homes, crops, livelihoods and sometimes lives. Schools, markets and health services shut down and people are forced to stay home because it is too dangerous – people and children get swept away and killed.

Last year, there was a particularly devastating mudslide in Freetown that killed many living in shanty towns and locals called it ‘the day the mountain moved’. These communities are still rebuilding even now as the rains come. The video below showing the build-up last year gives a sense of the gravity of the situation.

August rains often constrain access to essential services due to flooded streets and bridges, debris blocking roads and poor communication networks. A lack of electricity means the full impact on the most vulnerable families is not known until much later. This year preparations are more acute given additional COVID lockdown.

Every August many schools in Lunsar shut down. This means kids are missing out on continuing their education and often they fall behind.

In an account on Study, Read , Write, but most importantly: Listen, traveller Zoe details her experience being in the rainy season in Sierra Leone. Her experience highlights the impact torrential rains have on locals and slum communities, especially in regards to sewage, electricity and health via spikes in malaria and other diarrhoeal and vector borne diseases.

Nourishing Young Minds and Bodies in Lunsar

Stylish with participants of the 2019 Nourishing Young Minds and Bodies.

Last August, Hellen Gelbrand set up a Go Fund Me: Nourishing Young Minds and Bodies to help Stylish run a month-long feeding and schooling program for 100 local kids. This meant kids got a meal for lunch (for most it was their only meal of the day) and were able to continue their studies.

Hellen writes ‘August is the hardest month in Sierra Leone, well into the rainy season with dwindling food supplies in subsistence farming communities. It’s especially hard on kids. In what has become an annual program, Karim Kamara, a young Sierra Leonean, is planning a month of extra schooling and nutritious meals for 125 students at the King Kama primary school in Lunsar. Five teachers, including head teacher Mr. Alie F. Kamara (no relation to Karim), will be employed to teach the children—many of whom are orphans, and all from poor families where one meal a day is the norm for August.”

The 2020 Nourishing Young Minds and Bodies program starts this week and needs your help to raise $3, 100 to make this program happen.

Donate here

This program is a remarkable example of a grassroots community-driven initiative made possible by Stylish – a person whose first love is bicycles, but who saw a need and took action to make positive change for those who need it the most in his community.

Husband and I have supported this program and we are rallying others to do the same.

Please give generously and support Stylish and the children of Lunsar.

2020 Nourishing Young Minds and Bodies students.

27/06/202006/08/2020

Pedalling from Courage

As part of my bike PhD, I get to read lots of great bicycle inspired literature. Some of this awesome research includes Mike Lloyd’s bike research on the non-looks of the mobile world, new developments in no-nose saddle research and international projects like Paulus Maringka’s Greencycle Project in NZ.

Some academic publications are a bore to read, but there are the rare few that are accessible and engaging.

Today, I am sharing one that fits that bill. It is a reflection piece in the most recent issue of the Journal of Narrative Politics. It is by Manu Samnotra.

This article includes 7 vignettes, each of which shows various insights into Manu’s Florida bike-university-international lifeworld. I have chosen one particular vignette, to share here, which is the fourth in the paper (pg 62-63) which is the shortest vignette. It was originally presented as a one-paragraph moment. I chose this piece as it is concise, familiar and accessible (clearly written and articulated and not overly theoretical – thank goodness!).

Although it is an academic publication, it is a personal piece that bike riders can relate too. Elsewhere in the article, Manu explores themes or family, mobility, education, immigration/citizenship, friendship, community and more.

Manu’s writing is not at all cumbersome or heavily referenced (which is a unique feature of the Journal of Narrative Politics). I’d recommend checking out the whole article (see below). I have changed the layout of this section to better suit the blog format. Enjoy! NG.

Samnotra, M. (2020). Pedaling from Courage. Journal of Narrative Politics, 6(2).

Get a full copy of this article here

Pedalling from Courage. Bicycles Create Change.com 27th June 2020.

We were on our bicycles on our way to the university, rolling on a path unmarred by borders and hierarchies. We saw two figures in the distance.

Pedaling.

Perhaps we registered its novelty; in this neighborhood where we rarely saw any children, and where there were no cars parked during the day, it was strange to see pedestrians walking in the middle of the street. Whirring. We were discussing what we might cook that night for dinner.

Pedaling.

We hear voices now, distant voices, and there is shouting. The road is much smoother in this part of the ride. Whirring. We exchange glances. As we get closer, we notice that the figures in the distance, getting nearer to us every moment, are not white. The color of their skin became apparent before anything else.

Pedaling.

We see now that one of them is gesticulating. Sticking arms out sideways, questioning.

Pedaling.

We notice now that one of them is a man. We hear his words clearly. He is angry. He is insulting her. Whirring. He is demanding that she stop what she is doing and acknowledge him. A few feet away, and we realize that the woman is walking ahead of the man. Whirring. Her body is stiffened, but not in the way that suggests that they are strangers. Whirring. She is trying to maintain a distance between them. As we are about to cross them, the man stretches forward and punches her. It grazes the back of her head. She stumbles but quickly regains her footing and keeps walking.

Pedaling.

We two cyclists look at each other.

Pedaling.

We are already a block down the path before we realize what we have seen. Whirring. No, that is not right. We know what we saw. Whirring. It just takes us that long to acknowledge what we have seen. She wants to stop pedaling. Our bikes come to skidding halt. She was always braver than me. I tell her not to stop.

Pedaling.

We cover the rest of the distance until we reach the university where we finally consider what we have seen.

Manu Samnotra teaches political theory at the University of South Florida. He can be reached at msamnotra@usf.edu

18/06/202031/07/2020

Two 90-year-old WWII veterans cycle 167kms to commemorate D-Day

Another epic cycling story! If you were impressed fifteen-year-old Jyoti Kumari’s 1, 200kms bike ride to get her disabled father home, here is another inspirational epic ride. This story is about two 90-year-old WWII friends who are undertaking a commemorative stationary cycle challenge. After seeing this story, I will never accept “I’m too old” as an excuse not to cycle again. Wow!! Most people don’t ride 167kms, left alone in their mid-90s. There is hope for us all. What a way to commemorate a significant part of your life – AND raise money to help others in need. Enjoy. NG.

Two 90-year old WWII veterans are undertaking a 167 km (104 mile) charity cycle to commemorate the 76^th anniversary of D-Day.

The two friends, Len Gibbon (96) and Peter Hawkins (95) are both Normandy veterans.

The distance was chosen because it is the same distance that Len Gibbon’s took as a solider to get from his home in Portsmouth to the front in Normandy in 1944.

Using stationary bike they aimed to cover the distance from Portsmouth to Gold Beach by D-Day on June 6^th.

Both men are in wheelchairs, but this has not stopped them. To do the cycle challenge, they are using stationary bikes so they can still be comfortably seated while cycling.

Len Gibbon (96) started his cycle on VE day and has been riding every day since.

Already, they have raised over US$8, 500 for the charity Just Giving.

Mr Hawkins landed at Gold Beach a few days after Mr Gibbon in 1944 and was awarded a belated Legion d’Honneur for “recognition of military service for the liberation of France”.

Mr Gibbon said: “Although I’m 96, I still like to be active and take on new challenges. By cycling the same distance as the journey I took 76 years ago, it feels like a fitting tribute to those who were part of the Normandy landings.

The Normandy landings were like nothing else. You had to climb down this rope netting which hung down the side of the boat. Then when we got down to a certain point, someone shouted ‘Jump!’ and you had to fall backwards, someone caught you and pushed you on to the smaller landing craft to take you to shore.”

Originally from Elephant and Castle in London, Mr Gibbon joined the Royal Army Service Corps as a despatch rider when he was 20 years old.

In early June 1944, he got married and four days later he was posted to Normandy.

At Care for Veterans where he lives, physiotherapists have been working with Mr Gibbon on his balance and endurance.

His leg strength and overall fitness have improved with physiotherapy and he can now walk around safely with a mobility frame and supervision.

Taking part in this challenge would not have been possible without the physiotherapy.

Gibbons added: “Raising money for Care for Veterans means we can continue to help others who need support in later life.

I’m a keen dancer and am still able to have a dance with the other residents which keeps me young. I love to do the Cha Cha.”

Mr Gibbon was in Normandy through to the end of the invasion, then went to the Netherlands via Brussels, and was part of Operation Market Garden in September of 1944.

From there, he was posted in Germany, which is where he was when the war ended.

He recalled: “I was on my way to Hamburg, riding my motorbike along the autobahn by myself.

Suddenly a Spitfire was flying above me, came right down as if it was going to land on the road, then flew back up and did a loop. The pilot shouted down to me with thumbs up, shouting ‘victory!’

Then I knew it was over. I stood up on my bike, arms in the air, cheering.”

*Some content and images sourced from News Chain, Belfast Telegraph, CGTN and The Daily Mail.

13/06/202027/07/2020

Indian girl cycles injured father 1, 200kms home

You might have seen this story in the news recently. If not, you need to know about it! It is an inspirational story of fifteen-year-old Jyoti Kumari who rode a second-hand bicycle 1, 200kms with her disabled father as pillion to get home amidst India’s coronavirus lockdown. Amazing! Enjoy. NG.

Mohan (father) is an e-rickshaw driver who sustain a fracture knee during a road accident. They had travelled to seek medical attention. Their family lives in Gurugram (a suburb of the Indian capital Delhi) and his young daughter Jyoti went with him to look after him while he recovered when the lockdown started on 25 March.

Far from home, they soon ran out of money to buy food and medicines. There was no transport available because of COVID lockdown.

So Jyoti decided to buy a bicycle and like thousands of other Indian migrant workers have done since March, make her way home.

Using the money they had left (Rs2000) she bought a second-hand hot pink bike with a rack on the back for her injured father to ride pillion. They left home only with a bottle of water and she rode him non-stop from Sikandarpur in Haryana to Darbhanga in Bihar with only brief stops at Palwal, Agra and Mathura.

The trip was 1200km. Keep in mind the blistering heat and that they had no money for food along the way and relied on the kindness of strangers.

Jyoti said she was exhausted from the trip and that “It was a difficult journey”. She also said “The weather was too hot, but we had no choice. I had only one aim in my mind, and that was to reach home. It was a decision taken in desperation”.

Her efforts have made global headlines and won hearts on social media.

Their trip highlights the plight of migrant workers caught in the lockdown. Activists say her story highlights desperate measures migrants are taking under the Covid-19 lockdown in India

The Indian Express reports Mohan (father) says they survived with the help of “several well-wishers” on the road. “We were lucky. Jyoti pedalled for eight days, making brief stops at Palwal, Agra and Mathura. At some places, we would get a proper meal, sometimes just biscuits, but we managed”.

Jyoti’s bike ride story viral internationally (just look it up on the internet or on a news service) and their journey internationally highlighted ongoing issues such as the precarious situation of migrant workers, inequity and access to healthcare and how the most disadvantaged are being impacted by COVID-19.

Jyoti gained popularity due to her kindness and effort- and has had offers of financial help.

Jyoti’s riding also caught the attention of the Indian cycling Federation.

Impressed by her fortitude and stamina, Cycling Federation of India Chairman Onkar Singh said he was “extremely impressed” and that “it’s no mean feat for a 15-year-old to pedal with her father for eight days at a stretch over more than 1,200 km. It shows her endurance levels”.

She has been invited to try out for the national cycling team having proven her stamina.

“Once she is out of quarantine, we will bring her to Delhi to conduct trials, where we will ascertain if she can be groomed into a serious cyclist. And then, it’s up to her if she wants to pursue a career in cycling. We can even transfer her to Patna or any other centre that’s closer to her village. Ultimately, she has to make the choice” Singh said.

What an incredible story!

Content for this post was sourced from news sources: The Indian Express, the ABC and Inquirer.net (YouTube) which the images/stills are from.

08/06/202001/06/2021

New Materialisms SIG: Vulcana Circus – Stronghold

New Materialism SIG: Vulcana Women’s Circus - Stronghold. Bicycles Create Change.com 8th June 2020. — Image: Vulcana Circus

Along with Dr Sherilyn Lennon, I co-convene Griffith University’s New Materialism Special Interest Group (SIG). New Materialisms (NM) is an emerging post-qualitative research approach that has a significant take up in education, queer and gender studies, environmental science and arts-based disciplines in particular, but is gaining traction more widely as well.

The aim of this SIG is to provide a supportive space for GIER students, ECRs, mid-career and more senior Academics to explore, discuss, experiment and share complex and emerging post-qualitative ideas, methods and approaches.

Our SIG meets once a month and we have over 30 members Australia-wide. For the first 2020 session, I presented some of my African bicycle fieldwork. But then COVID-19 lockdown happened, so we had a month break. This is our first session back – and we were all delighted to be back in action again!

For this session, we discussed 3 papers and one of the most essential questions plaguing NM What is ‘new’ about New Materialisms? and then had a presentation by Dr Natalie Lazaroo (Griffith Uni, Theatre Studies).

The Readings

The first two papers (Monforte, 2018; Banerjee & Blaise, 2013) are advocating for NM as a new way of thinking about research and the other one is pushing back saying it’s all been done before and there is nothing new to see here (Petersen, 2018).

For this SIG we had 3 readings

Monforte, J. (2018). What is new in new materialism for a newcomer? Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise and Health, 10(3), 378-390.
Banerjee, B., & Blaise, M. (2013). There’s something in the air: Becoming-with research practices. Cultural Studies – Critical Methodologies, 13(4), 240-245. doi:10.1177/1532708613487867
Petersen, E. B. (2018). ‘Data found us’: A critique of some new materialist tropes in educational research. Research in Education, 101(1), 5-16. doi:10.1177/0034523718792161

In the session, we provide a spectrum: on one end ‘nothing new’ and on the other end ‘everything is new’

We invited participants to take a position on this spectrum and be ready to justify your answer/position. People could positions themselves into a any camp. And once people had contributed their ideas to the spectrum, we talked about the positions and the reasons why we had taken that stance. We used the readings to inform our opinions, ideas from elsewhere/other scholars, experience and other ideas to help explain why we chose that point and to better understand where other people were currently positioned.

The aim of this discussion was to plumb what’s new about NM and see what makes sense to the group.

Following this discussion, we had a presentation from Dr Natalie Lazaroo.

Dr Natalie Lazaroo – Vulcana Circus: Stronghold

In this session, Dr Lazaroo returned to her PhD work (two years ago) to untangle the mess to make new discoveries. She reflected on her early methodology and locates a poem titles ‘Expressions of longing’ which she wrote in response to NM SIG provocations.

This return poem captures the essence of articulations that emerged during her artistic collaboration over a 4-month period of fieldwork with Vulcana Women’s Circus to create a community performance called Stronghold, which involved people with disabilities.

Natalie’s presentation was a real highlight – hearing about her work and research highlighted many NM tensions and opportunities. The group was blown away when she shared her poem which was evocative, agential and very moving. The conversation that followed was interesting, insightful and unexpected.

We all left this session deep in thought about these NM approaches might relate to our own work and in awe of the amazing work Natalie and Vulcana does.

I can’t wait to see more from both!

Stronghold

Stonghold was a project run in conjunction with Horizons Respite and Vulcana Women’s Circus. This partnership 16-week workshop program culminated with a final performance called Stronghold which engaged 10 Access Arts members. During this project, participants had the opportunity to learn skills puppetry, performance, circus and theatre. Stronghold was performed as part of Access Arts 30th Anniversary celebration at Brisbane Powerhouse.

Vulcana

Vulcana is a Brisbane-based circus that was established in 1995 to counter a major discrepancy between women’ and men’s experience of circus, both in training and in the expectation of how and what they perform. Vulcana now welcomes women, trans and non-binary gendered adults, kids and teens of all genders, to its inclusive circus training, performance making projects, and community engagement programs. It is an incubator for new, emerging and professional artists who have developed their passion as practitioners, performers and teachers in this art form that offers everybody a place to explore their uniqueness and their creativity.  Vulcana respects diversity and the feminist principles of equity and inclusion which are central to all our work and the starting point for engagement with students, participants, communities and artists.

20/05/202013/07/2020

Katrin Hollendung: Bike-packing adventurer

As I sit at my work desk forcing myself (at time unconvincingly) to focus on my bike PhD research, I feel Kissime (my bike packing bike) glaring at me through the walls.

The indignant heat of her inattention radiates out, burning my skin 12 feet away.

Okay, Okay!

On a longer break, I maneuver closer to her for reassurance and flick on YouTube.

Together we sit, hand in grip, enjoying the latest offering from Katrin Hollendung. We have an unspoken agreement to go on a similar epic adventure (just as soon as the PhD is accepted).

We watch on.

Katrin Hollendung: Bike-packing adventurer. icycles Create Change.com 20th May 2020. — Images from Katrin’s Instagram **account @draussendrang**

Katrin Hollendung is a German adventure bike-packer who started posting her international rides on YouTube only in the last 12 months.

Her page is my new favorite reprieve.

So what do I like about it? You mean aside from the fact that she travels to awesome locations, riding her bike for love, not ego and takes the time to enjoy the uniqueness of it all? ……Well, it’s not in English. She usually travels with one, select intrepid buddy. Oh, and she gets super, extra, EXTRA kudos points for having ridden the Cairngorms (Scotland), where I lived for 2 years.

In Katrin’s videos, there is a good mixture of riding ups and downs, local culture, odd encounters, breathtaking vistas, necessary language and personality readjustments and a bit of local history and storytelling mixed in with Katrin’s reflections of life, two wheels and the world at large.

I like that the videos are no super polished or over produced – they are personable, interesting, approachable and at times daggy….. you know….normal!

Her videos range from 15 mins to 37 mins and are purposefully narrated with English subtitles. Here are a few of her trips:

Katrin’s Instagram account @draussendrang is super inspiring too!

I appreciate not only the trip itself, but the amount of video editing and work Katrin puts into sharing her bike packing adventures.

As I look lovingly over at Kissime, (who, for now at least, is consoled), I relish Katrin’s adventurous spirit and patiently await the time when I’ll be out there exploring trails with Kissime and mate, just like Katrin.

Now the break is over, it is back to research!

15/05/202013/07/2020

Bike-Pack Rubbish Out! Epic US bike trip to pick up trash.

Bike-Pack Rubbish Out! Leave it Better: Epic US bike trip to pick up trash. Bicycles Create Change.com 15th May 2020.

2 Friends, 4,700 miles, 1 mission: Pick up trash!

On U.S. roads there are 6,000 pieces of litter per mile, on average.

Seth Orme and Abby Taylor set out on their bikes for an epic five-month, 4,700 mile trip across the US – during which they cleaned up 2,130 pounds of trash.

Their journey has been documented in the REI film Leave it Better.

(Below is the trailer. Link to the full 20-minute film for free at end of this post).

Background

One of the main seven tenets of Leave No Trace outdoor ethics is to leave it as you found it. Generally, this is a common-sense approach to preserve the natural or historical beauty of private or public land; it should look untouched when you leave it.

But why not leave it better? In 2015 Seth Orme started a project he calls, Packing It Out, a continuous mission to leave the places he and his companions visit not just as they found them, but better.

For the first-ever Packing It Out trip in 2015, Seth thru–hiked the Appalachian Trail (AT) alongside his friends Joe Dehnert and Paul Twedt. Over 2,200 miles, they packed out 1,100 pounds of trash that was found along the trail.

The following year, Seth and Paul continued the project by hiking a grand total of 2,650 miles from the border of Mexico to Canada along the Pacific Crest Trail. On this trip they cleaned up 720 pounds of trash en route.

This year, Seth traded his hiking boots for a bike and recruited his friend Abby Taylor. On April 26, 2017, Seth and Abby set out on a cross-country bike tour to pick up trash along the way.

Epic US bike trip to pick up trash.

Their route took them from Georgia to Washington State, including a circuit of stops at National Forests, scenic areas, campgrounds, etc., hosting trash cleanups and conservation-theme clinics as they rode.

For 5 months, their goal was to explore the country, meet people, spread the word on ‘Packing It Out,’ and continue their message of environmental stewardship.

At each destination, whether alone or with a group, Orme and Taylor cleaned up trash, totaling more than 2,100 pounds over the course of the trip.

What a fantastic trip and a timely challenge to all riders (and people).

I know I have been stopping more often to pick up rubbish on my bike rides. I hope people, both ON and OFF continue picking rubbish and progressing conversations about sustainability, plastic pollution and conversation.

Happy clean bike rides all!

Images, video and content sourced from Wild Confluence YouTube and an article by Logan Watts for Bike Packing.com

15/04/202013/07/2020

Reflexively crafting bikespiration herstory – Moments of rupture

As regular readers of this blog know, I am a community bike researcher and gender is central to my current bicycle research project.

This post is a follow on from the last one post about 5 historical female non-riding ‘influencers’ who appreciate bicycles. I have been unsettled with how ‘vanilla’ that post was and wanted to explore that a little further while looking at what it took to make that post.

As often happens when looking in the past, while I was researching that post, it quickly became apparent that women have been overlooked, omitted or erased from such accounts, in particular those who are non-Western/American.

It was disturbing how much I had to shift my online search to try and find a personality that fit my criteria (see below) – to the point that I had to constantly reframe my search and my criteria to finally come up with very short (and still not fully satisfying) final list of five.

I thought this was going to be a quick, easy and enjoyable post to do.

The aim of this post was ‘bikespiration’, but the more time and effort it took to find what I was looking for online, the increasingly disillusioned I become.

I finally came up with 5 personalities that broadly fit the final criteria for the post.

Even so, while I was preparing, posting and still now, after it has been uploaded, I am not happy with it. This is by no means a reflection on the amazing five women included in the post – my irritation was twofold: 1) that the list is not longer (i.e. more women) and 2) that most (4 out of 5) were American (one Irish/Brit) = no ethnicity or race diversity.

I couldn’t even find any historical Australian or New Zealand woman to quote. I searched for a historical woman of colour, South American or any one that was not a white European woman – still nothing!

I realise this is because of the spectre of colonial history, but it is very frustrating that more women of diversity (i.e. not American or British) are not represented on this list.

So, to honour this frustration, below are some of the ‘moments of rupture’ I encountered when trying to move outside the deluge of dominant traditional dead, white, European, male voices.

Each rupture moment indicates a representational concern/shift required just to find 5 quotes that fit my (newly disrupted) criteria – and this list I am not happy with as they are still US/Western-centric.

Here are some of the lists online where you can see what I was up against:

Rupture Moment 1

Start point: look up positive quotes about bike riding for a mid-week boost.
Outcome: too many memes, redesigns/repost of ‘general’ quotes about biking.
Solution: go to ‘human’ source – has to be attributed to an actual person

Non(re)presentational layers: look up positive quotes about bike riding for a mid-week boost + has to be attributed to an actual person

Rupture Moment 2

Start point: go to human source – has to be attributed to an actual person
Outcome: to be ‘quoted’ and attributed, meant that it was said by a famous person – many of these are famous male cyclists
Solution: find quotes by famous people who are women

Non(re)presentational layers: look up positive quotes about bike riding for a mid-week boost + has to be attributed to an actual person + famous women

Rupture Moment 3

Start point: famous women
Outcome: to be ‘quoted’ about bicycles and famous, but not male, left female cyclists or women known for being associated with cycling
Solution: find quotes by famous women who are NOT cyclists (or not known for being directly associated within the biking industry)

Non(re)presentational layers: look up positive quotes about bike riding for a mid-week boost + has to be attributed to an actual person + famous people + not a cyclist + not a female cyclist

Rupture Moment 3

Start point: famous women and who are NOT cyclists (or not known for bike riding)
Outcome: the vast majority of quotes left by now were by men still alive
Solution: look for quotes by women who had died (almost like restart)

Non(re)presentational layers: look up positive quotes about bike riding for a mid-week boost + has to be attributed to an actual person + quotes by famous people who are NOT cyclists (or not known for bike riding) + look for quotes by women who had died

Rupture Moment 4

Start point: famous women and who are NOT cyclists and who have died.
Outcome: this cut the list down significantly – the same quotes kept popping up and they were to do with the suffragette movement
Solution: look for quotes by women who are not suffragettes

Non(re)presentational layers: look up positive quotes about bike riding for a mid-week boost + has to be attributed to an actual person + famous people who are NOT cyclists (or not known for bike riding) + quotes by women + not part of the suffragette movement

Rupture Moment 5

Start point: famous women not part of the suffragette movement
Outcome: Most of the women’s right’s information comes from the American suffragette movement
Solution: look for quotes by non-American suffragettes

Rupture Moment 6

Start point: non-American suffragette female
Outcome: This left very few quotes- most of them British
Solution: look for quotes other than non-white US, UK or white European/Western

Nothing.

By this stage I was very frustrated.

As a final ditch effort, I specifically looked for ANY Indigenous Australian, South American, African American, Asian, Indian or any other non-Western quote by a female – still nothing.

Not surprisingly, this whole exercised proved to me that not only women, but especially women of diversity, have been (and continue to be) unacknowledged and effectively written out of history.

Keeping in mind that written history is a product of the culture it grew from, meaning that in those times women were not recognised in society and that bicycling is a very specific sub-set of that context.

But even so, this small activity drove home for me just how elite, privilege and Western-centric our framing of history and the world is.

I would love to see history revised to better include diverse perspectives so there is a more balanced, accurate and fuller count of the past.

I hope that in moving forward, we pay more attention to documenting and sharing greater herstory representations so that next time someone tries to research a post like the one I did, there is a much wider and richer databank of voices, perspectives and lives to draw on.

10/04/202025/06/2020

Bikespiration – 5 historical female non-riding influencers who appreciate bicycles

It has been a busy week and I needed a bit of a boost. As a bike rider and two-wheeled enthusiast, it’s easy for me to love bikes and share that love with others. But not everyone loves bikes as much as bike enthusiasts do. But, there are many well-known people who are not famous for their ‘bike love’, yet still appreciate the capacity and opportunities bicycles enable. So today, I wanted to do a bikespiration post that shows the significant impact bikes have for people who aren’t usually known or associated with riding bikes.

1. Helen Keller – American Author & Activist

“Next to a leisurely walk I enjoy a spin on my tandem bicycle. It is splendid to feel the wind blowing in my face and the springy motion of my iron steed. The rapid rush through the air gives me a delicious sense of strength and buoyancy, and the exercise makes my pulse dance and my heart sing.”

The top of this list for me is Helen Keller (1880-1968) because she is a person very few would associate with bike riding – hence the above comments being all the more impactful! Helen Keller was a prolific author, political activist, and speaker/lecturer. She was born deaf and blind and with the support of her teacher Anne Sullivan, Helen learnt to not only communicate but was the first deaf-blind person to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree. Keller went on to (literally) be a world-famous voice for women’s rights, labour rights, people with diff-abilities. She was a staunch socialist and actively supported the anti-war movement. Keller’s somments are a great reminder of the embodied joys of riding a (tandem) bike with a friend!

2. Iris Murdoch – Irish Novelist & Philosopher

“The bicycle is the most civilized conveyance known to man. Other forms of transport grow daily more nightmarish. Only the bicycle remains pure in heart.”

Iris Murdoch (1919–1999) is a famous ‘realist’ novelist and Booker prize winner. Many of her books have been adapted for the screen and stage. Her writing exposed our moral and ethical secret lives full of ‘love, sadness, fear, lust, power … Murdoch’s strange, radical novels seethe with emotion’. She wrote 26 novels in 40 years, the last written while she was suffering from Alzheimer’s. Murdoch was also a university lecturer, Socialist and philosopher. Murdoch lived in the era when automobiles became increasingly popular and cities were being oriented to accommodate them.

3. Francis Willard – American Author & Suffragette

“Tens of thousands who could never afford to own, feed and stable a horse, had by this bright invention enjoyed the swiftness of motion which is perhaps the most fascinating feature of material life.”
“I began to feel that myself plus the bicycle equaled myself plus the world, upon whose spinning wheel we must all learn to ride, or fall into the sluiceways of oblivion and despair. That which made me succeed with the bicycle was precisely what had gained me a measure of success in life — it was the hardihood of spirit that led me to begin, the persistence of will that held me to my task, and the patience that was willing to begin again when the last stroke had failed. And so I found high moral uses in the bicycle and can commend it as a teacher without pulpit or creed. She who succeeds in gaining the mastery of the bicycle will gain the mastery of life.”

Frances Willard (1839–1898), author of “A Wheel Within a Wheel: How I Learned to Ride the Bicycle,” (1865) was a contemporary and friend to Susan B. Anthony (two below). She learned to ride a bicycle late in life and noted how dress reform was needed to do it well. Bloomers were a controversial new fashion that were better adapted for cycling than full skirts. During this momentous time, bicycles gave women freedom of movement, enabling them to leave the confides of the home.

4. Ann Strong – American Journalist & Activist

“The bicycle is just as good company as most husbands and, when it gets old and shabby, a woman can dispose of it and get a new one without shocking the entire community.”

Ann Strong was a journalist and suffragette activist. There is not much history to be found on her except this quote which first published in the Minneapolis Tribune in 1895. This was during an era when bicycling first became widely popular and gave women increased freedom. The suffrage movement was steering a new course for women, away from traditional marriage, and the bicycle was one tool in creating this freedom. This quote has been (re) used by Frances E. Willard and many others since given its historical suffragette cheekiness.

5. Susan B. Anthony – American Abolitionist and Suffragette

“Let me tell you what I think of bicycling. I think it has done more to emancipate women than anything else in the world. It gives women a feeling of freedom and self-reliance. I stand and rejoice every time I see a woman ride by on a wheel…the picture of free, untrammeled.”

Susan B. Anthony (1820–1906) was a leader of the American women’s suffrage movement. Bicycles became wildly popular in the 1890s and ushered in a new era where women were not tied to the home. During Susan’s era, the ‘New Woman’ started wearing ‘new clothes’ (like custom made skirt/pants for riding bikes instead of heavily layered skirts), going to college, engaging in sports, and entering the workforce.

The personalities and some content here are sourced from a longer list by David Fiedler.

05/04/202015/06/2020

London’s Bicycle Library

This post is a great story of how a renovated double-decker bus is getting more Londoners on bicycles. This story comes courtesy of Inhabitat where it first appeared as a story on Architecture and was published under the title: The Bicycle Library Invites Londoners to “Borrow” Bikes Inside a Converted Double Decker Bus. What I find really exciting about this project is the array of thoughtful and useful services the London Bike Library offers. Read more about these services and more in the accompanying interview by Yuka Yoneda who interviews Karta Healy, the man who made it all happen. Such an inspirational story! Enjoy! NG.

London’s Bicycle Library

Most of us are no strangers to libraries where you can borrow books but what about libraries where you can borrow bikes? Well, that’s exactly what The Bicycle Library is (yeah, they didn’t get too creative with the name). Not only does this London-based business promote green transportation, it’s also situated in a converted double-decker bus.

Talk about giving re”cycling” a whole new meaning!

Inside the adapted bus, there is a “library“/gallery on the top floor with a showroom on the first level.

Londoners who need expert advice on which bike they should rent or buy can speak to an in-house “librarian” specializing in all things two-wheeled.

There’s even an array of actual books pertaining to – what else? – bicycles, on hand for reference. The first floor also boasts a shop with clothing and biking accessories.

Just as you would in a regular library, you can browse thorough different bikes, take them out and even test them out on the track outside.

There are seven types of bicycles to choose from: folding, MiniVelo, FGSS (Fix Gear Single Speed), Ladies Coaster, Mens Coaster, cargo and electric, so you’re sure to find one that’s right for you.

And if you find, after renting it for a while, that you’ve met your perfect bike match, the Bike Library even has a borrow to buy program so that you can make it your own.

Karta Healy Interview

Last week, we showcased the Bicycle Library, which is pretty much exactly what it sounds like, and it was so unusual that we had to get in touch with its founder and pick his brain. We needed to know what makes a person wake up one morning and want to start a library where people take out bikes instead of books – and in a revamped double-decker bus, no less?! So we caught up with Karta Healy, the driving (or should we say cycling?) force behind this mobile resource, and found out the answers to those questions and more – read on to see what he said..

How did the Bicycle Library get its start?

Karta: It all started last September, when I did a cycle fashion show extravaganza during London Fashion Week. We rented two buses to showcase all my TWOnFRO designs and my friends’ brands such as Rapha, swrve, Cyclechic, Dashing Tweed, 4TN and Brooks.

The buses were a key part of our layout of a London city street within the hallowed halls of Smithfield Market. I set up a test Bicycle Library for our guests and everyone loved it as much as me. That got me thinking…

People love the fact that the Bicycle Library makes its home inside a converted double decker bus – can you tell us about where it came from and why you decided to revamp an old vehicle instead of opening up a more traditional storefront?

Karta: I fell in love with the size and space inside these buses – they carry a certain nostalgia for all of us. From there I searched for our bus -a Leyland Olympian. I found it after 3 months in Milton Keynes. Maggie she is called, because all of her identifying marks start with M, and also because we have a great poster of Margaret Thatcher on a bicycle!

Can you tell us a little about your in-house “librarians” and your borrow to buy program?

Karta: Librarians are there to assist you with any questions, which are answered via their expertise, as well as the books and magazines in the reference library, which is a complete selection of all the best books on bicycle design, culture and history.

There is also a set of iPads to browse all of our bookmarked cycling websites, which are organized according to the 7 sub categories of bikes we advocate for the city.

The Borrow to Buy program is a rent-to-own system with an emphasis on trying many types of bikes in a week, or every week. The total days of bike borrowing is subtracted from the price of the final decision – hopefully a bike for life!

What is your most popular bike right now? What is your own personal favorite bike to ride?

Karta: Our most popular bike category is the electric bike by far, and we have some very special models that really give a snap of the neck with a twist of the wrist. Also, the cargo bikes are very popular, especially the Bernds model with its super-sized wicker basket. My personal favorite is my bamboo bike I built for myself – it flexes enough to soak up the shite London streets’ surfaces, and is unique enough not to be stolen… yet.

What do you think is the biggest obstacle keeping people from riding bikes and how do you think we can change that?

Karta: Each city has a different set of challenges, and London, my city, is a battlefield. Cars are keeping cyclists from multiplying, and the HGV’s are subtracting us even. Best we ban smoking tailpipes in cities, just as we have rid bars of their cigarette fumes already. There are many reasons, safety being the obvious one, due to said motorists.

Another one is image – whether tribal, lycra, or hipster, none say: “I have a real job”. The stigma of sweaty dishevelled students with a hangover on creaking bicycles, although we were all happy with that at one time, has to be outgrown. The sense of aspiration and achievement are typically forsaken for the bicycle in image only. Nowadays there are so many premium, stylish options, even e-bikes that keep you from sweating.

The other obstacle is bike theft, which must be supervised by NATO or somebody with the balls to tackle it. Studies show that when someone has their expensive shiny bike stolen, they will go out and buy one half the price, when that gets stolen, they will find the cheapest possible bike which they will hardly use, and if that gets stolen, they are back on the underground, or even worse, behind the wheel of a car. Cities need to introduce valet parking for bicycles, supervised parking areas, and even automated underground systems like the ones in place across Japan.

We couldn’t agree more! Karta makes it sound easy but we’re sure it was tough work setting up this impressive roving cycle library so congratulations to him and his crew.

Kind of makes you want to set up your own Bicycle Library in your own city, doesn’t it?

All images from Inhabitat.