Thanks to @heidiswift on Twitter for calling my attention to this great video by People for Bikes. It reminds the writer of this post, how the other night around 6:30PM I rode my bicycle (basket and fenders and light – check!) through the streets of Downtown Charleston in the diminishing light. I caught the scent of a sizzling steak as I rode by South End Brewery, then the heady perfume of some incredible dish that the Barbados Room was cooking up, and then as I passed by 82 Queen, the aromas of shrimp and grits fled to my nose. Now some of you might not like those smells of the city humming, but I do. I love having every one of my senses alive and fulfilled when I am on a bike. That’s why I ride.
Why do you ride?
Filed under: Infrastructure, News | Tags: Bike-friendly, Biking Lifestyle, News, Video
Way back in October, a little birdie told us that Google Maps was going to be launching Bike There directions on Google Maps. Well – it’s here!! At this weeks’ National Bike Summit, Google announced that it will be rolling out “Bike There” in 150 cities around the country. Users are able to enable the biking layer via the “More” button on Google Maps.
Here’s a more detailed article on Wired and check out the video below.
Filed under: Community Organizations, Cycle Chic | Tags: Biking Lifestyle, Charleston, Cycle Chic, Healthy Community, News, Trends
This great google map was put together by our Cycle Chic cohorts at Bike by the Sea in Santa Barbara. Isn’t it neat to think that 10s of 1000s of us are Cycling Chic all over the world, and that our marvelous little town on the Atlantic is part of it?? Pretty amazing…
View Larger Map
Filed under: Events | Tags: Biking Lifestyle, Events, Inspiration, Slow Bicycle Movement
If you recall, way back in May, I wrote a post about Jeff Mapes book “Pedaling Revolution”, because he believes women will lead the way in changing the country’s attitude toward bicycling. Here’s an excerpt…
“As Mapes points out, when more women begin riding, that will signal a big change in attitude, which will prompt further changes in the direction of safety and elegance. I can ride till my legs are sore and it won’t make riding any cooler, but when attractive women are seen sitting upright going about their city business on bikes day and night, the crowds will surely follow…. “
Well what do you know, our secret admirer is coming to town!! So come on and meet him. Ride your lovely lady bikes to Southend Brewery and show him support, learn something, and get inspired.
EVENT DETAILS
CAC.C/CCDC LECTURE SERIES
sponsored by MyBikeLaw.com + CharlestonMoves
REVOLUTION ON2WHEELS
Across America, a cycling revolution is underway. Bicycles are changing the way people get around, and therefore how they see and understand the city—not to mention how we plan it. Bikes aren’t just for fun; more and more, they’re a primary means of transportation! This Spring will examine this amazing phenomenon and consider its consequences for the metro-Charleston area.
JEFF MAPES
Pedaling Revolution:
How Cyclists are Changing American Cities
Thursday FEBRUARY 4
7:00-9:00 PM
South End Brewery, 161 East Bay Street
lecture sponsor: Blue Bicycle Books
Jeff Mapes is a senior political reporter for The Oregonian and the author of Pedaling Revolution: How Cyclists are Changing American Cities.
He is riding a wave of excellent reviews about his book to which the influential Library Journal (which many schools and libraries base their purchasing decisions on) gave their coveted rating of “highly recommended.” Mapes has put together a broad survey of the burgeoning urban bike movement. He covers everything, from the role of the bicycle in American society in the nineteenth century to the current revolution in cycling.
In preparing for his book, Mapes traveled the country (and the globe) to ride the streets he writes about and to talk directly with the people who are playing pivotal roles in America’s bike movement. Mapes moves from the warfare between the NYPD and the bike-activist group Critical Mass, to the utopian bikeways of Davis, California and the biking capital of the world, Amsterdam.
His extensive research, solid reporting, and anecdotally-infused style offer a story that, so far, has been largely unknown to all but bicycle advocates.
You can’t have a revolution (pedaling or not) without information, and this lecture just might become one of the sparks that fuels biking’s upcoming boom in Charleston, just like his book is doing across America.
Come meet the man behind the book and get a glimpse of the bike revolution that is sweeping the country.
Filed under: Infrastructure | Tags: Bike-friendly, Biking Lifestyle, Cycle Chic, Inspiration, Video
I am a huge fan of Streetfilms so forgive me if I link to their videos all the time – but check out this recent one starring our very own Cycle Chic guru, Mikael Colville-Andersen. He talks about the Copenhagen bicycling infrastructure, which frankly, is mind-blowing to a budding bike town inhabitant like me.
KULTURE KLASH ARTS FESTIVAL
November 7th, 2009
8pm-2am
1635 Cosgrove Avenue
North Charleston, SC
In The Navy Yard at Noisette
Tickets $10/$15/$20
MORE INFO: http://www.kultureklashartsfestival.com
November 6th – free artist reception 8pm-11pm
The fifth installment of the much anticipated Kulture Klash Arts Festival is just around the corner. Here’s what you can expect:
50+ artists on display: Massive amounts of art including canvas, wood, metal, sculpture, fabric, photos, acrylic, bike parts, recycled cardboard, lights, video installations, sand, stuffed animals, glue, nails, found objects, graffiti, collage, print making and so much more then we could ever put down on paper.
Live painting collaboration: A 4 x 30+ foot wall painted live by roughly 15 artists during the 6 hour course of Kulture Klash. Come watch how the artists collaborate, collude and interact, stepping on each others toes and conversely bolstering this massive work. Individual slices of the painting will be fore sale.
‘Starving Artists” show: The show is exactly as it’s named. We have 8 Artists, who will be starving themselves (only water/herbal teas) in the event space for 5 days, in order to see how starvation really effects their craft. During the course of the 5 days, each artist is require to create one painting per day. Each artist’s paintings must be the same size, medium, subject matter, and degree of difficulty as the day before. This way the spectator can see the difference. Will the artwork suffer? Or does the elimination of food, alcohol, sugar, refine their talents?
Improv spoken word side stage: This will be a side room complete with couches and a small stage were we are encouraging audience participation, poems on the fly and poetry “battles” for those who are up to the challenge. Hosted by local word master and poem celebrity Marcus Amaker. The Starving Artist exhibit will be on display in the background.
Chain Ring Circus: Celebrate the art of cycling with bike polo matches, bike dancing, slow bike races, bike art, bike movies and general bike enthusiasm. We encourage cyclist to pedal to the event and enjoy the free bike valet hosted by Holy City Bike Co-op.
Photo repository depot by Sully Sullivan: Weird props, backdrops and cut outs. Make some memories… you can even get your grubby hands on the photos you posed for. Sully has a fancy printer. Booyah.
“Hand of Character” booth hosted by Pure Theatre: Rodney Lee Rogers directs a interactive character play incorporating the audience as key players. Channel your inner thespian and make your move.
The midnight room: Just have to wait and see…
Modern dance – The Power Company will be performing two separate dance pieces choreographed by Marcy Jo Yonkey-Clayton. They will be dabbling with the curiosity of watching and being watched plus a second performance about pushing the boundaries of property lines and personal space.
Live music: Dante’s Camaro – “Rising up from the ashes comes the fastest, dirtiest, most maniacal menagerie or mangled metal the world has yet known!! Riding down the highway to HELL and destroying every bottle of booze in its path, the band that no one wanted to cross will not disappoint.”
Short Shorts – “Sounds like robots… doin’ it. We met in chemistry lab. We brought out lab coats. We made a concoction. We built a monster. We are Short Shorts.”
The V-Tones – “Sometimes known as a quaint duo, other times a sizzling sextet. We craft our shows to fit the moment so no performance is ever the same. Also known as Charleston’s only ukulele hot club jub band vaudeville ragtime neo-retro-postpostmodern quasi-primetime anachronistic revolutionary anti-inflammatory mass catharsis jazz freakout and philharmonic group therapy session.”
Plus many more booty shakin’ sets by DJ Stella, The Bubble Gut Brothers, Righchus, DJ Jeff ET, Danny Seltzer and DJ Belk.
Drink: Enjoy a cold, delicious beer from New Belgium Brewery or a smooth glass of hand selected wine by Social Wine Bar. There will be ample non-alcoholic bevs.
Eat: Snack on killer hand-tossed pizza baked on site by the boys from D’allesandro’s or get your spice on with some Asian/African infusion from the Street Food cart.
Shuttle – $5 shuttles from downtown, James Island and West Ashley. Check our website for more info.
We promise: quicker lines, more well lit potties, sweeter security, cold water, plenty of places to sit, more drink ticket stations, an ATM on site, and really fantastic beer and wine. As always, lots of last minute additions to keep you on your toes.
Thanks to our sponsors: New Belgium Brewery, The Navy Yard at Noisette, Fisher Recycling, TheDigitel.com, Big Hair Productions, City Paper, Social Wine Bar, D’allesandro’s, Street Foods, Celadon Home, Ice Box, Lucky 7’s Tattoo, Holy City Bike Co-op and Charleston Moves.
CO-PRODUCERS:
Gustavo Serrano
Ambergre Sloan
Scott Debus
MEDIA CONTACT:
Ambergre Sloan 843.478.1615 amber@kultureklashartsfestival.com
HI RES photos are available at http://www.badjon.com/?s=kulture+klash
Filed under: Cycle Chic, Events | Tags: Biking Lifestyle, CCC, Events, Healthy Community
Now that the Pecha Kucha location has been revealed (The Music Farm!) I can reveal our ride route and meetup location for our October 21st Ride to Pecha Kucha Night Charleston
Start: Marion Square @5:45PM
Meetup: Chai’s @ around 6:30PM
Pecha Kucha: 7:15 @ The Music Farm (we’ll be locking our bikes here before we go to Chai’s)
Filed under: Cycle Chic, Events | Tags: Biking Lifestyle, Cycle Chic, Events, News
Yes that’s right all you lovely people with bikes – our next Cycle Chic Ride is going to Pecha Kucha Night Charleston on October 21st! Why? Because we love what they do and what they represent and man, this next line-up is a doozy not to be missed. It’s all about creativity, inspiration, entrepreneurship and having a bit of fun fun fun. So let’s go ride our bikes! It’s easier than looking for parking….
So what is Pecha Kucha Night Charleston you ask? Pecha Kucha, Japanese for the sound of conversation, is a mix of show-and-tell, open-mike night and happy hour that has become a forum for ideas on design, architecture and other forms of creativity. This is the 4th one we’ve had in Charleston and they keep getting better and better.
For more about Pecha Kucha you can visit the global website or hop on over to the Pecha Kucha Night Charleston site.
Here are the ride details….
When: 5:45PM
Where: Meet at Marion Square, the corner of King and Calhoun.
How: With flair
With What: BIKES!
Ride Map: Ya’ll won’t know our route until just a few days before because Pecha Kucha Charleston keeps their location in secrecy. (I know of course, but no amount of arm-twisting will get it out of me!)
Meetup: We’ll be having a little post-ride, pre-Pecha Kucha Night meetup to line our bellies at around 6:30PM. Location is forthcoming!
Filed under: Cycle Chic, News | Tags: Bike-friendly, Biking Lifestyle, Cycle Chic, Trends
I found this great article in the New York Times, that talks about biking as the new art of living. Aren’t we so hip and fabulous Charleston Cycle Chic-ers? New York City itself has come a long way in making the city more bike-friendly and since most trends and fashions start in the US in NYC, I’m hoping some of their influence will rub off here. 
Here are some excerpts from the article! Click here for the full text.
“Until recently, bikes were merely fashionable. Lately, it seems, they are fashion — and they don’t have to be ultraexpensive novelty items to qualify. As fashion companies start marketing bicycles and bike gear, Mr. Dutreil, a supporter of bicycle-advocacy programs in New York, said he wants to see more cyclists pedaling around in high style, just like that woman in the Randall photograph.
“An elegant lady or man,” he said, “on a bike that is elegant, that’s really the new art of living.”
In fact, bikes have become de rigueur in many boutique windows. It is no coincidence that fashion is having a bike moment at the same time that New York City, the capital of American fashion, has gone bicycle crazy. The number of daily cyclists in the city has jumped to an estimated 185,000, from 107,000 in 2005, according to Transportation Alternatives, a bicycle-advocacy organization. In addition, the city has installed more than 120 miles of bike lanes in the last two years, making it easier for new cyclists to take to the streets dressed to impress, not to duel with cars.
While some cyclists outside the fashion world expressed mixed feelings about seeing their trusty mode of transportation turned into the next gladiator sandal, others looked on the bright side. Even if new riders buy a bike only because they’re the cool new thing, they’re still buying a bike, wrote Matt Simonds, a cyclist who works at a nonprofit agency, in an e-mail message. In such cases, he wrote, “it’s kind of strange what happens when they got on a bike after a long period away from one — they remember how awesome it is to ride one.”
Ok – obviously much has changed for women in 114 years, but this excerpt about Women and Bicycling from Statemaster.com gives us some historical perspective. Bicycles emancipated women – in style, in transportation options, in the ability to explore life on their own. Pretty neat, huh?
“The diamond-frame safety bicycle gave women unprecedented mobility, contributing to their emancipation in Western nations. As bicycles became safer and cheaper, more women had access to the personal freedom they embodied, and so the bicycle came to symbolize the New Woman of the late nineteenth century, especially in Britain and the United States.
The bicycle was recognized by nineteenth-century feminists and suffragists as a “freedom machine” for women. American Susan B. Anthony said in a New York World interview on February 2,1896: “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 womanhood.” In 1895 Frances Willard, the tightly-laced president of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union, wrote a book called How I Learned to Ride the Bicycle, in which she praised the bicycle she learned to ride late in life, and which she named “Gladys”, for its “gladdening effect” on her health and political optimism. Willard used a cycling metaphor to urge other suffragists to action, proclaiming, “I would not waste my life in friction when it could be turned into momentum….”
Bicycle Advertisement from 1895
