The Bicycle Is Art - Streetlamp Special

Well, we don't know what the weather is like where you are, but here in Scotland we've had a horrible week of snow and ice, with more forecast. Rather annoyingly, the state of the icy roads plus the onset of early darkness has made the roads even more dangerous than usual for those of us whose principle mode of transport is the bicycle ( we know of at least one cyclist who has broken their wrist this week). As a result, The Streetlamp team haven't been able to cycle as much as we would normally, which has made us rather sad. To cheer ourselves up, and you too hopefully, we've decided to bring you a Streetlamp bicycle special. Principally, this will consist of links to interesting bike related sites on the internet plus a gallery of selected images from Ray's extensive collection of vintage bicycle-related art. OK, bicycle clips on? Then let's go.

First up is an advertising image from Peerless cycles, which we cherish because it reminds us of our beloved Les Enfants Du Paradis :

Next up are some images with the sort of striking clear and simple lines which distinguishes all the best poster art:

If you're interested, the title of our blog tonight is inspired by The Bicycle Is Art website, home to art of, and inspired by, the bicycle. Give them a visit.

The next image I (Griff) love because it reminds me of a still from a Hayao Miyazaki film:

Our next website recommendation is The Invisible Visible Man's blog. This thought-provoking site is written by an ex-pat Glaswegian cyclist now resident in New York. Check it out.

The following images are a selection of the once-popular scantily-clad Goddess/bicycle juxtapositions that  advertisers used to love:

In case anyone thinks The Streetlamp has violated its feminist principles by publishing the above, allow us to redress the balance by directing you to Spokeswomen, which bills itself as 'a blog for women who ride bicycles'. Check it out.
And to prove that women aren't just idealised Goddesses in vintage bicycle advertising, here are some more positive images:

We particularly like this last one as it's just such outrageous behaviour on a bike. Can you imagine the reaction of the British Transport Police if the next critical mass ride in Glasgow does this? Now there's an idea - it does look a bit like the tunnel out of Queen Street station!
And speaking of outlandish advertising images. What about these ones?:

We found ourselves wondering what the cyclist in the last image is shouting over his shoulder. Perhaps, "Naw, you get off the fxxxing road, ya bawbag!" Your own suggestions of what he might be saying will be gratefully recieved at Streetlamp HQ.

And speaking of the exchange of views which passes between motorists and cyclists, our last website rcommendation tonight is the excellent CycleHatred on Twitter. This Twitter feed has a simple but effective premise - it's the work of a cyclist re-tweeting the constant stream of Tweets that illustrate peoples crazy, ill informed, and frankly terrifying, view of cyclists.Here are some examples from tonight's feed:

"On Putney bridge in the mornings, I just wanna bump into one cyclist so they hit the rest of the wanky Lycra wearing creatures!"

"I'm sure all these cyclists in York have got a death wish can see myself running one over!"

"Cyclists shouldnt be allowed in rush hour"

"LOVE WHEN BICYCLISTS ARE RIDING IN ROAD AN ALMOST GET HIT AND ACT LIKE ITS THE DRIVERS FAULT. I WISH THEY'D GET HIT AN LEARN A FUCKIN LESSON"

" The cyclists I hate are the ones that don't stay close to the curb.it's like they want to be run over."

Those are just from the last few hours. There are pages and pages of this kind of shit. But remember, if you're on Twitter yourself, you can bait these morons right back if you're in the mood. Also, these are good to read just before you go on your next Critical Mass ride - gets you in the right frame of mind.

Now, all Together.

"Whose Roads?"

"Our Roads!"

Be careful out there.

Ray and Griff

xx

Griff says; Dear Motorist, a boy needs a bike

Hello, Streetlampers. I've got something for the cycling fraternity tonight - it's an article first published in France in September 1973 under the title "L’idéologie sociale de la bagnole" in the magazine Le Sauvage. Written under the pen name André Gorz it was the work of Gérard Horst, an Austrian and French social philosopher and journalist who was originally an advocate of Jean-Paul Sartre's existentialist version of Marxism until after the May '68 student riots in France where he became more concerned with political ecology and environmentalism.

More commonly known under the title of 'Dear Motorist' in English speaking countries, and circulated in pamphlet form, the article delivers a devastating critique of the Western world's ideological obsession with the motor-car and has become a firm favourite in anarchist and cycling circles over the years. Here's a taster:

Why is the car treated like a sacred cow? Why, unlike other "privative" goods, isn't it recognised as an antisocial luxury? The answer should be sought in the following two aspects of driving:


1.    Mass motoring effects an absolute triumph of bourgeois ideology on the level of daily life. It gives and supports in everyone the illusion that each individual can seek his or her own benefit at the expense of everyone else.

2.    The automobile is the paradoxical example of a luxury object that has been devalued by its own spread. But this practical devaluation has not yet been followed by an ideological devaluation.


Interested in reading more? I hope so, as The Streetlamp have got a free pdf of Dear Motorist available for download 'here'. This came about as I was looking for a version of the pamphlet online recently and realised that the site which used to have it was no longer available.  Other sites did have it, but not as an easy to read pdf, so I decided that, given our recent success posting an anarchist cookbook for free download, we might as well give you this as well.

Now, of course, the obvious question is; "What music should you listen to while you're reading Dear Motorist?" Well, we here at The Streetlamp would like to recommend a recent single release by our old friends over at EardrumsPop. For newcomers to the Streetlamp we should explain that EardrumsPop is a netlabel specialising in warm and melodic folk-pop and indie-pop. The label is famous for working in close and sympathetic collaboration with musicians and illustrators to produce unique and beautiful pop artefacts which are all available on a free download basis. What could be better than that? As they say over at EardrumsPop:

"We believe in beautiful things you can see and hear, and we believe in working together, helping each other and getting good music and good art out to the public."

The particular digital single we'd like to recommend was released on September 12th and is by Kids on Bikes. Kids on Bikes is the electronic-surf-folk music project from illustrator, musician, surfer, skateboarder and bike-enthusiast Sean Mahan. For the past 10 years Kids On Bikes has been working on the forthcoming record set “77 songs of cycling”, an epic 4 LP veneration of Schwinn Stingrays, Raleigh collapsibles, and powder blue beach cruisers. Sean writes each song as an introspective adoration of the many wondrous aspects of getting on a bike. So , if you want three sweet and delicate popsongs, all with a bike-theme, look no further.


Kids On Bikes - ePop026 by EardrumsPop



The above digital single can be downloaded 'here'. If you're interested in Sean's work as an illustrator you may also want to visit his site 'here'.

Visual art, indie-pop, cycling, anarchism and creative commons downloads! I believe I've just hit the Streetlamp jackpot.

Griff
xx

Tour de France 2012

Well folks, it's that time of year when Griff and I shave our legs, put on the bright lycra pants and don some weird headgear. No, we're not going to the shadier parts of Glasgow, but are joining the ‘worldwide peloton’ of cycling buffs, to immerse ourselves in all things French, and tune into this years Tour de France.

‘Le Tour’ is the premier event for cycling, and once you see the beautiful landscapes, the ribbon of brightly-coloured cyclists flowing majestically through it, and then the fierce determination needed to tackle the overwhelming height of the mountains, you can't help but be inspired by the beauty of the French countryside and the dedication of the athletes as they seek to test themselves against it.

“From Paris to the blue waves of the Mediterranean,

 From Marseille to Bordeaux, passing along the roseate

 And dreaming roads sleeping under the sun,

 Across the calm of the fields of the Vendée,

 following the Loire, 

Which flows on still and silent, 

Our men are going to race madly, unflaggingly.” 

-  Henri Desgrange (creator of Le Tour).

Today's Tour is nothing like the early race, which began back in 1903. At that time, riders themselves would fix punctures, drink brandy during the race, and would be required to ride through the night. Some were accused of cheating by hopping in cars, others took trains and riders were occasionally beaten up by rival fans. But one thing was sure, the unique atmosphere of Le Tour is such that it caught everyone's imagination and its popularity has continued to grow each year.

Didi Senft who, in a red devil costume, has been the Tour devil since 1993.

The Tour has inspired several popular songs in France, notably P'tit gars du Tour (1932), Les Tours de France (1936) and Faire le Tour de France (1950). More recently,  Kraftwerk had a hit with Tour de France in 1983 (covered 'here' previously on The Streetlamp) and produced an album, Tour de France Soundtracks in 2003, on the occasion of the centenary of the Tour.

In films, the Tour was background for Cinq Tulipes Rouges (1949) by Jean Stelli, in which five riders are murdered. It next fetured in the burlesque Les Cracks (1967) by Alex Joffé. Patrick Le Gall made Chacun son Tour (1996) and the comedy, Le Vélo de Ghislain Lambert (2001), featured the Tour of 1974.

I find it a little surprising that there aren't more cultural references to le Tour, especially given the massive significance of the event in France. Perhaps the insane, grandiose spectacle of le Tour is such that any artist considering it finds themself overwhelmed by its sheer scale and opts instead to just sit back and enjoy its unique giddy whirl. I know that's how I tend to react to it all.


Given the sad absence of modern songs associated with le Tour I've decided instead to end this piece with a video by an important French musician from the 1960s whose work is sadly under-appreciated in the English speaking world. I'm referring to Jacques Dutronc a musician whose rough and energetic garage-style rock  surely served as a template for the British punk bands who sprang up a decade after his heyday. Have a listen below:

Jacques Dutronc - Et moi, et moi, et moi

Hope that shook away the cobwebs and left you suitably invigorated for three solid weeks of nerve-shredding, energy-sapping, top class cycling. See you all on the other side.

Ray

Tales of cyclists, Tories and bad, bad drivers.

 As you should all know by now (see ‘here’ and ‘here’), the Streetlamp team are avid cyclists. You also can’t have failed to notice that we also like a chance to get up on our soapbox and support a worthy cause too. Happily, the cause I want to write about tonight allows me to bring both of these Streetlamp interests together in a rather neat way.

Pedal on Parliament, is a grass roots campaign of cyclists forming a cross-section of Scottish cycling: commuters, road racers and club members, mountain bikers, long-distance tourers, Dutch-bike riding city cyclists, urban single speeders, tweed-wearing rural cyclists, plus those who just like getting from A to B quickly. The purpose of the campaign is to make it safer and easier for everyone to ride a bike – whatever bike they ride.

To this end, Pedal on Parliament has released an eight-point manifesto (see below) that aims to make Scotland a cycle friendly nation. They are now calling on all Scotland’s politicians, of all parties, to sign up to it, in order to make cycling a realistic choice for everyone, from eight to eighty – and show the rest of the UK that cycling doesn’t just belong on continental Europe, but in the country where it all began:

1)    Proper funding for cycling.
2)    Design cycling into Scotland’s roads.
3)    Safer speeds where people live, work and play
4)    Integrate cycling into local transport strategies
5)    Sensible road traffic law and enforcement
6)    Reduce the risk of HGVs to cyclists and pedestrians
7)    A strategic and joined-up programme of road user training
8)    Solid research on cycling to support policy-making

The campaign is supported by local Glasgow cycling legend Magnatom, whom we have written about previously on the Streetlamp (see ‘here’), and in an attempt to raise the profile of the campaign he wrote to Annabel Goldie the Conservative (boo! hiss!) MSP for the West of Scotland. In typical Tory fashion she replied with a load of meaningless political flannel before launching the following unexpected attack on cyclists:

"However, cyclists have obligations. Some cyclists ignore red lights, thereby endangering themselves and others; others do not use proper lighting on their bikes either at night or when visibility is poor; and others still neglect to wear helmets. That is not the responsibility of Government or motorists; it is up to the cyclists to behave responsibly and to undertake the appropriate training."

Yep, you can always rely on the Tories to turn around a positive campaign for cycling in Scotland into a chance to launch an unprovoked attack on us. Truly, they have no shame. You can read the complete exchange of correspondence on Magnatom’s site ‘here’.

Recently, I was cycling in a favourite spot of mine, where the Streetlamp team often go hill-walking, in a quiet corner of rural Stirlingshire when I happened across the following sobering and sombre shrine to a fellow cyclist who’d been involved in an accident: 

This simple gesture, made by an unknown person, of placing these items at the lonely spot really brought it home to me how vulnerable we are, even when out on the sort of quiet back-roads that should be heaven for cyclists. It seems obvious to me, that with cars getting bigger and faster we MUST change drivers’ mindset on cyclists. We have every right to use roads safely just as much as drivers do.

If you agree with this sentiment, then you can play your part by getting involved with the Pedal on Parliament campaign; it doesn’t have to be very much, at the very least you could take a few seconds to sign their online petition ‘here’.

Now for a wee bit of bike-related music to lighten the mood. Here’s the sweeping, indie-surf epic Late Night Bikes by Kansas City-based band Capybara.

Great song, I think. It can be downloaded as a free MP3 ‘here’. Drummer Mark Harrison says of the song:

"I think deep down everybody has a sense of nostalgia. In 'Late Night Bikes,' it's the simple pleasure of riding bikes at night that we wanted to share, whether you're on your way to meet up with friends or running to the store to pick up milk for the cereal that you're eating alone in your apartment."

He makes late night bike riding sound very romantic, doesn’t he? Now, let’s all work together to make it safe too.

Ray

Griff & Ray say; Join the bicycle revolution!

We have a bit of a novelty for you on The Streetlamp tonight in the shape of a joint blog by both Griff and Ray. Keen readers will recognise this duo as the lycra-clad cycle warriors of The Streetlamp revolutionary army (see 'here'). You know those cyclists who smugly scoot past the endless line of stationary traffic and who like to continually evangelise about their healthy and sustainable mode of transport? Well that's us!

So, tonight we wanted to tell you about the clever and energetic UK cycling campaign iPayRoadTax.com and use that as an excuse to point you in the direction of some lovely, free, cycling-related music.

Let's start with the lowdown on iPayRoadTax.com. This is the brainchild of Carlton Reid, a cycling journalist and author who, like every cyclist in the country, has heard more than once that familiar motorists' refrain: "You don't pay road tax – why are you on the roads?"
Unlike most of us, however, Carlton didn't limit his response to a bellowed, "Fuck you, dickhead!" or rude gesture but decided to set up a web campaign to educate cyclists and motorists alike to the truth of the matter. So, what is the truth? Read this from the iPayRoadTax.com site:

"Road tax was abolished 74 years ago. Road tax doesn't exist. Vehicle owners pay Vehicle Excise Duty (VED), which is a tax on the vehicle, not a pot for collecting monies to be spent on road building or road maintenance. The distinction between ‘road tax’ and VED is very important, much more important than most people think. It’s possible that lives have been lost because of the use of an antique phrase. Some motorists believe ‘road tax’ pays for roads so cyclists, as freeloaders at best, tax-dodgers at worst, shouldn’t really be on “their” roads at all. This sometimes leads to ugly and dangerous aggression against cyclists, with some motorists taking the ownership of the roads fallacy a little too literally.

Many motorists – perhaps even the majority? – still believe that ‘road tax’ exists, and demand that the duties paid by motorists should be ploughed into fixing potholes, widening dual carriageways and adding to the UK’s motorway network. In reality, everybody pays for Britain’s roads via general taxation.

Motorists do not pay for use of the roads, motorists are taxed on buying and using their vehicles. VED is not a tax on roads, it’s now a tax on emissions: cars which spew the most CO2 pay the most Vehicle Excise Duty. Cars which spew less CO2, pay less VED. Cars in VED band A pay zero duty. VED is based on amount of CO2 emitted so, if a fee had to be paid, cyclists would pay £0."

Seems pretty clear, right? Well, unfortunately, as both of us, along with all Britain's other cyclists can testify, not simple enough for the average UK motorist to understand. Have a look at this video by one of Ray's heroes; well-known, Glasgow-based cyclist Magnatom, who films his daily commute to work on his 'helmetcam' and posts any incidents on his Youtube page. In the video below, a woman motorist, who has been sitting in bumper-to-bumper congestion, is seen to tell him, in a rather rude fashion, “Go and pay some road tax, you’re holding everyone up!”



Unbelievable, right? Well it happens every day, as any cyclist will tell you.
So, what can we do about it? Easy, just spread the word about the ironically-named iPayRoadTax.com site or, if you're feeling flush, helps spread the message by purchasing one of their eye-catching, sloganeering cycle jerseys.

Now, for some music. Ray has made a couple of videos for two acts that Griff selected as representative of The Streetlamp's musical spectrum; one with a mellow, acoustic, folky vibe and one with an upbeat, boisterous, poppy vibe. Both songs are available as free downloads too.

The first song is Lets Ride Our Bikes!! by Feel It Robot who, sadly, seem to be no longer with us but who specialised in slightly subversive electro-pop songs about robots and cycling, some of which are still available as free downloads on their last.fm page.



The next song is The Bicycle Song by David Rovics. This rather fine chap is an indie singer/songwriter and grassroots political protestor from the United States. Like us, he is also fond of his bike. His music is most accurately described as protest-folk and concerns topical subjects such as anti-globalisation and social justice issues. Some of these can be freely downloaded from his last.fm page and many, many more are available on his own site.




Keep cycling!

Griff and Ray

Griff says; Cycling Non Stop

You may not be surprised to learn, given the other cultural indicators which are prominent throughout this blog, i.e. the vegetarianism, the championing of feminism and socialism etc., that the Streetlamp team's preferred mode of transport is undoubtedly the bicycle. Yes, when it comes to getting around, the Streetlampers predictably conform to the stereotype of all righteously indignant, anti-capitalists the world over.
I love cycling and every day quite happily make a nuisance of myself to car drivers all over west central Scotland during rush hour. Yes, I'm the guy shouting and gesturing at you when you pass me too closely, and then trying to catch you at the next junction to harangue you further. Ray, is also a passionate cyclist and a huge fan of tight lycra to boot. Gordon, interestingly enough, used to put in the most cycling hours of all three of us. Right through his teens and twenties Gordon must have cycled virtually every day, putting in literally thousands of hours in every kind of weather (and this is Scotland, so I really do mean every kind of weather). Nowadays, sadly for Ray and I, it's difficult to coax him onto the bike (despite the fact that he truly hates, loathes and detests cars) , but we live in hope. I suppose that the sheer length of time he's spent in the saddle, and I really wasn't exaggerating above, has just scunnered him but I hope that tonight's blog will go some way to reminding him of the thrill of the open road and also bring back some fond memories of a band who he used to adore in the late 70s and early 80s.
This blog is also timely as it serves to remind you all that tomorrow, Saturday 2nd July, one of the world's greatest annual sporting events begins. I refer of course to The 98th Tour de France.



For the benefit of the non-sporting readers, The Tour de France is an annual bicycle race held in France and nearby countries. This year it will be made up of 21 stages and cover an energy-sapping 3,430.5km (2,058 miles). For three weeks the 198 riders will strain the human body to the limit; over mountains, through valleys and into the heart of France's towns and cities. It will all end on July 24th on the Champs-Elysées in Paris. During that time, do not expect to see much of our Ray. To say that he's a fan of le Tour is a bit of an understatement. I think it's fair to suggest that every time I meet up with him in the next six months he'll mention something about events in this year's Tour. Then, for the six months following that he'll start with the, "Not long now to the Tour" conversations. Gordon and I can only try to cope by steering the conversation gently onto something distracting, like the films of Audrey Tautou or the legs of Victoria Pendleton.
For our American and Australian readers I should probably point out that the Tour is a truly great European institution. It is, indeed, one of the largest international sporting tournaments in the world, with the globe's largest viewing figures for any annual sports event, and is surpassed in scale only by the FIFA World Cup and the Summer Olympics. It inspires huge passions and absolutely dwarfs small, local sporting events, such as the laughingly-titled World Series of Baseball for instance. It has also, rather nicely for my purposes, inspired some wonderful music by another truly great European institution; those ironic purveyors of avant-garde electro-pop, Germany's own Kraftwerk.



In 1982 the band's leader, Ralf Hütter, had been looking for forms of exercises that fit in with the Kraftwerk image and, as a result, he encouraged the group to become vegetarians and take up cycling. At the time, the band were in the studio recording a new album and, in keeping with their new found passion, they wrote and recorded the song called 'Tour de France'. This atmospheric slice of Euro-pop included bicycle-themed sounds, such as; chains, gear mechanisms and the hard breathing of a climbing cyclist. At the time of the single's release in 1983, Hütter tried to persuade the rest of the band that they should record a whole album based around cycling. Unfortunately, the other members of the band were not convinced, and the theme was left to one solitary, but exceptionally good, single. Here it is (below):



C'est magnifique, non? And that may have been it for bicycle-inspired music for the rest of history but, luckily for us, 20 years later in response to the Tour's centenary, Kraftwerk finally got around to giving us that album based around cycling with the release of 2003's 'Tour de France Soundtracks', the groups first album of new material since 1986's Electric Café. Here's a sample song, Titanium (below):



Hope you enjoyed that. An MP3 of the wonderful 1983 single can be downloaded 'here'.

And remember, the Tour starts this Saturday.This year, Stage 1 is the Passage du Gois to Mont des Alouettes, a distance of 191.5 km.

Et maintenant, pour la gloire et pour l'honneur, laissez les jeux commencer !


Salut!

Griff
xx

Gordon angrily retorts: Pah! How dare you(of all people) beat me(of all people) to the Kraftwerk Blog!!! What next? Me writing about Ian Campbell & Friends Folk Band?
Only joking, of course....this is a great article and captures the symbiosis of Kraftwerk's music and subject far better than I would have done. Good stuff!
As for getting me back on a bike....kiss my saddle-sore arse!!!